2020 has been a crazy year, but it’s about to be over. I feel that with the turn of the year and with the way things are progressing, 2021 is a year of hope. Hope for recovering from the pandemic and thousands of businesses lost, hope for a better year, and hope that we can all get back to normal. Our team has been hard at work both for our clients, such as Surya Spa who’s now seeking funding through Republic.co, as well as working on internal projects to better help our clients. This year we launched the WFAA program, simplified our onboarding process, and launched the Peterman Method™.
We’re also working on a top secret mentorship program for early stage startups and inventors, the real DIY people out there, to help with the product development process. We hope to launch that end of Q1 2021. Now I want to share with you some insights of the last quarter and trends we see going into 2021. |
Insights
Electrification of vehicles will improve our planet when done right.
We keep seeing automotive companies set goals for electrification of their product lines, except Toyota of course who’s completely focused on hydrogen. I think it could be a unicorn tech, but could also become a Betamax in a VHS world (if you don’t know what these are, HERE). SpaceX has put people into space, Boeing is struggling to catch up while going over budget, and electric planes are getting put in the spotlight as more companies are sharing their efforts in the industry.
An interesting look into solar, specifically rooftop, in the southern states shows that North and South Carolina, closely followed by Virginia have lead the south in rooftop solar. South Carolina with over an estimated 200,000 rooftops with solar. Virginia and South Carolina have very positive incentives and legislation to help with it. Moving forward, Tennessee, Alabama, and even North Carolina have some road blocks. I’d recommend reading more HERE if you are interested in solar in the south.
Another insight, which may seem odd, but is definitely growing, is the success of storage units. They have on average a 54% profit margin, and there has been huge growth over the last 7 years in some of the largest storage unit companies. Several are owned by publicly traded companies, and they amazingly only saw a 0.9% drop in profits the first half of 2020. But there are some issues. Most are actually mom and pop stores with little automation or focus on efficiency.
Trends
The storage unit business is an untapped market.
Starting with the storage unit business, this is definitely a trend of success and growth that we think will continue. I also see a huge opportunity for an out-of-box technology solution. Right now, there isn’t one. There is no standard storage unit system of cameras, gate controller, voice box, and more. It’s an untapped market that could use some attention in the tech space.
Partially due to COVID, renewable electricity capacity didn’t grow as much in 2020, however that growth is forecast to come up in 2021, though probably won’t make up for this year. Read more HERE. Goldman Sachs says that “Renewable power will become the largest area of spending in 2021.” If it happens, it’ll put renewable investments ahead of upstream oil and gas for the first time in history. If President-Elect Biden keeps climate change as a high agenda and follows through, 2021 could be the beginning of a new surge in green energy. A goal he’s aimed at is net-zero carbon emissions for the US by 2050. That’s a lot of innovation and development to hit that goal.
Esports is here to stay and is growing in massive way. A 2018 League of Legends world championship final had more viewers than the Super Bowl for the first time. $500M was raised in the industry since just September and colleges are starting to get into it. It’s estimated that the global Esports market size will be $6.81B USD. The health side of esports is virtually untapped. We’re working with a client now who is working on this side, and they are mostly alone. From equipment, such as chairs, to healthier energy drink options, there are many opportunities here to get into a massively growing market. |
Something to Share
Newron Motors have a unique design we love.
There are amazing companies and people everywhere. This month, I want to mention Newron Motors. They have created some really fantastic motorcycle designs through using electric motors, allowing more design freedom. While they haven’t come to the US yet, and I’ve been telling them they need to, they have been a fun company to watch grow since their inception.
Something to Invest in
The storage unit business is an untapped market.
I want to share an awesome company, who also happens to be a client, that is now offering an investment through the platform Republic.co. Surya Spa is a spa turned product company navigating the COVID world with success and working to come out on top of what has been a bad year for most businesses. They are the premier Ayurvedic Lifestyle brand and leading the charge of a $15B market. You can look at their live page here and learn more.
Your Next Steps
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Tools of the Design World: Adobe Spark
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