Business Opportunities Lesson 2

 OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

I.    Entrepreneurial Opportunities

-those situations in which new products, services and processes can be introduced and sold at

greater than their cost of production

II.   The Process of New Venture Creation

III.  The Discovery and Evaluation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities

1.  The Opportunity Cost Principle

-The cost of passing up one investment in favour of another

2.  The Opportunity-Evaluation Process by Zimmerer and Scarborough

-responding to questions that can shed light on the potential for the idea to actually become a product/service upon which a business can be established. The steps can be verified through a business plan.

5 Steps:

a.    ___

b.    ____

c.    _____

d.    ______

e.    ________

3.  SWOT Analysis

Step 1 – List Strengths

Develop a list of all of the internal strengths of the business. Discuss the strengths and clarify any questions or confusion. Examples of strengths could include an experienced staff or good employee training program.

Step 2 – Identify Weaknesses

Repeat the process you used to identify strengths to generate a list of the business’ weaknesses. Weaknesses are internal factors that may impact workforce planning negatively. Examples of weaknesses could include an absence of procedural manuals or lack of an employee mentoring program. It is possible that a strength could also be a weakness. For example, long-time employees could be a strength because of their experience, but may be a weakness because it might indicate a workforce close to retirement.

Step 4 – List Opportunities

Repeat the process to list opportunities. Opportunities are external factors, as opposed to the internal factors of strengths and weaknesses. Opportunities could include new relevant training programs at educational institutions or an emerging diverse workforce.

Step 5 – Identify Threats

Repeat the process to identify threats. Threats are also external factors. Threats could have a negative impact on your workforce planning and could include a projected increase in the cost of employee health insurance or an expected reduction in government funding. Again it is possible that an opportunity may also be perceived as a threat. For example, new technology tools might be an opportunity, but also threaten staffing levels.

Step 6 – Establish Priorities

You will have four lists once you’ve identified your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Use a prioritization process to reduce each of the four lists to five top priorities. Two options for doing this are:

1.    Give each person in the group five sticky dots and have them place the dots beside the options they prefer. They can choose five individual options or place multiple dots on an option they feel strongly about. The option with the greatest number of dots will determine the course of action.

2.    Ask participants to rank the options using a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 points represents their first choice, 4 their second choice, etc. The desired option is the one that accumulates the highest total score.

Step 7 – Discuss Next Steps

The next step begins the process of turning the results of the Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis into something actionable. Encourage group discussion about the four prioritized lists by asking:

§  How can we maximize the use of our strengths?

§  How can we overcome the threats identified?

§  What do we need to do to overcome the identified weaknesses?

§  How can we take advantage of our opportunities?

Strengths (internal)	Weaknesses (internal)
1.     The agency has an experienced and dedicated workforce 2.     There is a good training program for new employees 3.     Senior management is committed to workforce planning 4.     Human resource staff are easy to work with and willing to try new recruitment ideas 5.     50% of the staff hold a professional certification	1.     Over 50% of the managers and supervisors are eligible for retirement 2.     The agency does not offer a mentoring program 3.     The agency lacks the technology tools to be more efficient 4.     Procedural manuals need to be updated 5.     The current workforce is not very racial/ethnic diverse
Opportunities (external)	Threats (external)
1.     New information technology tools can provide quicker data sharing between agencies and client information retrieval 2.     There are job sharing opportunities with other agencies 3.     A large number of retired baby boomers are considering returning to the workforce on a part-time basis 4.     Federal and state agencies have expressed interest in merging services 5.     Universities are looking for internship opportunities for their students	1.     The demand for workers in the field exceeds the supply of potential workers 2.     There is less federal money available for training grants 3.     Budget and full-time positions have been limited by the legislature 4.     Educational institutions are reducing the number of courses offered in this field 5.     The number of residential treatment centers has been declining steadily

3.  Other Opportunity Seeking Process

a.    Start with yourself

b.    Look at other successful businessman/entrepreneur

c.    Identify/fill market gap

d.    Respond to a problem area

e.    Scan the Media and the library

f.     Ask people

g.    Explore/exploit your creativity

Soc Sci 11: Lesson 4

Telephone Etiquette

“It’s not what you say. It’s how you say it.”

