ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Techniques for Improving
the Creative Process
Brainstorming:
The goal is to create a large quantity
of novel and imaginative ideas.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 37
Brainstorming Guidelines
Keep the group small – “Two pizza rule.”
Make the group as diverse as possible.
Emphasize that company rank is
irrelevant.
Have a well-defined problem, but don’t
reveal it ahead of time.
Limit the session to 40 to 60 minutes.
Take a field trip.
Appoint a recorder.
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Brainstorming Guidelines
Use a seating pattern that encourages
interaction.
Throw logic out the window.
Encourage all ideas from the team.
Shoot for quantity of ideas over quality of
ideas.
Forbid criticism.
Encourage idea “hitch-hiking.”
Dare to imagine the unreasonable.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 39
Techniques for Improving the
Creative Process
Brainstorming
The goal is to create a large quantity of
novel and imaginative ideas.
Mind-mapping
A graphical technique that encourages
thinking on both sides of the brain,
visually displays relationships among
ideas, and improves the ability to see a
problem from many sides.
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Techniques for Improving the
Creative Process
Force Field Analysis
A useful technique for evaluating the
forces that support and oppose a
proposed change.
Three columns:
Center: Problem to be addressed
Left: Driving forces
Right: Restraining forces
Score each force (-1 to +4) and add
them.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 41
FIGURE 2.2 Sample Force Field Analysis
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Techniques for Improving the
Creative Process
TRIZ
A systematic approach designed to solve
any technical problem.
Relies on 40 principles and left-brained
thinking to solve problems.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 43
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Techniques for Improving the
Creative Process
TRIZ
A systematic approach designed to solve
any technical problem.
Relies on 40 principles and left-brained
thinking to solve problems.
Rapid Prototyping
Transforming an idea into an actual model
that will point out flaws and lead to
design improvements.
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Protecting Your Ideas
Patent – a grant from the Patent and
Trademark Office to the inventor of
product, giving the exclusive right to
make, use, or sell the invention for
20 years from the date of
filing the patent application.
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
FIGURE 2.4 Patent Applications and Patents Issued
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
The Six Steps to a Patent
6. File the patent application
5. Complete the patent application
4. Study search results
3. Search existing patents
2. Document the device
1. Establish the invention’s novelty
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Protecting Your Ideas
Trademark – any distinctive word,
symbol, design, name, logo, slogan, or
trade dress a company uses to identify
the origin of a product or to distinguish
it from other goods on the market.
Servicemark – the same as a trademark
except that it identifies the source of a
service rather than a product.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 49
FIGURE 2.6 Trademark Applications and Trademarks and Renewals Issued
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Protecting Your Ideas
Copyright – an exclusive right that
protects the creators of original works
of authorship such as literary,
dramatic, musical, and artistic works.
Copyrighted material is denoted by
the symbol ©.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 51
Protecting Your Ideas
Type of What It Time
Protection Required Cost
Covers
Copyright Works of
original About 2 weeks About $35
authorship
Trademark Logos, names, 6 – 12 months $900 - $1,500
phrases
Design patent Look of an Up to 2 years $5,000 - $20,000
original product
Utility patent How an original 2 – 5 years $5,000 - $20,000
product works
Business A business 2 – 5 years $5,000 - $20,000
method patent process
Source: Anne Field, “How to Knock Out Knock Offs,” Business Week, March 14, 2005.
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
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ESSENTIALS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ● 6E
Chapter 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: From Ideas to Reality
Conclusion
The creative process is a tenant of the
entrepreneurial experience.
Success, and even survival itself, requires
entrepreneurs to tap their creativity.
The seven steps of the creative process
transform an idea into a business reality.
Creativity results in value, and value
provides a competitive advantage.
Entrepreneurs protect their creative ideas
with patents, trademarks, servicemarks, and
copyrights to sustain a competitive edge.
Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2 - 53
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
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Ch. 2: Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
