We’re in not only a new year but a new decade, and we’re also on the verge of some of the biggest transformations likely to hit the business world in our lifetimes. For twenty years now, the digital world has been steadily encroaching on the real, but in 2020, it’s already becoming transformative. Here is a look at some of the trends worth considering for your business not only over the next ten months but also for the next ten years.
The “as a Service” model
We’ve already seen the meteoric rise of Software as a Service businesses over the past five years, but “as a Service” is likely to start applying to a lot more products in the future, as well. Cloud computing has allowed for a lot more companies to outsource not only their labor but even assets such as the storage that contains a lot of their data. As such, many B2B businesses will be looking at how to turn their products into services, scaling them to meet the needs of a wider range of clients. This will allow them to better profit while also meaning that small businesses get access to the kind of services only available to enterprises in the past.
More than a remote possibility
Not only are businesses likely to change how they offer products and services but also how they work. The rise of the gig economy has come hand in hand with the rise of the remote office. Articles like https://medium.com/swlh/the-rise-of-remote-working-5d49ea01b0dd show that the rise of remote working has been swift and has been happening across the board. It’s not just for freelancers working with larger agencies, but more staff are going online, too. Recent developments with the coronavirus have been even more companies urging the push to a new remote status quo, too. However, while other emergency measures are likely to roll back over time, remote working may very well be here to stay for the foreseeable.
Businesses aren’t going online, they are becoming online
The past two decades have been all about businesses finding their presence online with a few big disruptors and everyone else dragging their heels, especially small local businesses that found it difficult to be flexible enough to transition. Those businesses are only more likely to be left behind as digital transformation, described at https://www.intellectsoft.net/blog/what-is-digital-transformation/, is creating a whole new kind of online business environment. Businesses aren’t going online, they’re adapting their services and how they deliver them to the digital environment. More customized and specialized online experiences and online-only businesses are on the rise and the future for a lot of brick-and-mortar businesses looks precarious. Some are marrying the two with the omnichannel, but they are still the exception.
Data rules the roost
Already, enterprise-sized businesses are capturing more customer and process data than ever before. Analytics can be used to better use marketing platforms, but big data allows businesses to make better decisions across the board, including how internal processes and systems can be optimized. But big data is not the sole providence of the big business. Small and medium-sized businesses are set to get more and more involved in data collection and data science. However, this also means that data breaches are likely to also become a lot more costly in the decade to come, so investing in effective cybersecurity measures is becoming more important than ever.
More bosses than ever
In their state of small business report for 2019 shown at https://www.guidantfinancial.com/2019-small-business-trends/, Guidant Financial noted that not only are there more new small businesses than ever. They also showed that over 25% of all people starting a business do so because they are “ready to be their own boss.” As such, there are going to be a lot more qualified professionals going independent, which means that a business is much more likely to rely increasingly on freelancers rather than a roster of employees alone. This could mean saving the costs of hiring for those businesses but also that more competent workers will be able to dictate their own terms.
Why is it worth taking the time to identify the trends in business? If you’re able to catch that wave early enough, you could be the one to disrupt your market and ride the wave to new heights of success. Fall behind and you risk falling into obscurity.
