2. Opportunity Assessment
Shortly after the fall of the former Soviet Union and the emergence of new democratic republics, the Canadian government launched an initiative program to assist the Baltic nations in adjusting to the free enterprise system and entrepreneurship. In one program in Estonia, students were required to complete a business plan by the end of their course. One group had come up with a “surefire” idea of a travel service within the country and were convinced that a fortune was to be made. But over the weeks that followed and as the plan was researched and tested, their enthusiasm waned and changed to frustration and then defeat. It was, it turned out, not at all profitable. Nor could much be done to make it profitable.