A. Natural resources: Ideas can be generated based on natural resources. A product or service may be desired from forest resources, agriculture, horticulture, mineral, animal husbandry, wind, sun and human resource.
B. Existing products or services: A great business idea combines skills with imagination and market demand. A business opportunity or idea often comes from everyday problems that someone solves. Successful businesses find a need and fill it by providing a service or product. Entrepreneurs who look at ways to make an existing product or service better can be as successful as those who create or invent products.
C. Market driven ideas: Market research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. It is a key factor to maintain competitiveness over competitors. The research helps in creating new products in the market as per the needs of the customer.
D. Trading related ideas: With increasing consumerism, the scope and nature of trade has enlarged; local trade, import and export, e-commerce are all making trading a very wide area of enterprise. With the opening of the market to International Companies, large size departmental stores, chain shops and umbrella markets have become omnipresent; competition has become intense and to survive in the market, new entrants will have to acquire skills, competencies and knowledge required to launch, manage and expand business opportunities.
E. Service related ideas: Entrepreneurial opportunities are not only restricted to the manufacturer. Service sector is the most growing field these days, the world over, because of the emerging knowledge in societies and advancements in Information and Technology. So, new opportunities can be identified by understanding the linkages to different business activities.