Learning to Identify and Exploit Trends Is an Important Business Skill

Filed in archive Biz Opportunities on February 21, 2007

Innovation, creativity, and original thinking is the basis of exploiting business opportunities. Today, I found this article on Entrepreneur titled Spot the Latest Trends and it is a lengthy article that talks about the difference between trends and fads, give examples, and offers a formula for identifying what is worth pursuing:

Time: Trends don't happen over-night. "Yoga is the oldest trend in history," says Trent. But yoga has become so well-accepted that it's now mainstream--hence the story of Plank.

Roots: "Because a trend is developed in a wide variety of ways, it develops roots," explains Trent. Trends won't vanish even as they evolve, because their roots are deep and intricate.

Everywhere: A trend will slowly sprout up in different places. After a while, you'll see it all over the place.

Nonstop growth: Trends keep building slowly, never stopping their growth. "A trend isn't going anywhere--it will be there for a long time," says Trent. In contrast, she says, "A fad won't last."

Durability: Trends are strong. Unlike fads, they don't weaken as they become mainstream; they only become stronger.

The article goes on to recommend additional tactics and rules that will help you become a trend setter. Well worth visiting and reading the entire article if you need some fresh ideas to renovate and invigorate your business.