Gen Z living in the now, traveling and looking to enjoy their career and life.
Just when it seemed Millennials were poised to be the largest group of change-makers in recent history, it will be Gen Z that creates more opportunities for entrepreneurs. While Millennials have created some changes, the most dramatic disruptions will come from the rising Gen Z population. If you are an entrepreneur or aspire to be one, just micro-analyze this population for problems that you can solve. And Gen Z will happily pay for solutions that improve their life.
“OK Zoomer: Gen Z Primer,” is a new report from BofA Global Research. According to the report, Gen Z’s economic power is the fastest growing across all cohorts. This generation’s income will increase five-fold by 2030 to $33 trillion as they enter the workplace today, reaching 27% of global income and surpassing Millennials the year after. The growing consumer power of Gen Z will be even more powerful considering the “great wealth transfer” that will occur by 2030 and through 2040. The Baby Boomer generation are sitting on $78 trillion of wealth today and quite a bit of this wealth will pass to the Gen Z population. So, what does Gen Z want?
Time. They want more or less time in everything they do. They don’t want to stand in line. They don’t want to wait for things. They want to work better and less (i.e. remote work, etc.). Gen Z does not want to spend any time looking for things. That’s why services like Scotts’ Cheap Flights are rising rapidly. Why search across multiple websites and spend hours looking for travel deals when Scott’s will bring it to you 24/7. Check in via a line at a hotel? No. They want to use their phone as a gateway to the hotel property. They want to eat but won’t drive to get their food. Hello DoorDash. And the list goes on. As an entrepreneur, look to the critical nature of “time” as you evaluate this population and look to help them maximize or minimize time in their lives. Here are some insights to get you started.
Convenience is the key. Perhaps more than any generation, Gen Z wants to live their lives more conveniently. Think of anything this population does and wants to do and think how can they do that more conveniently? You have seen the rise of grocery delivery, checking in on phones, and ecommerce via social media apps. Look to ways you can deliver even more convenience to other aspects of their lives and where they experience “friction” today via multiple apps or websites to get something done.
Concierge services. Welcome back the travel agent disguised as the new travel concierge. Gen Z is embracing these services as they just give this company their timeframe, budget and destination and these services find and book everything. Well, where else can someone provide concierge like services to help Gen Z with their goal of maximizing their time in the pursuit of a great career or life? What else would Gen Z “outsource” if given the chance?
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Escaping experiences. Covid has really unleashed the hounds for this generation. Working remotely, re-connecting with friends, travelling more, and living life “la vita loca” they are looking to, at a young age, to live life very well. This has led to furthering the digital nomad trend, the creation of “glamping” near national parks and a resurgence of wine tasting at regional wineries. While Covid will hopefully fade away someday, all these attributes of “escaping” for Gen Z will stay and even grow. So, how can smart entrepreneurs create more services, apps, or experiences that allow Gen Z to continue escaping?
Investing made easy. Gen Z really wants to learn about investing but they don’t want to invest any time to learn it. Just look at the rise of meme stocks and other volatile stocks that accelerated up and down due to a Reddit post. Even with the rise of new investing platforms like Robinhood, these new platforms have not really taken a dramatic share of the US investing marketplace with assets of less than 1% according to a recent Morningstar article. There are still major opportunities in this marketplace for providing a service that makes investing understood, easy and somewhat frictionless. Give Gen Z something simple they understand like a yearly return versus stocks they need to invest in.
