Happy Sunday! Apologies for those who missed me last week, I had a few bits going on and couldn’t find the time to write. But I’m back now with what I think is a great issue that hopefully makes up for it. Enjoy!

In today’s email:

• The Main Idea - the AI job market.

• Steal This Idea - eradicating smartphone distractions.

• The Side Hustle - local makers markets.

Estimated read time - 5 minutes.

THE MAIN IDEA

The AI Job Market

We all know AI is going to change the world, if you’re not getting on board with it you’re going to be left behind.

The majority of the focus currently is on launching any number of AI-automated solutions. Between 2012 and 2022 AI-related companies in the UK increased by a massive 688% - and this will have grown considerably since.

The UK AI market is currently worth over £16.5b and is estimated to grow by over 4600% to £790b by 2035.

A UK government report from 2022 indicated 15% of businesses had adopted at least one form of AI technology and again, this will only have grown since.

But the route to capitalising on this rapidly growing market doesn’t just lie in the companies themselves. There is a whole host of support companies needed to keep up with demand.

So, what’s the opportunity?

One of the big opportunities I can see here is an AI jobs board.

A UK-specific one just does not exist and jobs are scattered across the various generic platforms or advertised on the very limited number of worldwide AI-focused sites.

Niche job boards may seem like a simple business but they can do significant revenue and, if getting acquired is your thing, are often snapped up by the larger players in the market.

There are a few job board software solutions out there to help launch this but they can get pricey, if you’re after a cheaper option I’d recommend starting with a simple no-code solution - this is a great guide on putting it together.

There’s a huge opportunity here, someone is going to corner this bit of the market and become seriously wealthy - might as well be you!

Bonus AI opportunity - another clear gap I’m seeing here is in the newsletter space. There are 100s of AI newsletters but I still can’t find one solely focused on the UK. If you build it let me know, I’ll be your first subscriber.

STEAL THIS IDEA

GetBrick.app

This idea is genius - I purchased it the second I saw it and it has quite honestly changed my life.

I’ll give you an overview of it and then come onto where I think the opportunity is here.

Let’s be honest, smartphones are the best and worst items in our lives these days. They give us a world of knowledge and entertainment at our fingertips but can also be a source of endless distractions and time wasting.

Brick has set out to solve that.

It’s a small magnetised device that can be stuck, well, anywhere a magnet can be really - mine lives on my fridge. You download the app and set up a customised profile, default is to block all apps but you can choose any you’d like to keep usable.

Once set up you open the app, tap it against the device and that’s it. You’re ‘bricked.’

There’s no workaround like Apple’s in-built screen time blocking, and to unblock you have to return to the physical device so hard luck if you’re out and about!

Brick has really helped me focus. Whether I need to knock out a couple of hours of deep work to write this newsletter, head out to dinner with friends, or just enjoy a walk in nature - completely removing any smartphone distractions is nothing but a positive.

Now, the opportunity here.

As you can probably tell I think Brick is amazing.

But there’s one problem, it isn’t cheap and ships only from America.

I think there’s a huge opportunity here for a UK/EU competitor.

Or, and I’d suggest this is the way to go, a partnership with them to either licence their tech or get manufacture/distribution rights.

One things for sure, someone is going to bring this to mass market and it’s going to be big.

THE SIDE HUSTLE

Local Makers Markets

In my 2024 predictions I wrote about how small brands will continue to dominate consumer spending, and this side hustle ties into that.

Local makers markets are already growing in popularity across the UK but there remains a lot opportunity here.

The market here is much bigger than you might expect with the approximately 19.5 million crafters in the UK contributing over £3.3 billion to the economy predicted in 2024.

More detailed recent statistics are hard to find but a report from 2019 gives an idea and these stats will only have grown since:

• Whilst 10.3m of us are buying crafts online the majority prefer to shop in person - enter your local makers market!

• 73% of UK adults had bought a craft in 2019.

• In 2019 a third of buyers were under 35 which was a growing segment - go millennials!

So, tell me more about the plan.

Local makers markets are essentially small, local markets showcasing handmade crafts from around the area.

Mostly held in venues such as church halls or coffee shops they are fairly easy side hustles to pull together.

There’s two main models to monetise them, either charge the sellers a pitch fee or charge the shoppers a small entry fee - I’ve no doubt some markets do both!

Marketing is also fairly straightforward given the local nature of them. Flyers, posters, and local Facebook groups are your friend here.

Run the markets monthly and you could easily build a nice additional source of income.

I think there are also big opportunities here including a better online marketplace for crafters and support around selling abroad (the US is a huge market for UK crafts) but that’s for a future issue - let me know if this is something you’d be interested in hearing about?

And that’s a wrap - as always hit reply if you want to let me know what you thought or fancy a chat!