CONTENTS

1.0 BACKGROUND OF V.RAMACHANDRAN -TFSC CONSULTANT 2.0 ENTREPRENEURSHIP REVISITED 3.0 FORMULATION OF BUSINESS IDEA AND SOURCES FOR NEW IDEAS 4.0 EVALUATION OF NEW IDEA FOR DOING BUSINESS 5.0 CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES FOR D.MAKING

P.N O
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1.0 BACKGROUND OF TFSC CONSULTANT

Mr. V. RAMACHANDRAN, aged 58 years, is a technocrat with more than 35 years of experience in Engineering, Automobile manufacturing and service industries. He heads Management & Technology Services; a consulting firm specialized in business process consulting, training services and having a team of committed senior professionals. He is a qualified engineer with B.Tech degree from I.I.T. Madras. He has specialized in management with MBA from I.I.M. Calcutta, with focus on marketing and business development. He is a certified management consultant by WTO (International consultancy certification awarded in 2003). He is a certified trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming by Dr. Richard Bandler, USA the founder of NLP science. He is also a member board of studies in Sri Ramachandra Medical College in the Hospital Management programme. He has received twice awards from Prime Minister of India for best marketing exhibitions at New Delhi. He is also a visiting faculty in a number of management institutes and Engineering colleges. He has traveled widely as field marketing professional and also worked at senior levels in the marketing function, right up to the town levels. He has conducted a number of training

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programmes in the last 35 years in different organizations and different locations in India and abroad. He has promoted Management and Technology Services, training and consulting firm having 50 plus corporate associations and 40 plus institutional relationships. Service is provided to clients in the Government, private, multinational and service organizations.

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1.0 ENTREPRENEURSHIP REVISITED

1.1 WHAT ARE FIRST ENTREPRENEUR FEW STEPS FOR A

YOUNG

As young people you have wonderful ideas. You may be thinking that all your ideas are great The first step is to check whether it is realistic. For your idea to work, you need to make it under a competitive cost, and manufacture it in the time when it is needed and make it popular. To start with, you can ask some people if they would actually buy your product. If you don't have an idea of the product yet, it is a good start to think of your target market first. You need to do a study in different places like shops etc to find where people go, what do they buy, what do they look for and what do they like. The next step is to compile them and highlight the cost, manufacturing time, and popularity in mind. Find the easiest, most realistic product or service that can be made by you. That not only makes you feel confident to become an entrepreneur, but take the willingness to sweat it out in the open.

1.2 BUSINESS PLAN STRATEGIC SELF ASSESSMENT

1. Do you have a good measure of self confidence? 2. Do you get a sense of pleasure out of conceiving an idea and the excitement of carrying it to fruition? 3. Are you persistent, willing to struggle though problems without getting discouraged? 4. Are you good at dealing with people on all levels, bankers, investors, complaining customers, and employees? 5. Are you willing to work long hours on a crucial project and even enjoy the work? 6. Can you carry the burden and even relish the full responsibility of a business which is vital to your future? 7. Did you sell anything on the street corner as a child or engage in some business activity at an early age? If you have more than 4 yes responses then you have an advantage. Even if it is less, with training you can improve it. These are typical characteristics for entrepreneurs.

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1.3 SUCCESS INGREDIENTS

For any business to succeed it takes enormous amount of effort. Most enterprises that are successful when viewed from outside offer a simplistic picture. You will realize the sweat and efforts that have gone in into building a successful venture only when you closely interact with the entrepreneur, who may or may not have recorded the massive efforts. More than brilliant ideas you need tenacity to make any idea work through into an execution. Making ideas work is the main work of any entrepreneur

1.4 WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

Entrepreneurship is the process of organizing, managing, and assuming the risks and rewards of a business or enterprise. Most people see entrepreneurship as the opportunity to pursue the dream of working for them. For many, its not always about the money, but rather, about the passion and the challenge.

