Demographic Considerations When Launching a Business
This article in Yahoo Finance is about healthcare / medical businesses considering offices in a new location. There are lots of factors to consider, but they mention 4 in particular.: Research the population, Research the competition, Choose somewhere people will see, Consider convenience for you and your patient(s).
These aren’t just relevant for your medical practice, but for ANY business or entrepreneur. But one of the things we like to think about at Generation Bridge are life stage issues. When you start to think about the things you or your product helps to solve, you can start to define “where” might be a good space for you to open up shop. Perhaps that’s in a retail store, medical office, or other physical location OR perhaps it’s online or some other virtual shop. Either way, once you start to think in these terms, you may be able to do some research into what communities or neighborhoods might be a good fit.
For example, if a new development for senior living or 55+ residences is being built in your town, what kinds of services might become more popular based on a new population or demographic shift? When might those services be more popular? Who might help you reach those people better? These questions are relevant for a Lyft driver, Realtor, or other entrepreneur to create a unique business around the needs of a changing or evolving community.
Gen Z’ers Want Financial Education
This article references some great research done by Experian among 18 and 19 year olds. They are looking for more information about finances in general Things like tax planning, budgeting, college budgeting, etc. In the end, the basic finding is true, kids are looking for financial information and education.
Finances are one of the biggest stresses people deal with throughout their lives. As such, we should be helping young kids understand the value of money, strategies for financial independence and ways to feel more freedom at various life stages. If you have a plan, even as someone who is younger, then you will be starting life in a position of power rather than weakness. The moments we move into more of a debt mindset, then we start to suffer the angst often associated with it.
There’s some good data and while we can assume a sponsor funded study will inherently call out facts that support a position, I think the ideas called out in this one gel with other research and findings about children and finances that are out there.
What Retirement Means Now
The New York Times article by Eilene Zimmerman recognizes the changing demographics in the US as we age and live longer. What retirement once was is currently changing. While we all joke that we want to retire by the time we’re 55, the truth of that fact can often be scary when we think we might well live 30 years in “retirement”.
Today, perceptions of retirement appear to be migrating from a once standard “stop working” and start to smell the flowers to one that is more of a mix. Many “want” to continue to work or volunteer, even if only on a part time basis. Sometimes that decision may be financially based, but other times it will be because people want to continue to “serve” and be productive. I am sure there is also a social component to it as well.
Self employed professionals also appear to be willing to work longer into their retirement years because of a genuine love of their chosen profession. But at the same time, they may have to revisit their spending / budgeting as the business starts to slow down especially if they didn’t benefit from years of pension / 401K matching that may be part of larger corporate packages.
Read more below.
How A Negative Was Turned To A Positive
If you hadn’t heard, there was a great story about a boy who made his own University of Tennessee design to place on his orange shirt to participate in his school’s “spirit week” where the classmates would wear the colors of their favorite schools. He didn’t have a U of T shirt so he was excited to make his own.
Classmates teased him for the homemade shirt and he was hurt, but his teacher posted an image of the shirt in an effort to garner some support and cheer him up. That act got the attention of the University which sent the boy a lot of Volunteers gear, and they even agreed to create a shirt with the boy’s design. Proceeds from the sales will benefit “Stomp Out Bullying.” As of the article over 16,000 pre-orders had been placed.
After all this, the teacher said her student is walking taller and feeling better. Kudos to a teacher with a good heart and an organization that stepped in to potentially make a lasting impact on a young boy!
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