LESSON PROPER/COURSE METHODOLOGY

Opportunity to Start an Enterprise

A business opportunity is a comprehensive business investment that allows
many people to begin their business. In general, the term opportunity implies a good
chance or a favorable situation to do something offered by circumstances. In the same
vein, business opportunity means a fair or favorable change available to run a specific
business in each environment at a given point in time. Even before the pandemic that
forces people to stay home, the current trend is online selling or retailing. There is an
increase in retailers (whether online or not) because people need to gain income. They
grabbed the opportunity to start an enterprise to provide the increasing demands of
consumers. A business opportunity is a process wherein individuals and organizations
perceive opportunities for new products and services. It could be likened to a constant
state of brainstorming, where businesses are always on the lookout for ways to
innovate or improve. Furthermore, in some cases, there is no relationship between the
customer and the seller after the transaction and the exchanges of goods and services.
In this topic, there are four qualities that every opportunity needs to have:

1. Attractive – the opportunity must be attractive in the marketplace; there must

be market demand for a new product. Or service.
2. Achievable – the opportunity must be practical and physically possible.
3. Durable – the opportunity must long enough for development and
deployment to be successful.
4. Value creating – the opportunity must be potentially profitable.

Opportunity is defined as a situation that involves changes in the body of

knowledge, social, economic, political, and cultural conditions. It is a condition that
creates a need for new technology, goods and services.

Three Ways to Identify an Opportunity

1. Observing Trends
2. Solving a Problem
3. Finding Gaps in the Market place

1
 First Approach: Observing Trends. The four important trends in business, such as
the Economic forces, Technological advances, Social forces, and Political action and
regulatory change, create opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Figure 1 Observing Trends

1. Economic Forces are significant in many businesses nowadays. For instance, you are
part of a community that the source of income is from foreign remittances, meaning
from middle to upper-middle class in terms of economic status. Most of them probably
prefer to stay home and avail of online goods and services since they can afford extra
fees. Offering services like deliveries of foods and any household essentials can be
an opportunity you can grab.
2. Social trends provide opportunities for newly formed companies that affect how
enterprises behave and set their goals and objectives. In fact, many Filipinos are
influenced so much by K-pop or Korean lifestyle from
telenovelas, songs, and foods. Many themed restaurants cater Korean dishes
like ‘Samgyeopsal’ – a Korean comfort food with grilled pork or any meat, kimchi, and
lettuce, and a variety of side dishes. Such a trend can bring a business opportunity to
accommodate and satisfy consumers' cravings on Korean dishes. Now that we are in
Community Quarantine, what is 'in' or trending that people crave? Your answer is a
business opportunity base on social forces.
3. Advancement in technology frequently creates business opportunities. You can look
at the lives of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Jack Ma. These business tycoons used
technology to create an empire of business. Remember that they all start from humble
beginnings.
2
4. Political action and regulatory changes also provide the basis for opportunities. For
instance, various laws and programs have created entrepreneurs' opportunities to help
other firms comply with environmental rules and regulations. The law to wear a mask
every time you go outside to avoid further spreading the Covid-19 gives way too many
online retailers to sell the product in different variations.

Second Approach: A second approach in identifying business opportunities is to

notice a problem and finding a way to solve it.

Third Approach: A third approach in identifying business opportunities is to find a gap

in the marketplace.

Generating Ideas
We love the idea of being the boss of our own. We do not know what to do first
or how we can start. Most of the time, we feel that we are incapacitated in terms of
money and time. We are afraid of so many 'what ifs.' We fear taking the risk. A
business Idea is a business concept that results in profit if it is turned into a tangible
product or service. At this stage, we should create a mindset that we need to enjoy
exploring the limitless possibilities and go with the flow to where your open mind will
take you. Start with brainstorming. Generate as many ideas as possible. Be creative,
freewheeling, and imaginative. Build upon piggyback, extend, or combine earlier
ideas. Withhold criticism of others’ ideas. There is no limit in thinking even how
improbable it may sound. Only imagination is the limit in brainstorming.

