Small Business Trends that Are Changing the Way We Do Business

Small business has evolved since the early days of single entrepreneurs, brick and mortar operations and competition amongst big business. Today, small business trends are changing the world for both business owner and consumer.
But where is business going? What trends today are changing the way we do business and what will happen in the future? The following are small business trends that are changing the way we do business.

* Building an online brand *

Many businesses push to make a sale and lack any form of long-term impression on their customers and followers.

In today’s business, building an online brand can help spread your marketing message, business practices and reputation across the net to attract new customers.

Through the use of social media, you can help build your brand by giving great information, answering questions and otherwise just be active and there for people when need be. For example when they are incorporating a corporation in WY.

* Permission based marketing *

Unlike traditional marketing methods such as mass marketing through television, radio and print which people are passively consuming; permission based marketing allows people to follow you so you can directly market toward them – it’s a form of active marketing.

Email newsletters, fan pages, social media accounts and blogging has helped increase the use of permission based marketing. Those users which follow your company are more likely to buy in the long run because they feel you’ve provided them with great information and can be trusted.

* Transparency in the small business environment *

For too long companies have hid their data and business practices from their consumers. This cloak of shadows leaves customers with buyer’s remorse and an empty feeling from dealing business with a company.

In today’s business world, companies which are transparent with their practices, letting consumers know how they interact and what’s behind their culture will help build authority, trust and reassurance.

Being transparent doesn’t mean a business needs to give away all of its secrets but it does require them to go outside of their comfort zone to let consumers take a peak on the ‘behind-the-scenes’.

Share with your customers what actives you do on a daily basis, how you plan to help the world, ways you deal with customers and what you believe are the fundamentals to your company – it’s much like a mission statement but backed by social proof.

* The green initiative *

After many decades of unregulated business practices and mishaps, the green initiative has finally come mainstream. Businesses which pollute and destroy the planet cannot sustain in a health conscious society today.

Although not entirely a new trend in the business world, many of the largest and small businesses are finally starting to acknowledge their impact on the world and want to take action to reduce their waste.

Showing consumers you are a green conscious company will help build better relationships because they’ll know you care about more things than simply profits.

Likewise, a growing niche community of green only marketplaces have given the rise of many great opportunities for businesses – can your business be apart of it?

* Niche marketing and the end of big business *

Finally, niche marketing is a must for every modern company. It’s going to be difficult to see large companies spring up in the future because the world, being connected through the net, has shown that people flock to niche communities.

Instead of shopping at big box retailers which only offer the surface of mainstream items, consumers are now seeking out the larger variety of goods from companies that specialize within a particular niche.

If you run a business, find out who your true market is and focus in on the trends and items which the niche accepts. Don’t try to be the ‘everything company’, there’s enough of them; people want to interact with businesses that specialize, being a niche business allows you to position yourself as one.