Entrepreneurship Blogs
Identifying New Startup Opportunities
There are infinite opportunities and ideas to start new companies. One of the most important factors that determine the success of any startup is the market / problem area selection. While pivoting is a reality and most companies will deviate wildly from the initial plan, positioning yourself to be successful from the beginning will reduce the time and number of turns needed. Putting the best first foot forward will also provide the fastest validation and lessons to find the right long-term focus.
The best opportunities can be defined at the intersection of the below factors:
Industry Trends – What are the current trends in the industry. This can be defined for each individual industry such as Healthcare, Auto, etc. Each industry has different dynamics in play and trending patterns that can be explored for market gaps. Examples of these include software becoming more dominant in automobiles, healthcare companies going direct to customers, and increasing personalization in retail commerce.
Customer Tastes – Customer segments and demographics are constantly evolving their tastes and preferences, opening need-gaps that can be opportunities for fast-moving startups. This can be defined as new requirements that customers will pay additional. Products that can quickly move into this space and close the gaps will succeed in capturing market share. Founders need to have their ears to the ground and be on the lookout for these changing tastes. Examples of shifts in customer tastes include preference for digital interactions, increasing move to remote work, and resilience of logistical supply chain.
Technology Inventions – Often new opportunities can be driven not by new consumer needs but by supplier side changes. There can be radical new inventions that drastically change how products can solve customers' needs. They can make the products faster, better, cheaper or open completely new problem areas that are now solvable. Examples of recent technological inventions that completely changed the paradigm are 5G connectivity, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, as well as blockchain technology for open public ledgers.
