THE OTHER MARKET

 

There’s another market for opportunity out there. One often overlooked. It’s a market where consumer units are a mix between people trying to stay in the middle class or striving to reach it. Where a segment uses a culture of improvised self sufficiency and government support just to make it.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics breaks our economy into five income brackets. Much of the target for products and services is the two top brackets, consumers making more than $96 thousand. Disposable income fuels a slew of luxury items in hot competition with each other.

However, these two brackets only represent 30% of the 132 million consumer units in the United States. Surprisingly, the three lower brackets representing 92 million consumer units combined almost equal the spending of the top two. No wonder it has attracted business models like the dollar stores.

This other market often falls outside the traditional profit thinking of many. Part of the reason is the breadth and diversity of the market. The basics of living rule here over luxury items. It is the land of the midnight mechanic, payday loans, quirky small business, and gaps in community building blocks. 

There are many areas worthy of exploring for profit in this other market. Some include 1) leveraging government programs to foster growth and fill community gaps, 2) bringing new products and services to market that will better benefit the consumer, 3) working with small business owners to help them scale up in size and practices, and 4) partnering or forming non profits to help people move toward self sufficiency.

The challenges and hurdles to success in the other market are high, but so are the opportunities.