1.5 WHO SHOULD NOT BE AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Just the desire to make lot of money, having heard that many entrepreneurs have, is not a basis for starting your own business. There is a lot more to being successful than that - long hours, persistence, commitment, etc. Entrepreneurs enjoy what they are doing. One of them said it was so much fun he would do it just for points, like in a cricket game. Money was a minor part. If you have some overriding hobby that fills your leisure hours, your weekends, don't try being in business for yourself. It takes long hours of work, But for a true entrepreneur it isn't really "work" in the usual sense. He would rather spend his Saturday afternoon, would find it more exciting, installing a new piece of machinery which would reduce his production costs than he would hang gliding. However, it should be added that some people are able to convert their hobbies into businesses.

1.6 BUILD CONTACTS

You need to build contact trade associations, small-business message boards or entrepreneurs in related fields: Trade associations are an invaluable source of information for both new and established companies. Chances are whatever industry your start-up is in from organic farming to independent bookstores. Also, dont be afraid to seek out other entrepreneurs who have set up shop in your industry, or perhaps a related one, and talk to them about their experience with start-up costs, especially unexpected costs.

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1.7 FIVE SUCCESS POINTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Commitment Competence Creativity Conviction Care

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1.8 ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTER

All people cannot become successful entrepreneurs. Only those who can work on details and help turn ideas and dreams into a solid through a step by- step approach can really succeed. You will observe by watching successful entrepreneurs how they organize their thoughts, decisions, and strategies to get the best results. Therefore WHO question can be answered as those who can assure the business profit, growth and build its competitive advantage over other players in the market. The key word to note is ability to build sustained competitive advantage.

1.9 GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESS

Make sure your business plan is perfect before moving on; this will make your business run a lot more smoothly. Here are some advantages of a perfect business plan: o Success is completely assured. o Entrepreneurship is no longer a gamble when the spreadsheet tells you in advance o You will be forewarned before a major disaster comes if you measure continuously

1.10 BUSINESS IS NOT SIMPLE

You want to go into business for enjoying yourself? Run your own show? Having such thinking often gets you started in business. However, over time, you may become tired. Even if you succeed as your business grows, it may not be possible for you, to continue as sole proprietor. You may need additional funds or you may need to enhance your competence by taking partners etc. In some other types of business, it may be necessary for you to operate a limited company. Depending on your placement in the business cycle, the ownership pattern will vary. Most organizations after they cross a certain size, realize the need for quantum growth. This can happen only with large infusion of capital, manpower and access to modern technology. It is at that point when the sole proprietorship may not be able to carry the business growth further. It is at that point of time you need to make it bigger and fitting into the needs of customers through expansion into a private or public limited company. You

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can also go for trust in case if your enterprise is not for profit such as service organization like NGOs.

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2.0 FORMULATION OF BUSINESS IDEA

2.1 What is a business idea?
A business idea is a concept which can be used for commercial purposes. It typically centers on a commodity or service that can be sold for money, according to a unique model. There are several methods for developing and testing business idea. The ability to come up with a business idea can be transformed into a viable business, where ideas supported by feasibility and business plan can then be sold to interested investors, firms, and interested parties for a lump sum or a management contract, or as agreed. Business ideas, if introduced at the right time, when demand for such service or a product introduced by the idea is expected to surge, can lead to a very profitable business.

2.2 Sources for new ideas

The location and development of viable business ideas is as much an art, or matter of luck, as the use of systematic techniques. Certainly, you can use structured approaches, as described below, but the reality is that having the right background, being in the right place at the right time, and working hard to create lucky breaks are likely to be just as important in coming up with sound business ideas. The concepts presented below represent a series of checklists. They need not be followed systematically and, most certainly, they should not be perceived as a sure-fire recipe. Instead, view them as a series of menus from which you can pick and choose according as your thoughts develop. Probably, the only issue which everyone searching for new business ideas should review systematically is their own strengths and weaknesses and to use this as their key building block and jumping off .

