Entrepreneur Opportunity Screening: Systems Integration Philippines 2012 Trade Fair

Entrepreneur Opportunity Screening: Systems Integration Philippines 2012 Trade Fair

What business or venture should I set up?

This is one of the most common questions posed to Entrepreneurial Consultants by first time entrepreneurs. It is also a recurring challenge even among serial entrepreneurs. How to sift through the vast ocean of opportunities out there, or more commonly known as - Opportunity Screening.

A professor of mine at the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship likened it to fishing in the ocean. Does one wait by the shore and cast his fishing rod and wait for the fish to bite..... or head out in a fishing boat and cast a net..... or does one head out into the deep, dive into the icy water and catch a big one with a spear gun?

Sometimes, the opportunity just comes knocking on your door. For many entrepreneurs, they find the need to go out there and network with other businessmen. One of my favorite activities is going where the action is - Trade Fairs. In one location, I get to see dozens of business opportunities that can be explored, analyzed and maybe just get ideas from.

Especially if it is like the Systems Integration Philippines 2012 Trade Fair that I visited last Aug. 18.

The SIP Trade Fair ran from Aug. 16-18, 2012 at the SMX Convention Center and it featured Eight different Trade Industries, all in one roof. It was organized by Global Link MP Events International Inc.  

- COMM WORLD - IT and Telecoms

- CORPORATE GIFTS EXPO - Gifts & Promotional Products

- DIGITAL ELECTRONICS WORLD - Electronics & Gadgets

- EDUCA EXPO - Educational & Training Technologies

- PALMM - Professional Video and Lighting Equipment

- SIGNS & MEDIA WORLD - Signage & Multimedia

- TOPS - Total Office Products & Services

-CHINA ELECTRONICS & MACHINERY - Chinese companies featuring electronics & machinery

The SMX venue is huge and unless you have a specific product or service in mind to check out, it can be a bit overwhelming. But for a curious entrepreneur like me, I find it fascinating going from one booth to the next, gathering information and contacts.

Although I had a few specific targets in mind (requirements for my siblings' businesses - a corporate giveaway for a BPO consultancy company; and energy and machinery equipment for an agricultural business), I was happy to go from one end of the convention floor to the other and making sure I did not miss a single booth.

As in most Trade Fairs, there is always that one exhibitor who is clever enough to provide a plastic bag (with their company ad / info printed on it, of course) where I could place the dozens of flyers, brochures and CD catalogs of various products and services.

For the next few days, I will be going through these materials, ready to sift through the various ideas and opportunities. Just like fishing, one of these products or services might provide a starting point for a new business or venture and help me catch that elusive big one.

To receive information on Trade Fairs, visit the website of these events organizers and sign up for their email notices. For Global Link MP Events International Inc., visit http://globallinkmp.com

Yoopia: What happened?

What happened to Yoopia ?

I came across this article about a "Photography studio that sells what it shoots" in the August 2012 copy of Entrepreneur Philippines. The article cited a mention from Springwise.com dated March 2012. 

- http://www.springwise.com/marketing_advertising/photography-studio-sells-shoots/  

I found the concept very interesting and decided to know more about Yoopia ( see article below from PRWeb - http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9250106.htm 

I then decided to check out their site - www.yoopia .com but came up with a closed shop in Shopify.

I posted a message in their Facebook ( 42 Likes) and Twitter accounts ( @yoopiaphoto - 8 followers, 3 tweets), and emailed the entrepreneur / owner - Mr. Van Brabant, asking what happened to their site, but have not received any reply as of this posting.

I pray that they have just decided to host their own site and have not encountered any problem that wold have forced them to shut down their operations.

I will post an update once I get more information from Yoopia.

Update: I just got a reply from Mr. Van Brabant before posting this article. He just mentioned that they have closed. I am trying to get more information from him.

Update: Mr. Van Brabant informed Bacon & Potatoes that there were not enough buyers of the products on their site. The companies were willing to have their product shots done for free but they failed to sell the products. Too bad. I think someone should pick up on this and give it another try.

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Yoopia.com Announces Innovative New Way for Brands to get World Class Professional Photographs of their Products at No Cost

While giving consumers the opportunity to purchase those products at big discounts.

