Business Opportunity Search and Identification
This article will give you an insight into why you need to search for opportunities and how to key into opportunities for start-upupsett-up, you may not have all it takes to commence. But the ability to key into opportunities around you could make your dream come true.
Opportunity refers to the extent to which possibilities for new ventures exist and the extent to which entrepreneurs have the leeway to influence their odds for success through their actions.
Simply put, the opportunity is a perceived means of generating incomes that previously have not been exploited and are not currently being exploited by others.
Opportunity identification can, in turn, be defined as the cognitive process or processes through which individuals conclude that they have identified an opportunity.
It is important to note that opportunity identification is only the initial step in a continuing process, and is distinct both from a detailed evaluation of the feasibility and potential economic value of identified opportunities and from active steps to develop them through new ventures.
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It is essentially a situation in which new goods, raw materials, markets, and organizational strategies can be introduced through the formation of new means, ends, or means-ends relationships.
The focus these days is on innovative opportunities which are the ones that truly break new grounds rather than merely expand or repeat existing business models.
Not everyone can identify opportunities. Some individuals are more likely to identify and exploit opportunities than others.
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Opportunity is a major process of self-evaluation of one’s ability to start, operate and run a business venture with the popular analysis often referred to as SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threat).
It helps to check the chances of succeeding in a particular choice of venture open to an individual through his experiences. These experiences include family, religious or professional linkages, and membership in any network group.
Searching for a business opportunity that is right for them is the major challenge would- be entrepreneurs face.
New startups always focus on introducing a new product or service based on an unmet need, select an existing product or service from one market and offer it in another where they are not available; and sometimes the firm relies on a tried and tested formula that has worked elsewhere in a franchise setup.
Business Opportunity Identification Process
It is pertinent to know how entrepreneurs identify and decide on a new business opportunity with the best chance to succeed.
The most important part of all business attempts common to most successful startups is answering an unmet need in the market.
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Customers are always interested in products that add value. They buy products needed only to satisfy some problems. There is no substitute for indulging the unmet needs of customers.
Most entrepreneurs searching for new business ideas fundamentally consider three central issues. The main one is the potential economic value. He first considers if the venture can generate profit.
The second is the newness of such a venture. He/She will prefer products, services, or technology that does not previously exist in that environment. The third is the perceived desirability whether their product has moral or legal acceptability in that environment.
He then considers if:
His final business decision idea corrects a deficiency in the market.
The resources and capability to carry out this business idea are available to him/her
The market for it is readily available and at profit sales, the new business idea can compete favorably with existing related competitors and their market.
Whether this business market is growing or not and how one should prepare to join that business.
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