Course Title: Entrep 1

Course Description: Entrepreneurship

4th Quarter Modular Learning Guide 1

Expected Time Completion: 20 hours

Topic # 3: Opportunity Seeking, Screening, and Seizing

A. Learning Outcome
a. Discuss the Opportunity Seeking, Screening, And Seizing
b. Understand the Opportunity Seeking, Screening, and Seizing
c. Create a video that reflects opportunity seeking, screening, and seizing

B. Learning Content:

I. Opportunity Seeking

Entrepreneurs are innovative opportunity seekers. They have endless curiosity to

discover new and different ideas and see whether these ideas will work in the marketplace.
This is what separates entrepreneurs from the ordinary businessman whose main objective is
simply to earn profits to the producing, buying, and selling goods.

Entrepreneurs create value by introducing new products or service or finding better

ways of making them. These may include innovation in terms of product design or addition
of new product features to existing ones. They may also tinker on improving their operational
capability by employing new technologies that will bring them greater efficiency, better
economies, and even enable them to reach unparalleled superiority.

Entrepreneurial Mind Frame, Heart Flame, and Gut Game

The entrepreneurial mind frame allows the entrepreneur to see things in a very positive
and optimistic light in the midst of crisis or difficult situations. Instead of being discouraged,
the entrepreneur is able to use these problematic situations as inspiration in creating
something innovative.

If there is one commonality between an inventor and an entrepreneur, it is their

surging passion or the entrepreneurial heart flame. Driven by passion, they are drawn to find
fulfillment in the act and process of discovery. Passion is that great desire to attain a vision or
fulfill a mission. It is about wanting something so much that a person would be willing to
totally devote one’s self to the quest. Despite several setbacks or disappointments, the
entrepreneur is not easily disheartened, but is rather driven to persevere even more.

The final ingredient is the entrepreneurial gut game. This refers to the ability of the
entrepreneur to sense without using the five senses. This is also known as intuition somehow,
the entrepreneur just knows whether something will work or not without necessitating logical,
systematic, and sequential thinking. The gut game also connotes courage or, in local
dialect, “lakas ng loob”. It is simply confidence in one’s self and the firm belief that
everything is within reach so long as you aspire for it.

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THE MANY SOURCES OF OPPORTUNITIES

There are many ways to uncover or discover opportunities. Some have to do with
looking at the big picture and noticing emerging treads and patterns. Others have to do
with finding out what specific customers segments are being targeted in the marketplace.
Still, others come from new technologies and new knowledge. These different sources of
opportunity are discussed in this lesson.

Macro Environmental Sources of Opportunities

The macro environment refers to the “big or macro forces” that affect the area, the
industry, and the market, which the enterprise belongs to. They influence how business
should be conducted, how consumers will behave, how supply and demand will move how
different competitors would position themselves, and how the cost of doing business will
proceed.

Types of Macro Environmental sources

2. Socio- Cultural Environment

3. Political Environment
4. Economic Environment
5. Ecological Environment
6. Technological environment

Industry Sources of Opportunities

After the macro environment, the next biggest sources of opportunities are the industry
and the market. One of the most difficult aspects about industry analysis is defining what
constitutes an industry in the first place. The proper classification of what industry of
enterprise is competing in is important of the entrepreneur’s intention is to define who are the
relevant costumers, who are direct and indirect competitors and what are the critical
characteristics of the market as to quality of products or services to be delivered.

Participants in an industry include:

1. Rival competitors in a particular type of business.

2. Suppliers of input to rivals as well as suppliers of machinery and
equipment, suppliers of manpower and expertise, and suppliers of
merchandise.
3. Consumers market segments being served by rivals of competitors
4. Substitute products or services.
5. All other support and enabling industries

Market source of opportunities

A marketing opportunity is a sales-accepted lead that has been qualified as being in

need of your product or service. A sales representative determines that there is an
opportunity to sell to this individual or company. Typically, the sales rep must determine that
the prospect has the budget, need, and authority to buy our product.

Eight Analysis Types to Identify Market Opportunities

1. Consumer segmentation 6. Analysis of other industries
2. Purchase situation analysis 7. Foreign markets analysis
3. Direct competition analysis 8. Environment analysis
4. Indirect competition analysis
5. Analysis of complementary
products and services

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Micromarket
` Micromarketing is an approach to advertising that tends to target a specific
group of people in a niche market. With micromarketing, products or services are
marketed directly to a targeted group of customers.

