5 Top Trends To Turn Into Business Ideas

written by Rieva Lesonsky

A great way to get a new business idea or fine-tune the one you have is to look at trends in the marketplace. Here are 5 hot trends to inspire you.

• Seniors - The number of 65-plus people, currently about 35 million Americans, will double in the next 25 years. Seniors (and their kids, the baby boomers--see #2) will need services from in-home care to products designed for seniors to senior day-care or services that help find the best solution for housing and caring for aging parents.
  
  
• Baby Boomers - The 77 million baby boomers make up nearly a fourth of the U.S. population and, by next year, will account for half of all U.S. spending. There are many opportunities here: Boomers need everything from financial services (to help them recoup their retirement losses) to products and services to fit their aging bodies, to anti-aging products. Boomers are big Internet users, so be sure to make the Web part of your business plan.
  
  
• Children - At least 3.8 million children have been born each year since 1987 in the U.S. These babies need lots of stuff--Americans spend hundreds of billions annually on children's products and services. Kids spend their own money too--tweens spend $4 billion a year, and teens spend $125 billion. Products like clothing or grooming products and services like day care, college planning and tutoring are hot areas here.
  
  
• Weddings - Couples spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year getting married, and that number is about to get bigger. The kids (see #3) born in 1987 turn 22 this year; the average U.S. woman marries at 25. In just a few years, a huge wedding boom will start and will continue for at least 22 years. Weddings mean huge opportunities for wedding clothing, accessories, catering, wedding planners, flower shops, honeymoon planners, travel and gifts. As more states legalize gay marriage, the potential will only increase.
  
  
• Business Services - As businesses large and small lay off staff, more business services are being outsourced--meaning opportunity for entrepreneurs to provide those services. Demand for temporary workers is rising, and niche staffing services l specializing in health care, technology and sales will grow. Social media experts are also hot, as are tech consultants and digital storage services.

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. If you have business questions you can ask her at www.askrieva.com.

Retrieved on 8^th October 2009 from http://www.ideablob.com/posts/366