5 Small Business Trends to Look Out for in 2018

If you’re a small business owner, keeping up with the latest trends can benefit you. As with every year, 2018 will also see a change in how you do and manage the business with the increasing use and adaptation of technology. Here are the hottest small business trends for 2018. ~ Ed. 

The New Year is just around the corner and if you happen to be a small business owner (or considering the launch of business), now is the time that you start gearing up for the New Year.

As you set new company goals, paying attention to business trends is a must. Essentially, keeping up with these trends helps you to align yourself with the competition based on what industry you work in.

The small business market has grown by leaps and bounds and with new technological developments. The New Year looks to be a promising one for them. Check out some trends you can expect in the New Year for small businesses.

5 Small Business Trends for 2018

The trends keep changing every year for businesses, and this applies to small businesses too. Here are the latest small business trends for 2018:

The Age of Crowdfunding

Small businesses tend to have issues with funding in the beginning stages when capital is tight, and revenue can be slow. Though there are small business loans available, most banks are cautious about providing loans to new entities.

As such, more and more entrepreneurs are looking for other avenues to fund their business, especially in the products market. Crowdfunding has become the main platform to seek new investors or sell the product before you are manufacturing it at all. And, it will be an increasing trend for small businesses in 2018.

Through sites like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo, businesses can request small investments from internet users. And they can use the investment to do everything from launch the business to pay for overhead costs.

Of course, you need a good product idea before going viral on a crowdfunding site. But advertising is just as important to the success of your campaign. Leaning heavily on social media advertising is normally the best bet to attract shopping individuals who might pull the trigger on an advanced purchase.

Expansions on the Horizon

The internet has removed the boundaries for where small businesses can take their brand, and they’re using this to their advantage. What you’ll likely see in the New Year small business trends is a lot higher percentage of small businesses delving into larger geographical areas or mid-size companies looking for international expansions.

Dozens of online financial companies allow process management from digital wire transfers, paying international taxes, and even creating multiple invoices and payments in seconds across the globe.

These platforms make for seamless and affordable payment management for both, the customer and vendor payments. Business owners can now safely send payments globally while managing their money from home.

Freelance Hires are on the Rise

Most entrepreneurs realize they need help but don’t have the funds necessary to pay for good help full-time. As such, outsourcing and hiring freelance contractors have become increasingly popular.

Not having to pay employer taxes, benefits, and overhead costs for a full-time team has become increasingly attractive. More entrepreneurs are looking to the financial benefits of hiring remotely.

Individuals are also taking the career jump to working for themselves or independently in order to focus on selling their skill set to anyone who needs it rather than to one company.

In the New Year, you’ll especially see small business trends of more freelance hires in the technology, finance, and marketing categories. That’s because a lot of needs can be specified to tasks that can be outsourced.

For example, web developers often go their own route working on websites and code for multiple companies and individuals they meet online rather than a typical 9-5. This lifestyle and career path increase every year.

Point of Display Marketing in Full Gear

Though digital marketing has been the talk for the past few years, those who run brick and mortar businesses understand the importance of driving home sales in their stores.

Point of display marketing, as such, will be a driving force in increasing sales this year for small businesses. Impulse merchandisers point out that driving impulse sales require a unique method of marketing.

Businesses are now into introducing and pushing their brands through methods like demonstration displays, coupon stands, refrigerated displays, and more to pique the interest of customers when they come in the store.

If you’re planning your business goals for 2018, be sure to consider some of the small business trends mentioned above for your brand.

Automating Internal Operations

Now that more and more small companies are either popping up online or using the internet to expand their reach, the emerging small business trends are of marketing technology is dripping into the rest of their operations.

Store front, small service based, or manufacturing type businesses are still in early stages of grasping online marketing and having a digital presence. But the first curve of adaptation has passed.

Now that operators and owners of mom and pop businesses are spending more time with computers to interact with customers, they are doing it more for their operations too.

Service-based businesses are buying software to manage all their trucks and employees. Restaurants are able to track and manage all their produce to eliminate food waste and lower their overhead. Several industries and businesses are using technology to streamline processes. This is a trend that should only continue to escalate as these companies adopt and benefit from it.

For years, small business owners were stunted by their lack of funds and resources. Today, however, the platform has changed. As entrepreneurs begin to leverage the technological resources that are out there for them, you’ll start to see a lot more success in the market.

Wrapping Up

Whether you’re launching your business or have an existing one, as a small business owner, it helps to keep up with the changing trends.

If you have a great product idea, you can go the crowdfunding way to launch your small business. The social media is bound to play an important role in helping you to finance your small business projects on a global level.

The year 2018 will have more technological developments to make things easy for small businesses. The trend of outsourcing from freelance contractors is going to continue and help boost your small business.

As with the advancement of technology, automation is becoming the clear favorite of all small businesses.

Though the use of digital marketing is going to be on the rise, the traditional display marketing is not going to lose its sheen, especially for the brick and mortar businesses.

Keeping up and getting prepared for the latest small business trends will help you progress in the year 2018.

Over to you –

What are your thoughts on the upcoming small business trends? Are you prepared to keep up with the latest? Share in the comments.