Stay ahead of the curve in 2020 by keeping up with relevant business trends
If you’re a small business owner, you already know how important it is to be 2 steps ahead of every other player on the field.
Keeping up with current trends – and if you’re influential enough, creating new ones – is a crucial part of the business.
From basic customer service to creative marketing and technology, the latest trends can come from any corner of the business sphere. Being aware of these leading trends and incorporating them into your business practice will help you to land and retain new customers.
The top 5 business trends you should know about in 2020
1. Customer reviews matter
With Google at our disposal and so many new things to try, buy and experience, a positive customer review is everything.
We remember a time when walking down the street and choosing a restaurant, or asking a friend for a last-minute recommendation, was the go-to way to find a place to eat.
But these days, the easiest way for us to discover whether or not something is worth our time is by Googling it – and reading the reviews that previous customers have posted online.
To keep up with this trend, provide a platform for customers where they can leave reviews. And if you want these reviews to be positive, ensure that the customer experience you deliver is a genuine one.
2. The gig economy continues to grow
The gig economy is pretty straightforward: it calls for one-off gigs rather than a permanent role within a company. A business actively taking part in the gig economy would hire a freelancer or someone on a short term contract as opposed to an ongoing, full-time employee.
This new labour market cuts down on business costs significantly because these one-off contracts don’t require full-time benefits like sick days or annual leave that come with a salaried position.
This is especially beneficial to small business owners who might not have the resources to bring another member onto their team.
3. The age of social responsibility and being eco-friendly
The older generations are out and the new ones are in. The youth of today bring with them a passion for recognising climate change, saving the rainforests, supporting the #MeToo movement, speaking out against violence, and so much more.
If you want your business to stand out to these revolutionary kids and young adults (and everyone else on their same wavelength), you need to introduce eco-friendly practices and social responsibility into your business.
Whether by recycling, going paperless, standing up for equal rights or embracing fair trade, you have a myriad of options at your disposal to improve the ethics of your business.
4. Mobile-friendly is a must
It’s 2020 and everyone – and we mean everyone – has a mobile phone. If you want to keep up with the times, your business needs to be phone-friendly.
That means making sure your website is compatible with desktop, tablet, and mobile. And not only that, but it’s also important to ensure that your business is easily accessible across social, Youtube, and other digital platforms.
While potential customers are perusing their phones on the train, on the toilet, or in front of the TV, you have the opportunity to capture their attention. So make sure you’re doing it the mobile way.
5. Employee happiness becomes a priority
Happy employees make for happy customers, and happy customers make for a happy company.
Employees who are content in their workplace are more productive, more engaged in their roles, and more committed to helping the company succeed.
If you want loyal employees who understand that their contribution matters, bringing their happiness into the picture is imperative. Build a culture in your business that breeds positivity, encouragement, and motivation.
It’s time to adopt the trends that will help your business succeed in 2020
Though some of these trends may be more applicable to your business than others, it’s important for you to incorporate those that will make a positive impact.
Reaping tomorrow’s rewards means investing in future and current trends today.
Are you ready for your website to reflect these top 2020 business trends? Talk to our team today >
Doing it yourself can be cheaper…for now
With so many apps, sites, and forever-improving technologies now available to us, it’s finally possible to achieve nearly anything by Doing It Yourself.
EVen something as complex as building your own website.
But the question is, how do you know when to D.I.Y. and when it’s time to bring in the experts?
When it comes to building a professional, presentable and functional website, we believe that it’s okay to ask for help.
In fact, we highly recommend it. And here’s 6 reasons why:
1. Do you have the T I M E?
Time is money. You don’t want to waste it, do you?
Building your own website from scratch is going to take AN AWFUL LOT of time.
You might as well go ahead and say goodbye to your weekends, eVenings, lunch breaks, sales pitches, product improvements, and anything OTHER than technical website stuff for the foreseeable future.
Now, don’t get us wrong – we’re all about doing things for free when you can and learning important skills along the way.
But we also believe that it’s important to ask the question: is this project going to waste my time or fulfil it?
2. You might not have the required skills or access to the right tools
As we said, there are PLENTY of tools these days that can help you do just about anything. Which we love!
And while these tools can empower you to do amazing things, they often have a limit to their capabilities. A limit that can be expanded – for a fee.
Website builders like WordPress and Squarespace have a mammoth amount of pre-designed templates for you to choose from. However, there is a limit to the functionality and customisation that they offer.
Before you know it, you’ll be spending MONEY on plug-ins, extra features and better packages, and TIME on research that helps you understand each additional function.
3. Surprisingly, you are not your target audience
So you’ve got a product that you love. And you use it all the time. And you assume that you know EXACTLY what your customer wants to see on your website.
Being an expert in your industry means that yes, you know a whole lot about what you’re selling.
But it also means that you see your product, your website, and your business from the perspective of an expert. And not from the perspective of a customer.
This can be a problem when you’re building a site not for yourself, but for the people purchasing your product.
4. What do you know about SEO?
SEO is the new black in the digital realm. When executed correctly, it increases traffic to your site and helps you climb the ranks of Google.
SEO is a necessity for your website if you want people to find it. And it is something that can be learned, as with anything.
However, it takes a lot of research, time, and practice to get a good handle on it. It’s also ever-changing, so just when you think you have a handle on it, it’s back to the drawing board.
There are many facets to SEO including on-page, off-page, technical and local.
An ongoing, never-ending process, it will take precious time away from you to improve, sell, and work on your product.
5. Your website is browser-friendly but what about mobile?
So you’ve built a website on your laptop and it all looks B-E-A-UTIFUL. Yay!
And then you check it out on your mobile and it looks like a 1980s game of Tetris gone horribly wrong.
Why? Because building a website means making it compatible across all devices, including mobiles, desktops, iPads, and more.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get a template that does all the hard work for you. But if not, you’re looking at another fee.
Oh, how we (don’t) love those hidden fees.
6. Technical support and maintenance
Holy Mackerel – you’ve built a whole website! That’s a HUGE effort and you should be proud. We sure are!
But now you realise the need for technical support and ongoing maintenance. Eek!
When something breaks (as websites tend to do), how will you fix it? Do you have the time?
Learning all of the technical stuff is impressive and empowering, absolutely. However, if you’re busy learning the nitty-gritty of your website, you’re NOT focusing on your product.
And your product is where your focus should be.
Short-term pain for long-term gain
So what have we established? Two things:
1. Building your own website is something that you are 100% capable of doing (and our hats off to you if you achieve it!).
2. But for the reasons stated above, you should really get a trained professional(s) to do it for you.
If you enlist the experts to build your website, it’ll have a look, feel, and user experience that’s unique to you.
You can customise it as much as you want and there will be no limit to your site’s capabilities.
And all that good stuff means potential customers are far more likely to stick around, browse through your site and purchase your product!