Identifying Opportunities

IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES 

Opportunities:

      Economic-

1. Stock market is booming and has hit highs unimaginable for this time as short as two years ago. PART A- I grew up in a family that watched the news daily, so I’m in the habit of checking news a lot. On this particular day, I was watching Fox News and the reporter was doing a segment to compare stock market prices now and every year for the last five years. PART B- I’d think that an opportunity exists here because a fair amount of young people don’t usually deal with the stock market because of the crash in 2008, and the trends the reporter was showing might tend to make people more optimistic. PART C- The customer for this opportunity is probably younger people (early to mid-twenties). PART D- I feel like this opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit, perhaps through classes a person could sign up for or a seminar.      I saw this opportunity because recently I’ve been talking with my grandparents more about the stock markets. They’ve been investing heavily in the stock market for years and have just started teaching me about how it works. Because of this, my interest lately has been centered around stock market news articles. 
2. Baby Boomers aren’t retiring, or are only partially retiring.  PART A- I found an article on a news site called “The Balance” that has to do with trends in the economy that are happening, regardless of politics. PART B- I think this suggests an opportunity might exist here because the Baby Boomers make up such a large population  of the older demographic in the US. PART C- I feel like the people most likely to be customers for an opportunity would be the Baby Boomers themselves, or their children. PART D- I feel like an opportunity here might be slightly harder, just because older people tend to be mores stuck in their ways and less open to trying new ideas, but ultimately I feel like an arrangement that is popular in general with this crowd could be reached.    I saw this opportunity because I have a grandmother who lately has been retired, gone back to work, and then retired again several times, so this is a particular topic of interest to me. 

    Regulatory Changes-

1. Medical devices are going to start being hooked up to internet monitoring systems now. Examples include heart pacemaker monitoring centers. PART A- I found this opportunity while listening to two hospital workers on the bus. PART B- I think this opportunity exists because there are so many hospitals that are understaffed, and any sort of technology to help in speeding up routine check-ins would be a good market. PART C- I think the most likely customer for this opportunity would be hospitals themselves, or other private clinics dealing with post-surgery patients. PART D- I feel like this opportunity would be very easy to exploit due to the sheer amount of medical facilities.     I saw this opportunity because I take a bus that goes by a hospital every day, and I am also planning on pursuing a career in medicine dealing with patients, so I’d like to be informed about as many opportunities as possible. 
2. In May 2017, regulations regarding In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) came into play with many clinics. PART A- I look a lot on medical journals, so I came across this new regulation and there were a lot of reviews on the topic. PART B- I definitely think there are opportunities that exist here because In Vitro certainly caters to a certain market of people that have tried everything else, and this is their last stop. PART C- I think the most likely customers for this would be any couples that are having issues in their reproductive lives. PART D- Opportunities here would be kind of difficult to exploit, only because this market is slightly touchy on a personal standpoint, so there might be some lines to tiptoe around.    I saw this opportunity because several of my family members have used this service, and it has always been a debate at family get togethers, so I tend to try and be more informed on the subject.