The first Boomers officially turn 50 this year. At least half the Boomers can expect to live well into their late 80’s and 90’s, remaining healthy and active. A million of them will live past 100. And their children may live another 20 years beyond their parents. No other change will more profoundly alter the way we live in the 21st century.
Freed from the responsibilities of their 40’s, Boomers will create an adventurous life stage called "mid-youth" that will push traditional ideas of a mature market into oblivion. "Power Players," "Fun Seekers," and "Matriarchs" will typify Boomers in their 50’s. Boomers will create a new and vibrant mid-life marketplace. Their midlife crisis is fueling a rebirth in spirituality -- if not traditional religion -- as their search for life’s meaning.
Because of this, the best businesses for the year 2000 are:
Personal Services -- personal online shoppers, education consultants, neighborhood concierges, personal chefs, personal fitness trainers, and transportation coordinators.
Environmental Services -- local recyclers, fish ranchers, indoor air specialists, food brokers, and urban gardening consultants.
Job Services -- on-site repair services for home offices, blue-collar career counselors, customer service experts, equipment lessors, operations research analysts, skills trainers, telecommuting facilities owners, and temp agency franchisers.
Social / Medical Services -- agents for home-based medical care givers, developers of full-service housing for senior citizens, community facilitators, 12-step nonprofit agencies, neighborhood day care providers, residential-care center owners, medical lab franchisers, and mobile personal services.
Security Services -- neighborhood security guards, on-site home security specialists, and paralegal franchisers.
Technology -- online and multimedia content consultants, video conferencing organizers, programming consultants, electronic data interchange consultants, and online hosts or moderators.