The small business world is ever-changing. There are many different types of small businesses growing and changing today. Keeping up can be overwhelming. Along with the different small business types, small business ideas and trends are also growing.
Doing the research and finding out what is best for you can be difficult. Some trends and ideas are profitable in the short term, but not worth it long-term.
So, some trends do not give you immediate results but end up being worthwhile in the long run. These varying expectations make it challenging to decide. This is because business owners who have used the trends will give different reports and reviews.
Below are the 6 small business trends.
Types of Small Business Trends
Business trends vary according to many factors.
One is how big a time investment the trend will take to be implemented. Another is how big time investment is needed to see results. Another factor is financial investment.
However, one of the biggest factors that business owners consider is a risk. How risky is the business trend? How guaranteed are the results?
The least risky thing you can do is pick a business technique or method that has been the trend for a long time. In such cases, there is a high chance that someone with a business similar to your own has already used it.
You can use their results and performance to decide if it is a trend for you. The disadvantage, in this case, is that newer trends are more highly rewarding than older trends.
Thus, picking new small business trends is risky but carries more reward if the trend is a success.
The six interesting small business ideas that will feature on this list will present a mix of both types.
There will be some trends that have existed for a more extended amount of time and those that are newer. This way, you can select the business trend that you are interested in based on how much risk you are willing to take on for the sake of some rewards.
However, all the unique small business trends listed below focus on making money. You may own a small business, or have an interest in them.
Either way, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on these new small business trends in 2019.
1. Personalized Marketing
Marketing in 2019 is going to become even more personalized.
In the past, advertisements would broadcast to the general public. This was in the hopes that an interested party would come across them.
Now, with the help of digital marketing, ads are becoming tailored to each user.
For example, on sites like Facebook, the types of ads you see depend on your characteristics. These characteristics vary from your location in the kind of posts that you interact with.
For small businesses, this means investing in marketing strategies.
If you have a clearer picture of who your core consumer base is, you can personalize your ad campaigns even more. This means that you have to make a clear marketing strategy, including data on your target demographic, location, and other factors.
For small businesses, this also means a more significant focus on market research.
Data is the main force behind personalized marketing. Meaning that the more information you have behind your client base and what they are looking for, the better you can make your marketing strategy. This means investing in market research to find out more about your clients.
2. Lines of Credit
Many small businesses start up and find success with the help of a loan. These loans can vary from small business loans to large ones.
The reason for this is that new businesses usually make little money. The revenue they get usually comes in when the business is more established. As a result, many small business owners need a lot of starting capital to fund the first few months of their work.
Some may use their life savings, and many end up using their retirement funds. But the main reason is that small businesses need early financing.
Research shows that 30 percent of new small businesses fail because of financial issues. Thus, there is a real need for loan financing. However, most people are wary of loans.
This is a product of the consequences that come with defaulting. This is where services like lines of credit can help. Lines of credit are flexible financing options.
They are the product of many banking and financing organizations. They usually allow a flexible payment schedule as well as reasonable rates.
Lines of credit are popular because of this flexibility. They limit the risk of defaulting of missing payments. They are also often more reasonable than standard loans.
For a small business, paying back a loan can be difficult to do if a client has not yet paid an invoice. This is where new services like AR lines of credit come in. AR lines of credit, or accounts receivable lines of credit, are a type of loan that you can use while waiting on an invoice.
Instead of waiting for a client to pay an invoice, you can borrow against it. This means that you pay the loan back when you get your compensation.
Such lines of credit have two benefits.
First, you are sure that you’re borrowing an amount that you can pay back. Instead of an ambitious loan, these loans use money from clients’ outstanding invoices. This way, the amount is something that you are capable of repaying.
Another benefit is that it has a flexible payment schedule. The payment schedule for the loan is the payment schedule for the invoice. Thus, you’re able to relax and wait for the repayment.
This is preferable to running back and forth between the parties involved.
3. Alternative Lending
Speaking of loans, alternative lending for small businesses is growing in 2019. Alternative lending refers to getting loans from places that are not banks.
Banks reject up to 80 percent of small business loans. This means that there is a huge market for lending that has opened up for those rejected by banks.
The most common form of alternative lending that is growing in 2019 is peer to peer lending.
Peer to peer lending is a practice where a small business borrows money online. They borrow through services that match borrowers to lenders.
