Self-Made Billionaire Reveals $1.7T Reason Gen Alpha Could Be Key To Your Success
Written by
Martin Dasko
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Cory Dudak
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While 2029 may seem too far away to be concerned about, the reality is that time will fly, and businesses that don’t cater to future generations can go extinct.
Self-made billionaire Nikhil Kamath participated in a video interview with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to shared advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to leverage what younger generations might look for and structuring your money-making strategy around it. According to research-based advisory firm McCrindle, those in Gen Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) are expected to have $1.7 trillion in direct spending power by 2029, as well as a $5.46 trillion economic footprint.
Below, we’ll break down the comments Kamath made in his interview, and share expert insights about applying his logic for utilizing Gen Alpha’s potential accordingly.
Why Gen Alpha Might Be Key To Growing Your Business
Regarding paying attention to Gen Alpha to discover the next profitable idea for your business, Kamath gave this advice: “Go look at what the kids are doing. Go look at what a 16-year-old boy is doing what he might want in 10 years.”
Kamath believes business success is about staying in touch with an emerging consumer base, and one shouldn’t rely on a previous generation to determine what to do 20 years from now. Elaborating on the matter, he said, “A lot of the advice you might get from someone who’s 50 or 60 and in positions of power may be out of touch with the needs and wants of your audience or consumers.”
According to a recent report from public relations firm DKC, the spending power of Gen Alpha has surpassed $100 billion, and their opinions influenced 42% of household spending. Kamath noted that you can gain valuable business advice from older generations who have made money in entrepreneurship, but if you really want to know if your ideas are good, you should ask a kid.
Young people are responsible for defining culture going forward, according to Kamath, as they’re curious with a fresh perspective that could lead to innovative ideas for your business. Previous ideas, such as Facebook, were born from the social habits of college students, for instance.
What Experts Had To Say About Gen Alpha
What do other entrepreneurs outside Kamath think? Here three additional insights from industry experts on Gen Alpha being the key to success with future business growth.
1. Gen Alpha Can Be Considered a Live Experiment
“Entrepreneurs should look at Gen Alpha as a live experiment of demonstrating what people will be doing with content and brands over the next few years,” said Danilo Coviello, founding partner and digital marketing specialist at Espresso Translations. “They’re the children of the entirely digital generation with the focus of speed and comfort.”
You can’t deny that with Gen Alpha establishing new ways of communication online, companies should pay attention to these habits. As a business owner, you’ll want to focus on your current generation of customers while preparing for future ones. As the Alpha generation grows up online, their actions can be seen as a live experiment into what business opportunities may emerge and how trends can be identified.
2. Younger Generations Will Determine the Future
Allan Hou, sales director of TSL Australia, agreed with Kamath’s logic that Gen Alpha is the future of consumer demand, adding, “The very early adopters of this generation are already defining cultural and technological trends that will dominate the market in the next decade, just as the social media habits of students in their early college years helped spawn the platforms that are now market giants.”
Hou fears businesses that fail to meet the needs of younger customers today will be creating companies catering to an older and oversaturated market, and further elaborated that those looking to establish a foundation for a sustainable business model should focus on catering to emerging consumer patterns. Those who grew up as college students when social media hit the market initially will know what it’s like to have their spending patterns and behavior impact the future of business.
3. Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself
Ankush Chowdhury, founder at Humanizer AI, pointed out that by only focusing on Gen Alpha, you’re putting your eggs in a basket that won’t pay off for a long time. He elaborated, “I know from building a tech company that successful businesses solve problems that are happening right now, not problems that might happen in the future.”
Chowdhury stressed that Gen Alpha doesn’t have the money to spend yet, and their parents are likely still in charge of the finances. However, you can benefit from studying how they act and focus on making things for people who can pay you immediately. From there, you can adjust your product offering as Gen Alpha matures. Furthermore, he believes business success is about understanding how digital natives think and utilizing that knowledge to help people who have the financial resources right now.
As a business owner, you can’t ignore the future opportunities that will arise from catering to the younger generation as you focus on serving your current customers. The data is clear that Gen Alpha will have a significant economic impact in this decade, and this can’t (and shouldn’t) be ignored.
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