OPPORTUNITY UNDER THE RAINBOW

 

Opportunity Under the Rainbow

Two vastly different economies have emerged. One is the well to do. The other the rest of us trying to adjust to rapid changes, keep our lifestyle or just hanging on to survive. 45.6% of the population in the US have household incomes less than $75,000.

We are programmed by nature to look at the best of our economy. After all, we are Americans, why should we not strive and long for the best slice of the pie. It floats above us like a tempting rainbow. Often our business efforts focused on it.

We live in a time of mixed messages, where sorting out the best opportunities moving forward are difficult. The appearance of wealth is not always true wealth. The Mercedes next to you may be paid for, but it might have a stack of payments due, be on a lease or about to be repossessed. Then there’s the people just striving to survive. Ones that once lived in less traveled areas of the city or at obscure food banks. Now they are near you in homeless camps. Ones dotting all areas of the city.

It may be a good time to look beyond the best slice of the pie, the rainbow in the sky. There are zillions of luxury products and allure chasing the well to do. That market is overcrowded. 

At the same time, there are these huge unmet needs and changing circumstances for the other parts of the pie. Ones that government alone can not solve.

Great business opportunities rest in delivering solutions for the many. There is fertile ground for the entrepreneur willing to tackle the challenges of today. Those challenges come with risk. However with careful planning, partnering and development they can be hugely successful.

Rigourous understanding of the market is the first step. Non-profits understand it and can be good resources in targeting needs and partnering. Researching govenment programs that private enterprise can leverage is a good second step. Another key step is engineering a new way of developing and delivering products and services. Many lower income markets have there own “improvised self sufficency” culture. Understanding it, developing products for it and partnering with trusted segments are pathways to success.

It’s not just big business that can take advantage of these. There’s plenty of opportunities for smaller firms, especially if they join together. 2021 and beyond may be most profitable for those focused on needs based enterprise, not chasing rainbows

David Young