CHAPTER 2

OPPORTUNITY SEEKING,
SCREENING, SEIZING
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING,
SCREENING, SEIZING
OPPORTUNITY SEEKING

Entrepreneur are innovative opportunity seekers. They have

endless curiosity to discover new or different ideas whether
these ideas will work in the market place. This is what separates
entrepreneurs from the ordinary businessman whose main ob-
jective is simply to earn profits from producing, buying, and
selling goods.
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING: OPPORTUNITY SEEKING

Entrepreneurs create value by introducing new products or

services or finding better ways of making them. These may
Include innovation in terms of:

- addition of new product feature

- tinker (adjust, repair, experiment) operational capability
- consider expanding their reach by creating new markets
or maximizing existing market reach
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

Entrepreneurial Mind Frame, Heart Flame, and Gut Game

Entrepreneurial Mind Frame – allows the entrepreneur to see

things in a very positive and optimistic light in the midst of
crisis or difficult situation.

Entrepreneurial Heart Flame – driven by passion, entrepreneurs

are drawn to find fulfillment in the act of process of discovery.
Passion is that the great desire to attain vision or fulfill a
mission.
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

The Heart Flame is also about Emotional Intelligence which is

often manifested in the entrepreneur’s effort to nurture rela-
tionships with customers, employees and suppliers.

Entrepreneurial gut game – refers to the ability of the

entrepreneur to sense without using the five senses
which is also known as intuition.
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

The Many Sources of Opportunities

Opportunity - is an occasion that makes it possible to do something

that you want to do.

1. Macro Environmental Sources of Opportunities

2. Industry Sources of Opportunities
3. Market Sources of Opportunities
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

a. Macro Environmental Sources of Opportunities

This refers to the “Big or Macro Forces that affects the area, industry
and the market which the enterprise belong to.

1. Sociocultural Environment- includes the demographics and

cultural dimensions that govern the relevant entrepreneurial endeavor.
2. Political Environment- defines the governance system of the
country or local area of business.
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

a. Macro Environmental Sources of Opportunities

This refers to the “Big or Macro Forces that affects the area, industry
and the market which the enterprise belong to.

3. Economic Environment- supply and demand forces mainly drive

the macro economic environment.
4. Ecological Environment- includes all natural resources and the
ecosystem. Habitat of men, animals, plants and minerals.
5. Technological Environment- discoveries which open lead to
launch and commercialization of new products with superior attributes.
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

Table 2.1 Examples of Relevant Opportunities and Threats to a

Fast-food Chain
Factors
1. Social
- Increasing double income
earners in the family (i.e,
mother and father are both
working
- Trend toward healthier food
choices
2. Political
- Tax Exemptions for 13th month
pay and other bonuses up to php
70,000 passed by the Congress
Opportunities to the Threats to the Enterprise
Enterprise
- Increase customer base for the
fast-food chain
- More healthy product offerings
are demanded by customers
- Increased purchasing power of
the consumers leading to higher
retail sales
 OPPORTUNITY SEEKING, SCREENING, SEIZING

Table 2.1 Examples of Relevant Opportunities and Threats to a

Fast-food Chain
Factors
3. Economic
- Asean integration in 2015
(countries that belong to ASEAN
trading at zero tariff)
4. Ecological
- Increased usage of eco bags and
environment friendly containers
5. Technological
- Increased usage of smartphones
to disseminate important
information (e.g., news, weather
traffic updates
Opportunities to the Threats to the Enterprise
Enterprise
- Opportunity for the enterprise to - Smaller suppliers’ difficulty
expand to other ASEAN markets coping with greater competition
posed by foreign rivals; might lose
small but reliable suppliers
- Opportunity to start an advocacy - Additional costs incurred by new
toward a greener operation packaging may decrease
profitability
- Greater usage of apps to place - Potential for online customer
delivery orders via smartphones, disappointment and netizen
which may help increase market bashing due to poor product or
reach service delivery brought about by
intermittent technical glitches
Industry Sources of Opportunities

It is the next biggest sources of opportunities.

