PROFIT Magazine's 12th annual Opportunity Guide, arriving on newsstands
today, presents today's best startup, expansion and sales prospects for
Canadian entrepreneurs.
TORONTO, Dec. 10 /CNW/ - PROFIT Magazine is pointing Canadian
entrepreneurs toward their next big thing. Today, PROFIT reveals its 12th
annual report on the best niches for starting a business, growing an existing
company and finding hot sales prospects. Here, according to PROFIT, are some
of the best business opportunities for 2008 and beyond:- Coping with climate change
Global warming is not only leaving a trail of destruction. It's also
clearing a path for quick-moving entrepreneurs to help society adapt.
As the weather breaks away from historical patterns and becomes more
extreme, there'll be hot demand for everything from specialized
weather-forecasting services to retrofitting buildings to withstand
nastier storms.
- Generation Y
The boomers' little kids are almost all grown up. Generation Y, born
from 1977 to 1994, will number 9.2 million in Canada by 2011. There's
a growing opportunity to help this group complete the transition to
adulthood, such as offering Gen Y-friendly financial advice, career
counseling and socially-conscious products.
- Selling to the poor
Businesses can make millions selling to a vast but largely ignored
market: the world's poor. The four billion people who live on less
than US$3,000 a year are the largest growth opportunity in the past
50 years - and are already a profitable market for Western companies
selling everything from cellphones to shampoo.
- The retirement ready
There's gold in targeting people nearing their golden years. The
ranks of Canadians aged 55 to 64 are growing eight times as fast as
the rest of the population, and their median net worth is triple that
of other adults. They're a rich market for everything from specialty
furniture to one-stop financial-services shops.
- The riches in recession
With the U.S. economy slowing sharply, Canada is likely heading into
a slowdown of our own - or even a recession. But that doesn't mean
there won't be any great business opportunities. The key to growth in
hard times is in countercyclical sectors: those that thrive while
others suffer.PROFIT magazine's full 2008 Opportunity Guide is available on newsstands
today.
About PROFIT Magazine
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success offers news, strategies, tips,
interviews and other resources to entrepreneurs leading Canada's
fastest-growing companies. Each year PROFIT, which currently reaches more than
300,000 readers nationally, hosts a number of events that bring together
business leaders in the fast-growth segment and champions the interests of
those leaders. PROFIT was founded in April 1982 as Canada's first national
magazine geared to entrepreneurs. Visit PROFITguide.com.