 After opportunity seeking comes the

rigorous process of Opportunity Screening.

Because of many opportunities possible for
the entrepreneur, it is important to come up
with a short list of a few very promising
opportunities, which could be scrutinized in
detail.
  In screening opportunities, the entrepreneur first
has to consider his or her preferences and
capabilities by asking three basic questions.
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?
3. Will I sacrifice my existing lifestyle, endure
emotional hardship, and forego my usual
comforts to succeed in this business
opportunity.
At the simplest level, the entrepreneur may
want to make a risk- return grid
Risk Low Risk Medium Risk High Risk
Return

High Return Best Good Fair

Medium Return Good Fair Bad

Low Return Fair Bad Worst

1. Relevance to vision, mission, and objectives
of the entrepreneur. The opportunity must
be aligned with what you have as your
personal vision, mission, and objectives for
the enterprise you want to set up.
2. Resonance to values. Other than vision,
mission, and objectives, the opportunity
must match the values and desired virtues
that you have or wish to impart.
3. Reinforcement of Entrepreneurial
Interests. How does the opportunity
resonate with the entrepreneur’s personal
interests, talents, and skills?

4. Revenues. In any entrepreneurial endeavor,

it is important to determine the sales
potential of the products or services you want
to offer. Is there a big enough market out
there tp grab and nurture for growth?
5. Responsiveness to customer needs and
wants. If the opportunity that you want to
pursue addresses the unfulfilled or
undeserved needs and wants of the
customers, then you have a better chance of
succeeding.
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 the
highest returns on investments.
Returns can also be intangible;
meaning, they come in the form of
high profile recognition or image
projection.
10. Relative Ease of
Implementation. Will the
opportunity be relatively easy
to implement for the
entrepreneur or will there be a
lot of obstacles and
competency gaps to
overcome?
11.Resources required.
Opportunities requiring
fewer resources from the
entrepreneur may be more
favoured than those
requiring more resources.
12. Risks. In an entrepreneurial
endeavor, there is always be
risks. However, some
opportunities carry more risks
than others, such as those with
high technological, market,
financial, and more people risks.
 PRE FEASIBILITY STUDY
The ultimate goal of doing the
opportunity screening matrix is to narrow
down the many opportunities into one or
two most attractive ones. The next step is to
conduct a pre-feasibility study t ascertain
the viability of opportunity. The idea is to
focus on a few key items that could make or
break the business concept. This time, the
entrepreneur must go down to the details
and take time to consider the following
factors that are contained in a pre
feasibility study:
 Market potential and prospects
 Availability and
appropriateness of technology
 Project investment and
detailed cost estimates
 Financial forecast and
determination
 Market potential is based on the estimated
number of possible customers who might
avail of the product or service. For more
realistic number, it would help to narrow
down your estimation to the relevant
population or target customers in the area
where you want to operate your business (
micromarket).
 The customers would , oftentimes , make the
final choice on what to buy according to
several factors such as:
1. Their purchasing power or disposable
income.
2. Their proximity or accessibility to the goods
or services
3. Their individual desires and preferences
4. Their age or generational grouping
5. Their social , cultural, or ethnic background
6. Their peer group preferences
7. Their gender
8. The season of the year
9. Their personal identification with trend setters
10. Their educational attainment
11. Their technical proficiency and product
expertise
12. Their motivational impetus
13. Their lifestyle preferences
14. Their susceptibility to a certain advertising and
promotional appeals and many others.