Shopping for a business opportunity or other small business startup option means having to make a very calculated decision, one fraught with lots of tough questions that need answers. Among them? You’ve got to ask yourself just how well and how much the products or services you will be marketing and selling to your customers meet their wants, needs and expectations, especially given today’s ever-changing marketplace.

For instance, we all know that there are certain industries, trends and even demographic realities that are having a very big impact on the way consumers shop these days. Look no further than the recent “Made in the USA” craze, the so-called “Green Revolution” or the fact that the now aging baby boomer generation is driving so much of what we value, buy and sell today for proof of that dynamic.

Well, now entrepreneurs who are looking for just the right business opportunity or other small business startup option can add the whole concept of customization to that list.

“For would-be entrepreneurs, the custom business model is the new gold rush,” according to co-authors Anthony Flynn and Emily Flynn Vencat in their recently released book titled Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It. In fact, they write, citing a statement made by CafePress CEO Bob Marino, “the custom revolution will be no less than ‘the way the U.S. manufacturing world reinvents itself.’” Add to that this statement from Zazzle cofounder Jeff Beaver, also cited in the book…“Customization is the “future of all commerce.”

Some pretty impressive assertions, don’t you think? Here’s the thing though, after you read what Flynn and Vencat have to say on the subject, it’s likely you’ll agree with them.

Custom Nation offers a very compelling argument for why any aspiring entrepreneur today would do well to learn more about the monumental CIY shift that is currently underway—CIY meaning Create-It-Yourself. “Game-changing technological innovations,” these authors and many experts say, make CIY almost as affordable as mass-produced ones, so much so that the unprecedentedly large generation known collectively as the Millennials no longer sees it as either extraordinary or special.

In fact, they expect it.

“If you look closely,” Flynn and Vencat explain, “there isn’t a single aspect of millennial lives that isn’t customized.” And at 95 million strong and counting—well more than the roughly 75 million people that comprise the Baby Boomer Boomer generation—that’s a force to be reckoned with, let alone catered to. “All of this matters a lot for anyone who wants to be successful in business today,” they assert, “and tomorrow.”

That’s why Custom Nation is our pick for September’s Book of the Month, and because it offers its readers a valuable perspective on the custom revolution that you simply won’t find anywhere else. Plus, it sets you on a path to either launch a successful new customization-oriented enterprise of your own or make it a workable component of an already existing business operation.
Punctuated with insights and anecdotes from some of today’s most successful customizers and full of valuable lessons and insights on everything from marketing to growth opportunities, this book is a must-read for anyone who can appreciate CIY’s potential profitability and recognize that it’s here to stay.

Make no mistake, the book’s lead author reinforces yet once again, “Customization isn’t just a trend. It’s the new way Americans are going to do business. It’s the new mass production. By the year 2040, everything we consume—food, clothing, cars, advertisements, trips abroad—will be customized to meet our exact desires. Everything,” he writes. “I’m willing to put money on it.”

And just maybe you should too.

You can find Custom Nation: Why Customization Is the Future of Business and How to Profit From It at your local library, or pick up a copy today by visiting your local bookstore or clicking here on either of these online retailers: Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com.