Opportunity Seeking, Seizing and Screening Flashcards
The process of evaluating and filtering potential business ideas based on their feasibility, desirability, and viability.
Opportunity Screening
It is a crucial step for entrepreneurs who want to avoid wasting time and resources on unprofitable or unrealistic ventures.
Opportunity Screening
Because of many opportunities possible for the entrepreneur, it is important to come up with a short list of a few very promising opportunities which could be scrutinized in detail.
Personal Screening
Five Basic Questions
1. Do I have the ____ to take on this opportunity and make it viable?
2. Do I have the ___ to pursue this business to end?
3. Will I spend _____ to make this business opportunity work?
4. Will I sacrifice ___ , endure ____, and forgo my ____ to succeed in this business opportunity?
5. Do I have the ____ or can I muster the _____ to start and grow this opportunity?
- competency
- drive
- all my time, effort, money
- my existing lifestyle, emotional hardship, usual comforts
- resources
The 12 R’s of Opportunity Screening
- Relevance
- Resonance
- Reinforcement
- Revenues
- Responsiveness
- Reach
- Range
- Revolutionary Impact
- Returns
- Relative Ease
- Resources Required
- Risks
Opportunity must be aligned with what the entrepreneur has as his or her personal vision, mission, and objectives for the enterprise being set up.
Relevance
Other than vision, mission, and objectives, the opportunity must match the values and desired virtues that you have or wish to impart.
Resonance
How does the opportunity resonate with the entrepreneur’s personal interests, talents, and skills?
Reinforcement
In any entrepreneurial endeavor, it is important to determine the sales potential of the products or services you want to offer. Is there a big enough market out there to grab and nurture for growth?
Revenues
If the opportunity that you want to pursue addresses the unfulfilled or underserved needs and wants of customers, then you have a better chance of succeeding because you are responding to a very promising customer need or want.
Responsiveness
Opportunities that have good chances of expanding area-wise to other locations through branches, distributorships, dealerships, and franchise outlets in order to attain rapid growth are better opportunities.
Reach
An opportunity can potentially lead to a wide range of possible product or service offerings, thus tapping any market segments of the industry. Does the opportunity have this range of segment possibilities?
Range
if you think that the opportunity will most likely be the “next big thing” or even a game changer that will revolutionize the industry, then there is a big potential for chosen opportunity.
Revolutionary Impact
It is a fact that products with low costs of production and operations but are sold at higher prices will definitely yield the highest returns on investments. Returns can also be intangible, meaning, they comes in the form of high-profile recognition or image projection.
Returns
Will the opportunity be relatively easy to implement for the entrepreneur or will there be a lot of obstacles and competency gaps to overcome?
Relative Ease
Opportunities requiring fewer resources from the entrepreneur may be more favored than those requiring more resources.
Resources Required
In an entrepreneurial endeavor, there will always be risks. However, some opportunities carry more risks than others, such as those with high technological, market, financial, and people risk.
Risks
Where to locate the business
How to market the product or service
Able to determine the critical success factors
Be vigilant about the factors
Opportunity Seizing
Refers to a brief description of a product or service offered or service catered by the business and specifically how such a product or service answers the compelling need of the target market.
Position Statement
Purpose of Position Statement
Its main purpose is to introduce the product or service to the customers and align the branding efforts with the brand and its value proposition.
- _______
Is broader in nature and is direct output of a business strategy. It refers to the bigger picture that includes all the core benefits offered to various market segments and the price that a customer pays to acquire those benefits. - _____
Is more specific and technically deals with a subset of the value proposition. It is oftentimes used in marketing programs and activities of the entrepreneur.
- Value Proposition
- Position Statement
- The entrepreneur is advised to look at other competitors or substitutes in the marketplace.
- These competitors will be offering products with features and attributes that deliver different benefits to the customers.
- Customer profiling will come into the picture - the benefits they desire, their expectations, their characteristics, and traits, behavior and usage patterns, preferences, and dislikes.
Crafting a Position Paper
Key points in going about the “questioning”
What are the main customer segments?
What are their benefits and expectations?
What are the different product attributes and features of each of the competitors and what benefits do they provide for their customers?
What are the existing marketing practices of the various competitors?
- Keep it short
- Make it unique and remarkable
- Stick to the core values
Writing a Business Position Statement