Activity:

1. Pass the Message

How does the final message differ from the original?

Are there any similarities? Why isn't the message the same anymore?

2. Tong Tong

3. Call Simulation

A. What is Communication?  ______________________________________________

B. What are the Barriers to Communication?

1. _______________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________

C. Telephone contacts (Ear to Ear) VS face-to-face contacts

1.Element of surprise. In most cases, you do not have time to review a file or computer record before taking a phone call.  (If you initiate the call, you have more control.)

2. As the worker, you are invisible to the caller, making it easier for the caller to become abusive or hostile.  It also makes it more difficult for you to diffuse the caller’s anger.
3. It is more important for you to pay attention when working with a caller.  It is easier to be distracted when you are on the phone by other cases on your desk, activities in cubicles around you, etc., when the customer is not sitting in front of you.

D. The Art of Inflection

          Tips To Improve Your Inflection

a. Smile when talking on the phone. 
Smiling is good physiologically.  When you smile, the soft palate at the back of your mouth raises and makes the sound waves more fluid.  Smiling helps your voice sound friendly, warm, and receptive.

b. Practice stressing words.

Be aware of how stressing certain words changes the feeling of what you are saying.

c.  Breathe (deep, long, and slow).

The inflection of your voice can be greatly improved by learning to take long, slow, deep breaths.  By being aware of your breathing, you can slow it down, thereby relaxing your vocal cords, bringing down your pitch, and creating a calmer tone of voice.

d.Exaggerate your tone.

E. The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

F. How To's

1.    How to start and end a conversation (hello and goodbye)

-make the person feel welcome and at ease           

2.    How to leave a voicemail message

3.    How to deal with telephone problems

When you have dialed the wrong number, say Sorry. It sounds almost as good as hello.

4.    How to make a follow-up call

5.    How to take and leave a message

If the call is not for you, offer to take a message

6.    How to use a mobile phone (call and text) 

Texting-brief transmission of facts

Places where people should not be seen using their mobile phone:

1.____
2._____
3._______
4._______

Top Ten Rules of Text Message Etiquette:

1.    The Golden Rule: Do not call in response to a text message.
2.    The Rule of Response. Always repond. (but phone should work for the caller’s convenience)
3.    The Two Day Rule. If it take syou two days to get back to me, I technically have two days to get back to you.
4.    The Too Quick Rule; If it takes me two days to respond to you, don’t respond immediately
5.    The 2 Text Rule If you text someone two times and they don’t respond to you, they don’t want to talk to you.
6.    The Don’t Leave Me hanging Rule. DO not text me first if you’re not willing to continue the conversation
7.    The Rule of Dismissal. Don’t ignore a call and then text a person.
8.    The Rule of Disproportionate Letters Never respond with a K.
9.    THE IRONIC RULE DON’T TEXT IN ALL CAPS IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE ANGRY 
10. The L O L Rule

 

 The HA Scale
1. 1 Ha

2. 2 Ha’s

3. 3 or more Ha’s

7.    How to take a fax

8.    How to request for someone

9.    How to handle irate calls

10. How to videocall/videoconference

11. How to handle automated calls                      

References:

Interview with Entrepreneur: Avant Studios

By:

Aubrey Princess B. Laurio

Elaine C. Derpo

SherlynVibar

BSBA FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IV

An introduction and overview about Avant Studios:

The owners:

Ø  Angelo Cantero– Graduate of Audio Visual Communication in Bicol University, batch 2009.

 Ø Nor Llorca- Graduate of Computer Science in STI, batch 2005.

                  Avant Studios is one of the rising tigers in the field of photography in Bicol region. It became famous for its coverage in many University Pageants and Wedding Ceremonies. Amazingly, this enterprise is a two-man team, which makes it more interesting and impressive. The name “Avant” was derived from the French word Avante Grande which means to experiment beautifully with art. With both the owners’ academic backgrounds and trainings, it is no wonder that they can make simple things into scenarios which are full of life. They are famous for their extraordinary themes and concepts. Some of the pageants they have covered for are The Mr. and Ms CBEM 2013, Mr. and Ms. CS 2013, Mr and Ms Bicol University 2013, Regional Mr. and Ms. Ambassador of Goodwill 2013. They have also tried national competitions. They  were one of the studio groups that covered the Miss Earth Philippines in 2012.  Their studio can be found in Happy Homes Subdivision, Washington, Legazpi City.

