Every serious economic conversation begins with a question: how big is the market?
It is an important question. But for the Purple Economy, it is not enough.
If we only ask how much persons with disabilities currently spend, we will miss the real opportunity. Because current spend reflects current exclusion. It reflects products that do not exist, services that are hard to find, platforms that do not work, insurance that does not understand, schools that are not ready, transport that is unreliable, hotels that cannot be trusted and systems that families must navigate alone.
The Purple Economy is not only about measuring markets that already exist.
It is about making markets that should exist.
This is the difference between market sizing and market making.
Market sizing asks: how much money is currently being spent?
Market making asks: what value could be created if unmet needs became visible, trusted solutions became available and systems made participation easier?
Take assistive technology. The need exists. But the market is often fragmented. People may not know what product is right for them. Products may be expensive. Assessment may be unavailable. Repairs may be difficult. Financing may not exist. Government schemes may be hard to navigate. So the current market size may look limited.
But that does not mean demand is limited.
It means the market has not been built properly.
The same is true for inclusive schools, accessible tourism, disability-aware insurance, accessible housing, adaptive apparel, mobility services, inclusive entertainment and digital public services. In many cases, the opportunity is not sitting neatly in today’s spending data. It is hidden inside friction.
The Purple Economy looks at these frictions as signals.
When a person cannot book a hotel because accessibility information is unreliable, that is not only a social problem. It is lost revenue. When a family cannot find a trained therapist, that is not only a service gap. It is an underbuilt market. When an entrepreneur with disability cannot access credit or procurement pathways, that is not only exclusion. It is lost enterprise.
Market making requires more than products. It requires data, discovery, standards, finance, trust, trained professionals, digital infrastructure, procurement, regulation and lived-experience leadership.
This is why the Purple Economy cannot be reduced to a market-size number.
The real question is larger: what new industries, services, professions and platforms will emerge when disability-linked needs are recognised as economic signals?
That is where the next market lies.
Not only in what is already being spent.
But in what has not yet been built.
