Entrepreneurs and small businesses should seize the opportunity to re-evaluate themselves as a result of the recession in order to be successful in the future.

That was the message from Sonia Alleyne, editorial director of US-based magazine Black Enterprise, who was the international guest speaker at the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation's 'Discovering New Business' seminar held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess yesterday.

Ms Alleyne spoke about identifying new business opportunities for entrepreneurs and gave an insight into her experiences based largely from interviews with business people who told her their stories of how they made it to the top.

She said that today there was a big demand for entrepreneurship and people who wanted to become "game changers" in shifting the way business has been done before.

Driven by the economic crisis of 2008, individuals and businesses had been forced to change their mind set, with the ones that survived and succeeded sticking to a strong set of disciplines and those that failed going out of business, such as Lehman Brothers, while the likes of Starbucks had to lay off staff and move locations, said Ms Alleyne.

"It was an opportunity for companies to re-evaluate what they were doing and change the direction in which they were going," she said.

Ms Alleyne said that the downturn had provided the chance for small businesses and entrepreneurs particularly to take a close look at themselves and the environment they were operating in.

"If you can find the opportunity or you can see the glass half-full you are on your way to developing a very successful business," she said.

She gave a number of tips to business owners for improving themselves and taking advantage of the opportunities available, including:

• Opening up and experiencing different things in order to create new ideas.

• Thinking creatively not competitively. Instead of comparing yourself to another business, working in a brand new space to form a niche market. For example, Barack Obama's US presidential campaign to engage constituents, and small end tourism businesses joining forces to offer a holidaymakers a different experience and capture another part of the market.

• Doing market research and analysis of the nature of the business, its location and target market.

• Focusing on offering customers a unique product and service in an increasingly consumer-driven economy.

• Spending money in the right areas for the essentials and using resources effectively.

• Determining the talent you have and the talent needed in the form of people with strengths and expertise in particular areas of the business.

• Serving the market like it has never been served before.

• Bringing all of your experiences to the table but not letting a lack of experience stop you. For example, Richard Branson entering the airline industry and setting up Virgin Airlines in response to a need for better customer service.

• Embracing technology in connecting with the rest of the world and branding your business through developing content and boosting your profile by signing up to and interacting on social networking websites.

"Technology is already a 'game changer' and if you don't have a website you are already 10 steps behind," Ms Alleyne said.

She added that while humans were scientifically wired to succeed in remembering all of their triumphs, it was important to learn from your failures in order to be successful in the future.

Wrapping up her speech, Ms Alleyne referred to "The Godfather" as the best business book written according to one of her interviewees, regarding the five rules of Don Corleone, who surrounded himself with good advisers, knew his opponents, did his 'quid pro quo' (exchanging favours with others), never made a move before his time and never got emotional.