What are the technology trends in your industry that you could take advantage of?
Could any current social trends benefit your industry?
Have any recent economic or regulatory changes affected the way your industry operates?
Do your current customers have unmet needs? If your customer base is changing, what can you offer these new customers?
Trade journals are good sources for identifying industry trends. Search using your industry name or NAICS code and combine it with keywords like "trends" or "surveys" or "outlook."
Use market research databases to learn about your customers and the consumer demographics of your industry.