Top Trends for Business in 2010
Crystal ball gazing - Business Trends for 20120
It’s the time of year that bloggers like to engage in a bit of crystal ball gazing. We didn’t want to be left out, so here is a run down of the things that we think will be important in 2010 for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Focus on the money
The lack of bank support and squeeze on Angel and VC funding means anyone starting a business in 2010 needs to think about making money, rather than getting investment.
Focus on getting paid
It’s no good making money if you can’t collect. With the economy still in a bad way and tax increases likely regardless of who wins the election, small businesses will find cash flow even tighter in 2010. All along the supply chain, from entrepreneurs to big business, people will be chasing hard to get paid. You can expect the government to be chasing hard to make up the deficit too!
Inbound marketing
Start-ups are starting to realise that with a little ingenuity, SEO knowledge and some social networking accounts, they can attract customers for virtually nothing. This “inbound” marketing will take root in the UK in 2010 as it has already in the US. Includes use of Twitter and social media monitoring tools.
Cloud everything
Cloud Computing has cropped up on these trend lists for the last few years but it is still important. Along with the cost and scalability advantages, online services, such as Salesforce.com, EventBrite, MailChimp and Pearl (www.thisispearl.com) are increasingly integrating with each other. You can connect your marketing tools with your CRM and financial systems, creating a tidy, end-to-end system at no extra cost.
Solo start-ups and 5-9 working
With the focus on making money, free marketing and easy to manage online systems we will see lots of start-ups in 2010 run by determined and hard working individuals. This will be driven partly out of necessity because of the job market and partly because growing economic confidence will begin to allow people to make the leap. Expect a growth in home working too as solo start-ups try to keep their costs low and many people build businesses ‘5-9’ whilst they keep their day jobs.
Freemium
Freemium as a business model will become increasingly prevalent. Freemium has two streams – free and premium. The free stream offers a product or service that is free but with limited features. The aim of the free model is to grow the user base with the intention of upgrading users to a premium (i.e. paying) model to deliver revenue. Just don’t forget the ‘emium’!
Eco/Green Business
Opportunities for eco and green entrepreneurs will be underpinned by greater demand and increasing levels of government legislation. The media focus on Copenhagen and its subsequent failure to reach a solid climate change agreement, demonstrates just how important this trend is. Governments may not be able to agree but green issues won’t be going away – businesses will capitalise on this.
Social Enterprise
Like green and eco businesses, expect Social Enterprises to have a higher profile this year. With social and environment issues high on the global agenda, business creation in this area is accelerating. Take a look at the “Growing a Successful Social Enterprise” event if you are in this sector.
So, do you thing we got it right? Is there something you think should be included in this list? Please leave your comments.
Great post. As you say, inbound marketing has really levelled the playing field between big business and startups. My company recently sold over 200 tickets to a conference using only a blog, Twitter and LinkedIn Group. By knowing your stuff and sharing value online – you can attract customers without spending money on adverts. 2010 is definitely the year for inbound marketing in the UK.
2010 may be the start of localised manufacturing instead of centralised factories with bulk, oil reliant distribution methods. As fuel begins to rise even further over the coming 5 years we are all going to be relying on localised products from cars to cabbages.
With regards to greening your business – the first thing is is to engage people- helping them to understand what their role is in the process and that they have the ability to change the way things are done. You also have to have a system or process in place that gives people guidance on what steps they need to take to achieve their carbon reduction targets.
An environmental management system accredited to the globally recognised standard, ISO 14001, gets you to the point whereby people understand where their impacts are, but then you need to get underneath it all to really understand the details – where is the carbon coming from and how can we reduce it? That’s where carbon footprinting can really help. This will help develop your targets and identify ways that will really make a difference.
The next point to consider is metering and energy data collection, and knowing where to go on a macro level. This gives you the ability to look at your consumption data in detail and at what equipment has been running for too long, and so on.
You can’t just think about carbon reduction as avoiding fines or doing it because you feel your business has to do it because of external pressures. Examining your carbon impact and reducing is about creating a sustainable and efficient business where energy and other waste is identified and controlled.