Then, decide which ideas to pursue and which to discard. Consider which
idea(s): What is the best product or service that meets customers' needs? Based on
your initial forecast, which will generate the highest profit and best fits the business's
goals? Consider also if it is technically feasible. Lastly, investigate the level of
competition in the marketplace of your product or services.

The Screening Process

Once you have the business ideas, the next move is to choose which of these
ideas you will pursue. Many individuals who want to create an enterprise already have

3
 an idea of the business they want to establish. It will make sense for any aspiring
entrepreneur to pick the right choices carefully. After all, you will be investing much
money to start your business. In light of that, your objective is to develop a decision
that will match your skills, abilities, talents, strengths, and experiences. Additionally,
limit your ideas to five options with the highest remarks in your checklist. The screening
will narrow the five choices to three that will meet your skills, abilities, talents,
strengths, and business goals. In this screening, you need to find out how profitable
the business will be. This requires you to do some business analyses. Doing so will
help you evaluate the chances for survival and eventual growth of your prospective
business. Look at each of the remaining choices of business ideas along with the four
functional areas which includes the following:
• Market Assessment.
• Technical Assessment
• Organizational Assessment.
• Financial Assessment.

Resource Analysis
There are many buyers and sellers in the market, which leads to greater
competition among businesses. Additionally, this is the most formidable challenge you
will encounter in the process of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Therefore, you
must analyze and deeply understand the available resources before you start your
business.
Regardless of the manner that you will start a business (an entirely independent
company, an existing one, or a franchise) and type of activity (manufacturing, service,
or trading) that you will go into, you will need money to put up a business and keep it
going at least until the company starts to generate revenues. Your next move is to find
out how much you will need. There is nothing like doing your homework and being
prepared. You will need to come out with a document that will guide you in setting up
your business. This document is known as a business plan.

Environmental Analysis
Environmental analysis is a process that identifies all the external and internal
components, which can affect the performance of an organization. In starting a

4
 business, you need to consider environmental factors that will affect your marketing.
These are factors that will influence both products and consumers. It is always better
to consider their overall situation before starting your business, even how small it may
be:
• Political Factors affect the current political situation. Some questions would be
associated with this factor, including "What kind of government leadership
is impacting the firm's decisions?" or Will government policy influence laws regulating
taxes?
• Economic factors. Businesses must understand this factor based on the
environment. You need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and
long term. Consider the inflation rate, the workforce's skill level, and labor cost; interest
rates because bank policies can influence your business, credit accessibility, and
inflation rate are some economics aspects to consider.
• Socio-cultural factors vary from country to country. It is essential to consider
socio-cultural factors. As a matter of fact, it might ultimately affect the sales of any
business. Some of the social factors are the distribution of wealth, educational levels,
the domestic structures, the social lifestyles, gender and connecter demographics, and
the cultural implications.
• Technology is vital for competitive advantage and advancing continuously.
The advancement is greatly influencing businesses. Performing environmental
analysis on these factors will help you stay up to date with the changes. Technology
alters every minute. Therefore, companies must stay connected all the time. Firms
should integrate when needed. Technological factors will help you know how
consumers react to various trends.

Personal Value Analysis

Do what you enjoy! It will surely help you if you possess sturdy technology skills
or have experience in a vital area. However, these are not the things that define the
characteristic attributes of entrepreneurship. Instead, the key qualities are
characteristics like creativity, the power of imagination, the capacity to continue even
with hardship, and the social aptitudes needed to make great teams. To the poor
person, a rich person is fortunate. For the poor, rich are fortunate; for the rich, poor
are apathetic. Nevertheless, all around the world, each individual share one key issue

5
in common: It is called life.

