Improving Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition through Web Content Analytics

Abstract

The ability to recognize and develop an opportunity into a venture defines an entrepreneur. Factors such as prior knowledge, cognitive and creative capabilities are shown to affect opportunity recognition in entrepreneurs. Research also shows that experienced entrepreneurs search and scan for information to discover opportunities. Searching and scanning for information mediate the effect of prior knowledge on novice entrepreneurs and enable them to better identify and recognize opportunities even when lacking knowledge and experience. There is less focus in research on finding empirically proven techniques and methods to develop and enhance opportunity recognition in student entrepreneurs. The lack of knowledge has been linked to more likelihood of business failures. This study aims to develop a model for opportunity recognition by using web content mining for student entrepreneurs to better identify and recognize business opportunities. The model will be evaluated through qualitative and quantitative methods. A prototype of the model is planned to be built to evaluate the efficacy and usefulness of the model. This model is expected to enable graduate entrepreneurs to generate more business ideas that are more innovative and viable.