Industry Challenges are issues or events that make life difficult for companies in an industry. An industry challenges project identifies current problems faced by a certain industry segment (e.g., distribution) or the industry as a whole. Challenges are also referred to as pain points or restraints.

Industry Opportunities are events and circumstances that can open up new income streams or growth possibilities for companies in an industry. This type of project identifies current opportunities within an industry that can be explored.

<aside> ⚠️ While challenges and opportunities are two different project types, both are researched similarly, which is why we have discussed these two project types on the same page. Be sure to focus on your exact Research Criteria and only provide information relevant to your research. Also, don’t confuse a SWOT analysis project with an industry opportunities project, as they vary based on the amount and type of information required.

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Minimum Requirements

• Provide 2-3 challenges or opportunities per 3-hour request.

• For each provide:

  • Describe the challenge or opportunity (minimum of 3-5 sentences)
  • Explain how the challenge or opportunity is impacting the industry. (minimum of 2-3 sentences.
  • Describe measures adopted to counter the challenge or take advantage or the opportunity. (minimum of 2-3 sentences)

• Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. Add an image for each concept discussed, if possible.

  <aside> ⚠️ Note: Clients may refer to a challenges or industry challenges project as “industry restraints.”

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Identifying Industry Challenges/Opportunities

• Always start with a direct search using keywords and search strings. If you cannot find information through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean, X-ray searches, and filters to pull relevant results.

  <aside> 🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods, e.g., X-ray and Boolean search, are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, note the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

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• Use market research and business databases such as IBISWorld and ReportLinker to find market research reports on your topic. MIT Libraries and UBC Library provide a comprehensive list of industry-specific market research databases.

• Most market research reports identify challenges/opportunities in the report preview, even if the full report is paywalled. Use these reports as a starting point and corroborate and enhance your findings using reputed news and media articles.

• Review publications such as annual reports, whitepapers, surveys, newsletters, and magazines from industry trade associations. For example, the American Dental Association publishes the Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry survey every month, which can provide valuable information for the dental industry.

• Look for industry reports from key players and consulting firms such as EY, Deloitte, PwC, and Accenture. These reports often provide insights into industry challenges and opportunities.

• Use expert interviews, news, and media articles to identify challenges/opportunities and/or examples to support them.

  • Review interviews by industry leaders where they elaborate on the challenges they (or the industry) face or the opportunities they are seeing. `

• Look into investor presentations, annual reports, and other documents by leading industry players to understand their challenges, pain points, restraints, or identified opportunities.

• Look for opportunities within the industry's new, emerging, or evolving segments.

  • Are there any segments that are growing faster than the overall industry?
  • Are there any segments that are transforming?
  • Are innovations and disruptions in a certain segment opening up new possibilities?

Findings