It is needless to mention that life is precious, yet it is a matter of absolute

disgrace that many people waste it all away. Things like fortune or perhaps intelligence
takes no part in your success, though many persons still believe in the false belief
wholeheartedly. You do not need to be born rich or have plenty of extraordinary things
or resources. So, if you want to know how to become successful entrepreneurs, then
the answer is, all that is required is YOU, to be breathing normally.

The first requirement for success is enjoying your work. What you get from your
business in the form of personal satisfaction, enjoyment will be the sum of what you
put into your business. If you do not love your work or business, you will experience
any problem with your success sooner or later. Always remember, you are the biggest
obstacle to your success. It will not let you achieve your dreams and goals. So, do
what you enjoy.

Product Innovation
The word innovation has now become popular among managers. The
watchword for management now is "innovate or die." This means that a company that
fails to innovate its product will ultimately die. The cycle of business or product should
be specific; it starts with an introduction where the product is introduced to the
consumer. At the beginning of the business, new products' production cost is usually
high because it involves constant and intense promotion. If a product survives the
introductory stage, it moves into the growth stage of the life cycle. This stage starts
with the acceptance of the product in the market. The first symptom of the growth
stage's appearance is, therefore, a rapid increase in the sales volume. Due to the
improvement in sales volume, some of the costs will now be absorbed, so there will
be a profit. This is equally noted by competing firms, who will quickly come up with
identical products. It is significant to mention that product innovation w i l l be necessary
at this stage of the product's life cycle. The innovation could be partial innovation
or total innovation. This is because consumers always want "new" products because
they feel the quality of the "new" product will be better than the already existing one.
The third stage is Maturity: The emergency of this stage is usually accompanied by an

6
 increase in sales and profit but at a decreasing rate. Most products that exist today
are in the maturity stage. Usually, this is the longest stage of the cycle, competitive
activities are now at its tightest, and many rival companies are now seriously
competing for the market. Some emulators may be coming up with an inferior version
of the product to enable them to penetrate the market. Promotional activities are very
moderate since the brand is already established in the market. Advertising efforts will
be directed towards reminding the consumers about the product's existence and
potentials in the market. The last stage of the business or product cycle is Decline: A
continuous decrease in profits and sales are the two major symptoms of this stage's
appearance in the product life cycle. Since the product is making minimal or no
contribution to profit, weak competing firms will be forced to leave the market.
Therefore, very few firms will be left in the market. The decline rate is governed by
how rapidly consumers' taste change and/or substitute products are adopted. The
rapid decreases in sales will push the cost up, thereby eliminating profits either entirely
or into a shallow level. It is significant to consider that not all products face an inevitable
death as they move along the life cycle. Sometimes they can be given new life through
repositioning, product modification, or product innovations.

Nowadays, product innovation has been the most powerful tool for keeping the
company aligned with business and market trends. Being innovative is considered as
an effective strategy for many businesses. Generally speaking, a product cannot
satisfy the consumers for an extended time. Thus, a firm has to modify its existing
products or introduce new ones to survive in a competitive market. This is known as

INNOVATION.
There are three categories of a product to be called 'new.'
a. The product should be innovated (new-to-the-world products).
b. Replacements for existing goods or services that are significantly different from the
existing products.
c. Imitating products that are new to a company but not new to the market (me- too /new-
to-us products)
The word "new" could mean minor changes in quality, size, packaging, price,
or other product attributes. A product may be a failure in the market, probably because

7
 it has terrible packaging or quality. Hence, a good product manager will have to make
the necessary corrections if the product gains market acceptance. The necessary
corrections, which is innovation, will make the product appear seemingly new to the
consumers.
Consumer reacts to product innovation in various ways, depending on:
a. The type of product innovation that is carried out on the product and the marketing
methodology.
b. The performance of the old product and the market reputation of the product
manufacturer
c. The subsequent reactions from the competitors.

In some situations, many customers look for other products with better prices. On
the other hand, if the price is not too high, the product will surely enjoy and win the
consumers' loyalty. In addition, the quality of the product also determines the success
or failure of the business.

8
9