Economic Trend #1: UltraFICO Scores Are Coming
Where I found it: The Simple Dollar; https://www.thesimpledollar.com/four-economic-trends-that-will-impact-you-this-year/
What leads me to believe an opportunity exists? With a new credit scoring system multiple people will be able to increase their line of credit. With an increase in credit scores more people will be able to be approved for more things (i.e. car loans, mortgages). If you are in any industry where people utilize credit cards or need to take out loans this might be a good increase in sales.
Prototypical customer? Anyone in need of a better credit score but either has no credit history, one bad credit incident, or had credit card fraud committed against them.
Is the opportunity easy or difficult to exploit? The opportunity is there but might be difficult to exploit as it has not been implemented yet. The opportunity for people to have access for new credit scores will increase their ability to spend. The ability to spend increases and you have more people out purchasing items. This could be an opportunity across multiple industries and if you are aware of it than you could push harder for people to spend more.
Why did I see this opportunity? As a finance major, I have learned about the ins and outs of the economy, interest rates, loans, mortgages, and stocks. From what I have learned the math is simple, more ability to spend, means more profitability of a certain company, means workers might make more. This could be a very good thing across a lot of industries.
Economic Trend #2: Minimum Wage Increases
Where I found it: The Simple Dollar; https://www.thesimpledollar.com/four-economic-trends-that-will-impact-you-this-year/
What leads me to believe an opportunity exists? With a minimum-wage increase in certain states people of those states will have more discretionary income so I believe that they will be able to spend more. Now is the time to place a new business venture in those areas maybe one with high fixed costs and not a lot of employees.
Prototypical customer? In the states a prototypical customer would be anyone with discretionary income.
Is the opportunity easy or difficult to exploit? In those selected states if you see that more people are spending than the opportunity is definitely easier to exploit. But if you are having issues finding a market of people to cater to with your business plan in mind than it could be more difficult to exploit this opportunity.
Why did I see this opportunity? When I was reading this opportunity stood out to me because I saw the minimum wage increase which I found interesting and then I read deeper into it and discovered that it will be a great thing for the states that are implementing it. I know from my education that when people have more ability to spend then they will typically spend. The article states that people on average will have about “$900-$1300” more in their pockets a year.
Regulatory Trend #1: FTC/FCC/DOC tightening data privacy and cyber security
Where I found it: https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/us/pdf/2018/12/ten-key-regulatory-challenges-pov-v5-web.pdf
What leads me to believe an opportunity exists? As it has become a concern with multiple federal agencies that data needs to remain private and secure. There could be a huge opportunity in the cyber security industry later on down the line. Additionally, an opportunity in individual business to make certain that their clients and customers data is secure and private could be top priority for some consumers.
Prototypical customer? Any consumer who uses the internet or is concerned with their privacy.
Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit? I think this opportunity is easy to exploit because I realize a lot of individuals are becoming increasingly aware of the prioritization of security of your data and the importance of keeping your cyber data secure.
Why did I see this opportunity? When I took International Business over the summer in London the Facebook trail was going on with Zuckerberg. The trial stuck with me and made me feel like my information was not secure or safe because of how many online platforms I am on and utilize daily. The fear for a lot of people became my fear and I took steps to prevent websites from tracking my searches, emailing me, and finding out my personal information.
Regulatory Trend #2: New & Fair NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
Where I found it: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-broken-nafta-promise-11545870369?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=8
What leads me to believe an opportunity exists? The new and fair NAFTA allows me to believe an opportunity exists because it puts a better deal on the table for North American businesses in industry’s like agriculture, automotive, and steel.
Prototypical customer? If you are buying a car, exporting/importing agriculture, or buy steel parts from a company etc. this trade agreement could make buying parts less costly and increase profits for companies. This could also lower prices for consumers.
Is this opportunity easy or difficult to exploit? This opportunity is very easy to exploit because there are so many people impacted by this regulatory trend.
Why did I see this opportunity? When researching for my interviews I did a lot of research on NAFTA for talking points. I saw this regulatory opportunity because the trade deal increases opportunities globally and will hopefully increase our economic growth.
Hi Emily. I was unaware of the UltraFICO score. I think you make a good point that for people who may have had relatively low credit to no credit might have purchasing opportunities which could really help them. I don't know if you thought about this but lenders have debt to income ratios that indicate a borrowers ability to repay their debt. I wonder if it could be a potential issue if credit is extended. I really like the opportunity that exists in the world of cyber security. Privacy is a real issue and we all have a vested interest in securing our data. Great point!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI think you introduced a lot of good opportunities in your assignment. One of the opportunities that I did not think about was cyber security. I noticed that someone else used a similar opportunity in their assignment and I think it was a good point to make. People should not have trouble with keeping their data and any other online information private and secure. I really enjoyed reading through your opportunities and I think you did a good job on this assignment.