An Investigation of the Important Factors in Entrepreneurial Opportunity Exploration

The subject of opportunity exploration differentiates entrepreneurship from management science. Since opportunity exploration is the first and most important stage in entrepreneurship, understanding the affecting factors in all fields such as agriculture are very important. In this respect, the present study aims to introduce the identified effective factors in exploring entrepreneurial opportunities. This review paper has found out that there are two main approaches in opportunity exploration which is recognition and creation of opportunities. Findings showed that also two main factors in term of personal (prior knowledge, received self- efficacy, creativity, regular search for opportunities, motivation, and entrepreneurial alertness) and social (mentors, information flows, intellectual property, thrust, intellectual capital, social networks, and social learning) affect both approaches and process of opportunity exploration.