Opportunities are gaps in the market that are left when customers’ needs are not completely serviced. Here are a few tips to help you spot an opportunity that promises lucrative returns.
Market research.
Find out what customers need but are not getting, what competitors overlook, and what people believe never works. The benefit of this is you attain ‘first mover’ advantage. Think of the inventor of the post-it note.
Window of opportunity.
This is the time in which the opportunity can best be tackled. If the opportunity is in its early stages, it means one can best tackle it and ensure that they make a profit whilst doing that. If it is in its late stages, it may not be a good opportunity as there is not much market share for the company to tackle. For example, in the network providers industry, it is saturated with MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Virgin mobile; tackling such an opportunity may prove unfruitful because the window of opportunity has closed.
Align opportunities with objectives.
The other way to spot great opportunities is to compare the opportunity you may have spotted with the organisation’s objectives. If the opportunity is in alignment with what the organisations wants to achieve, it may be a good opportunity that is sustainable in the long run. A good example is the introduction of the rewards points system by Pick and Pay. Their slogan states, “Inspired by you” which shows that one of their objectives is to ensure customer satisfaction. The reward system benefits customers and hence, that opportunity was aligned to their organisational goals.
Ensure that the opportunity is a trend and not a fad. Many businesses struggle with this and this results in many entrepreneurs pursuing a fad that never lasts. A trend that is sustainable ensures that a company reaps profits, as there is a change in customer tastes over time.
Source: BT
