Opportunity Analysis (And Key Factors To Consider When Analyzing Market Opportunities)

Opportunity analysis or market opportunity analysis is the method of evaluating and analyzing the market in order to strategize and plan to seize the opportunity so your business can thrive. Opportunity analysis opens windows to opportunities and enables businesses of all sizes to find new ways they can boost their business growth. A thorough analysis of the market allows businesses to have a better view and study all the factors that are involved. This enables a structured approach to be followed by businesses such that they know what needs to be done and when in order to strike gold and make profits while minimizing costs and risks.

One of the market opportunity analysis examples is fitness. While being fit was always considered desirable, the market for fitness-related products was never as populated as it is today. The reason is simple: More opportunities. This trend is likely to end anytime soon as fitness is a hot topic as it was a few years back. So many markets have benefitted from it. Gyms, food products, energy drinks, personalized diet companies, and books are some such markets that have seen a boost in growth due to the high potential of the fitness market. While opportunities are galore, ensuring you choose the right time to make the most use of them is vital and it can mean the difference between failure and success.

How To Conduct Market Opportunity Analysis?

Conducting opportunity analysis is no easy feat because there is so much to consider when analyzing. The key is to try and evaluate as comprehensively as possible to get the best view of the market. This includes considering all the factors that are at play including those that are out of control. This is what makes analysis of the market difficult when looking for opportunities. However, it is possible and many businesses have emerged successful after analyzing the markets carefully and taking time to pounce on the opportunity. The process is no doubt a time-consuming one, but it is well worth the effort if businesses really care about maximizing profits and improving their bottom line.

The following are some factors to consider when performing opportunity analysis:

Competitive analysis

You need to know your competition because it is never a good idea to go fighting in a war when you don’t know who your opponent is. When performing opportunity analysis, the direct and indirect competition must be determined and identified so you know who you are up against. This is important because you don’t want to offer what your competition is offering and you don’t want to sound like your competition either. It will help you with product differentiation when you perform competitive analysis and can enable you to make use of an opportunity that your competition hasn’t thought about yet. Performing a SWOT analysis is also helpful to uncover opportunities.  

Environment analysis

When performing opportunity analysis, you need to think of the environment; both internal and external. The internal environment deals with your business environment which includes processes and resources. The external environment deals with anything that you cannot control such as your customer and how they perceive what you offer. Analyzing your internal environment helps you know what tools you have and how you are at an advantage. The key is to maximize the use of your internal environment effectively so you can excel in the opportunity. Analyzing your external environment enables businesses to understand external factors that can impact the opportunity they want to capitalize on.

Customer analysis

Customers are complex and they can be tough to convince because they know they are important. For this reason, opportunity analysis needs to include customer analysis. Without this, the analysis will be incomplete. Who are your customers? Who are you aiming to keep happy? What is the target market? All these questions need to be answered if you want to analyze customers thoroughly. You can only build the right brand message if you know your customers thoroughly. This can be easier said than done but it is vital to spend time and resources in understanding customers to find out as much about them as possible. This can help understand whether the opportunity is worth spending time on or not.

Opportunity analysis doesn’t need to be done only once. It is a continual process that businesses must focus on at all times if they wish to remain competitive. It is not an option for businesses anymore because opportunities cannot be missed. If they are missed, then it can be bad for any business. With the increase in competition, every business is competing with several others for the top spot. Only through proper marketing opportunity analysis can your business remain to grow and compete with others. Every business, regardless of industry, must ensure they perform opportunity analysis frequently to ensure they remain profitable.