Opportunity Analysis Plan
OL 320: Opportunity Analysis Plan Guidelines and Grading Guide
Overview The final project for this course is the creation of an Opportunity Analysis Plan. The main purpose of this project is to thoroughly evaluate a business idea at the early stages of development, which is often where many of the challenges exist. This assignment will give students an opportunity to thoroughly analyze a business venture and develop critical thinking patterns to avoid mistakes or pitfalls in business opportunity development.
The final product represents an authentic demonstration of competency because it provides students with the critical thinking skills needed to evaluate either their own business idea or the ideas of others. It also encourages students to ask key questions before dedicating resources to ideas that may not be successful. The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Three, Five, and Seven. The final product will be submitted in Module Seven.
Main Elements
In the Opportunity Analysis Plan you will document the viability of an idea, state its competitive advantage, and outline a business path. Students should deliver a concise report of findings and two video presentations.
• Title page: <Your Business Idea/Name> Opportunity Analysis Plan • Report includes the following sections: o Section 1: Description of Idea
■ Provide general overview of idea
■ Explain how it solves a problem, meets a need, and so on
■ Describe the basic business concept (textbook worksheet, Chapter 2)
■ Discuss/evaluate the competitive advantage o Section 2: Market Analysis
■ Include the short paper from Milestone One o Section 3: Assessment of the Entrepreneur and the Team
■ Where are the knowledge gaps and how are they covered?
■ How is the team structured?
o Section 4: Business Phasing This is a discussion of the logical progression for growing a business, which starts from the initial idea and grows into a viable business venture. The phasing approach should explain how the development phases minimize risk, aid learning/analysis at the earliest possible stages, and create a proper progression of the business venture. The goal of developing phases is to show how much risk is required for each phase compared to the expected outcome or return on the investment; phasing allows for learning during each step and creates a decision point prior to moving on to the next phase on whether to proceed, modify the business, or exit (with potentially a smaller overall loss). Potential planning and development stages/phases:
• Idea stage
• Concept stage
• Test marketing stage
• Product/service development stage
• Commercialization Include anticipated resource requirements for each stage of development.