The overall value of the IoT market, in and of itself, is estimated to be somewhere between $500 and 600B by the end of 2022. The range of this estimate is so broad because of the rapid and continual expansion of this market and the opportunities found within IoT.
For startups, these opportunities come in many forms. Below are four of the healthiest ways a startup can use IoT to their advantage.
The popularity of IoT also varies by industry. For example, 87% of healthcare organizations will adopt IoT technologies by the end of this year, 2019. In other sectors, like manufacturing, the numbers are less clear. For small businesses and similar bootstrapped startups, the rate of adoption may be much lower due to limited funds or training.
However, with ever-increasing innovations within the IoT space, as well as integration with AI and other software services, all sorts of businesses are better able to use IoT in their area. Whether that's IoT being used with screen printing shop software or IoT being used to track and manage experiences in an art museum.
Be Where Your Competitors Aren't
With IoT, it's possible to be in more places than your competitors and offer unique, comprehensive experiences that your competition hasn't even thought of. These unique offerings, if actually useful and easy to use, can enhance the lives of your customers and give you a way to leave a more lasting impression. After all, your goal is to be the first business that comes to mind in your niche. So it’s wise to explore where your competitors are and be move visible in that same space.
Take a look at the most popular IoT devices. Many of them offer an easy way for you to create simple experiences and techniques for a customer to interact with this device and, through it, with your brand and products.
Data Collection and Analyzation
With IoT, many businesses aren't sure what data to collect or how to make it useful. However, as IoT matures, and as your startup develops, it's possible to use this data to your advantage or offer a solution for others that are collecting the same information but aren't sure what to do with it yet.
Supply Chain Management
IoT allows for smarter end-to-end supply chain management. Yes, these processes have a few more steps and are more complicated to set up now than they will be in five years. However, by implementing this type of system now, you'll have more experience with this type of IoT and, even though it may take a little extra effort to set up, the data you collect may be invaluable shortly.
Smart and On-Demand Manufacturing
The ability to remotely diagnose and adjust manufacturing processes could be of interest to any number of startups. Not only that, when integrated with analytics it's possible to prioritize and highlight maintenance tasks and other day-to-day manufacturing issues as they come up. This can then be combined with a variety of IoT enabled equipment and devices to improve overall manufacturing efficiency.
