Millennials, people born between 1980 and 2000, are now aged between 22 and 42 years old. That means on the balance of probabilities even the youngest of the millennial generation are within their earning years. There are two important things to draw from this. Firstly millennials form the majority of the economic power in the nation. Secondly, millennials are the people starting and running businesses. So we have a list of business ideas that are popular with millennials from both perspectives; businesses that millennials start run and businesses that Millenials patronise.

Website development

This is not so much about millennials being more understanding of the internet than any other generation but rather a matter of timing. Nonetheless, millennials do show a greater affinity to the internet than the generations before them and a greater affinity to websites in general than the generation after them. With the economic power in the hands of people who understand websites businesses that handle things around the creation and administration of websites is big business.

App development

While generation Z are more into apps, millennials are lovers of apps. While apps are not for every business app developers are sure winners in the age of the application. App developers play a big role in bringing the world to the interface where people are looking for everything now, their mobile phones.

eCommerce

Another trend you will notice with millennials is that they are more open to the idea of eCommerce and buying things online. A business that helps somewhere along the eCommerce chain such as the two mentioned before or something like logistics and delivery is a sure-fire growth business thanks to the millennial appetite. So looking at eCommerce and support services to eCommerce is a good business area.

Multimedia

The internet age is all about multimedia. The early days of the internet were characterised by walls of text and that was a result of the technology available. As the internet has improved people have started to expect more from it. Images and video are now essential. There is still great value in the text but the media that accompanies it matters very much. Multimedia businesses are a great idea to appeal to millennials.

Digital marketing

With more time being spent online for work and play, marketing is shifting online. Digital marketing is a very wide area that includes many elements. There are issues with copywriting. Storytelling and advertising also make up part of the digital marketing landscape. This is a growth area now and for the future that we haven’t even seen the best of yet.

Arts and crafts

This is not to say that millennials appreciate arts and crafts more than generations on either side of them. This is rather to say that the arts and crafts that millennials appreciate should be the focus of any arts and crafts business. Millennials for Zimbabwe also represent a large chunk of those in the diaspora. You have people who have an appreciation for Zimbabwe’s arts and crafts across the globe.

T-shirt printing

T-shirt culture is big and certainly didn’t start with millennials. You cannot argue against the fact that serving the generation that holds the economic power is good business sense though. In that regard t-shirt printing is a great business. Many if not all of the businesses that have come up in fashion in recent years have included T-shirts in the offering. They are just that big. This makes it a wonderful business idea to explore though it may prove capital intensive to start.

Logistics/delivery

I briefly mentioned logistics earlier regarding its role in supporting eCommerce. However, logistics does stand alone as a viable business opportunity that experiences greater popularity thanks to the preferences and experiences of millennials. Whether you look at it from a courier, last-mile delivery or logistics angle this business segment will only grow with the approach of millennials to business and day to day life.

Millennials are likely to maintain their status as the economic power for at the very least another 10 years and as such their tastes and preferences will for the most of what businesses will be doing.