Opportunity #1 (Economic Trend): Baby boomers aren't retiring.
Source: I found this opportunity while searching for economic trends on the following website: https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666
Due to the recession of 2008, many baby boomers are unable to retire, and some who can afford to still continue to work because of the economic uncertainty they feel. I think that an opportunity exists to help baby boomers afford retirement and create a plan for retirement that they can feel comfortable with, even during times of economic uncertainty. This is because I believe that most of those boomers desire to retire and relax like their parents did, but they just aren't sure if it is feasible in the current economic climate. The prototypical customer is anyone aged 60-80 who is still in the labor force and has enough money to support themselves for at least 5 years without working. I think the opportunity is relatively difficult to exploit because there are already large and credible firms, like Fidelity and Prudential, who help people with their retirement.
I saw this opportunity personally with some of the boomers I know, like my Uncle Dave and my former boss, Peter, who continue to work despite having enough resources to retire. I think they feel the need to be active and productive, so they would need a retirement plan that includes ways to make them feel like they are still growing as people and contributing to society.
Opportunity #2 (Economic Trend): Interest Rates have leveled off, so the cost of loans has stabilized and savers are earning more on their deposits.
Source: I found this opportunity while searching for economic trends on the following website: https://www.thebalance.com/top-usa-future-economic-trends-3305666
I believe this information suggests that many opportunities exist since this trend means that less risk is involved in taking out loans and making investments. So people are more likely to finance a new car, take out a mortgage on a new home, and make investments. One opportunity that I can think of as a result of this is offering people the opportunity to invest in alternative assets, like fine watches and collector cars. I think the prototypical customer is anyone currently employed between the ages of 25 and 70 making at least $50K a year, who wants to make investments but isn't interested in stocks. I think this opportunity is relatively difficult to exploit because of the difficulty of setting up such an investing platform, like insuring the investments, being licensed to offer them, and earning the trust of potential customers being a new, unproven company.
I saw this opportunity personally because I myself am interested in investing with shares in collector cars because they are an interesting asset class that I know a lot about, but I cannot afford to actually buy and maintain one.
Opportunity #3 (Regulatory change): Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
Source: I found this opportunity while searching for regulatory changes on the following website: https://www.wavestone.com/en/insight/regulatory-changes-regional-banks/
This regulatory change was the biggest rollback of bank rules since the financial crisis, and it is particularly helpful to smaller banks, who gain more freedoms than larger institutions based on the value of their assets, with banks having a lower value of total assets having fewer regulations applied to them. Banks with fewer than 10 billion in assets are no longer prohibited from proprietary trading, which means they can trade with their own money to make a profit. There is, therefore, an opportunity to create a trading platform for banks that fit into this category so they can trade with each other. The prototypical customer would be the branch managers of banks with less than $10 billion in assets. I think this is a relatively difficult opportunity to exploit because of the legal difficulties of creating a trading platform and gaining the trust of a financial institution like a bank.
I saw this opportunity because I think the deregulation of banks after the recession is interesting, as the government is trying to find the balance between promoting the growth of banks while also protecting consumers to avoid the economic issues of the 2008 recession. A platform meant just for banks to trade on makes sense to me because the risk and volatility of the investments would likely be lower than traditional trading platforms.
Opportunity #4 (Regulatory change): Changes to the landscape fertilizer regulations prohibit the use of fertilizers with nitrogen from July through February and require that fertilizers containing nitrogen contain no less than 50% slow-release nitrogen. New regulations also prohibit phosphorus unless a deficiency is verified.
Source: I found this opportunity while searching for regulatory changes in Alachua County on the following website: https://alachuacounty.us/news/article/pages/Changes-to-Landscape-Fertilizer-and-Irrigation-Regulations-within-Alachua-County.aspx
I think this information suggests that there is an opportunity to create an eco-friendly fertilizer that does not contain the nitrogen compounds which are now prohibited from July-February. I think the prototypical customers are farmers, landscapers, and anyone who needs fertilizer to maintain a lush yard. I think that this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because an eco-friendly fertilizer would not require extensive processing or manufacturing to produce, and could start as a small, local business.
I saw this opportunity because one of my good friends owns a small landscaping business, and when I told him about it, he said that he didn't even realize this change had come into effect.
No comments:
Post a Comment