Increasingly with my client base, many of whom operate small businesses, I am seeing elevated stress levels associated with the ability or, in some cases, inability to currently navigate their way into the unknown.
There were supply chain complexities (that are ongoing), disruptions to engaging with their clients, consumer hesitancy, health provider concerns and continuing volatility in a dynamic and constantly shifting marketplace.
There are concerns about shortages from sanctions and ongoing disruption to the supply chain networks, along with worries about inflation, higher cost of living and continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Now my clients are asking me about future trends—how they should be positioning themselves for moving forward and morphing with change and where they should be positioning themselves to be best placed to take advantage of what seems to be super-dynamic and thoroughly unpredictable global trends.
To my mind, there is one message: expect the unexpected. There are some interesting trends that I believe will be powerful and influential moving into the foreseeable future.
We will continue to require essential services in relation to natural resources, water, healthcare and energy; however, the business models around these integral resources will have to change.
The competition for, and hoarding of, resources was alarming and shone a light on global financial inequality and the inability of many developed nations to share and be magnanimous.
• Increased Global Corporate Responsibility
For us to survive and thrive, a new form of global responsibility has to emerge: one that focuses on the good of humanity and supports positive collective actions of countries, businesses and people. Corporate responsibility will have more of a light shone on it. Consumers will expect better. No longer will so much be held by so few. We can no longer allow the widening gap between the rich and the poor to become even wider.
• The Dawn Of A New Era In Work
Digital technology will continue to flourish and become more accessible for emerging nations and with this digital future, an enabled on-demand, independent workforce will emerge. Businesses and CEOs will need to understand how to engage with and attract this workforce and make a work regimen that suits their mobility and flexibility.
• Consumer Power
The consumer will also be even more demanding in the personal privacy space, expecting that the hacker and the digital scammer will be a thing of the past.
• Eco Imperatives
Care for and support of the Earth’s environment will still be of prime importance and uppermost in the consumer’s mind. It will, along with respect for labor laws, be the absolute driving force behind customer loyalty and product appeal. The conscious consumer will increasingly look toward new technologies to solve old problems.
• Adapt And Be Agile
The ability of a business to adapt to and see emerging trends is paramount to its survival. Companies and organizations will have to research and embrace new ways of working, and those that do not adapt to the new consumer mindset and concerns will simply not be viable.
Reflexive Analysis
The pandemic continues to shape and change our everyday lives, and businesses are not immune to this change. As the world around us crumbles and the apathetic caricature of the “old white man” begin to lay down for their final rests, consumers are demanding more. COVID-19 showed everyone how much power the individual has in impacting their community, from something as simple as social distancing to something more complex like holding megacorporations responsible for pollution and actively calling for a total direction shift. The everyman has grown tired of being a capitalist monkey that points at the colorful advertisements and shakes empty their wallet. Now, as individuals who recognize the strength in numbers, what will be expected as a new generation of thinkers take over the professional world?
What can we expect the consumer to want for the future of the world? Is there any way we could predict the next big social change, and what could it be? How will that inevitability impact business? How much responsibility does a company really have in their destruction of the planet? Are companies doing enough?
Hillyer, Regan. "Where To From Here? Predictions For The Future Of Business." Forbes, Integrated Whale Media Investments, 18 July 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/07/18/where-to-from-here-predictions-for-the-future-of-business/?sh=34118d41bed3. Accessed 13 Sept. 2022.
