Entrepreneurial opportunity process: A case study

Abstract

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The aim of the study is to enhance understanding of entrepreneurial opportunities and opportunity-related processes with specific focus on the identification phase. This is done by following and recreating the different phases of venture creation for a case company. The process is approached from the premise of an individual-opportunity nexus, acknowledging that both the individual as well the opportunity are relevant in understanding the process in its entirety.

METHODOLOGY The research strategy of the study is an interview-based case study. The framework of the analysis is based on Stritar and Drnovsek’s model of opportunity identification and development. The narrative of the entrepreneur is further analyzed with the critical incidents and events –technique to extract key insights.

FINDINGS The results of this research project suggest that a potential way of recognizing and discovering business opportunities is to model opportunities that have been already exploited in other countries or markets and modify them to the local business environment. Further research on the international aspects of opportunities, which have been thus far all but neglected in discussion, would benefit entrepreneurship scholars in their understanding of the opportunity concept.

In addition, external feedback of key stakeholders was found to be an important moderator for the evaluation of the opportunity and subsequent exploitation decision in the opportunity process of the case company. The significance of external feedback could be an important moderator in the opportunity process in general, and needs further research.