Spot Opportunities
Main goal: Use your imagination and abilities to identify opportunities for creating value
Creating value is the core task of entrepreneurs. Finding the right opportunities to create that value is a great skill to master. It all comes down to your imagination and ability to identify those opportunities and create value.
This skill is more based on questions and less based on answers. Asking the right question opens doors and exposes the opportunities you look for. For that to work, you’ll need to be out there, not just physically, but with your mind as well. Being aware of what is going on around you is a good place to start.
In short, spotting opportunities is about:
- Identifying and seizing opportunities to create value by exploring the social, cultural and economic landscape
- Identifying needs and challenges that need to be met
- Establishing new connections and bringing together scattered elements of the landscape to create opportunities to create value
Identify, Create and Seize Opportunities
| Level | Ability |
| 1 | I can find opportunities to help others. |
| 2 | I can recognise opportunities to create value in my community and surroundings. |
| 3 | I can explain what makes an opportunity to create value. |
| 4 | I can proactively look for opportunities to create value, including out of necessity. |
| 5 | I can describe different analytical approaches to identifying entrepreneurial opportunities. |
| 6 | I can use my knowledge and understanding of the context to make opportunities to create value. |
| 7 | I can judge opportunities for creating value and decide whether to follow these up at different levels of the system I am working in (for example, micro, meso or macro). |
| 8 | I can spot and quickly take advantage of an opportunity. |
Focus on Challenges
| Level | Ability |
| 1 | I can find different examples of challenges that need solutions. |
| 2 | I can recognize challenges in my community and surroundings that I can contribute to solving. |
| 3 | I can identify opportunities to solve problems in alternative ways. |
| 4 | I can redefine the description of a challenge, so that alternative opportunities may become apparent. |
| 5 | I can take apart established practices and challenge mainstream thought to create opportunities and look at challenges in different ways. |
| 6 | I can judge the right time to take an opportunity to create value. |
| 7 | I can cluster different opportunities or identify synergies among different opportunities to make the most out of them. |
| 8 | I can define opportunities where I can maintain a competitive advantage. |
Uncover Needs
| Level | Ability |
| 1 | I can find examples of groups who have benefited from a solution to a given problem. |
| 2 | I can identify needs in my community and surroundings that have not been met. |
| 3 | I can explain that different groups may have different needs. |
| 4 | I can establish which user group, and which needs, I want to tackle by creating value. |
| 5 | I can carry out a needs analysis involving relevant stakeholders. |
| 6 | I can identify challenges related to the contrasting needs and interests of different stakeholders. |
| 7 | I can produce a ‘roadmap’ which matches the needs with the actions needed to deal with them and helps me create value. |
| 8 | I can design projects which aim to anticipate future needs. |
Analyse the Context
| Level | Ability |
| 1 | I can tell the difference between different areas where value can be created (for example, at home, in the community, in the environment, or in the economy or society). |
| 2 | I can recognise the different roles the public, private and third sectors play in my region or country. |
| 3 | I can tell the difference between contexts for creating value (for example, communities and informal networks, existing organisations, and the market). |
| 4 | I can identify my personal, social and professional opportunities for creating value, both in existing organisations or by setting up new ventures. |
| 5 | I can identify the boundaries of the system that are relevant to my (or my team’s) value-creating activity. |
| 6 | I can analyse an existing value creation activity by looking at it as a whole and identifying opportunities to develop it further. |
| 7 | I can monitor relevant trends and see how they create threats and new opportunities to create value. |
| 8 | I can promote a culture within my organisation that is open to spotting the weak signals of change, leading to new opportunities for creating value. |
Note
If you are interested in learning and practising this skill group, please use the form on this page and tell us about it. We use this info for our planning for future programs and we will keep you up-to-date about it.
