In my millennial compadres reading this book, you have a wonderful advantage in the markets. We’re the generation who grew up with technology more than any production before us. We are also the generation who is more connected with consumer trends because we’re who is driving and creating them. Over other generations we have the generational tools to leverage to succeed in the markets.

Sometimes to find great companies to invest in we must think outside the box and use some unconventional procedures. I’d encourage you to leverage your life’s story, occupation, environment, community, relationships, shopping habits, and basic intelligence to find excellent businesses and spot consumer trends.

By way of instance, I started driving for Uber some time back, just driving a few nights a week. I use Uber regularly for rides, but I wanted to drive and find out more about the business as an employee and of course make some additional cash. In driving for Uber I had been picking up a great deal of school age riders and so I’d ask them only in casual conversation what would be the”cool” and”popular” areas to be shopping and eating at. Then someone mentioned a retail shop named Tilly’s (TLYS). I had never heard of Tilly’s, but when they got out of my car at their destination, I immediately looked up this place to find out whether they were publicly traded and sure enough they’re.

I’d have never known about this place, but I leveraged my own environment to discover a winner.

1. Shopping. The next time you are at the mall listen to the number of people in shops and attempt to notice which shops have more people in them than others and see if those are publicly traded.
2. Have a look around your office at work and see if you see any brand names of things on the office products and look up these to see if they are owned by a publicly traded firm.
3. I kept seeing Wausau Paper anyplace in baths and sure enough, this company was publicly traded. Around three months after I discovered this company it had been acquired by another firm sending the stocks soaring.
4. Uber drivers. Perhaps you push Uber and you speak to your passengers. Ask them some basic questions like what areas they like to visit and why.
5. Military. And you find all kinds of different equipment frequently. Make a list of these brands and dig to determine if any are people and you might discover a gem of a stock.
6. New parents. Perhaps you’re a young couple about to have your first child and you are going through the process of purchasing all of the needed baby things – from strollers to diapers to baby wipes. All those things are brands which might be part of a company that’s public and they are worth looking into.
7. Gamers. Perhaps you’re a gamer and you keep current with all the mainstream video game manufacturers and you know who has big-name games coming out this year. You, better than anyone else, can time when to buy a video game inventory and be ahead of others seeking to profit from the exact same stock.
8. Grocery shopping. Perhaps you do the grocery shopping in your home or you work in a grocery store. You can tell better than many others which items are selling the most and which things are the most popular. WhiteWave Foods (WWAV) is a really common brand which provides people vanilla and coconut milk. I started seeing these products anywhere. They also make the small flavored International Delight coffee creamers you see in virtually every gas station. At the time I started exploring it the stocks were around $18 bucks. At the time of the writing WWAV had only been obtained for $56 a share.
9. Your bank. Perhaps you bank with a smaller, more regional lender rather than one of the larger name banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) or Bank of America (BAC). Quite often those smaller, regional banks like Fifth Third (FITB) or Regions Financial (RF) are publicly traded and provide a terrific dividend and an inexpensive share price.
10. Sports fans. Perhaps you’re into sports and you have noticed a new brand that’s growing in popularity. These companies started off trading much lower than where they are and individuals using their products better than anyone knew they had been growing in popularity.
11. Overseas travelling. Perhaps you go abroad into a third-world country or perhaps just on holiday to Europe. While there you store somewhere or consume somewhere which you believed offered a excellent customer experience. Look it up and see if it is public. When we lived in Uganda there was a massive shopping center named GAME. It was always crazy busy and so I looked to the business. Regardless of what some people may or may not consider Wal-Mart here in the united states, I instantly realized Wal-Mart was way ahead of different shops and was already expanding abroad.
12. These are growing markets that have public companies you are able to invest in.
13. Medical field. Better than anyone, you’d have a grasp on what machines, tools, and possibly even new drugs which are being used which could be owned by a firm who’s public.
14. Real estate. Maybe you live in a town that’s quickly growing, getting a new subdivision hotspot because of numerous new jobs being added to the region. It looks like every other week there is a new subdivision and neighborhood being built. Determine which construction firms are there and who’s doing all of that construction. You might find an extremely affordable stock and have a border in seeing exactly how much construction they are doing in your area compared to the rest of the nation.
15. Maybe there’s a specific drink that has become wildly popular and you see several co-workers and friends with it all of the time. There are several out there that are publicly traded and are much smaller than those. Orsalty snacks such as chips or healthier items like oatmeal. A number of these brands belong to publicly traded firms also.

The point is that you just never know where you are likely to come across an wonderful investment opportunity or find a business to stay away from before you start to leverage your life’s story and environment and start to take notice of investment opportunities that might be staring you right in the face.

TRUE STORY

I stumbled upon Chegg about a month back because of needing some help on an accounting topic for an upcoming certificate I am earning. I was stunned at how user-friendly and highly interactive that the coaches were and that they had been available in real time and that it had been pay-as-you go and not solely a subscription-based business model. I purchased those 200 shares before their quarterly earnings because of understanding the caliber of the business. Would you think it, Chegg cruised through their earnings estimates and the stock soared 14 percent the following day and that I sold my shares for a wonderful gain.

KEY TAKEAWAY: There is great investment opportunities all around us and a lot can be discovered and vetted by leveraging our life’s story and experiences.

Perhaps these are sports, or food products, or areas you want to go. Then, find publicly traded companies that work in these particular industries and see if you find one that you believe is a fantastic investment and study it further.