To make use of micromarketing techniques, a company has to narrowly define an

audience by a particular characteristic, such as gender, job title, age, or geography,
and then create campaigns geared toward that specific group. It can be a more
expensive technique than other approaches to marketing due to customization and
lack of an economy of scale.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Micromarketing is an advertising strategy that allows a corporation to target a niche
group with a particular product or service.
With micromarketing, a company defines an audience by a specific trait, such as
gender or job title or age range, and then creates campaigns geared toward that
specific group.
A company's ultimate goal in micromarketing is to communicate to a targeted group
of consumers and get them to take action, such as buying a good or service.
Understanding Micromarketing
Marketing is crucial for businesses operating in a competitive environment. As a
strategy, marketing is used by companies to increase their sales, customer base, brand
awareness, and ultimately, profits.

The long-term strength of any business depends upon how successful its marketing
campaign is. Whether a company offers one or 101 products, it must identify its target
market in order to run an effective marketing campaign. In the past, companies ran
mass marketing campaigns through TV or radio ads in the hopes of catching the
attention of consumers in target markets. Today, businesses are able to offer more
personalized marketing schemes to each individual in their target pool, as opposed to
hitting a mass audience at once.

Micromarketing became more common in the 1990s, as the personal computer boom
meant easier segmentation and dissemination of information to customers. With technology
constantly advancing, the delivery of highly-customized products to individual segments of a
population has become easier to deliver. Micromarketing strategy is useful for firms of any
size. Large firms can create specific segments within their customer base, while small
businesses with smaller advertising budgets prefer to match consumers with targeted
products and promotions by personalizing their marketing process.

Consumer preferences, piques, and perceptions can be sources of opportunities.

Consumer preferences refer to the tastes of particular groups of people. Some

examples are the clothes people wear, the food they eat, the music they listen to, and the
movies they watch. The consumers’ age, culture, and status affect their preferences. In
contrast, consumer dislikes refer to the things that irritate customers. Either way, the
entrepreneur can explore opportunities brought about by consumer preferences or dislikes.

For example, if consumer trends show a rising preference for “fast casual” dining, then
this would be an opportunity worth exploring. If customers show great annoyance at
standing in long queues in fast food outlets, then sit-down “fast casual” dining could be a
great opportunity. There are times when the product is not changed by the enterprise but
what changes is the way consumers perceive the product. A classic example is Listerine
mouthwash. It was first offered as a surgical antiseptic and, later, a cure for athlete’s foot
during the war.

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Because of the many choices that customers have to struggle with every day, a product or
service must be able to win the battle for the customer’s mind. First, awareness of the new
product or service must be generated. This is followed by arousing the customers’ interest to
buy, going to the evaluation of the product, and finally, the decision to purchase the
product. After a customer purchased the product, there is a need to build brand loyalty and
retain the customer for a long time to get a bigger share of his or her wallet, not just his or her
mind.

II. Opportunity screening

Personal screen

In screening opportunities, the entrepreneur first has to consider his or her preferences
and capabilities by asking three basic questions

1. Do I have the drive to pursue this business opportunity to the end?

2. Will I spend all the time, effort, and money to make the business opportunity work?
3. Will I sacrifice my existence lifestyle, endure emotional hardship, and forego my usual
comforts to succeed in this business opportunity?

The 12 R of opportunity screening

1. Relevance- Opportunity must be aligned with what u have as your personal

vision, mission, and objectives for the enterprise you want to set up
2. Resonance- Must match the values and desired virtues that you have or wish to
impart
3. Reinforcement of Entrepreneurial Interests- The opportunity resonates with the
entrepreneurs interests, skills
4. Revenues- ales opportunity; big enough market to nurture growth
5. Responsiveness- Addresses the unfulfilled or underserved needs and wants of
customers, then you have a better chance of succeeding
6. Reach- Expansions: branches, distributorships, dealerships, or franchise outlets in
order to attain rapid growth.
7. Range- Tapping many market segments of the industry, Wide range of products
and services
8. Revolutionary Impact- “next big thing", "game changer"
9. Returns- The opportunity is the next big thing
10. Relative ease of implementation- will there be a lot of obstacles and
competency gaps to overcome.
11. Resources required- opportunity requiring fewer resources from the
entrepreneur.
12. Risks- there will always be a risk in every opportunities.

The Pre-feasibility study

Pre-feasibility study is a preliminary study undertaken to determine, analyze, and select

the best business scenarios. In this study, we assume we have more than one business
scenarios, then we want to know which one is the best, both technically and financially. In
pre-feasibility we select the best idea among several ideas. It will be hard and takes time if
we explore each scenario deeply. Therefore, shortcut method deem acceptable in this early
stage and can be used to determine minor components of investment and production cost.

