#46 How Big of A Market Opportunity Remote Work Really Is?
🤔 Last week, on my monthly catch-ups with John from Alt_, we discussed the topic of the remote work ecosystem. What actually belongs here? And which industries have an impact on remote work, and on the other hand, which are the most impacted by it? And so, how big of a market opportunity is this space?
Remote work has become a norm in some industries, microentrepreneurship(read freelancing) is rising, geoarbitrage has attracted many people, digital nomadism is a new way of soft immigration, AI takes some of our jobs, and the world economy is giving mixed signals like your ex used to. So, what truly makes the ecosystem around remote work?
Let's use the persona profile of a digital nomad and go through their life cycle.
I have written this article on who the digital nomads truly are, but in fact, remote work has opened more opportunities that stretch far beyond digital nomadism. It is a way of life I've lived for a long time, and it feels closest to me. But the more conversations I've had in the past few weeks and months, the more I realized the impact remote work has across industries, far beyond tech or tourism. It has an opportunity to completely rethink how we are on the brink of a whole new "ecosystem."
So you want to become a digital nomad, yeah?
First, you open your laptop to look for a job, then you realize there are not so many remote jobs available, and you will have to become a (micro)entrepreneur or a freelancer, and so you decide to open a company. Step 2, you must ensure, you take care of all of your branding, digital assets, and most importantly, clients. Once you get the basic steps figured out and start working remotely from your overpriced apartment, you start thinking about going abroad for your first travel & work experiences. And so you end up looking up destinations that are most friendly towards digital nomads. Probably the search engines feed you an unreasonable amount of content from Bali and Madeira, but you don't give up. And so you end up researching hundreds of communities of like-minded people, and as soon as you are convinced thanks to the content, you book your ticket. Then, your accommodation, start thinking of the best possible workspaces. You pack your backpack and leave for the airport. The minute before you board your flight, you realize you may need insurance that covers longer than the mandatory period abroad, and because you want to do all the fun stuff. As soon as you land, you realize you need an eSIM to communicate with the world, duh.
Then once you have all your "necessities" figured out and made sure you have a work to do, a place to live and a place to work - you want to start living the life!
Like every human being, you need to socialize. So you research communities you can become a part of. Be it a group of people you will get to do your favorite sport with, your tribe for exploring the new place, or somebody who helps you grow professionally. That's why retreats are a thing. But don't get it twisted - you can be a lone wolf and do your own thing, that's the beauty of this lifestyle.
But do you always want to be an outcast? After a while of traveling, you start realizing that you don't only want to hang out with foreigners. You want to connect with locals. Not just by visiting the local hidden gems, cafes, bars, restaurants, and, restaurants. But by actually learning their culture or possibly language. (I do have a crazy friend who picked up Thai) But the essence is - you want to understand the local community. That is a make it or break it if you start considering a long-term stay, or even a possible relocation. Whether that be because you found love, a job, or an attractive property to buy. And so you start having a look at all the visas and the possibility of getting a residency in the country of your dreams. And who knows, perhaps later you will think not only about setting up your residency, but possibly move your business here and start hiring local talents, as you found out they are very talented and hard working.
Sounds pretty cool, right?
And this is just a journey from the perspective of a digital nomad. But there is many more persona profiles in the ecosystem. There are remote workers, retirees, people on sabbatical, slow travelers, seasonal travellers, mid-term travelers, perpetual travelers.
Every single bold word points to a product/service opportunity. A problem that needs to be solved or a need that needs to be addressed.
So, if we were to visualize the market opportunity and its current situation + forecast, how would it look? When I asked Perplexity, the almighty researcher, to help me analyze the impact and forecast the future projections, this is the graph it pulled out?
Remote work is a giant, shaping ecosystem. It comes with its volatility, however. It has been heavily challenged by the ongoing recession, RTO push, gentrification, and other things. But the good thing is that people don't give up on it yet. And why would they? Remote work effectively makes plenty of lives better.
Brilliant minds are working on policy making, digital services & products, building communities, and coliving spaces. I do not doubt that this ecosystem will keep evolving. Although the future might be a bit different from what we think about now, or what we thought about for the future.
What are your thoughts? Do you think the concept of remote work as we know it will stay around or go away? Hit reply to this email and let me know!
For now, greetings from the Azores, on to building the remote work future!
Talk next week.
