What are the trends that will impact business growth through 2022? As a business owner, you’ve seen firsthand how one small decision by one business owner can change the business landscape for everyone else. Trends in your industry can equally impact your business growth through 2022.
Think of how Ford’s creation of the assembly line transformed the way cars are built —then went on to change the entire manufacturing industry. Today, assembly lines are in use in every industry from food service to cars to fashion to footwear. Proof positive that one decision by one man (or woman) can change the world.
These are the ten leading business trends we anticipate governing the way you run your company, engage new clients, and market your business. They are expected to lead to internal and external changes.
What are the trends that will impact business growth through 2022? These are a few trends that will impact business growth in 2022. These trends will not only change the ways you do business, but, when combined, they will also have a profoundly transformative impact on the businesses around you — and that means they will change the whole world.
1. New Innovations In Online Technology
Google will expand its Google posts feature on mobile and desktop apps by using machine learning to improve the presentation and categorization of content, and Artificial intelligence (AI) will become increasingly dominant. On the content landscape, AI will help even the most challenged of business owners create SEO-optimized content.
On the consumer end, AI will power advertising, discovery, and subscription sign-ups with bots and machine learning dominating real-time searches and impacting consumer shopping choices. The key for your business is to engage a bot that does the work for you, frees you up to spend time, energy, and resources elsewhere, and still sounds natural and realistic to your end-users.
2. Advances In Smartphone Technology
Not only are smartphones here to stay, but they’re also an invasive part of our culture. They’re so much a part of our landscape that it’s impossible to imagine a world without these devices that didn’t even exist three short decades ago. These little devices that put a computer, camera and a plethora of productivity apps in our hands are being used all over the world as connected devices. They will impact business growth through 2022 and beyond.
They connect you to your customers and clients and them to you. Anyone with a smartphone can shop, send and receive emails, exchange ideas, take photos, and record videos. In addition to putting an entire tech suite in the palm of your hand, you can send and share that information with consumers around the corner or across the pond. As more and more apps are becoming part of smartphone tech, how will smartphones and apps impact your business in the future?
3. Innovative Uses For Artificial Intelligence
Unlike the AI that powers online and smartphone technology, AI also helps your business run smoothly on a much larger scale. Think of AI’s role in your local grocery store via self-checkout registers. You can shop, checkout, and pay for your purchases without ever encountering a human being.
AI is everywhere. It’s a trend that will continue to impact business growth for many years. On your last business trip, was your flight manually piloted or did a portion of it involve auto-pilot? AI powers car manufacturers with robots that piece cars together in assembly-line fashion. AI was used to drive telemedicine during the pandemic. How will your business use AI to collect and implement data, reduce waste, and improve productivity?
4. Storage and Sharing Via The Cloud
Recently, a group of college students got together and created a single Google doc to take study notes during a shared class. Each student contributed their own observations and thoughts. As the time neared for tests, midterms, and finals. Each student had other perspectives to advance their learning. They each saw something in the document they’d missed during class. If a student missed class, they didn’t miss out on learning. Brilliant, right?
What systems can you automate that free up time and lead to greater efficiency? If managed correctly, cloud tech can help your business save time and money by streamlining operations, foster innovative collaborations, reduce expenses by reducing waste, and foster effective and beneficial communication. The cloud technology trend will continue to small business growth through 2022.
5. Economics and Inflation
More than any other trend on the list, local, national, and global economics will play a serious role in small business growth and profitability in 2022 and into the foreseeable future. Of course, economics and inflation always do, but this year will be a bit more impactful for two reasons.
Consumers are already paying more for everyday goods and services which is forcing them to rethink how they spend every dollar they earn. In addition, the supply chain is in a major holding pattern right now which means raw materials are harder to come by, products are harder to create, and ready-to-ship products are harder to get from Point A to Point B. All these factors are driving prices up even more.
6. Personal and Corporate Social Responsibility
Personal and corporate social responsibility take on a whole new impact in an (almost) post-pandemic world. Amid concern for their safety and that of their families, and in a desire to see the world reopen, consumers are making decisions on where to spend their dollars carefully. They’re assessing your small business’ position on social justice issues, social distancing practices, and social media posts.
Clearly and succinctly outline your social position and share it with your client base. That means you need to weigh every written and verbal word carefully. It also means you need to carefully hone your business’ social profiles. Also, look into reputation management tools and their role in cleaning up your online past because your clients will pay careful attention to your track record whether you do or not.
7. Current and Upcoming Trends In Education
The ways people learn these days and, in the future, will have a major impact on small businesses. Even while living on campus because of the pandemic, increasing numbers of college students are moving to online learning models. At the same time, education is trending toward self-paced learning and vocational institutions.
Education is trending toward social and emotional health and wellbeing, hybrid learning models, STEM and STEAM curricula, and passion-driven educational and career goals. As you look to the future for personnel, consider the ways they’ll be educated and the ways you educate consumers about your products and services. Prestigious universities will always have their place, but, as a business owner, would you rather employ someone with a college degree or with real-life, hands-on experience?
8. The Strength of Ecommerce
Buying and selling online has seen a surge recently as more and more consumers stick close to home. Innovative companies have incorporated safety measures that built consumer trust like contactless delivery. In addition to the world’s biggest online retailer and big box stores, small businesses have also had to pivot to incorporate ecommerce strategies. Ecommerce has been disrupting high street businesses for years. It will continue to have a major impact on business growth in 2022.
That doesn’t only include businesses that sell consumer goods. Even courts and therapists that have always been live and in person have pivoted to an online model. If your business hasn’t already found a way to grow and thrive in the online marketplace, you need to jump on that ideal right now or risk becoming obsolete in a tech-driven world.
9. Working Remotely Is The New Norm
As the number of people who work remotely continues to increase, it changes the client-facing aspect of your business. At the same time, remote work is increasing, coworking spaces are struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s face it – this pandemic is creating a permanent change in the way business is conducted. You need to decide how to face our clients remotely.
You also need to measure how a remote workforce will impact training and productivity. Will you use bots and AI to interface with clients or hop on a Zoom meeting for face-to-face communication? At the end of the day, your client’s preferred methods of communication should be your preference, too.
10. Business and Pleasure Travel
In an interesting phenomenon, personal travel is on the rise as we move past the recent pandemic. At the same time, business travel is decreasing. Let’s think about why that happens. Improvements in communication and technology make it possible to run your business without the need to travel, but no online experience can compare to romping on a sunny beach.
If your business is a travel agency, you might feel this pinch. It will also negatively affect businesses that cater to business travellers like hotels and convention centres. It will create an upswing for businesses that cater to personal travellers like family-friendly hotels and resorts. If your business is on either end of the travel industry, you may have to swivel to keep your business relevant in the future.
Business owners have long relied on trends to plan upcoming quarterly and annual goals. You also rely on the ability to pivot as business and consumer demands change. As small business owners and freelancers, the new normal has changed the world around us and each and every one of us.
Watch out for the trends that will impact business growth through 2022. In this look at the trends that will shape 2022 and beyond, our goal is to help you make well-informed decisions that lead to profit and growth for your small business endeavor.
