Entrepreneurial information channels for early stage opportunity discovery : Empirical study of SMEs

Information channels are transfer media providing relevant information for discovering opportunities to entrepreneurs. In general, information channels have been researched in the context of entrepreneurial social network or strategic planning. However, research has neglected to investigate via which information channels entrepreneurs actually discover opportunities. Therefore, we analyze information channels of 61 opportunities. For this reason, we interview 16 small and medium-sized business owners in a semi structured manner in order to classify information channels used to discover these 61 opportunities. Regarding channel selection, our findings reveal some of the information channels discussed in the social network or strategic planning literature to be of relevance for opportunity recognition, too. Additionally, we find some channels not being discussed in current literature. Furthermore, we show some of the relevant information channels for opportunity discovery in the context of research about new ventures to be of less relevance when it comes to opportunity recognition in established organizations.