Participants in an industry include:
1. Rivals or competitors in a particular type of business.
(Samsung Galaxy vs. Apple`s iPhone)
2. Suppliers of input (fuel, electricity) to rivals as well as
suppliers of machinery and equipment, suppliers of
manpower and expertise, and suppliers of merchandise.
Industry Sources of Opportunities

3. Consumer market segments being served by rivals or

competitors.
4. Substitute products or services which consumers shift or
turn to.
5. All other support and enabling industries.
Industry Sources of Opportunities

It would be a great help for the entrepreneur to determine

the logic of the industry.

• How do these participants in the industry make or lose

money?
• What critical factors drive the industry`s success?
• What critical factors lead to failures?
Ways of defining industry

1. According to product types or functions of the

product/service. computer industry (Microsoft vs. Apple),
fast food industry (McDonald`s vs. Jollibee)
2. Tracing the industry from its most basic raw material down
to its various consumer applications known as product or
value-added chain.
Ways of defining industry

1. According to product types or functions of the

product/service. computer industry (Microsoft vs. Apple),
fast food industry (McDonald`s vs. Jollibee)
2. Tracing the industry from its most basic raw material down
to its various consumer applications known as product or
value-added chain.
Product chain vs. Value added chain

They differ in the focus of the analysis.

Product chain focuses on the volume produced or converted
at each link of chain.
Value added chain focuses on the economic it follows the
product chain but deals more on the value added from one
stage to another.
Product chain Value-Added Chain

Raw Materials` Prices and

Raw Material Additional Cost and Profits

Semi-Processed Goods and

Semi-Processing Semi-Processing Prices and Additional Costs
and Profits

Fully Processed Prices of Processed Goods

Products/Services
Market Sources of Opportunities

The entrepreneur must be able to measure the actual demand

and supply as well as the potential demand and supply of the
industry that the enterprise belongs to.

Market sources of opportunities can be discovered from

increased or decreased demand as well as higher or lower.
Micromarket

It refers to the specific target market segment of a particular

enterprise.
These are the target customers that represent the immediate
customers of an enterprise.
Clearly defined location or specific customer group that an
enterprise wishes to serve.
Consumer Preferences, Piques, and
Perception
Consumer preferences- tastes of particular groups of people.
*The consumers` age, culture, and status affect their
preferences.

Consumer dislikes- things that irritates customers

*There are times when the product is not changed by the
enterprise but what changes is the way consumers perceive the
product.
Are you going to buy these?
What did you consider to
buy those products?
Consumer Preferences, Piques, and
Perception
A product or service must be able to win the battle for the
customer`s mind.

1. Awareness of the product/service

2. Arousing the interest to buy
3. Evaluation of the product
4. Decision to purchase the product
Marketing is not about sales.
Marketing is about making
people aware that you exist.
Don’t confuse the two.
- Kavitharia
Other sources of opportunities

1. Customer preferences change over time.

Other sources of opportunities

2. People`s tastes in clothes,

music, shoes, entertainment,
dance, sports, hobbies, and even
careers have evolved over the
years.
Other sources of opportunities

3. What piques customers is a great source of

opportunities.
Other sources of opportunities

4. Before the customer is won over, there is

first a battle for the mind. Next, there is a
battle for the heart. Finally, there is a battle
for the wallet.
Other sources of opportunities
5. The longer the customer wants to use the
product, the greater the chances of creating
lasting loyalty.
Other sources of opportunities

6. Opportunities abound in shaping consumer

perceptions or occupying spaces in their minds or
places in their hearts that have not yet been
filled.
Ex. Commercial of a supplementary drink for
diabetics instills fear of death in the minds and
hearts of its potential consumers/
Other sources of opportunities

7. New inventions, new systems and work processes,

new insights about the human psyche, new applications
for old knowledge, new revelations about how the
physical world works, new interpretations, new
combinations based on the convergence of previous
technologies, new outlooks about how life should be
led, and a host of other new things are tremendeous
source of opportunities.
Other sources of opportunities

8. Determining personal
preferences and
competencies lay the
foundation for a new
business venture.
Other sources of opportunities
9. Unexpected occurrences in both the external
and internal environment of the enterprise
indicate the significant changes are happening
and opportunities are sprouting.