2.3 Pre work for generating business ideas.

The starting point for developing new business ideas lies inside the prospective entrepreneur rather than in the marketplace, laboratory, business plan etc. You are the critical component - it is your strengths and weaknesses which should dictate the areas in which to seek ideas and the

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likely scale & scope of your business. At the end of the day, support for your business by financiers, suppliers, customers etc. will also be a vote of confidence in your abilities to make it successful. You should build on your strengths and surmount or work around your weaknesses, and possibly cut your cloth to meet your main limitations. For example, there is little point in searching for capital-intensive or knowledgebased ideas if you have slim/no prospects of raising the necessary capital or if your educational background is unsuitable. What angle are you coming from? Are you: An inventor who has a product/service idea? An innovator who has developed a new product/service? Out of work and want to create a job for yourself? An entrepreneur who wishes to create a business? A manager who wishes to develop a business? Be especially aware that inventors and innovators do not necessarily make good business people. Areas where you should make honest assessments of your strengths and weaknesses include the following: Educational background Any (special) business or technical qualifications? Do you have knowledge of finance & marketing? Are you up-to-date with business-related issues? Financial strengths Have you access to personal or family funds or finance from other sources? How much, how easily, what conditions and when? How long could you survive without any (regular) income while your business develops? Commitment Why do you really want to start a business? Are you in reasonable health? Have you any/many family commitments? Does the family fully approve of your proposal to set up your own business? Are you willing to relocate/commute in order to pursue a business possibility? Expertise & interests Do you have insights into any business sectors or trades? What are you good at or like doing?

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 Do you have a hobby/interest/talent which could become the basis of a business? Personal qualities Are you a resourceful, energetic and motivated person? Have you a capacity to take lots of knocks and bounce back? Are you realistic and practical? Are you a hard worker? What do you dislike doing?

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3.0 EVALUATION OF NEW IDEA FOR DOING BUSINESS

4.1 PREPARATION OF PLAN
A documented business plan containing following details is the first step in HOW phase of entrepreneurship. Detailed operational plan will have scope, products, manufacturing, marketing and finance tie ups, market survey, comprising competition mapping and product positioning, budgeting for capital equipment and revenue expenditure and working capital tie up, identifying the operational team and positioning them. Your documented business plan will need to provide answers to all these questions

Broadly the business plan comprises 1. Market study and analysis with estimated demand 2. Product design, development and test marketing 3. Commercialization, financing and funding, initial introduction and trial production 4. Manufacturing plan, design of supply chain elements and last mile delivery 5. Performance monitoring systems, quality checks and continuous improvements

Marketing the fundamental activity for the success of business initially must be done by you. You need to first identify new prospects who will buy first

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4.2. MARKETING

from you on a trial basis. By satisfying and retaining them you can ensure that your business is on the right course. A formal market study can help you to target your limited resources on activities like to make the business grow. Demand estimate will also provide you numbers for production plan.

4.3 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

All product designs must be tested even as a basic concept. The development process of a product involves taking continuous market feedback and continuous improvement in an iterative manner. This will ensure that the product gets acceptance in the market. During the testing stage you need to ensure that any negative feedback does not get widely communicated in the market in the testing stage.

4.4 COMMERCILIZATION
Commercialization involves detailed planning and positioning of funds for the immediate operations of the business. The purpose of commercialization is to build up economic volumes for a business. Many different pictures of a companys financial strength, market position, and potential can be obtained by how data is recorded, sorted, organized, and analyzed

4.5 MANUFACTURING PLAN.

The manufacturing priorities revolve around The 4 (four) Ms- Men, Machine, Material and Money Men: How do you recruit and retain good employees? What skill sets do you need your employees to have to run a business successfully? The process of finding, hiring, and keeping the right employees can be one of the more challenging aspects of operating a small business and involves many aspects, including the day-to-day management of the employees who contribute to producing the goods and services that your business provides. MACHINE TOOLS, EQUIPMENTSThe manufacturing of any product requires machinery, tools, services and consumables. The preparation of detailed manufacturing plan is necessary to ensure that products are rolled out in time and in needed quantities. The modern production plan, also gives you the best way to produce a product. This is needed to reduce cost of operation and to remain competitive in the market

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MATERIALThe constituent part of any product is materials. This can come in different shapes and sizes and forms. Entire supply chain, from raw materials to finished goods and logistics, including transportation, material handling and flow are included in this.

