There are several opinions out there on whether the Olympics are good/bad for the resident city. Whether you agree with the Games or not, it is important to see who emerges as winners.
- IT - the Games take an enormous component (6,500+ PCs, 4000+ Printers in Chicago's bid book). In Sydney, 1.3M lines of software code were needed
- Construction - $1B in venue construction in chicago's bid book
- Raw Materials - 130 tonnes of steel in Sydney
- Tourism - $7B incremental spend in tourism projected by Chicago
- Employment - 315,000 man years of labor w/$11B in spend - Chicago 2016 study
All in, Chicago is projecting $22.5B in incremental benefit including. All these arguments are subject to debate - what is undeniable is that a HUGE AMOUNT OF SPEND will be occuring.
As entrepreneurs, you must understand the procurement processes and indirect opportunities to benefit from this spend (e.g., big firms will get big contracts but will have to outsource several parts of these to small-mid size and minority businesses). Look at London 2012 - a very organized procurement arm has been stood up and one can learn a lot from those processes.
Also, there will be a tourist bump -- how long, how pronounced is up to debate but even at 1/2 of some of these projections, these bumps are in the several billions. Look to see how you can take advantage of this massive consumerism.
Whether you want the Olympics or not in your country, there is no reason you personally can't benefit from them!
Aveek Guha, President, www.mbadaycamp.com
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