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Market potential and prospects:

Market potential is the valuation of the sales revenue from all the supplying channels in
a market. Market potential is the population that is interested in the product/ service that is
being made or offered by an organization. In other words, market potential is the potential
money making capability of a firm if it capitalizes all advantages and everything goes its
way.

Importance of Market Potential

It is very important for a new business to know and determine the market potential of the
product of service being offered. If the market potential is very low then there is no point
spending a lot of money on the product. One of the most important aspects of market
potential is the amount of business a product can generate in future as compared to today.
Companies can also evaluate the market share of companies in the market. The most
relevant question is the target market growing for the offering. Market potential helps
business plan better and launch their products and services with better preparation.
Depending upon the overall market potential, companies can identify the sales potential, or
the amount of sales they would be doing in that identified market.

Determination of Market Potential

It is a subset of the total population, where market potential is the population, all of whom
can be potential consumers of the product or service. Market potential is the maximum
population which would be interested in the product / service, and gives a good insight on
the growth possibility as well.

Factors for calculating Market Potential

There are various factors which are important for knowing the actual market potential:

1. Total Size of the Market: This means the total value of customers or clients for the particular
offering. Higher the number better it is.

2. Return on Investment: This would mean is the market profitable to invest in? A market
which would give a good return on the costs incurred would only lead to good business
today as well as in future.

3. Growth Rate of the Market: A target market may be good today in terms of size and ROI
but is it going to be rising in future as well? Hence the growth rate and trends are very
important for determining the market potential

4. Category Competition: How many and how big are the competitors for our
product/service?

5. Entry Barriers: Are there any real barriers to entry into the existing market? e.g. Very high
license cost can be an issue

6. Political Environment: In international markets, the political environment forms a very

important factor in determining the market potential.

7. Internal Environment: Overall the market potential may be very good but the question
arises that are we strong enough to compete in the market with suitable offering, cost, and
competition.

Total market potential can be calculated in terms of units or money.

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Segmenting the Market

Market segmentation is the research that determines how your organization divides its
customers or cohort into smaller groups based on characteristics such as, age, income,
personality traits or behavior. These segments can later be used to optimize products and
advertising to different customers.

Types of Market Segmentation

With segmentation and targeting, you want to understand how your market will respond
in a given situation, like purchasing your products. In many cases, a predictive model may
be incorporated into the study so that individuals can be grouped within identified segments
based on specific answers to survey questions.

1. Geographic Segmentation

While typically a subset of demographics, geographic segmentation is typically the

easiest. Geographic segmentation creates different target customer groups based on
geographical boundaries. Because potential customers have needs, preferences, and
interests that differ according to their geographies, understanding the climates and
geographic regions of customer groups can help determine where to sell and advertise, as
well as where to expand your business.

2. Demographic Segmentation

Demographic segmentation sorts a market by demographic elements such as age,

education, income, family size, race, gender, occupation, nationality, and more.
Demographic segmentation is one of the simplest and most commonly used forms of
segmentation because the products and services we buy, how we use those products, and
how much we are willing to spend on them is most often based on demographic factors.

3. Firmographic Segmentation

Firmographic segmentation is similar to demographic segmentation. The difference is that

demographics look at individuals while firmographics look at organizations. Firmographic
segmentation would take into consideration things like company size, number of employees
and would illustrate how addressing a small business would differ from addressing an
enterprise corporation.

4. Behavioral Segmentation

Behavioral segmentation divides markets by behaviors and decision-making patterns

such as purchase, consumption, lifestyle, and usage. For instance, younger buyers may tend
to purchase body wash, while older consumer groups may lean towards soap bars.
Segmenting markets based off purchase behaviors enables marketers to develop a more
targeted approach.

5, Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation takes into account the psychological aspects of consumer

behavior by dividing markets according to lifestyle, personality traits, values, opinions, and
interests of consumers. Large markets like the fitness market use psychographic
segmentation when they sort their customers into categories of people who care about
healthy living and exercise.

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 III. Opportunity Seizing

If you have been considering starting a business of your own, the only thing that can
stop you is your own reluctance to leave the comfort of working for someone else. There are
many needs in the world and filling them is primarily a matter of building systems and hiring
people who will solve problems with consistency and resourcefulness. There is no such thing
as a person who cannot be an entrepreneur if they set their mind to it. Even if an
entrepreneur fails, it can be taken as a lesson for the next great endeavor.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Some people have the belief that entrepreneurs are somehow special. While there is
nothing inherently superior about entrepreneurs versus people who spend their whole lives
working for someone else, there are certainly differences between the mindset of an
entrepreneur and an employee.

