These Sectors Will be the Trendsetters in 2019 New-age startups are thinking in the digital world and learning product distribution from their tech peers
By Ritu Marya
This story appears in the January 2019 issue of Entrepreneur India. Subscribe »
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Business trends are not an annual thing anymore as almost every other day, we see emergence of a new trend. And then some fade away, paving way for others. However, going with our tradition at Entrepreneur of setting forward expectations in the new year, we bring you some areas and practices which we expect to be big in 2019. There are some people who create trends, and there are those who build a business case around them. And then, there are a different set of people who put their dollars behind ideas. They all need to see trends from one lens to come together to give impetus to many a consumable trend in the new year.
If 2018 was about deep tech, blockchain and logistics; 2019 promises to usher a new-age of consumer product businesses. Not every innovation has to be a world-shattering blockbuster business idea, with which one can build a unicorn. Some startups and their products are just about making humans feel better about their everyday lives. It is about addressing consumers' need for ease of use, transparency, healthy, personalized, being cult , quick and diverse. And its impact would be evident everywhere -- right from what we eat to what we wear, how we groom; from our shelves in the kitchen, refrigerators to everything in between, is up for a major upheaval. It is about consumer products companies thinking like consumer solutions companies.
While not exactly dealing with tech-based products, new-age product startups are thinking in the digital world and learning product distribution from their tech peers. Rather than buying a product, their objective is to lure a consumer into subscribing for a solution, which would also give the customer ample time to make up his mind about the product. If consumer products will change the retail shelves, co-living spaces promises to be the next big real estate rage in India. But why do people want co-living? What makes it a trend catching up and what are the things we need to get right to make co-living big in India are some of the questions that we have endeavored to answer in the story that we have featured in this issue.
There's a story is on family offices, which have become a modish trend among the super-rich of India. And in another story, we have featured an Indian film producer, who elucidates why good content is the king; at least for small budget projects. Plus, much more. In February, we will be releasing 35 under 35 list of young entrepreneurs. And you could be one of them. Write to us about your startup to stand a chance to get featured in the list.
(This article was first published in the January 2019 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)