Lesson 2: Major Trends
Welcome to Lesson 2 of the Opportunity Course. In the last lesson, we talked about how individual power will drive some of the next major trends in business. This includes those businesses that give people more health, more freedom, and more creative expression. If you can tap into the right companies within these trends, you can score BIG.
(This direction toward individual power is also why I believe businesses that share with their customers will do well, as many referral programs now do. Of course this has to be done correctly, and in a way that can attract customers who don't want to refer the business.) Today we’ll take a look at these trends. In the next lesson, we’ll talk about how these trends are destroying some businesses and building others. This will give you insight into what kinds of business models will work in the coming years. Later, we’ll look at specific businesses that I expect will see major growth … and how you can tap into that success. There are several major trends with tremendous force behind them right now. Some are already well-established but still have plenty of room for growth. Others are ready to take off. HEALTH & WELLNESS The first area of growth is health and wellness. Baby boomers are retiring en masse now, and after working long and hard in their careers and in raising children, they're ready to take care of themselves. Coupled with the rising cost of health care, the failure of modern medicine to provide safe health solutions, and the probable limitations of any government-run health system, people are looking at prevention and alternative solutions -- largely, but not entirely, in the form of nutrition and supplements. Let me also add that while many people focus on the baby boomers, I also believe a lot of younger people have started to see the writing on the wall about the pharmaceutical way of doing things and what eating garbage has done to our nation. I believe many are looking for solutions if they can find those that make sense -- foundational health choices that are financially reasonable. Please notice that I'm not just referring to supplements. Nutrition has to do with the food we eat as well. Recognizing how we've devastated our national health with processed foods loaded with artificial ingredients, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and so on ... more people are looking for organic and even "raw" food options. "All Natural" (which doesn't have a legal meaning) has become a popular mantra for the food industry trying to tap into this interest. But this trend will continue to push for more integrity in the food we eat, even beyond platitudes like "All Natural." Yes, it's true that funds are tighter for some people than others, and paying for the essentials will always come first. But there is still a ton of money being spent on better food and supplements. Keeping or achieving health is important to a growing number of people -- especially as age starts to be felt and people start feeling more vulnerable. This is why health and wellness is predicted to be the next trillion dollar industry. PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY Another area of growth is personal technology. Look at what’s happened with iPods. Or the cell phone industry in general. And computers. The more power something gives to people, the more demand. iPods and cell phones and computers, in fact, are merging more and more -- with smart phones, we have something that browses the internet, plays music and movies, makes phone calls, sends text messages, stores important files, and so much more. Included in this category is any sort of software that drives personal technology since the two go hand in hand. With all the apps now available, people are truly empowered in a lot of ways. GOING GREEN Another area of growth is the whole green movement, from making our cars drive further with less use of dirty fuel to renewable energy sources, from recycling to biodegradable packaging, almost everyone’s ready to go green. It’s not that most people will make great sacrifices to go green. But if they can easily do so, most people think it makes sense. Initially, this doesn’t seem to fit into the trend-driving force of personal power. But it absolutely does. First of all, people are starting to realize that -- regardless of whether global warming is generated by humans -- living in a toxic environment isn’t great for our health or for the health of our children and grandchildren. In fact, one reason that health supplements are becoming so necessary is that we’ve decided to live in such a toxic world. Cleaning things up is all about “ME” in people’s minds, because we don’t really want to destroy the only planet we have to live on. PLUS … green products define a certain kind of personality. People driving a Prius take pride in doing so because it says something about them. What you’ll see happen in the coming years is that more and more unusual products will emerge in competition with mainstream products. And because these unusual products are green, certain groups will want to get them “first” to show how unique they are as people. I don’t mean this in a negative way. (I'm personally quite interested in electric or other cleaner-power cars.) It’s just how things work. And it will be part of what drives the green movement forward. If you can get on a "green" gravy train, you’ll be well-positioned for substantial rewards in the months and years to come. FINANCIAL Finally, I doubt we'll ever escape the word "FREE" as a hot commodity. Any time people can get some for free or something helps them save money on things they're already spending on, you are further empowering them. Of course there are instances of free and "cheap" which just introduce garbage into people's lives, and in some cases are harmful (think of that free download that comes with a computer virus; or a free favor someone offers, but then they expect something in return; or a 99 cent fast food meal that's loaded with unhealthy ingredients). But if you can tap into something you can offer for free that truly benefits people, or something that saves people money, this could be a powerful opportunity for you. I recommend checking out Webtalk for this purpose. Another massive trend that involves empowering the individual is cryptocurrency. This literally takes the financial system out of the hands of governments and banks and distributes it out to the people, where no central group can control it. This is so huge it may make the internet explosion look small. But because of the hype, there are also a lot of garbage opportunities trying to take advantage of the situation, so be careful in this area. Still, look for something that looks solid -- if you hitch your wagon to the right cryptocurrency, it could completely alter your life in the coming years. Take note that cryptos are not only about financial exchange -- the blockchains they are built in actually have a variety of practical uses for businesses, so in fact they have more inherent value than paper money ever did. I truly believe these will be some of the hottest business trends over the next decade. There may, of course, be other lucrative trends along the way. And there may be businesses that initially don’t look like they fit into these trends, but in fact they do when you understand what drives their success. So if you can keep these four trends in mind and see what businesses tap into their power, you should definitely be in the ballpark of success. But in our next couple of lessons, I’ll go over some of the things you need to avoid. This will get you in a much better position for knowing what opportunities to pursue ... and which to run from. |
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