Essay About Good News And National Economy

Market Feasibility
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Market Feasibility Study
Financial Planning
My group and I are trying to open up a financial planning business in the
area. Financial planning is a very profitable and rising industry, as countless people
ranging from blue collar workers trying to put money away for their children or their
retirements to wealthy doctors and lawyers trying to maintain and grow their assets for
their families futures. Needless to say, the financial planning industry is indispensable.
No matter how optimistic I may be about this business venture, many economic, social,
political, and geographical trends will have to be looked at and analyzed in order to
properly figure out where to place this business to maximize profit as well as influence.
A service industry such as financial planning is one that is important
enough where even an economic recession would not significantly hinder demand for that
service – in fact, it may even raise the demand, though the field of possible clients might
slim down a bit. However, in any case, the national economy has been doing rather well
on an increasing scale. The unemployment rate is expected to be around 5.1% by
year. The presidents economic team is projecting economic growth of 3.5%, and the
popular consensus among economists is that consumer prices will only rise about 2.2%.
Good news to investors, including many potential clients, is that the yield for 10-year
Treasury bonds will increase this week from 4.3% to 5.1%. Of possible concern is the
volatile housing market.
The national economy is always good to look at, but perhaps more
important is the economic situation in Morris County, where I would try to start my
business. I chose Morris County because having lived here for a few years, and having
been all around the county, I have noticed it is generally a very affluent county, with a
large market for financial planning. Looking at the current data, I was right about its
affluence: the median household income in Morris County is a very impressive $78,000.
But besides the current economic status of the county, I would need to look at
demographics and trends of all sorts that might affect the business. Current
unemployment hovers around 4% in the area, and total population in the county increased
11.6% from 1990 to 2000 according the last census. Not only that, but Morris Countys
elderly population, people age 65 or older, has increased 23% in that time to about 55,000
people out of the almost 500,000 residents of Morris. Retirees, or people about to retire,
are always a good target for financial advising. About half of Morris Countys
population (25 or older) has a college degree, and 17% of the total population has a
graduate degree. Thats about 250,000 college graduates, 85,000 with graduate degrees.
Also, among those aged 25 and older, at least 91% have a high school degree.
Obviously, this is a very large market of potential present and future wealth, and most of
these statistics are well above the national average per county, and needless to say above
most other NJ counties.
I feel Morris would be a good place to set up shop as well because of its
reputation as a business and financial center. An interesting fact is that 53 Fortune 500
companies have either a headquarters or a major facility in the county. This means plenty
of CEOs, other executives, and rising employees that could use a little financial advice.
Moodys Investor Services, as well as Standards and Poors, have given Morris County a
(AAA) bond rating for 30 consecutive years, the first NJ county to get that rating in 1975.
There is no reason to think all of these trends I have listed wont continue well beyond
2010 and beyond – corporate projects, increasing population, excellent school systems
developing college graduates with future wealth, etc. Morris County is definitely a great
place to start.
As far as political trends go, many things right now can directly impact the
amount of disposable income people in the area will have. For instance, President Bushs
plan to privatize social security. Currently, the return on social security is about 2%.
Most members of the Senate and Congress already have their plans privatized, and earn
about 12%. Privatization could greatly boost potential