Minitrends: A New Concept for Translating Emerging Trends into Promising Opportunities

The current business, social, and financial environments require new ways to search for and exploit emerging business and technology trends. Minitrends is a new concept that allows individuals and organizations of all sizes to identify, evaluate, and employ emerging trends of a scope and importance to provide attractive business and operational opportunities.

Minitrends are emerging trends that promise to become significantly important within two to five years, but are not yet widely recognized. In this presentation, Dr. Vanston demonstrates how and where to search for and evaluate attractive minitrends, how to develop an effective minitrend exploitation scheme, and how to turn this scheme into a profitable business or operational opportunity. He then provides several Minitrend examples that show how participants can conduct their own Minitrend analyses.

The presentation is based on Dr. Vanston’s 30-plus years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and on his new book, MINITRENDS.

Who should attend: Individual entrepreneurs and innovators from businesses of all sizes who are interested in taking advantage of opportunities arising from emerging business, social, and technology trends for personal and professional advancement.

What you’ll learn: Individual entrepreneurs will learn how to identify, assess, and exploit attractive new business opportunities. Decision makers in small and medium-sized companies will learn how to gain an advantage by recognizing and utilizing emerging trends. Innovative thinkers in large businesses will learn how to distinguish themselves by their special insights and perceptiveness. Investors will learn how to uncover attractive new investment opportunities.

How this knowledge can be applied: Participants will be able to identify, evaluate, and profit from emerging trends—Minitrends—of a scope and importance to offer attractive business and operational opportunities. The Minitrends concept can provide enhanced professional standing, increased financial security, and greater personal satisfaction to those alert enough recognize them, perceptive enough to appreciate their importance, and clever enough to take full advantage of them.

John Vanston, founder and chairman, Technology Futures, Inc. (TFI); author, MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs & Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends Austin, Texas

key words: minitrends, emerging trends, technology trends

Issue areas: Business and Careers, Futures Methodologies