Opportunity

From your analysis, describe in detail the opportunity you feel is best. Key questions to ask yourself include whether it is really an opportunity, or merely an idea; what resources are required to exploit it; how you will acquire those resources; how you will manage the operation; how and when you will harvest the results - economic gain.

In a sense you will also be defining a market niche here. So the market becomes the first criterion for evaluating your opportunity. In all the evaluation procedure involves:

• The market - which includes size, market share, growth rate; marketing mix and positioning; available margins; and costs.
  
  
• The economics - including profit; breakeven points; positive cash flow; return on investment (ROI); value creation and exit strategy.
  
  
• The management - including the founders and team; the team's fit with the opportunity; their track record; any skill gaps; congruency of goals; leadership.
  
  
• The differentiation - including factors such as technology; service; team and talent; channels; pricing; opportunistic and adaptive ability.
  
  
  

Once your have evaluated your opportunity thoroughly it's time to design a mission or intention statement and a vision statement for your plan. To reach this definition of the opportunity, create a paragraph pitch (see module 1) encompassing all the results of your evaluation and the values you are bringing to the business. This will become the overview for the road map for accessing the opportunity that you are about to create.

Case Study - Opportunity: Planchers Bois Franc Atout prix

Case Study - External Analysis: G.V. Snowshoes