In 2018, it was a "tumultuous autumn" in China, with many industries facing a life-or-death turning point.

However, when the economic situation is bad, it is precisely an excellent opportunity for ordinary people to counterattack. This article provides you with a perspective on thinking, hoping to help you seize more opportunities in the next three years.

I see a question on Zhihu: What are some unremarkable but profitable industries?

The top ranked answer is close to 10000 likes. Author @ Wei Xiaowei observed a very popular shop on Zhongshan Road in Xiamen. This shop sells grilled squid and has kept 20 people in line for a long time, with a continuous stream of people coming and going.

She found that this store can sell an average of two grilled squid servings in one minute. That is to say, they work 8 hours a day and earn 20000 yuan. When the traffic is low, there is a 50% discount of 20000, which is also 10000. In this way, the monthly sales revenue is 300000 yuan, the annual sales revenue is 3 million yuan, and the equivalent profit is at least 1 to 1.5 million yuan.

After seeing the author's analysis, I realized that it was very realistic when my friend mentioned that his uncle in Xiamen bought two sets of houses by selling barbecues.

In contrast, for white-collar workers who work overtime in office buildings in first tier cities every day, the monthly salary they receive is somewhat "overshadowed".

Of course, sharing this story is not advocating for everyone to resign and "sell barbecue", because there are three hundred and sixty lines of business and there are ways to do it.

However, this incident does bring us a valuable reflection - industries that you don't like may hold the best opportunities

one

Industries that you don't like

Perhaps hiding the best opportunity

Let me ask you a question first: What opportunities can you see from a straw?

According to industry insiders, the average selling price of a straw is 8%. After deducting all costs, the profit is about 10%. In the end, each straw can earn approximately 0.0008 yuan.

Compared to many internet products nowadays, the profits are too thin, and almost no one is willing to do such thankless things.

There is a person named Lou Zhongping, who is now the founder of Yiwu Shuangtong Daily Necessities Co., Ltd. In 1993, he entered the daily necessities industry and initially just wanted to make some money. Like many small bosses in Yiwu, he sold everything, including disposable chopsticks, disposable paper cups, pots and pans, and so on.

Later on, he found that too many people had sold pots, pans, and pots, and he couldn't make much money. At the same time, he caught an opportunity: the straw was used by people every day, but few manufacturers produced it in large quantities because it was very laborious to produce (at that time, it still required semi manual production) and the profit was extremely low.

So he decided to open a factory specializing in the production of straws, as there were not many competitors and a few were not focused enough and had limited competitiveness. Lou Zhongping's factory was quickly established and grew larger. Now, it has an annual output of over 7000 tons, with a value of nearly 200 million yuan. Lou Zhongping went from being an ordinary Yiwu small commodity owner to becoming a true 'straw king'.

After success, the reporter asked him how he came up with the idea of making a straw in the first place?

He didn't say too many specific reasons, but gave a suggestion from a higher dimension: "There are infinite possibilities in a person's life, and everything is based on a change in your mindset

This sentence may sound 'empty', but it is indeed something that every person looking for opportunities needs to deeply understand.

When facing an industry that no one looks up to, perhaps you can change your perspective: is this the perfect opportunity for me?

two

A truly intelligent person only sees market demand in their eyes

And don't care if the industry is glamorous or not

Luo Zhenyu, the founder of Luoji Thinking, once said that if he fails to start a business by "getting an app", he will choose to do "nanny training".

Many people are puzzled, why? How can an intellectual who once worked as a high-end knowledge product start a second business and train as a nanny? The contrast is really a bit big.

The conclusion, of course, is that he saw market demand that most people did not see. After listening to Luo Zhenyu's in-depth analysis of this industry, I was deeply inspired.

Firstly, is there a significant market demand in this industry? Definitely big. With the improvement of economic level in recent years, a large number of middle classes have emerged in China. How many people are there in this group? According to Jiang Nanchun, the founder of Focus Media, there are approximately 250 million people in China who are in their 20s to 40s and have a monthly income of 10000 to 100000 yuan.

What are the characteristics of this type of person? They value spiritual consumption, are willing to buy time with money, and are willing to pay a premium for good service. So, hiring a nanny has become a necessity for many families.

Secondly, what is the current situation of this industry? Do you still remember a while ago when a Hangzhou nanny set fire to the employer's house? After this incident, many families lost confidence in the nanny industry. This is the current situation in the nanny industry, where trustworthy nannies are in short supply.

Thirdly, are there so many people willing to be nannies? Of course there is. There are too many people at the bottom who are dissatisfied with their lives and hope to integrate with the middle class or even the upper class. Of course, they also earn a lot of money, which is in line with the logic of social division of labor.

So, Luo Zhenyu said that if he goes to do nanny training, he first goes to college students who have just graduated. They may not be a good university, but they have received higher education.

This group of people's moral qualities, learning abilities, and other aspects are different from traditional nannies. He gave an example: first, he found 1000 middle-class families and 1500 college students, organized a three-month centralized training, eliminated the part of antisocial personality through psychological tests, personality tests, and other methods, and then taught basic household and communication skills.

In this way, the quality of the nanny is improved, the level of service is high, and it is trustworthy. The monthly salary naturally increases, and 15000 yuan per month is not a problem. A large number of families in China have this demand and consumption ability.

Then Luo Zhenyu also calculated an account for everyone: 15000 yuan per month, 180000 yuan per year, and 1.8 billion yuan per year for 1000 people. Currently, the level of many service industries in China is not very good. In response to this market demand, it is conservatively estimated that if listed, it can reach tens to 100 billion yuan.

Many times, we cannot compete with others because we set our sights too high, so we cannot see opportunities scattered on the ground. The main reason for this issue is that we are looking for opportunities in the wrong way.

Going with the flow will never catch an opportunity. Real smart people, when making choices, the standard is definitely not whether the industry is glamorous, but whether there is market demand.

three

The premise of seizing opportunities

It's your judgment and hard skills

Liang Boqiang, the founder of the famous nail clipper brand "very small tools" in China, once shared an interesting experience with reporters:

At that time, he chose to join the nail clipper industry because while browsing through old newspapers, he accidentally saw a sentence from Premier Zhu Rongji, which roughly meant: At that time, the quality of things produced in China was generally biased, such as nail clippers, which could not be cut in a few days.

Different people will have different reactions when they hear this sentence. Some people may regard it as a complaint, while others see opportunities in it. Liang Boqiang is the person who sees the opportunity.

Similarly, Lou Zhongping saw opportunities in the neglected straw, and Luo Zhenyu recommended entering the nanny training industry. These people can pick up treasures from the "garbage heap" not by luck or hard work, but by judgment.

To improve your judgment, the first thing to do is to change your thinking, which is what we initially said: when facing an industry that everyone looks down on, can you take a step further and ask: Is there a great opportunity hidden in this?

However, having judgment alone is not enough, one also needs to have hard skills. If a person can only see opportunities but cannot seize them, then there is no difference in judgment.

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