Brussels (PRWEB) March 05, 2012

Yoopia. The photography studio that sells what it shoots. For less.

"As professional photographers with marketing experience and eye for making brands sparkle, we know how expensive it can be for brands and manufacturers to get high quality professional photos of their products. As consumers, we love to buy hot new products at huge discounts just like everyone else," says Nils Van Brabant, Yoopia's founder.

That’s why there’s Yoopia, a clever idea that puts world class photos in the hands of the brands for free and offers consumers a chance to save big on the hottest new products on the planet.

Here’s how it works.

1. Brands send their products to Yoopia photography studio. 
2. Yoopia's talented professional photographers take world class photos of them. 
3. Yoopia send the brand/manufacturer their photos for free but instead of sending their products back which costs them money, Yoopia pay them for it and keep it instead. 
4. Yoopia then sell those products on Yoopia.com where their customers can buy them at a big discount. 
5. Brands get exposure to thousands of Yoopia shoppers. 
6. Everybody wins.

Meet the Yoopia team:

Kevin Laloux - Photographer. Specialized in advertising and architecture photography. Diploma of photography from Brussels Saint-Luc fine arts school.

Nils Van Brabant - Entrepreneur. Graduated in marketing, self-taught photographer, passionate about contemporary design, architecture, travel.

To learn more contact:

Nils Van Brabant 
nilsvanbrabant(at)gmail(dot)com

Yoopia - Picture this for less 
http://www.yoopia.com

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Entrepreneur : Are you one?

What is an Entrepreneur?

I think this is the first question posed whenever the topic of Entrepreneurship is brought up. It is then followed by:

Is a businessman an entrepreneur?

Is a business franchisee an entrepreneur?

What differentiates an entrepreneur from other owners of small businesses?

If your small enterprise becomes a large company, are you still considered an entrepreneur?

The first definition of an Entrepreneur was made by Richard Cantillon, an Irish-French economist. The term was borrowed from the French and first appeared in the French Dictionary " Dictionnaire Universal de Commerce" of 'Jacques des Bruslons' published in 1723. The dictionary states that " An entrepreneur (i/ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜr/) is an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and/or initiative" .

In the English language, an Entrepreneur is a term applied to " a person who is willing to help launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome".

Over the years, different definitions of an Entrepreneur have cropped up.

1725: Richard Cantillon: "An entrepreneur is a person who pays a certain price for a product to resell it at an uncertain price, thereby making decisions about obtaining and using the resources while consequently admitting the risk of enterprise."
1803: J.B. Say: "An entrepreneur is an economic agent who unites all means of production- land of one, the labour of another and the capital of yet another and thus produces a product. By selling the product in the market he pays rent of land, wages to labour, interest on capital and what remains is his profit. He shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield."
1934: Schumpeter: " Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services."
1961: David McClleland: "An entrepreneur is a person with a high need for achievement . He is energetic and a moderate risk taker. "
1964: Peter Drucker: "An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to it and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource."
1971: Kilby: Emphasizes the role of an imitator entrepreneur who does not innovate but imitates technologies innovated by others. Are very important in developing economies.
1975: Albert Shapero: "Entrepreneurs take initiative, accept risk of failure and have an internal locus of control."
1983: G. Pinchot: Intrapreneur is an entrepreneur within an already established organization.

As the concept and practice of entrepreneurship became appreciated, it has been applied to various endeavors that have given birth to different kinds of entrepreneurs, some of which are not associated in building business enterprises or making profits. These are - Social Entrepreneurs and Cooperative Entrepreneurs.

Those who continuously come up with new ideas and create new businesses are called Serial Entrepreneurs.

Those who create a business using their existing skill or what they are passionate about are called Lifestyle Entrepreneurs.

I will be writing about these different types of Entrepreneurs in future blog posts.

The identity of the modern entrepreneur is still evolving. Especially because of the rapid development of technology that has given birth to hundreds of new enterprises everyday, the entrepreneur is very much anyone who embodies the passion for innovation, risk-taking, change and new ideas.

With this blog, BACON & POTATOES, we hope that we can decipher the myth and magic of what makes a true Entrepreneur. And in the process help those of us who aspire to build, create, innovate and change the world. 

(Image from: http://postmasculine.com/first-time-entrepreneur )