In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the first electric light bulb. Before this, people used kerosene lamps, candles, and fireplaces to light their houses when it was dark. You could say that Thomas Edison knew there was an untapped market in electricity. While Edison used previous research and development from other inventors, he knew that making the light bulb needed to be practical and inexpensive so he could sell it. As an entrepreneur, it's important to recognize untapped markets so you can innovate on products or bring a new product to market. Below, let's review what an untapped market is, how to find one, and look at some examples. Finding an untapped market requires observation and an understanding of emerging trends. You might be wondering, "How can I find an untapped market?" Let's dive into it below. 1. Pay attention to emerging trends. One of the most important ways to find an untapped market is to pay attention to emerging trends. It's hard to be observant of what customers want if you don't know what's developing in your industry. There are several ways you can do this. First, you can set up Google alerts for any industry you're interested in. When ...
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The Final Chapter - Learning to Think Like an underwriter As we have journeyed down this road of understanding the Fix and Flip mortgage we have stressed that all financing approvals are based on risk. It’s important to understand the logic behind the underwriter and how their decisions are calculated. It's not as easy as having a simple checklist and when they check off a certain amount of items the deal is either approved or denied. If it was that simple everyone could be an underwriter and the whole process would be much simpler.First, let’s look at what it takes to be an underwriter. What qualities must they possess,  and what risk methods are used to protect the company and the investors, which is the main focus. For any underwriter an analytical ability is paramount. They must be able to be a detective, and be able to draw conclusions based on the information provided to them to access the risk of a client, and finally decide if the client should be approved or declined. What you need to know is that an underwriter's job is to help the lender approve as many deals as possible, which is the business purpose of ...
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In many young organizations, the company founder or a co-founder serves as the CEO. However, just because the roles are commonly held by the same individual does not mean they are interchangeable. It also doesn’t mean this setup is ideal for all businesses. During the early stages, many companies operate in an “all hands on deck” manner, meaning the team members on board handle all aspects of the business, including leadership. Before we examine how the founder and CEO roles differ from one another, let’s discuss what it means to be a founder of a company. Essentially, a founder takes a business from an idea to an entity. As mentioned above, in the early stages of a company, team members wear many hats ensuring the work gets done to keep the company going as it grows and scales. In many situations, this means the individual who created the business is often tasked with managing the overall operations of the company as CEO. Founder vs. CEO The biggest difference between a founder and a CEO is whether the role is active or passive. Even when a founding individual leaves the company and is no longer serving an active role, they can ...
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Though the "Girlboss" era is now behind us, female entrepreneurs blazed trails long before the term became mainstream in 2014. Among notable female entrepreneurs is Madam CJ Walker. The early 20th-century beauty entrepreneur is often credited as the first female self-made millionaire in America. Though Walker was a ground-breaking entrepreneur in her own right, there is speculation that the title of the first female self-made millionaire in America actually belongs to her business rival Annie Turnbo-Malone. While the modern era of female entrepreneurship has roots in the beauty industry, today women are launching and running businesses across all industries and sectors. According to Fundera, in 2019 over 1,800 businesses were founded by women each day. There are currently 12.3 million active women-owned businesses in the U.S. generating $1.8 trillion in revenue per year. While women are launching companies at record rates, there are large revenue disparities between women-owned businesses and all privately held companies, as the $1.8 trillion generated only represents four percent of total private sector revenue. Per the American Express State of Women in Business Report, on average women-owned businesses earned $142,900 compared to $474,900 earned by all privately held businesses and $1.4 million earned by all firms, ...
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