How entrepreneurs turn the possible into the real—and sometimes change the world

Abstract

The words possibility and opportunity are often viewed as synonyms. In the field of entrepreneurship, though, they have different meanings. Possibilities refer to what might be in the future but does not now exist. Opportunities refer to possibilities that can be developed into something real—new products, services, processes. Entrepreneurs evaluate opportunities in terms of their feasibility, potential for development, and whether people will want and use them if available; they then attempt to choose the ones highest on these dimensions. Several factors play a role in entrepreneurs’ success in identifying potentially valuable opportunities, including the findings of relevant research, entrepreneurs’ active search for opportunities, recognition of patterns among apparently unrelated factors, and in some instances, chance. When successful in creating something new and better than what currently exists, entrepreneurs can change human life and—sometimes—the world around us.