Economic Opportunity #1: Online
pharmacy service in India
1) Opportunity Belief: The emergence of demand for online pharmacy services in India presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter this market in its infancy.
2) Analysis:
b) I believe this opportunity is
likely to exist because an online pharmacy, as recently permitted under these
regulatory changes, would provide easier access to potentially life-saving
pharmaceutical drugs for the people of India.
c) The prototypical customer for this
opportunity would be a user of prescription drugs in India. Additionally, the
technology used to create an online pharmacy could potentially be licensed to
existing brick-and-mortar pharmacies.
d) This opportunity would be relatively
difficult to exploit because I am not located in India, nor am I familiar with
the pharmaceutical market of that country.
3) “Why?” – As a millennial, I have seen many industries be
revolutionized by the emergence of online markets. Although this progress has
yet to meaningfully affect the pharmaceutical industry, this could certainly
change within the next few years, providing a potentially profitable
opportunity for entrepreneurs.
Regulatory Opportunity #1:
Operation of a for-profit college
1) Opportunity Belief: Relaxed regulations on the operation of
for-profit colleges presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter the
business of higher education for profit.
2) Analysis:
a) Source: Cass R. Sunstein, Bloomberg News, https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-04/trump-s-record-on-regulations-is-routine-not-radical,
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-04/trump-s-record-on-regulations-is-routine-not-radical.
b) I believe this opportunity is
likely to exist because a for-profit college may be better equipped to provide
more innovative and/or cost-effective education than traditional institutions.
c) The prototypical customer for this
opportunity would be a current or prospective college student who is unsatisfied
with the existing provision of education or cost thereof.
d) This opportunity would be relatively
easy to exploit because for-profit colleges already exist, providing a framework
upon which entrepreneurs could innovate in order to build a better quality and
more cost-effective institution.
3) “Why?” – Although I have previously been doubtful about the quality
and legitimacy of for-profit colleges, I chose to view this information from
the perspective of an entrepreneur, allowing me to see an opportunity in a
market toward which I had previously been skeptical. Additionally, despite the
clearly politically-charged nature of this article, I was able to identify a
potential opportunity in some of the evidence briefly presented in support of
the author’s arguments against President Trump.
Economic Opportunity #2: Technology
capable of tracking the movement of drugs in China
1) Opportunity Belief: The need to combat the illegal distribution of prescription drugs in China has created a demand for technology that can track the movement of these drugs, presenting an opportunity for entrepreneurs to develop and sell such technology.
2) Analysis:
b) I believe this opportunity is
likely to exist because the ability to track the movement of prescription drugs
would provide solutions to the unmet needs of prescription drug providers,
pharmaceutical providers, law enforcement, and legitimate customers of
prescription drugs.
c) The prototypical customers for this
opportunity would be the manufacturers and distributors of prescription drugs
in China.
d) This opportunity would be relatively
difficult to exploit because, similar to Opportunity #1, I am not from China,
nor am I familiar with the problems associated with the illegitimate movement
of prescription drugs in that country.
3) “Why?” – I was born and raised near Huntington, West Virginia –
commonly considered “Ground Zero of the opioid epidemic” in the United States.
As such, I deeply understand how technology that could track the illegitimate
movement of dangerous prescription drugs could deliver profound and widespread
benefits to communities that may otherwise fall into a similar opioid crisis.
Regulatory Opportunity #2: Wearable
technology capable of detecting medical abnormalities
1) Opportunity Belief: It is likely that an unmet needs exists for
wearable technology capable of detecting medical abnormalities in individuals
with risk factors affecting their health.
2) Analysis:
b) I believe this opportunity is
likely to exist because such technology would provide potentially life-saving
information to individuals with certain medical conditions.
c) The prototypical customer for this
opportunity is a personal with a medical condition where immediate detection of
diagnostic abnormalities would be beneficial or potentially life-saving.
d) This opportunity would be relatively
difficult to exploit because development of such technology may be costly, and
the corresponding price of these devices may be prohibitively expensive for
health insurance providers.
3) “Why?” – This appears to be an emerging market, which may present
the ideal time for a keen entrepreneur to enter into a potentially profitable
venture in the early stages of an opportunity’s existence. My experience in
this class so far has taught me that identifying opportunities before others
presents a greater possibility of profiting from the venture. Additionally,
this opportunity belief may involve a need
rather than a want (interviews with
prototypical customers, as we’ve conducted in previous exercises, would verify
whether or not this is the case).