Such lending practices usually have lower rates. The reason behind this is the online feature. Since they operate online, these arrangements have lower overheads.
This means that they can make a profit at lower rates. In each year after 2006, peer to peer lending has increased by more than 100 percent a year.
Companies offering non-traditional loans have been flourishing as a result. Many start-ups have financing and support from these companies.
4. Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a trend that has been around for a while and is thus risk-free.
Corporate social responsibility is an approach towards business. It focuses on sustainable development. Sustainability comes by seeking to deliver benefits to all stakeholders.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was popular and growing in the previous year.
For example, Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, took a big step towards social responsibility with his algorithm. He announced that the site would begin to focus on posts from friends and family.
This was a big step away from the marketing-driven trend the company has been taking.
In the past, Facebook tailored algorithms to focus on entertainment. These kept users online for as long as possible. This let them see as many ads as possible. To take corporate social responsibility seriously, he chose human connections over the business.
Today, CSR has become associated with a good public image. This drives consumers to your business. For example, businesses known for their environmental CSR tap into a new market.
This varies from environmentalists to conservationists. Incorporating CSR into your operations can help drive sales to your business.
5. User Reviews
In 2019, the main influence of online customers is user reviews. Data shows that customer reviews influence more than 95 percent of the consumers before they decide to buy your product or service. This means that most of your customers are going to look for reviews before they buy your product.
The power of user reviews does not only apply to bad reviews. Consumers prefer for a business to have any reviews rather than none.
Over 90 percent of your potential customers will step back from your online product if there are not user reviews accompanying it.
This means that user reviews are a significant factor in whether your company performs in sales. So how do you tap into this trend?
The first step is to register or claim your business on popular sites that people use to rate and review businesses. These include Google Maps and Yelp. On Google Maps, your business may already have a listing.
Google Maps provides reviews. It does this through the comments left under each pinned business or location. These reviews pop up right under the listing. They are thus the first thing that a customer searching you up on the internet will see.
It is especially crucial for businesses that are social venues such as restaurants. You can take control of this situation by claiming or listing your business.
The next step is to reply to each review that a consumer leaves. This applies to good and bad reviews. Responding to each review leaves consumers with the image that you care.
Secondly, thanking them for the report is important. So is and apologizing for misunderstandings or issues strengthens this image. Making your audience feel that you are approachable endears you to them.
On Yelp, the same approach can be taken. Make sure to respond to each review and make the consumers feel heard.
This way, you will be able to do damage control for bad reviews and strengthen a good image for good reviews.
6. The Modern Work Environment
One of the main small business trends is changes in the work environment they provide. The quality of the work experience has become more important. This works for the work environment as well. Now, research confirms that happy workers are more productive workers.
Likewise, happy workers stay on the team longer and reduce your turnover. This means that providing a good work environment is profitable.
First of all, your employees will be more productive, which will benefit your business. Second, low turnover is beneficial. It means that you will not be losing any of the expertise or skills that they gained as they worked with you.
A big issue with turnover is that you can invest in training a set of skilled workers then lose them. Not only is this a lost investment, but you also have to begin again with a new team. By caring for the work environment you are providing, you help ease this disadvantage.
The first trend towards the modern work environment is prioritizing employee happiness.
Small businesses in 2019 will be focusing on employee happiness and engagement. This will keep good workers as well as drive qualified workers towards your business.
Research has shown that employee happiness boosts efficiency by 10 to 25 percent.
The second trend towards the modern work environment is remote working.
Remote working refers to the use of virtual offices or work-from-home arrangements. Remote working has many benefits.
Firstly, employees can be more efficient with their time, because they waste less of it commuting. Secondly, remote working increases communication across the business on several levels.
The necessity for increased communication makes a better environment for collaboration. It will also make a better environment for innovation. Innovation will be a result of more information being available due to communication.
The final trend is a bigger range of professional backgrounds. Tech companies and start-ups are hiring people from a broader range of backgrounds.
Tech companies today need a more well-rounded approach. This is because technology today is broader and uses more industries than before.
For example, creating communication technology like email only needed a technical background. Today, we introduce new communication methods and sites such as social media.
Conclusion
You need input from a marketing professional, a sociology professional, and statistical research. Situations like these have created a need for more diversity for tech companies.
Above are the best small business trends for your activities in 2019. Maybe you are looking to start a small business in 2019 or grow an existing one.
You can contact us for solutions that will help you achieve your goals.