Shortlisting Business Segments that are ideal for you as an entrepreneur

The following parameters are the ones along which you need to evaluate the opportunity: 

  • Proximity to your existing business line
  • Innovation index
  • Risk return portfolio of the opportunity
  • Classify them into manufacturing/ service/ trading opportunity
  • Who is your market and how well are you already acquainted with the market?
  • What stage of the market evolution is the opportunity in? Too early, Early, Somewhat Late or Too Late?
  • Does the opportunity already have any major playing operating in it?
  • Market size and growth of the opportunity.

Please consider your aspirations and comfort zones, in order to evaluate the above opportunities. Consider the following three aspects: 

1.      Are you a Consolidator or an Innovator?

Consolidator – You are more keen on developing an opportunity whose concepts and markets are fairly well defined. In some ways, you could say that consolidators are low-medium risk takers, but like to build things in an incremental and stable manner.

Innovator – Innovators are impatient with trying to build things incrementally, they are more excited to work on dramatic and disruptive shifts. They are likely to be more comfortable with markets that are in their very early - early stages than with markets that are well understood. One could say that innovators are more risk loving. 

2.      Immediate growth or willing to invest in “research”?

Even if a market opportunity is early, it is not a must that it would take many years for you to become profitable. For many consolidation opportunities though, toplines and bottomlines start to happen fairly quickly, even if the growth rates are not very high. 

3.      Do you have a special preference for one of these three sectors: Manufacturing, Trading, Services?

Thus, using the above three, we see that there are twelve possibilities

  • Consolidator or Innovator
  • Immediate Growth or Willing to Invest
  • Manufacturing, Trading, Services

Possibility 1 = Consolidator, Immediate Growth, Manufacturing

Possibility 2 = Consolidator, Immediate Growth, Trading

Possibility 3 = Consolidator, Immediate Growth, Services

Possibility 4 = Innovator, Immediate Growth, Manufacturing

Possibility 5 = Innovator, Immediate Growth, Trading

Possibility 6 = Innovator, Immediate Growth, Services

Possibility 7 = Consolidator, Willing to Wait, Manufacturing

Possibility 8 = Consolidator, Willing to Wait, Trading

Possibility 9 = Consolidator, Willing to Wait, Services

Possibility 10 = Innovator, Willing to Wait, Manufacturing

Possibility 11 = Innovator, Willing to Wait, Trading

Possibility 12 = Innovator, Willing to Wait, Services 

A sample of how your business parameters will look depending on which of the above 12 you belong to

 

Innovator, Immediate Growth, Manufacturing

Consolidator, Willing to Wait, Trading

Proximity to your existing business line

Not necessary

More comfortable with something that has proximity

Innovation index

High

Medium

Risk return portfolio of the opportunity

Medium risk, medium to high return

Low risk and medium returns

Classify them into manufacturing/ service/ trading opportunity

Manufacturing

Trading

Who is your market and how well are you already acquainted with the market?

Perhaps not a lot

Not necessary to be fully acquainted. Is willing to develop the market

What stage of the market evolution is the opportunity in? Too early, Early, Just about maturing, Somewhat Late or Too Late?

Early – Just about maturing

Just about maturing – somewhat late

Does the opportunity already have any major playing operating in it?

Will not like a major playing operating here

As long as there are not too many large players, it is OK

Market size and growth of the opportunity.

Small-medium is fine, but high growth rates required

Size needs to be medium – large, and growth rates need to be medium too

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