How does a new venture opportunity evolve? Identification of opportunity remains at the core of entrepreneurial ability. The capability of entrepreneurs to identify potential opportunities will surely affect the future development of new ventures. This forces us to think whether this
ability could be enhanced and improved through training. Up to now, there has been no definite conclusion made in this matter. This study starts by looking at entrepreneurial courses. Then, a hypothetical model of the relationship between entrepreneurship courses, entrepreneurial alertness, prior knowledge and opportunity identification is proposed. The sample is selected from participants in Taiwan’s SME Online University programme which is offered by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. After statistical analysis of the returned questionnaires, it is found that well-established entrepreneurship courses have a significant impact with regard to enhancing
opportunity identification. Moreover, during the process, entrepreneurial alertness acts as a mediator. In addition, learners possessing prior knowledge have a better chance to increase entrepreneurial alertness after taking entrepreneurial courses, thus strengthening their opportunity identification ability.