Business trends

It’s interesting to see that every new year comes with a whole set of articles showing in all kinds of media, from magazines to books, internet, TV shows and radio talks, information about the business trends for the next 12 months.

More interesting is that quite often these business trends are very different from one source to another, sometimes even the opposite from one vehicle to the next one. What makes things exciting is to identify the common trends, the ones that show in more than one source, providing what one might understand as ‘more reliable information’.

Here are some of those common trends for the next 12 months, according to the savvy analysts:

(1) Companies will harness tech to enhance the user experience even further – for all sizes of businesses this seems to be a make-or-break necessity, even for the ones yet to fully adopt modern technology.

(2) Growing industries – the drone industry looks promising, offering entrepreneurial opportunities. Thousands of new drones should be added to the pool owned by companies in different industries as well as by individual enthusiasts. Besides, crashed or damaged items will create opportunities for repair businesses. Some experts even mention the use of drones assisting in humanitarian work, facilitating medical deliveries to people in need in underdeveloped countries.

(3) Start-ups – on-demand services will improve access to new start-ups from on-demand legal services, website creation, automated financial software, marketing tips and tools and others. Typically, businesses that will be operated by just one or two people. Of course, businesses that may render services to these start-ups will benefit from this movement as well.

(4) Marketing tools – (a) The use of artificial intelligence on social media, as a way for businesses to successfully target their audience and get a better return on investment in terms of views and clicks; (b) the use of video as an essential tool, mainly when you consider that roughly 60 percent of consumers prefer to watch content, instead of reading it, then the power of video marketing becomes immediately apparent. Video content will continue to build momentum and audiences will be looking for it more in 2017; (c) social media will be increasingly used as a sales platform. With this comes another trend, which is ‘better social media practices’. Almost everyone is using social media, but very few are doing it well.

(5) Cybersecurity – appears to be a niche that will be in high demand as well. With the new payment technologies coming to the market, organized criminals and hackers will try even more to take advantage on our digital wallets. More security will be required.

At Florida Connexion our multicultural and multidisciplinary business brokers can assist you in identifying the right business for you and the right buyer for your business.

This article is for general, indicative purpose only and should not be considered investment advice. Florida Connexion is not liable for any financial loss, damage, expense or costs arising from your investment decisions based on this article.

Source: Forbes, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Inc.com, Business News Daily, Business Insider, Small Business Trends, Vision Critical.