Opportunities Based on Economic Trends & Regulations
The Fed is planning on raising interest rates to 2 percent, since the unemployment rate is at an all-time low (3.9 percent).
Current rates will keep rising as long as the economy doesn’t show signs of impending recession. I found this information
at www.thebalance.com. Given this information, there is a great opportunity to be exploited in the furniture rental business. This
opportunity steams from the fact that loans for everything will become more expensive (i.e. loans to buy furniture and cars). When
loans become more expensive, people are going to avoid taking them out, and the sharing part of our
economy will benefit. The customers for this opportunity are middle-class Americans looking to decorate their
homes with new furniture for a temporary amount of time. The opportunity may be harder to exploit: when living becomes more
expensive in general due in high interest rates, redecorating isn’t really the first priority for consumers.
Current rates will keep rising as long as the economy doesn’t show signs of impending recession. I found this information
at www.thebalance.com. Given this information, there is a great opportunity to be exploited in the furniture rental business. This
opportunity steams from the fact that loans for everything will become more expensive (i.e. loans to buy furniture and cars). When
loans become more expensive, people are going to avoid taking them out, and the sharing part of our
economy will benefit. The customers for this opportunity are middle-class Americans looking to decorate their
homes with new furniture for a temporary amount of time. The opportunity may be harder to exploit: when living becomes more
expensive in general due in high interest rates, redecorating isn’t really the first priority for consumers.
I was able to formulate this opportunity because I have been a renter and I understand that buying furniture is an investment, especially
if you are moving into an unfurnished home. Why not just rent the furniture too?
if you are moving into an unfurnished home. Why not just rent the furniture too?
Many of the Baby Boomers in 2008 were forced to delay their retirement due to the economic recession. The recession
conditioned many into expecting to work past the typical age of retirement. Also, many seniors still can’t afford to retire.
They are continuing to work, even in part-time or freelance gigs, to earn extra cash. In order to work, seniors
need to be able to rely on a product that will free them from frequent trips to the bathroom. I see an opportunity for adult
diapers and catheters. Nothing slows one down like not being able to control the plumbing! You can’t work with soiled pants.
Ergo, the prototypical customer for a sleek diaper product would be an active senior who still has the drive to work for extra
income at the end of the day. The opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit, because Baby Boomers will do anything to
preserve their age and vitality (i.e. Botox, Bosley Hair Restoration, hearing aids, etc.).
conditioned many into expecting to work past the typical age of retirement. Also, many seniors still can’t afford to retire.
They are continuing to work, even in part-time or freelance gigs, to earn extra cash. In order to work, seniors
need to be able to rely on a product that will free them from frequent trips to the bathroom. I see an opportunity for adult
diapers and catheters. Nothing slows one down like not being able to control the plumbing! You can’t work with soiled pants.
Ergo, the prototypical customer for a sleek diaper product would be an active senior who still has the drive to work for extra
income at the end of the day. The opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit, because Baby Boomers will do anything to
preserve their age and vitality (i.e. Botox, Bosley Hair Restoration, hearing aids, etc.).
I can see an opportunity in comfortable water-absorbing undergarments and diapers for seniors because I have heard concerns voiced
from older (not senior) coworkers about the limitations of aging and eventually not being able to work. These concerns included
the inconvenience of going to the bathroom frequently to “go” or to change from accidents.
from older (not senior) coworkers about the limitations of aging and eventually not being able to work. These concerns included
the inconvenience of going to the bathroom frequently to “go” or to change from accidents.
3 - General Data Protection Regulation in Europe
The GDPR was created by the European Union in 2016 and new regulations were amended on May 25, 2018. Terms and conditions
will now be more clear regarding the data that technology companies will be collecting on users, and more permissions will be
granted to users, to allow companies to collect this information. Also, users will be able to download the data collected on them.
It is too soon to determine whether or not these new regulations will make data collections online less invasive. Eventually, however,
collecting this data will be more costly. The GDPR will affect small companies the most. I see an opportunity in the avenue of data
protection. Small, private tech firms could be built upon the idea of allowing you to work anonymously (with a paid membership)
through their servers, while browsing the internet. The prototypical customer of this service would be internet users looking to stay
anonymous and keep an invisible digital footprint. This opportunity may be more difficult to exploit than others, due to the infrastructure
needed to be able to facilitate operations (i.e. large server warehouses across the country with high physical and cyber security).
will now be more clear regarding the data that technology companies will be collecting on users, and more permissions will be
granted to users, to allow companies to collect this information. Also, users will be able to download the data collected on them.
It is too soon to determine whether or not these new regulations will make data collections online less invasive. Eventually, however,
collecting this data will be more costly. The GDPR will affect small companies the most. I see an opportunity in the avenue of data
protection. Small, private tech firms could be built upon the idea of allowing you to work anonymously (with a paid membership)
through their servers, while browsing the internet. The prototypical customer of this service would be internet users looking to stay
anonymous and keep an invisible digital footprint. This opportunity may be more difficult to exploit than others, due to the infrastructure
needed to be able to facilitate operations (i.e. large server warehouses across the country with high physical and cyber security).
I am able to see this opportunity because I have research privacy options for internet users even before new transparency laws were
created, out of genuine concern for my data security.
created, out of genuine concern for my data security.
4 - New Pharmaceutical Law in CA, Effective in 2018
Pharmaceutical companies are now required to give advance notice before increasing drug prices. The law (SB 17) states that drugs
with a wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of more than $40 for a 30 day supply must notify certain customers two months in advance
of increasing the WAC, if the total increase is more than 16 percent. This notice must include the date of the price increase, the dollar
amount of the increase, the current WAC of the product, and a statement of whether or not a change in the drug facilitates the price
increase. There is an opportunity here for consumers to find lower priced drugs manufactured by different companies, once the notice
has been released. Exploiting cost-savings could be facilitated through an app that compares prescriptions and manufactures, while
listing prices in real time, and notifying of price increases. This opportunity would be easy to exploit.
with a wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of more than $40 for a 30 day supply must notify certain customers two months in advance
of increasing the WAC, if the total increase is more than 16 percent. This notice must include the date of the price increase, the dollar
amount of the increase, the current WAC of the product, and a statement of whether or not a change in the drug facilitates the price
increase. There is an opportunity here for consumers to find lower priced drugs manufactured by different companies, once the notice
has been released. Exploiting cost-savings could be facilitated through an app that compares prescriptions and manufactures, while
listing prices in real time, and notifying of price increases. This opportunity would be easy to exploit.
I created this opportunity from my prior experience as a user of deal-finding software for consumer-goods, as well as airline tickets,
hotel-booking, and real estate comparables. This same concept of easy comparison can be created and tailored for pharmaceutical
products and consumers. Similar to the way properties listed for sale are input into a listing database that realtors and tertiary comparable
websites pull from (i.e. Trulia, Zillow, etc.), drugs can be listed and compared based on price, brand, etc to find the best deal for customers.
hotel-booking, and real estate comparables. This same concept of easy comparison can be created and tailored for pharmaceutical
products and consumers. Similar to the way properties listed for sale are input into a listing database that realtors and tertiary comparable
websites pull from (i.e. Trulia, Zillow, etc.), drugs can be listed and compared based on price, brand, etc to find the best deal for customers.
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