This document provides guidance on identifying business opportunities and developing new business ideas. It discusses evaluating whether an idea is viable and matches customer needs through market research. Business opportunities should be filtered through assessing the industry, market, profitability, financing, and legal risks. Ideas can come from existing resources, enterprises, market demands, and information from suppliers, customers, and industry experts. The key is researching the industry and market to identify problems that can be solved with new products or services.

1. Business Opportunity
Identification
Lecture Contents
Springboard for Business Ideas
Existing/ Expected Enterprise
Ideas from Market Place
Information Search

2. Before Starting your Own
Business
Does the idea fire your motivation and is it adequate enough to
keep you going for next one to two years?
Is it a viable business proposition in your area?
Does it match the needs of your clientele, local or otherwise?
Check it out with basic market research
Test it out in the market
Consult with experts
Look out for competition in the field
Is it a sunrise industry?
Evaluate your business opportunity
Project conceptualization

3. Business Opportunities need to
be filtered through
a Five-layer Sieve
• Researching your industry – how can you learn more about your
chosen industry and about the resources that are available to help you?
• Market assessment – is there a market for your product or service? If
so, how much income can you expect to derive from it?
• Profitability assessment – how much will starting a new business cost
you? Can you afford a lengthy “red link” period following start-up, as well
as periodic lulls in cash flow? Can you afford to fail?
• Financing assessment – will you be able to obtain the necessary
financing for your business? If so, from where?
• Legal assessment – what potential legal liabilities are you exposing
yourself to by starting a new business? Are the costs of protecting
yourself worth the trouble?

4. A Model of Opportunity Recognition Process
Education
Prior knowledge of
markets and
customer problems
Networks
Experience
Work
experiences
Personal
experiences
Entrepreneurial
alertness
Outcome:
Successful
opportunity
recognition

5. Springboards for a Business Enterprise Idea
• Natural Resources
• Existing/ Expected Enterprises
• Market-Extension/ Modification of Present Work Content
• Creative Effort
Focus on ….
 Is there any natural resource which you can commercialize?
 Are there any existing enterprises you can supply goods or
services to?
 Are there any existing enterprises doing so well that it would be
worthwhile to do the same?
 Are there any products/ services for which the market demand will
continue to expand?
 Does the present work suggest any business opportunity?

6. Natural resources
• Forest (gum, gooseberry, timber, bamboo, herbs,etc.)
• Horticulture (fruits, vegetables and flowers)
• Agriculture (grains, pulses, spices and such commercial
crops as cane, tobacco, cotton and oilseeds)
• Agro-waste (e.g. rice, straw, groundnut husk)
• Marine or Aqua (fish, shrimp and crab)
• Mineral (clay, iron and steel)
• Animal (wool and meat)
• Wind/ Sun (solar energy)

7. Existing/ Expected Enterprises
and Business Ideas
Similar Business
Raw Materials
Parts and Components
Further Processing
Packing Material
By-product use
Problem-solving products
Service Needs

8. Industrial development-based opportunities : A Checklist
• Is there any established industry in your area?
• What is the performance rate of this industry?
• Can you pursue any business ventures in your area, which though
uncommon, are yet very successful?
• What kind of raw materials, packing materials, components and services the
local industries require?
• Are any of these procured from outside your area?
• Do any of these pose problems in terms of availability quality, delivery
schedule, etc.?
• Do the local industries generate any waste or by-products? What are these
used for? Who buys these?
• Are there non-local suppliers to a given industry with whom the industry is
quite happy?
• Are there any new and important industries being established in your area?
• What are they likely to buy or manufacture?
• Are there any infrastructure projects coming up? What are they likely to
require?

9. Ideas from the Marketplace
• Trade flow
• Growth products and services
• Ideas from other markets
• Scarcity of products/ Services
• Export

10. Sources of Information:
New Business Ideas
• Similar-enterprise owners
• Machinery suppliers
• Raw material suppliers
• Customers
• Packing material suppliers
• Dealers
• Consultants
• Employees in similar enterprises
• Bank officials
• Regulatory-agency officials (e.g. Drug Controller office)
• Promotional agency officials (DIC)
• Associations of manufacturers, dealers, customers, raw material
suppliers in relation to a given product