Who are entrepreneurs? In the 20th century, there has been a lot of research on how
entrepreneurs think and are driven to act. Researchers such as Joseph Schumpeter, Frank
Knight and Peter Drucker have observed many key traits among entrepreneurs. The following
are attributes associated with entrepreneurs:

Focus on innovation and opportunity. Entrepreneurs try to build new organizations,

either to meet untapped opportunities or to apply innovation to do something in a new way.
Entrepreneurs are the people who see a need and instinctively begin to brainstorm how to fill
that need.

Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty. If entrepreneurs waited for all questions
about their venture to be answered they would never begin. Instead, they get started with
many of the details left undetermined. Many entrepreneurs rush product to market as a kind
of experiment to see what consumers are willing to pay for or use.

Discipline and drive. Many problems and challenges will arise when creating a new
organization. Entrepreneurs need to be tenacious to overcome those problems. They must
also have the discipline to work for themselves, independently and unsupervised. This
freedom to procrastinate is a key difference between most employees and entrepreneurs,
and successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs need to be disciplined to avoid procrastination.
Entrepreneurs tend to be very driven self-starters who do not allow problems to stop their
quest to accomplish something that is important to them. Entrepreneurs are also extremely
passionate individuals who strive to create something that no one has ever seen before from
a point where there was nothing. Even if the path toward filling the need will be difficult and
the world will tell them that they are crazy, entrepreneurs will persevere and push through to
accomplish the goal and create the fulfillment of the need they perceive.

Entrepreneurs do not fear failure. Entrepreneurs will never accomplish anything if they aren’t
willing to risk failure. In general, a willingness to take risk is a hallmark of people who launch
new ventures. Instead of seeing the risks and being afraid of them as most people are,
entrepreneurs see the opportunities and work to capitalize on them.

Salesmanship and leadership. An entrepreneur needs to be able to sell her product and
convince other stakeholders to work with her. Lenders, investors, suppliers and employees will
all need to be convinced to work with the new venture.

5 reasons why you should seize opportunities

1: Opportunities come and go

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When an opportunity presents itself, knowing that it may not come back helps you stay
vigilant and aware. You need to continually be on the lookout for great opportunities that
you want to take advantage of.

Are you looking out for opportunities in your personal and professional life?

Are you pursuing the opportunities that present themselves?

2: You will look back and appreciate them

Think back on those times when you went out of your comfort zone and pursued an
opportunity. I am so proud of the opportunities I have seized on my journey. Especially the
ones that I had to find for myself.

What opportunities have you seized that have been worth it?

What made these opportunities special to you?

3: You are stretching yourself and growing

Part of having a growth mindset is to believe that learning is crucial. Those times when you
don't feel 100% confident that you can do something, but you still go out and seize the
opportunity are very rewarding.

What lessons have you learned from the opportunities you took advantage of?

What new skillsets are you looking to develop?

4: You develop the skills of identifying excellent opportunities for yourself

When you get into the habit of pursuing the opportunities you want, you develop an eye for
it. You spend a lot of time thinking about what you want and how you can get what you
want.

What are your selection criteria for new opportunities you want to pursue?

What did you learn about yourself?

5: You are setting a good example

Every day, I remind myself that my actions are bigger than me and serve as my legacy.
There are many lessons that I would like to pass to the next generation, and this is one of
them. Don't wait for things to happen to you; pursue what you want.

C. Learning Activities:

Acitivty 1: Essay: answer the following in 3-5 sentences.

1. What are the major opportunity treats in the industry, macro environment, market
and Micromarket that we are facing today? Give 5 and explain. And what
businesses are affected in these opportunity treats?
2. What are the interconnections of entrepreneurial mind frame, heart flame, and gut
game?
3. What are the major opportunities that are blooming in this pandemic? Give at least
3 opportunities and explain why it is blooming.

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 Activity 2: create a 2-3 minute video about 1 of your favorite product (eg. Food,
cosmetics, or any product you want), include in your video improvements that you
want to make in your favorite products and how you can achieve those
improvements.

D. Resources

https://blog.euromonitor.com/8-ways-identify-market-opportunities-business-
growth/#:~:text=Consumer%20segmentation%2C%20purchasing%20decisions%2C%20
direct,organization%20identify%20new%20market%20opportunities.

https://prezi.com/bj3y99q-jyuo/chapter-2-opportunity-seeking-screening-and-seizing/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/micromarketing.asp

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281416

https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/marketing-and-strategy-terms/3939-
market-potential.html

https://www.qualtrics.com/au/experience-management/brand/what-is-market-
segmentation/

http://globalfinanceschool.com/book/introduction-management/seizing-opportunity

E. References:

Entrepreneurship by Cristina B. Banastao and Solita A. Frias

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