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5.0 CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES FOR D.MAKING 5.1 Creative problem solving definition
It is the mental process of creating a solution to a problem. It is a special form of problem solving in which the solution is independently created rather than learned with assistance. Creative problem solving always involves creativity. To qualify as creative problem solving the solution must either have value, clearly solve the stated problem, or be appreciated by someone for whom the situation improves. The situation prior to the solution does not need to be labeled as a problem. Alternate labels include a challenge, an opportunity, or a situation in which there is room for improvement. Solving school-assigned homework problems does not usually involve creative problem solving because such problems typically have well-known solutions.

5.2 Nature of solution

If a created solution becomes widely used, the solution becomes an innovation and the word innovation also refers to the process of creating that innovation. A widespread and long-lived innovation typically becomes a new tradition. "All innovations [begin] as creative solutions, but not all creative solutions become innovations Some innovations also qualify as inventions. Inventing is a special kind of creative problem solving in which the created solution qualifies as an invention because it is a useful new object, substance, process, software, or other kind of marketable entity. Many of the techniques and tools for creating an effective solution to a problem are described in creativity techniques and problem solving.

5.3 Categorization of Creative-problem-solving techniques

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Creativity techniques designed to shift a person's mental state into one that fosters creativity. These techniques are described in creativity techniques. One such popular technique is to take a break and relax or sleep after intensively trying to think of a solution. Creativity techniques designed to reframe the problem. For example, reconsidering one's goals by asking "What am I really trying to accomplish?" can lead to useful insights. Creativity techniques designed to increase the quantity of fresh ideas. This approach is based on the belief that a larger number of ideas increase the chances that one of them has value. Some of these techniques involve randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a

word from a list), thinking about similarities with the undesired situation, and hopefully inspiring a related idea that leads to a solution. Such techniques are described in creativity techniques. Creative-problem-solving techniques designed to efficiently lead to a fresh perspective that causes a solution to become obvious. This category is useful for solving especially challenging problems.[1] Some of these techniques involve identifying independent dimensions that differentiate (or separate) closely associated concepts.[1] Such techniques can overcome the mind's instinctive tendency to use "oversimplified associative thinking" in which two related concepts are so closely associated that their differences, and independence from one another, are overlooked.[1]

The following formalized and well-known methods and processes combine various creativity and creative-problem-solving techniques:

Mind mapping is a creativity technique that both reframes the situation and fosters creativity. Brainstorming is a group activity designed to increase the quantity of fresh ideas. Getting other people involved can help increase knowledge and understanding of the problem and help participants reframe the problem. Edward de Bono has published numerous books that promote an approach to creative problem solving and creative thinking called lateral thinking. The Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS) is a six-step method developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes that alternates convergent and divergent thinking phases. TRIZ, which is also known as Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TIPS), was developed by Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues based on examining more than 200,000 patents. This method is designed to foster the creation and development of patentable inventions, but is also useful for creating non-product solutions.

A frequent approach to teaching creative problem solving is to teach critical thinking in addition to creative thinking, but the effectiveness of this approach is not proven. As an alternative to separating critical and creative thinking, some creative-problem-solving techniques focus on either reducing an idea's disadvantages or extracting a flawed idea's significant advantages and incorporating those advantages into a different idea.[1] Reasons to Do a Feasibility Study Gives focus to the project and outline alternatives. Narrows business alternatives Identifies new opportunities through the investigative process. Identifies reasons not to proceed.

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Enhances the probability of success by addressing and mitigating factors early on that could affect the project. Provides quality information for decision making. Provides documentation that the business venture was thoroughly investigated. Helps in securing funding from lending institutions and other monetary sources. Helps to attract equity investment.

The feasibility study is a critical step in the business assessment process. If properly conducted, it may be the best investment you ever made.

Thank you

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