ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how new business ideas can be affected by creative thinking and opportunity recognition. Creative thinking is very important in planning. Creative thinking is the ability to connect previously unrelated things or ideas – lateral thinking rather than vertical thinking which defines a problem in one way only. Opportunity recognition is a key element of the business planning process. Opportunities can be created by change. The increased pace of technological development has created opportunities for new business ventures such as computer software, web design and multimedia. Social and demographic change may provide business opportunities as a result of changing attitudes and ageing population structures. The development of new business ideas can consist of starting from scratch, buying a business as a going concern, buying as a franchise, or management buy-out (MBO) and management buy-in (MBI). MBI involves an outside entrepreneur or team buying into the business.
