Situational Description and Entrepreneurship
During the course of a relatively normal week, observe the things that you might not normally see when you are in a hurry. Watch people – what products and services they use and don’t use. Then list ten (10) product or service opportunities, needs, or solutions that you recognized from your observations. Include a brief situational description for each. State what you observed.
Products and services are used daily based on human wants and needs. After observation, it is noted that products and services vary in terms and how they are offered. The paper explains product and service opportunities observed during a week that people may not see when in hurry. A good business opportunity seeks to create something that can fit into the community, and customers find it helpful. Part of the study is to see what products and services create solutions to the problems that people are encountering while making a profit from it (Osterwalder et al., 2015, p. 42).
- Laundry services
This is a service that incurs low costs in maintenance and labour. The customers labour themselves. Some people may not afford laundry machines and hence opt for public laundry. Everybody needs clean clothes, making it a necessity; no matter what time of the year it is or the state of the economy, people will always need their clothes cleaned.
- Food truck business
After observation around schools and working places, people, especially students, need a cheaper option for food. Food is a necessity, and everybody needs to eat. A food truck will offer relatively cheaper food compared to restaurants. The food truck is mobile, enabling the free movement of services to a wider area. Food truck business costs are relatively low to operate than a restaurant where the rent incurs extra cost. The mobility of the food truck will enable free movement, and the market for services can be easily available compared to a stationary restaurant.
- Home delivery business
Following the food truck business, a home food delivery business is a good opportunity. People need food delivered to their homes and a trusted delivery system that can be consistent. This business opportunity is easy to start and incurs low cost.
- Shoe cleaning
Most people that work in offices need to look presentable at all times. After a busy day of walking around, shoes mostly become dusty and need to be cleaned. This business incurs a low cost to put up, has a relatively good profit, and is a necessity. Clients build trust over time.
- Phone charging system
Establishing public phone charging systems in parks and busy places is essential. I have observed nearly everybody owning a phone, and people have problems when they run out of charge and are in a public place where they cannot access a charger and electricity socket. This is a service that is needed, given the technological advancement.
- Animal pet shop
The growing rate of depression among people is high. People turn to animals for companionship, and this decreases their anxiety and depression substantively. Taking abandoned animals and finding them a home for a fee is a good service opportunity that has been observed.
- Online fitness service
The need for people want to work on their body fitness without going to the gym is substantially increasing, following the preference to work out in private without people staring. Working out in the comfort of their home is also a priority they choose. By providing an online fitness routine for them and ways to work out without gym equipment, you help solve their fitness problems and their social anxiety. This business requires a low starting capital and is easy to keep up with.
- Legal consultant
People get into business partnerships every day, but not all have that legal knowledge. A legal consultant will help interpret the legal side of partnerships and contracts they need help understanding. This is a necessity, especially for business owners and entertainment moguls.
- Makeup artist
This service is widely needed by everybody, especially ladies wanting to look great every day. Makeup artists have been a growing trend, and every lady wants their makeup done perfectly for photoshoots and events or just to be taught how to do it, so they do it themselves.
- Affordable housing
This is especially for university and college students who have travelled far but don’t want to stay in school hostels because most are young and want to do what they want. Proper affordable houses will be a big business opportunity near a school or college. Opportunities are all about wants and needs.
Business opportunity lies where people do not notice, mostly when in a hurry. Products and services that are essential go unnoticed, and people do not realize that they are using them. After a week of observation in the surroundings, the above-named business products and services are essential and others act like solutions to what people lack, but need.
References
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2015). Value proposition design: How to create products and services customers want. John Wiley & Sons.
