Opportunity 1 (Economic) - Too Many Jobs, Not Enough Workers
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/28/2018s-challenge-too-many-jobs-not-enough-workers/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.84228af73e9d
This is a supply and demand issue, so either supply levels need to increase (or be streamlined), or price needs to change to adjust supply and demand.
The prototypical customer would be every business that is in need of employees that they are having trouble finding. They stand the most to gain.
This opportunity could be hard to exploit because there are already many ways that individuals can seek jobs- websites, Facebook groups, seeing a sign for a job opening. There are, however less prevalent habits of many businesses posting on the existing popular job sites.
Where I work, we have a lot of trouble filling open positions because we try to rely on the company's own website for job postings, instead of posting openings in multiple websites. Companies like ours who are already short staffed don't have time to try that hard to find employees, so hiring a recruiter to post the jobs AND vet candidates for low monthly fees, or on an as-needed basis would be very beneficial.
Opportunity 2 (Economic) - Household Savings Rates are still low, though Tax Burdens will be less this year.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-january-2018-briefing-no-110/
Many people know that it's a bad habit not to save (the suggested amount is 3-6 months of income in a personal savings account), but have stopped saving long ago due to economic struggles. As the tax burden on individuals and families have been lifted slightly due to the new federal income tax laws, people should in theory have the ability to save some of that money for a future rainy day. The prototypical customer would be banks who want their average customer to save more, so that they can lend out more money. There could be online content, podcasts, and even suggested changes for the bank to allow savings sub-accounts which can be named. Nicknaming savings accounts has been proven to increase savings. It may be difficult to exploit this because banks are still operating under low interest rates, and they have high levels of security. I thought of this opportunity because I personally have been searching for a bank or credit union that allows sub-accounts, because I would rather separate some of my savings than have it in one big pool. There are also a few things that are confusing about banks, and I'm sure many people need more education on credits cards and banking in general.
Opportunity 3 (Regulatory) - An App that Documents Foster Care and Saves Social Workers' Time
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ACF-2018-0003-0012
The woman who posted that comment used to be a social worker, and she knows that they are often not compensated for their overtime, and yet must work OT to complete already existing paperwork. This new system is on a website, but an app would streamline the process because foster parents could fill some of the information out. The customer is the Administration of Family and Children, the US government. I saw this opportunity because I know that sometimes relying on customers helping is a big relief on workers on a time constraint. I have a lot of experience with apps.
Opportunity 4 (Regulatory)
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OARM-2018-0065-0001
This is a renewal for the law that contractors use to drug test their employees for controlled substances. A common problem is that employees are still able to cheat these tests (urine samples). I saw this opportunity because I know a lot of people who have cheated these tests. The prototypical customer would be contractors interested in a more reliable drug test program.
April:
ReplyDeleteI like your post on household savings. I agree that with some recent changes in the tax law we should and currently have been seeing some more money in our paychecks; however, as you pointed out this doesn’t mean that people are saving more. I have learned over the years that treating my savings as a recurring bill makes it easy to save. As a society we operate on monthly cash flows. That is, most people look at a purchase or debt as a monthly bill they can afford. In my household that is the approach we took with savings, retirement planning, and wealth management. Also, you can open as many savings accounts as you like with certain online banks, so that should overcome the issue of sub-accounts.