Trendwatching as a modern tool for finding potential market opportunities and effective business solutions

The article considers the place and role of trendwatching in modern business. First, a comparative analysis is done on the basic concepts with which the trend is identified (tendency, fashion, analytics, technological entrepreneurship). The basic classification of trends is carried out according to scalability, key areas of society, industry (market) affiliation, dominance of position and dynamism of development. The priority properties of the trend are determined: direction, strength, duration. It is emphasized that trendwatching is an important part of any innovation process, since it provides an opportunity to anticipate new technological, consumer and other trends. In general, trendwatching is increasingly becoming a tool for finding opportunities that contribute to successful competition in the 21st century market by forming a proposal based on potential user expectations, outpacing rivals operating in the industry under study, taking into account the influence of macro-environment factors and adequate adjustment by corporate management. To that end the author gives the methodology for determining the trend, an important place in which is occupied by the means (sources) of its research and selection. The issue of using the consumer trend matrix is discussed, which gives good results in finding free niches and contributes to the opening of new market windows, which is especially important for beginning business startups. At the end of the article, it is noted that the active use of trendwatching promotes technological entrepreneurship, and observing trends provides the business world with the necessary information, as a result of which it becomes more rational for companies to choose promising areas to increase their competitiveness and growth.