MODULE 1: FINDING BUSINESS
COME UP WITH A CLEAR MARKETING
OPPORTUNITIES
SCANNING THE MARKET- The process of
venturing into business formally begins with a scan
of the market to find business opportunities from
macro environmental and within the realms of
entrepreneur’s community or locality.
EXTERNAL SOURCES OF BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITIES
 Socio-cultural factors
 Technological advancements
 Economic growth or decline
 Politics and legal factors
 Industry trends
 New discovery and new knowledge
 Futuristic or unexpected opportunities
 Consumer preferences, including
preferences of digital customers
 Competitors
 Societal problems or irritants in the
marketplace
 Physical location of the entrepreneur
INTERNAL SOURCES OF BUSINESS
OPPORTUNITIES
 Talents, hobbies, skills, expertise, or
academic background
 Financial capacity
 Processes/ operational capacity
 Leadership and people management skills
 Entrepreneurial attitude/ character
 Vision and strategy
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PRODUCT OR SERVICE
FOR THE MARKET- the next step is to validate if,
indeed, the initial business opportunities you have
listed are really feasible or doable.
ELEMENTS
 MARKET POTENTIAL- the business
presents superior value to customers
 FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY- the business is
a potential cash cow.
 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE- the business
solves a compelling problem, issue, need or
want.
 ENTREPRENEUR’S RESOURCES- the
business matches the entrepreneur’s skills,
resources, and risk appetite.
TESTING THE MARKET- third step, is to test the
target market. Marketing research plays a vital role
in this step. The entrepreneur must understand
comprehensively the customer’s demand and the
market acceptability of the product or service the he
or she will offer.
MARKET RESEARCH (MUST DO THE
FOLLOWING TASKS)
1.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE- this objective
should include how to get the marketing
data and how to interpret these data.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound
2. CHOOSE THE RESEARCH DESIGN- this
step is essentially selecting the most
effective and efficient type of research
design that will help the entrepreneur meet
his or her research objectives.
 EXPLORATORY- this research design is
qualitative research that aims to explore
undefined research subjects.
 DESCRIPTIVE- this research design is
quantitative that aims to acquire data or
specific interest through quantitative means.
A survey is an example of this.
 CAUSAL- this research design aims to
understand causal relationship between
variables. It is most specific research
design. Experiment is an example of this.
3. DESIGN AND PREPARE THE RESEARCH
TOOL
4. COLLECT THE DATA FROM THE
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS- this step is
the heart of any research as it is in this part
where the entrepreneur gathers all the
answers to the questions asked during the
implementation of the research tool.
5. INTERPRET THE GATHERED DATA- the
is the result stage where the entrepreneur
converts the data gathered into useful
reports that can be easily interpreted or
read by a research stakeholder depending
on their research output requirements.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR
THE MARKET- if the proper steps—specifically,
matching the most compelling external and internal
opportunities and using the appropriate research
methodologies and framework to validate market
acceptability and demand of the product or
service—are followed in the previous steps,
formulating the a conclusion and recommendation
will not be difficult.
MODULE 2: PREPARING THE BUSINESS PLAN
PREPARING A STRATEGY PLAN FOR
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE- a strategy plan for
competitive advantage deals with the competitive
environment where the entrepreneur will participate
in. the plan will show how competitive strategies
based on the scan of competitive environment can
be devised.
COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT- is the dynamic
external system in which a business competes and
functions. In order to scrutinize this competitive
environment, the entrepreneur has to conduct
industry analysis and competitive strategy.
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS- is the examination of the
industry where the entrepreneur’s business will
participate in, usually in the next three to five years.
It encompasses the opportunities and threats in the
industry as well as the major trends that could
affect the growth or decline of the industry
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS- is the examination of
what the direct and indirect competitors are doing
and what they can possibly do in the future. It also
shows the driving forces and rationale on why the
competitors are doing what they are doing.
COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES- after assessing and
evaluating the competitive strength and positions of
your business against the competitions, the
entrepreneur have to come up with competitive
strategies to counter the challenges posed by the
competition.
a. COST LEADERSHIP- is a strategy used by
business to create a low cost of operation
within their niche. The use of this strategy is
primarily to gain advantage over
competitors by reducing cost of operations
below that of the industry.
b. DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY- is a
strategy that highlights the uniqueness or
difference of a product/service or an
attribute of a product/service that the
competitors are weak at have no one at all.
This strategy makes the product/service
stand out from the rest.
c. FOCUS STRATEGY- is a strategy applied
when the entrepreneur focuses on a certain
or specific target market segment in mind.
 COST FOCUS STRATEGY- positions low
cost as a competitive advantage to the
segment.
 DIFFERENTIATION FOCUS STRATEGY-
positions a unique product/service or a
unique feature of a product/service to the
target segment.
PREPARING A MARKETING PLAN
MARKETING PLAN- is a business document
outlining your marketing strategy and tactics. It
includes a variety of marketing factors including
costs, goals, and action steps. It is basically a plan
on how to woo the primary target market of a
business.
a. PRODUCT OR SERVICE OFFERING-
refers to the value that business will give to
a customer.
b. VALUE PROPOSITION (VP) - refers to a
definitive statement which promotes the
benefits or value that a product or service
can cater to the customers.
c. UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP) -
refers to a statement that promote the most
compelling attribute of a product or service
and what makes it different from the rest of
its competitors.
d. SALES FORECAST- is a projection of
potential sales that business will generate
because of the marketing efforts to be
implemented and the general condition of
the industry to where the business belongs.
OPERATIONS PLAN – is a plan that contains the
specific details of a business operation, including
production or manufacturing, inventory, and
distribution, to a new fame.
4 ASPECTS
1. METHODS- are simply the daily process
that a business conducts.
a. MANUFACTURING ELEMENTS- are
the elements needed to manufacture a
product.
b. DISTRIBUTION METHOD- is the step
by step process on how a product will
reach the customers.
c. DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL- is where
the goods or service pass through to
reach the customers.
2. MANPOWER- is basically the labor force
needed in business operations. It is visual
part of an operations plan.
3. MACHINES- are the equipment (soft or
hard) needed to manufacture a product.
THE 7P’S OF MARKETING
MARKETING MIX 4P’S
 PRODUCT
 PLACE
 PRICE
 PROMOTION
3P’S
 PEOPLE
 PACKAGING
 PROCESS
EXPORT MARKING- is a sign or symbol indicated
in export boxes.
ESSENTIAL DATA- are the basic information and
nature of the products inside an export box.
MARKING SYMBOLS- are symbols that are used
in export boxes to signal handling for the products
inside the box.
FINANCIAL PLAN- is a plan that details where the
entrepreneur wants to take his or her business in
terms of profitability, cash flows, and net worth.