Dear Alabama entrepreneurs… supply what the state demands

Last week, I went to the Alabama – Arkansas game with a few Venture For America Fellows. Driving in, I asked myself what I was going to do about parking… I mean how does Tuscaloosa handle 20,000 more cars on game days?

Enter the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans.

People who live in Tuscaloosa have figured out that they have space – called lawns – and that folks coming in will pay between $20 to $50 to park on those lawns for game day. And that’s even if they rip up the grass a bit. As the very pleasant woman I paid $20  said when I bumped her flower pot… “It’s OK, honey, you paid for my flowers and then some.”

Boom. Demand. Meet supply.

So what’s the point? The point is that it’s a good idea to start a business that supplies what customers demand. As obvious as this sounds, I see a lot of entrepreneurial energy spent not focusing on this principle. In Alabama, there are some target sectors that demand a lot. Known as the state’s target industries, they are some well known ones such as the automotive industry as well as some less well known ones such as corporate operations. Check out the full list here.

Entrepreneurs… please think about this. Lean into the strengths of the State. As you come up with ideas, make sure there are customers in the state that will demand your product or service. It will increase your odds of success in innumerable ways.