OPPORTUNITY SCREENING 10.

Relative Ease of Implementation - will the

opportunity be relatively easy to implement for the
-After opportunity seeking comes the rigorous process entrepreneur or will there be a lot of obstacles and
of opportunity screening.
competency gaps to overcome?
11. Resources Required - opportunities requiring fewer
THE PERSONAL SCREEN resources from the entrepreneur may be more favored
than those requiring more resources.
In screening opportunities, the entrepreneur first has to
consider his or her preferences and capabilities by 12. Risks - some opportunities carry more risks than
asking this three basic questions: others, such as those with high technological, market,
financial, and people risks.
1. Do I have the drive to pursue this business
opportunity to the end?
2. Will I spend all my time, effort, and money to make
the business opportunity work?
Table 2.3 Opportunity Screening Matrix
3. Will I sacrifice my existing lifestyle, endure emotional
Sample
hardship, and forego my usual comforts to succeed in Criteria VH High Av Low VL Weight
Score

this business opportunity?

Opportunity Screening Grid for Each Opportunity
Rating 5 4 3 2 1 Weight
If “YES” is your answer to all of the above, then you can Score

begin your earnest pursuit of that opportunity.

Relevance 2
Table 2.2 Risk-Return Grid for Screening Opportunities
Resonance 1
Risk
Return Reinforcement OEI 1
Low Risk Medium Risk High Risk
Revenues 2
High Return Best Good Fair
Responsiveness 1
Medium Return Good Fair Bad
Reach 1
Low Return Fair Bad Worst
Range 1
A more complex grid uses twelve criteria for screening
opportunities. Revolutionary 2
Impact

Returns 4
THE 12 Rs of OPPORTUNITY SCREENING
Relative EOI 1
1. Relevance - the opportunity must be aligned with
what you have as your personal vision, mission, and Rating 1 2 3 4 5
objectives for the enterprise you want to set up.
Resources Required
2. Resonance - the opportunity must match the values
and desired virtues that you have or wish to impart. Risks

3. Reinforcement of the Entrepreneurial Interests - How Total Score

does the opportunity resonate with the entrepreneur’s
personal interest, talents, and skills?
4. Revenues - it is important to determine the sales
potential of the products or services you want to offer.
5. Responsiveness - to customers needs and wants.
6. Reach - opportunities that have good chances of
expanding through branches, distributorships,
dealerships, or franchise outlets in order to attain rapid
growth are better opportunities.
7. Range - the opportunity can potentially lead to a
wide range of possible product or service offerings, thus,
tapping many market segments of the industry.
8. Revolutionary Impact- if you think that the
opportunity will most likely be the “next big thing” or
even a game changer that will revolutionize the
industry, then there is a big potential for the chosen
opportunity.
9. Returns - it is a fact that products with low costs of
production and operations but are sold at higher prices
will definitely yield he highest returns on investment.
*Rating x Weight = Score
Note: Criteria numbers 1 to 10 are positive indicators;
meaning, the more of them, the better. Criteria
numbers 11 to 12 are negative indicators; meaning, the
less of them, the better. Hence, the rating system is
reversed for the negative indicators.
The Pre-Feasibility Study
The ultimate goal of doing the opportunity matrix is to
narrow down the many opportunities into one or two
attractive ones. The next step is to conduct a
pre-feasibility study to ascertain the viability of the
opportunity. The idea is to focus on a few key items
that could make or break the business concept.
Factors:
 Market potential and prospects
 Availability and appropriateness of technology
  Project investment and detailed cost
estimates
 Financial forecast and determination of
financial feasibility

Market Potential and Prospects

Market Potential is based on the estimated number of
possible customers who might avail of the product or
service.
-For entrepreneurs entering a business that caters
basic needs there would usually be demand and supply
statistics available from the government institutions.,
industry associations and research firms.
-Basic needs tends to be commodities or
“commoditized.”
-Customers have the luxury of choosing among basic
needs suppliers. That is why these suppliers try very
hard to differentiate themselves from one another by
dividing the huge market into many customers
segments.
Market Estimation is the most difficult task of the
entrepreneur because of the many ways customers can
be divided and segmented. However, the most
common way resorted to by most entrepreneurs are
through the use of demographics.
In a pre-feasibility study, the entrepreneur should
determine and quantify the market potential according
to these broad customer classifications.