Harvard Business school professor Nancy F Koehn said:

Entrepreneurs look for new possibilities and new markets, should think about 3 or 4 things:

1. Look around you, the social, culture and economic environment, what people do you know care about, what do you feel when you walk on street, what happening in term of where people are going in their lives, understand the broad stage on which consumers act.

2. Look for something, a product, a service , a combination of both you were passionate about, did it really pull your heart strings. follow your passion that would lead to your success.

3. Choice the people that you are going to work with very carefully, the people that you brainstorm with , the people you toss ideas around with, those early disciples, early team mates, those early creators would be very important to you in help you build your wings, and help you get your idea off the ground

4. Believe in yourself, a idea has to come out of ethers, from nowhere, become a something, a product, a service, a company, a market, to do that, you are going to need conviction, confidence, and a lot of believes in what you can do.

Professor Koehn has ensured my idea of starting a chocolatebusiness in China.

China is in its rapidly developing stage, as China's economic booming, new things from all over the world flood into China, western culture has greatly affected Chinese's life style. One of them is confectionery culture.

Compare with chocolate's annual consumption of 22.36lbs per capita in the #1 chocolate loving country Switzerland, and 11.64lbs per capita per year in the united states(rank in #11), China's chocolate consumption per capita is only 100 gram per year. But the coming five to 10 years will see steady growth of 10-15% of chocolate consumption in China. High-end chocolates are expected to see the fastest growth in the next few years, which is also in line with the global trend. Imaging with 1.3B population, if chocolate consumption increases to 2kg per capita per year, China would be the second largest chocolate market in the world, such a great market potential.

Chocolate market in China should be targeted at consumers between age 15 - 45. Most powerful purchases come from young urban professionals. They follow fashionable life style, buy fine quality goods and strive for high social status. They are the frequent consumers buy chocolate at least once a week, and 52.4 percent of chocolate consumed in the Chinese market was used as gifts. The most popular flavor is milk chocolate, then praline chocolate and dark chocolate. The #1 fact that encourage a purchase is the taste of the chocolates; then nice packaging or wrapping; create meaning/stories for your chocolate would be another strategy to attract more younger buyers; of cause, occasion is also a good time to sell.

If you see what I can see, please feedback.