2020 is shaping up to be a big year for business. Not only does it mark the turn of a new decade, but it is also expected to be a rather tense election year, with campaigns well underway. There are business owners who have sensed the potential for a recession and have been frugally preparing for it. These factors may significantly impact entrepreneurs. Remaining innovative while playing it safe and approaching the coming climate have been ongoing topics of discussion, and in light of this, here are five entrepreneurial trends that have kicked off this decade.
- Play Safe, Double Down
With the World Uncertainty Index at an all-time high, business leaders are ready to hit the brakes on investing, potentially disrupting eleven years of uninterrupted growth. In light of this, Lee Henderson, EY America’s Growth Market Leader, addressed the “play it safe, but double down” concept(optimization). According to Lee, “Companies need to look at things like contracts, vendors, costs, and business operations so that there’s comfort in efficiency, but they should still be looking for areas to grow and innovate. There will certainly be opportunities, and you want to be ready to capitalize on them when the time comes.”
- The Online Market
According to Statista, global internet commerce is expected to reach around five trillion, causing many businesses to move their investments from the storefront to the web browser. Entrepreneurs are capitalizing on this, as this trend enables them to make separate, helpful investments that don’t involve renting a location, freeing up more money.
- Partner Up
Business can be a vast and complex world, and more entrepreneurs are having big ideas but not the means to bring them to life. This is where partnerships come into play. According to Todd Beulow, Dualboot Partners founder, some entrepreneurs with big ideas need the backing of influential organizations to build their ideas, particularly those with technical ideas, but not the know-how to develop the technology. Partnerships can also arise when a startup needs the sales and marketing resources of a larger company.
- Find A Niche
A start-up company can quickly go under trying to offer similar services to well established and efficient companies. According to Brad Keywell, the 2019 World Entrepreneur of the Year and CEO of Uptake, “Big companies like Amazon are great at delivering value through technology to mass-market audiences.” Brad goes on to explain that real opportunity for entrepreneurs is in the niches big companies do not deal with, where entrepreneurs can exercise flexibility.
- All In One Platforms
With the pace of technology speeding up, companies are looking for ways to process all of their activities in one setting, efficiently. The desire to accomplish more than one goal with a single vendor has risen amongst consumers and business owners alike. Upstarts like Prime Trust, which offers one efficient place for financial services and solutions for business infrastructure, while simultaneously providing a more convenient experience for customers, have fit this niche very well.