6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic Trends and Regulatory Trends

Two Economic Trends
Consumer spending increases
a.) The source for this economic trend comes from this website: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/30/us-consumer-spending-increases-solidly-income-tepid.html

b.) A lot of information led me to believe that there exists an opportunity in this trend. Based on my background in economics - which is my major - I know that increased consumer spending generally means that there are a lot of opportunities for businesses to make money.

c.) The prototypical customer with the opportunity would be new and established businesses, primarily in commerce.

d.) The difficulty depends on a few factors: 1.) Age of business. If the firm is just entering a market, then it will have some trouble initially in attracting market share (depends on market). 2.) Location and rules and regulations. Trying to start a business in New York City is a lot different than Texas. New York City is known for having a lot more barriers to entry for many firms due to the many rules and regulations.

e.) The reason that I noticed this trend is primarily because I know how to read certain economic trends due to my knowledge of economics.


Americans are ditching cable tv
a.) The source for this social/economic trend comes from this website: https://bgr.com/2019/01/29/cord-cutting-news-60-percent-cancel-cable/

b.) The information that led me to believe that an opportunity exists in this trend is my own personal experience and knowledge. I have noticed through many friends that they have cut their cable companies and have opted for internet-based streaming services like Netflix or Hulu.

c.) The prototypical customer with the opportunity would be someone who doesn’t watch cable tv that much and who is already subscribed to at least one streaming service.

d.) I believe that it will be somewhat difficult in exploiting this opportunity because Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix already have such a large market share. They also provide billions of dollars worth of content for a very small fee a month: something that a new firm would have trouble competing with.

e.) The reason I noticed this trend is primarily due to personal experience with cable and knowing people that have switched from cable television.


Two Regulatory Trends

Fresh Cape Gooseberry Fruit from Ecuador to the Continental United States
a.) The source of this regulatory trend comes from this website: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=APHIS-2016-0009-0008

b.) The information that has led me to believe that an opportunity exists in this trend is my own knowledge of both history and economics. When a new product is allowed to be imported into the United States, this allows opportunities in different sectors of the economy. 1.) Firms need to physically import the product. 2.) Firms need to process the product. 3.) Firms need to store the product. 3.) Firms need to sell the product. 4.) Firms need to market the product.

c.) The prototypical customer with the opportunity would be a grocery store. As mentioned earlier, there are many firms that will benefit from this opportunity, but I believe that grocery stores will benefit the most.

d.) I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit. Given that this is pretty recent, there are plenty of opportunities to reach out to importers or sellers of the product and offer services like marketing that they are in need of.

e.) As mentioned earlier, the reason I saw this opportunity is primarily because of my knowledge of economics, trade, and history.


Vape Bans
a.) The source of this regulatory trend comes from the following website: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/york-gov-andrew-cuomo-issues-emergency-executive-order/story?id=65624774

b.) The information that has led me to believe that there is an opportunity in this trend is primarily from the dominance of negative coverage of e-cigarette use in the media. Since the coverage has been negative, I believe that more people are viewing e-cigarettes as dangerous and are willing to stop smoking.

c.) The prototypical customer with the opportunity would be a business or a consumer. The range is pretty wide here since the consumer is the one that is in search of a new product that can replace the e-cigarette addiction, whereas the current businesses will look to supply that product.

d.) The opportunity is going to be difficult to exploit. The main problem with coming up with solutions to e-cigarette use is that the consumers are already addicted to the nicotine. To come up with an alternative to nicotine would be very difficult.

e.) The reason I saw this opportunity is due to my personal experience seeing the wide-spread use of e-cigarette use among teenagers and young adults. Even though the products are different, I tend to associate e-cigarette use with regular cigarettes.