The 21st century has witnessed the introduction of thousands of business trends. Some of these trends stuck around and made lasting impacts, while others lit a spark for a couple of months before fading into the abyss. Moving into the future, there are going to be lots more interesting and exciting business trends that emerge, most of which will be technology-related. After all, the world is currently in the middle of the golden era for tech, meaning there’s never been a better time to own a business.
The difficult (and slightly confusing) part about business trends is knowing which ones are worth adopting. As a friendly gesture, this article has compiled the top five future business trends for you to prepare for. It’s almost certain that these trends will be huge hits, so make sure to read carefully and give yourself plenty of time to prepare!
1. Digital documents and electronic signatures
By the end of the 2020s, it’s highly likely that businesses – and people in general – will be dealing with documents exclusively in digital form. This is great, as it means society will finally be able to reduce the amount of paper it uses.
Of course, sending and receiving documents over email will require businesses to use electronic signatures, as they will no longer be able to sign documents (such as contracts) with a pen. Unsurprisingly, many businesses are actually using electronic signatures right now, which is why they’ve been able to cut down on the amount of paper and printing they do. DocuSign is a popular provider of electronic signature software, but there are DocuSign competitors available who can provide even better functionality, pricing, and customer service for you.
2. Green, environmentally-friendly practices
These days, if you turn on the news or open your social media feeds, you’re met with endless conversations and posts about climate change. Because climate change is such a huge global topic at the moment, hundreds of thousands of businesses have started to adopt green, environmentally-friendly practices, such as recycling their waste more efficiently and only sourcing supplies from green suppliers. In the years ahead, this is going to become even more common, so it’s recommended your business buys a ticket for the green train and gets on board before it’s too late.
3. Strong and marketable business values
In the past, some companies were able to operate without doing much marketing. They adopted an approach of “Here are our products, take them or leave them”, and it worked for decades. However, times have changed. Now, to be successful, your business needs to focus on your branding and personality.
The key to this in the present and future will be marketable business values. Apple, Microsoft, Nike – just about every major brand has values that they market to consumers. Values can be anything, from inclusivity to building unbreakable trust.
4. Working from home
At the beginning of the pandemic, many people assumed that working from home would be a short-lived trend. Surprisingly, they were proven wrong. Now, businesses up and down the country have implemented permanent (or semi-permanent) work-from-home business models. In the digital world, remote working is going to become increasingly popular over the next decade – and could even become the norm.
5. E-commerce dominance
Sadly, many physical stores have had to shut down over the past couple of years. This is because online shopping has proven to be a consumer favorite. Now, because you can buy anything you like in a split second using your iPhone, e-commerce will continue to dominate – so don’t let your business fall behind the times.
