🛠️ How to Build For The Future...

Want to be good at spotting startup opportunities? Become a futurist.

Startups are essentially bets on how the world is changing and how that change will create the opportunity for a business to capitalise. They then build for this new world and, if all goes well, are ready to capture the market when the anticipated change goes mainstream.

Examples:  

• Holidaymakers wanted entire apartments/houses, not hotel rooms: Airbnb was born
• Use tech to drive down insurance premiums: Naked Insurance
• Boost the booming coffee industry’s supply chain: Henlo Coffee
• When banks won’t do small business loans: Lula
• Unlock the township economy with payments infrastructure: Kazang

Sure, it makes sense in hindsight. But how do you spot opportunities like these BEFORE the time?  

Let’s dive in…

1. When new tech emerges

After using ChatGPT for the first time, many asked “What will this do to job X?”. And it's a good question to ask. But to find the opportunity, you need to go a few layers deeper. Ask “What will happen once AI actually kills job X”.  

This will lead to a whole host of anticipated happenings. I.e. People skilled in job X will be out of a job, but those people will pivot careers or find a niche that AI can’t do, or it will result in a social dilemma. Each of those brings forth its own set of opportunities (help them find jobs, help them pivot, help them find AI-proof niches etc.).

If you play out these scenarios it could lead to finding a big market…

2. When the law changes

NHI, Bela Bill and many other legislative changes bring forth a new set of rules. Anticipate how these laws will play out and what some of the associated challenges will be, then start building to solve that!

I.e. the Bela Bill proposes that homeschooling should be regulated. This will likely mean a host of reporting for homeschoolers. Be the first to build this tool and you are set to have a bunch of customers.

3. When there are big problems

Big problems mean big opportunities. Anticipating that Eskom will not be able to resolve loadshedding in the short term led to a boom in renewables. Could the same happen with clean water supply?

Imagining the future and how it will impact the world is a great way to find startup ideas. If you need some inspiration, check out our list of 100+ startup ideas for South Africa.

Featuring multi-billion-Rand opportunities across 25 industries, including:

- 15 too-hot FinTech opportunities
- 12 Groundbreaking B2B & ecosystem ventures
- 11 Entertainment & Sports businesses waiting to be built
- 11 Insanely cool tech companies to start
- 9 Disruptive E-commerce plays to change the game

Plus: PropTech, InsureTech, EdTech, HealthTech, Automotive and so many SaaS opportunities just waiting to be built…

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