Passage 2
Identify a consumer or business need in the marketplace. Many businesses simply begin with a good idea. A magazine article personal observation, an unsolved problem, small irritation, or a friend's suggestion may trigger an idea, and the prospective business owner sees a gap between what people want and what is available. For example, both Amazon. and eBay began this way.
Investigate the opportunity. Just because a person perceives that an opportunity exists does not mean that it is real. Perhaps the number of individuals interested in purchasing the product or service is too small. Perhaps the cost of manufacturing, marketing and distributing the product or providing the service is too large. The revenue model may be wrong, others may have tried already and failed, satisfactory substitute products may be available, and so on. For example, online grocery shopping would seem to be a wonderful opportunity: 【relieving busy professionals of the timeconsuming and tiresome task of visits to a grocery store.】 Many large-and-small-scale online grocery ventures have been tried, but most have failed or continue to lose money because they misjudged the logistical problems associated with grocery warehousing and delivery. This is why it is so important to develop a business plan. One of the purposes of a business plan is to determine the feasibility of a business opportunity in the marketplace.
17.To investigate a real opportunity, you have to _______.