Interview and Question & Answer:

When was the business founded?

Avant: Summer of 2010.

How did you get the idea or concept of the business? What led you to forming this kind of business?

Avant: Of course the first thing that makes it possible for people to form something is their passion. Photography is our passion. It is like our personality. How it was formed, well, we are both graduates of Divine World College of Legazpi, High School Department so we knew each other even before. Sometime in 2010, during a photography workshop, we crossed paths.  Out of the blue, we talked about forming a studio. Our ideas just clicked and that was it.

Do you consider yourselves entrepreneur?

Avant: Of course. We manage and organize our business and we undertake financial ventures and of course, we assume risks.

What are the services or products you offer?

Avant: Technically, we offer photography and videography. We cover different occasions like weddings (weddings are our specialties), birthdays, beauty pageants, and modelling. After photo shoots and coverage, we include or give finished packages to our customers.

How much for your services?

Avant: It depends on many factors, like if there are many pictorials to be done and many people to shoot, like in a pageant, the cost is pretty higher. But our fee ranges from P25,000-P30,000. It’s actually all worth it.

  

What is your company’s goal?

Avant: It’s simple, to deliver the highest degree of satisfaction to our clients.

How do you advertise?

Avant: Truthfully, what helps us the most in advertising is the word of mouth. The customers we’ve had refer us to others and the cycle goes on. We also have our Facebook page, Avant Studios, where interested people can contact us. We also post pictures on the FB so that people can see our work.

What are your marketing strategies?

Avant: One of the vital things in maintaining a good business is having a good rapport with the clients. With this, they can share to others our work ethic and they’ll be glad to be our clients again. We also make sure that the products/services we offer have very high quality. We see to it that clients see the dedication and art we put into our work.

  

What were the problems or hardships you’ve encountered?

Avant: On a major scale, none so far. The only thing that’s making it difficult for us is the scheduling. Time is always of essence and you know we can’t stop time. There are so many clients whose pictorial or event overlaps the other clients.

What makes your business unique?

Avant: First of all, our name, AVANT. It’s a French word from Avante Grande which means experimental concepts especially in ARTS. If you will notice with our pictures, the set-up is not the typical ones. That’s what I was saying earlier. Our ideas just clicked. We see something very ordinary, like fish and fruit craters or boxes. Normally, people think they are waste and useless but with us, we can use those boxes to make something out of the ordinary which will awe people.

What made you choose this kind of business?

Avant: Well, passion for photography.     

  

Have you ever turned down a client? How did you handle it?

Avant: Yes. We have this “1 Day, 1 Client” policy. The reason for this is that we want to focus on our clients. If we entertain a lot, we can’t really give that satisfaction.

In terms of finances, do you use the services of professional accountants?

Avant: In the beginning we didn’t. But as our business grew, it was harder. So I asked my brother, who is an accountant to do the job.

What are your pricing strategies?

Avant: It varies. If the shoot requires many devices and equipment, of course, the price is a little higher. We also have costing in every category. There are even times when pricing depends on our agreement with the clients. You know, in Avant, it’s not only a sole person or party who decides the theme or concepts of the shoots. There has to be an agreement between us and the client. We talk with them and ask what they want. And then we give suggestions. It’s a key to success.

  

What makes you stand out from the others?

Avant: Well, just like we said, extraordinary concepts, our creativity, and high quality. And of course, we build friendships with our clients. We are not just their mere photographers. This helps them get comfortable around us.

Have you ever thought of risks?

Avant: It’s indispensable in a business. One cannot easily be a one-time good shot in life. When we were just starting, we feared that we may not have enough customers to cover for the spent capital. And actually, up to know, that is one the risks in our business. There is also the risk of competition. More and more studios and photographers are developing in the Philippines. That’s why marketing strategies are very important. It’s one way of diversifying risks.

If you have any piece of advice to people out there who is just starting in a business like yours, what would it be?

Avant: Go langng Go! (laughs) On a serious note, just continue. At first it will be hard and there will be times when non-believers want to see you fall, but it’s not them who you should be pleasing, it’s the customers.