Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends- 6A

Economic Trend: Millennials are trying to find the easiest and most flexible way to earn money

• Source: https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/family-finance/articles/2018-04-27/how-millennials-are-making-money
• The opportunity that exists is investing. The opportunity exists because millennials do not want to fit their schedule around work but would rather fit work around their schedule. As a result they want the easiest possible way to earn money. 
• The prototypical customer is a millennial, typically those in high school or college.
• The opportunity is hard to exploit. It is hard because the millennials need to be convinced to invest their money. Convincing them may be difficult because of the possibility of losing money rather than gaining. 
• I saw this opportunity because I work a retail job that pays hourly and want more money then what I am making. Money I make simply sits in my account and does nothing. Therefore investing has always interested me but I never knew how to I have never done it. 

Economic Trend: The amount of money people are willing to spend on fitness is increasing.

• Source: http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2018/01/23/americans-are-spending-more-on-fitness-than-college-tuition-study-says.html
• This opportunity exists because it is evident in many social settings. Athleisure clothing has spiked recently and is a common choice of clothing for individuals to wear out, whereas the go to outfit previously were jeans and a t-shirt. People are also trying to live healthier lives as well as look a certain way.
• The prototypical customer is anyone with an interest in fitness.
• The opportunity is hard to exploit because it is such a big market. There are already so many well established companies in the market.
• Fitness is a major component of my life. I am a competitive powerlifter therefore a lot of my money goes into lifting. Initially I thought that I was part of a small group that did so, however once I came to UF I noticed the prevalence of normal individuals using all sorts of gear such as a belt. I then realized that the market for fitness gear is very large and encompasses many individuals not just a select few. 

Regulatory Changes: The European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation.

• Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/28/17172548/gdpr-compliance-requirements-privacy-notice
• This opportunity exists because online companies now have to abide be these rules. The change creates a demand in individuals who can revise the term of consents and those who can create data folders for everyone asking the page therefore the user will have access to their own file.
• The prototypical customers are online companies.
• The opportunity is easy to exploit when it comes to smaller companies, because they have less resources to use towards these changes.
• I saw this opportunity because I have always supported smaller companies. Due to this mindset I was able to think about how this new policy affects smaller companies rather than look at how it affected everyone. 

Regulatory Changes: California is passing more laws to stop the modification of cars.

• Source: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&division=12.&title=&part=&chapter=1.&article=
• The opportunity that exists is the creation of street legal aftermarket parts for cars. This opportunity exists because even though there are laws prohibiting modification unless it follows the guidelines, car enthusiasts will continue to do so because that is what they are passionate about.
• The prototypical customers are car enthusiast is California.
• This opportunity is somewhat hard to exploit because it will require a lot of research and development to produce aftermarket parts that are better than factory parts but still adhere to regulations passed by the California government. 
• I saw this opportunity because I am a car enthusiast myself. I love modifying my car to make it unique as well as perform better. This opportunity will most likely be seen by other car enthusiast especially those in California that seek to continue modifying their cars without being fined or possibly having their car be impounded.