Opportunities, Needs and Business Environment

1. Potential Sources of Opportunity

As an entrepreneur, you must continually evaluate existing business opportunities. This is done so that potential business ideas become a real business opportunity. 

Through the process of selecting business ideas, then you are expected to change the idea of a potential business into a product or service real. Suryana (2003: 58) suggests steps that can be taken to select the business idea is as follows:

1) Creating New and Different Products

When a business idea is presented in the form of a new product or service, it is clear that the product or service must be different from the product or service in the market. The product or service must create value for the buyer, either as a customer or another potential customer. 

Therefore, the entrepreneur must really know the consumer behavior in the market. In observing market behavior, there are two elements of the market that need attention. First, demand for goods or services produced. Second, the time of delivery and the time of demand for goods or services. A successful entrepreneur needs to create a superior product or service that delivers value to the consumer.

For example, can the product/service improve efficiently for the wearer? How big? Can improvements in efficiency be known to potential buyers? What percentage of targets to be achieved from the market segmentation? the above questions are important in creating opportunities.

If the new entrepreneur focuses on a particular market segment, then, in particular, the opportunity will depend heavily on the behavior of that market segment. The ability to acquire the opportunity itself relies heavily on the entrepreneurial ability to analyze markets that include aspects:

• Ability to analyze market demographics
• Ability to analyze the nature and behavior of competitors
• Ability to analyze competitive advantage of competitors and the vacuum of competitors who are considered to create opportunities.

2) Observing the Opportunity Door

An entrepreneur should always observe the competitor's potentials, such as the possibility of competitors developing new products, successful experiences in developing new products, financial support and competitive advantages in the market. The ability of competitors to maintain the position

the market can be evaluated using competitor's weaknesses and risks in investing in new capital.

To know the weaknesses, strengths, and opportunities that competitors have and the opportunities that can be obtained, there are some important questions that are.

a) Questions to determine the strengths and weaknesses of competitors in product development that includes: 

What is the technical ability of competitors in the development of the product when compared to the technical ability that we have? How to track record competitors to achieve success in product development?

b) Questions to identify competitors 'weaknesses and strengths about their capabilities and resources, including 

To what extent are competitors' ability and willingness to invest in the development of new and old products? What market advantage does the competitor have?

c) Questions to determine whether an opportunity door exists or not include:

To what extent is the speed with which a company brings products to the market can precede competitors? Are the company's capabilities and resources enough to bring the product to a market that its competitors are controlling? Does the company have enough power to master competitors' attacks?

3) Analyzing Products and Production Process Deeply

This analysis is very important to ensure whether the quantity and quality of the resulting product are adequate or not. How much does it cost to make the product? Are the costs incurred by us more efficient than the costs incurred by competitors?

4) Estimate Initial Costs.

What is the initial cost required by the new business? Where is the source and for what use? How much is required for operations, for expansion, and for other expenses?

5) Taking into account possible risks.
Some possible risks, such as engineering risks, financial risks, and competitor risks.
The technical risk associated with the product development process matches the expected or involves a determinant object, whether the idea can actually be transformed into a ready-to-market product with its capabilities and characteristics.

The competitor's risk is the competitor's ability and willingness to maintain his position in the market. Competitor risk includes the following questions:

• Possible similarities and advantages of what products are developed by competitors?
• What level of success has the competitor achieved in product development?
• How much competitor's financial support for the development of new products and products it introduces?
• Is the new company strong enough to overcome the attack of competitors attack?

Financial risks are risks that arise as a result of financial insufficiency/funds either in the stage of developing new products or in creating and maintaining the company to support the cost of new products. 

SWOT analysis is the analysis of Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (threat) is very important in creating the success of the new company. That effort can be likened to "Like War". Who is slow to make a decision will benefit the opponent's position.

Therefore, business risks have only two possibilities, namely success or failure. If we do not want to fail, then all decisions must be calculated as closely as possible by paying attention to the Indonesian term "Future" (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats).

Strength (strength): - Knowledge of business

1. - Business management skills
2. - Capital
3. - Relationships and family support

Weaknesses: - What knowledge is still needed

1. Opportunities: - Market forces
2. - Procurement continuity
3. - Production

Threats: - Who are your competitors

1. - How far their strengths are

Once you are confident that you have the power/ability to take advantage of existing business opportunities, quickly take the decision quickly and accurately, so you do not suffer the "risk of loss"

2. Business Needs Problems

In the structure of our society, self-employment/business life has not yet earned a respectable position. Thus, most of our society is more proud to be a worker/laborer or employee in others than by self-effort. If anyone asks, after graduating from Vocational High School you want to work what? 

The answer is certain, most of you will apply for jobs to private companies to become employees of the company or apply to government agencies to become Civil Servants. Maybe only a small part of you who aspire to try independently / entrepreneurship, why? Based on the results of needs analysis and the business environment in society, most of our entrepreneurs do not want to acknowledge the weaknesses and failures of their business.


Although the development of our country has been running for a long time, the fate of entrepreneurs, especially small entrepreneurs
not so good and the result is less than satisfactory. The reasons for their lack of business are:

1. Lack of venture capital.
2. Lack of guidance from the government.
3. As a large business dominated Chinese people.
4. The effort is the domination of people who have strong capital.
5. Business is dominated by foreign capital.

From the results of the study found the main reason for the failure and weaknesses in the field of business is

1. Inadequate business background.
2. Lack of experience in the business.
3. E3) economic structures that are not yet compatible with modern world economic conditions.
4. Barriers to business values within the community.
5. Inadequate educational background of entrepreneurship.

Business development every year many are born and bankrupt mainly in small companies. Every year many young people become new entrepreneurs, both in small scale and large scale business. However, there are entrepreneurs who do not last long, even there is a failed attempt. 

The lack of well-established needs and the business environment in the community will be evident when the vanguard of the business is old, so the company goes through the aging process and bankruptcy.

Entrepreneurial failure is caused by weaknesses in the areas of the organization, finance, administration, bookkeeping, and marketing. To overcome the above-mentioned weaknesses, the government through the Industry / Trade Office has long assisted small business sectors which include funding/credit assistance, techniques, and managerial training. 

The government sector is the largest single buyer within a country, able to arrange for small businesses to be given a quota in certain product orders. Another way is a certain percentage of purchases of products/services provided to small entrepreneurs.

Small companies can join to obtain tenders from government contracts. The government is aware that small companies must be able to compete with large companies. Small companies should show their concern to the government before the government can sympathize with their business needs. 

However, small entrepreneurs usually do not want to organize and express their business needs to the government. In a department, such as the Ministry of Trade or the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, a body can be established to promote the interests of the small business sector.

The agency may be empowered to provide financial assistance in the form of loans or guarantees on loans from other loan sources. This loan can be used to start a business or develop an existing business. 

The government has helped many small companies because they are absorbing labor outside the agricultural sector. The government has much encouraged the growth of the business world with increase their business needs through the following ways:

1. Make it easy to set up a company.
2. Make it easy to get credit.
3. Establish trade facilities in the form of cheap kiosks/business places, shophouses, and other business support facilities.
4. Opens trade attaches or promotional / exhibit venues in world trade centers.
5. Issuance and grant a privileged license to certain products.
6. Encourage national economic growth.
7. Establish open vocational schools and business courses or business schools, business incubators, business training, and entrepreneurs etc.

In reality, not all areas of business work well. Business problems arising from:

1. Still, lack of unfavorable political, economic, and security situations and conditions.
2. Still, lack of experience of government and society in the field of business.
3. Still, lack of awareness and community support in the field of business.

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