Potential markets are defined in the context of the business requirements. Some businesses will have previously defined regional markets that are not strictly aligned with geographic boundaries or political borders. In other scenarios, a potential market might be defined in the context of a cultural population. In still others, potential markets are defined specifically by recognized countries. The definition of a market is fundamental to the identification activity, but is dependent upon enterprise business processes, business vocabulary, and context.

The premise of this activity (identifying potential markets) is to narrow or expand the number of proposed target markets to include those that align with and support all of the documented business requirements. Initially, this may appear to be a simple task. However, some business requirements may imply indirect support or restrictions for a target market for example, 1) the cultural business requirement noting that the target market audience must be primarily English speaking, and 2) the regulatory business requirement that the target market audience must have valid automobile operator s licenses. Both requirements provide baseline characteristics that support the target markets.

The SLKD Auto Rental business has elected to define markets by country. The target markets proposed by the business requirements include Canada, England, and Australia. Through simple and subjective validation, these proposed target markets qualify as potential markets (based upon common knowledge and subjective experience of SLKD business leadership, each has a significant English-speaking population and regulatory requirements regarding automobile operation).

Also of importance are subtle or hidden...