America’s small businesses are key engines of job creation and innovation, yet they face many hurdles to achieving their potential.
One of the greatest obstacles facing business owners today is recruiting and retaining sales talent, particularly attrition rates. A greater percentage than in years past reported finding it challenging to hire; many may also face potential recession challenges as a result.
1. Social Media
Small business owners have plenty on their plates, and social media can help them expand quickly. Social media provides the ideal medium to connect with new customers while deepening existing customer relationships.
Gen-Zers are changing the face of work and offering innovative ideas as entrepreneurs, employees, and consumers. According to our research, many young workers want their own businesses.
Small businesses should take note: this trend presents an ideal opportunity for them to expand by offering products or services specifically designed to target children, such as kid-friendly apps or solar powered gadgets that promote health and well-being.
2. Mobile
While nine out of ten small business owners use mobile devices for running their operations, many wish there were more apps that can help expand their businesses. It is therefore imperative that websites are responsive to mobile devices in order to attract more visitors.
Many small business owners became entrepreneurs through following their passion or realizing that working for themselves would get them closer to retirement sooner. Yet a significant number are currently facing difficulties such as inflation, COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs associated with providing goods and services.
3. Artificial Intelligence
As inflation rises and a possible recession looms, small businesses are finding it increasingly challenging to hire qualified staff. An increasing number of small companies are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions as a solution to their hiring woes.
Small business owners are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) tools as an invaluable way of automating customer service, streamlining marketing initiatives and improving product development. And thanks to new AI tools available off-the-shelf, adoption barriers have never been lower.
AI can provide small businesses with an optimistic outlook and help save time and increase revenue over time. For example, plumbing-supply companies could use an AI tool to target customers interested in upgrading their lighting fixtures.
4. Big Data
Implementing new technology into small businesses is no longer just a nice-to-have; it is critical for their survival in today’s world. Small companies rely heavily on software and virtual solutions for back office tasks like accounting and payroll management.
Small businesses face one of their greatest challenges in managing data silos and using it for analytics. A company might keep financial records in one database while production cost information resides elsewhere.
Companies are turning to big data analytics in order to meet GDPR compliance and other compliance requirements, and this trend should continue as one of the major data processing trends among small businesses in 2023.
5. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing’s versatility not only enables businesses to scale quickly and expand easily, but its flexibility helps reduce operating costs as well. By renting infrastructure, platform, or software-based services on demand instead of purchasing physical hardware or installing updates for software programs – small business owners can avoid incurring unnecessary expenditure.
Cloud hosting may be especially advantageous for systems that experience intense periods of use at specific points in time, such as accounting systems only getting used during tax season. Hosting it there would save money from having to spend it on servers or software that sit idle most of the time.
6. Robotic Process Automation
RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is an incredible technology capable of revolutionizing back office processes with unprecedented efficiency and accuracy. Bots perform automated business processes by mimicking human actions across enterprise applications and productivity tools.
Bots are more accurate and less prone to human errors, working quickly and independently from other systems – which makes them ideal for high-volume repetitive processes requiring structured input or response triggering.
When selecting an RPA tool, look for platforms with low technical barriers to entry. Non-technical staff can use process recorders to build workflows which can then be configured by software robots without programming knowledge being necessary.
7. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI technology offers small businesses the chance to deliver customized products and services to customers more effectively, thanks to AI tools gathering enormous amounts of customer data that is then processed using machine learning algorithms to make sense of it.
AI tools have become more accessible and affordable as commodity compute power becomes readily available in the cloud. This has given rise to generative AI, creating opportunities for small businesses to automate many back office functions more efficiently.
Small business owners remain resilient and optimistic for 2023 despite facing the challenges associated with pandemic. By capitalizing on these trends, they can set themselves up for success in 2023.