Unit 2: Evaluating business opportunity
Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem notes · PTU syllabus (UGCC2516)
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Unit summary
Not every idea is a good business. This unit explains where business ideas come from, how to recognise real opportunities, how to estimate ("guesstimate") market size, and how to test feasibility through industry, competition and environment analysis.
After this unit you can
- List sources of business ideas and recognise opportunities
- Guesstimate market potential using top-down and bottom-up methods
- Conduct a feasibility analysis
- Analyse the industry, competition and environment
PTU syllabus topics
- Sources of business ideas and opportunity recognition
- guesstimating market potential
- feasibility analysis
- industry/competition/environment analysis
- 1Spot the idea
From problems, trends and skills
- 2Estimate the market
Guesstimate size and demand
- 3Check feasibility
Technical, financial, legal
- 4Analyse competition
Who else serves this need
- 5Decide
Go, pivot or drop
Topic 1
Sources of ideas and opportunity recognition
Sources: personal problems and experiences, hobbies and skills, customer complaints, changes in technology, government policy and regulation, social and demographic trends, gaps in existing markets, and ideas from abroad adapted for India. An idea becomes an opportunity when it is attractive (customers want it), timely, durable, and backed by the resources and skills to deliver it.
Topic 2
Guesstimating market potential
A guesstimate is a structured estimate made with logical assumptions when exact data isn't available.
Starts from
Total population or market
Your own sales capacity
Method
Narrow down with percentages
Customers × price × frequency
Example
Students in Punjab × % with laptops × % needing repair
Repairs per day × days × average price
Example
Market for a college laptop-repair service: 5,000 students × 70% own laptops × 20% need a repair a year × ₹800 per repair ≈ ₹5.6 lakh a year.
Topic 3
Feasibility analysis
- 1Product/service feasibility
Do customers want it?
- 2Market feasibility
Is the market big and growing?
- 3Technical feasibility
Can it be built and delivered?
- 4Organisational feasibility
Do we have the team and skills?
- 5Financial feasibility
Costs, pricing, break-even, funding
Topic 4
Industry, competition and environment analysis
- Industry analysis: size, growth rate, profitability and trends.
- Porter's Five Forces: rivalry among competitors, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers and of suppliers.
- Competitor analysis: who they are, their prices, strengths and weaknesses — and your unique selling proposition (USP).
- PESTEL analysis of the environment: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors.
- SWOT: strengths and weaknesses (internal), opportunities and threats (external).
Exam tip
In case-study answers, apply SWOT or Five Forces to the specific idea rather than defining them generically.
Key terms
- Opportunity
- An attractive, timely idea that can be profitably delivered
- Guesstimate
- A logical estimate made from assumptions
- Feasibility analysis
- Testing whether a venture is viable
- USP
- Unique selling proposition — what makes you different
- PESTEL
- Political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal analysis
Quick revision
- Idea + demand + timing + resources = opportunity.
- Top-down narrows the total market; bottom-up builds from your capacity.
- Feasibility: product, market, technical, organisational, financial.
- Five Forces, SWOT and PESTEL for analysis.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.List four sources of business ideas.
- Q2.What is a guesstimate?
- Q3.Name the types of feasibility analysis.
- Q4.What is a USP?
- Q5.List Porter's Five Forces.
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain how business opportunities are recognised, with sources of ideas.
- Q2.Guesstimate the market potential for a business idea of your choice using top-down and bottom-up methods.
- Q3.Explain feasibility analysis and industry and competitor analysis for a new venture.
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