The Next 6 Trends Sweeping The Business World

Running a business means you must be aware of the past, present, and future. The past is essential as it influences the decisions you make in the present. For instance, if you make mistakes in the past, you look back on them and ensure they’re not made again. Similarly, the future is critical in preparing your business for what’s to come. If you hope to survive, you need to be aware of the various future trends and when they will happen. As a result, you can adapt your business before anyone else, getting a leg up on your rivals.

Clearly, this paves the way for an obvious question: what are the future business trends you should be aware of? It’s impossible to be 100% correct with predictions. Still, you can look at a few telltale signs to come up with relatively accurate suggestions. So, why don’t we just jump straight into it? Here are the next biggest business trends you need to know:
Outsourcing (again)
Suppose you’ve been a business owner for a few years. In that case, you may remember the massive outsourcing trend around a decade ago. Loads of companies realized that outsourcing held plenty of financial benefits, allowing you to shift services to other companies all over the world. As a result, most companies started using customer service teams in India to cut overhead costs. There was a big panic that outsourcing would take over and eradicate loads of jobs, but that never happened. Things calmed down, and the outsourcing trend slowed down.

Now, outsourcing is trending yet again. This comes after the global pandemic that’s ripped through the business world. Sadly, companies can’t afford to pay for entire teams of people to carry out work. Instead, they’re trimming down and using outsourcing as a way of cutting the costs without damaging the bottom line. It’s thought that we could see a big shift to outsourcing in the coming years, so prepare your business for it.

Interestingly, you can take this one of two ways. You can prepare by outsourcing different services, or you can make your business stand out by not outsourcing. Some customers may respect a company that keeps things in-house, giving you a USP as the outsourcing trend grows.
Automation
After these first two trends, you could argue that an overall trend is the need to trim down your business. Outsourcing gets rid of some in-house employees, while automation gets rid of the rest! To avoid any confusion, automation is the act of using software/technology to automatically complete different tasks. Think back 50 years, and every task within a company was conducted by a human. Now, you can use apps and software to do loads of different things at the push of a button. Most of the time, you just set things up and let the software take control of everything.

The most abundant example of this is in the manufacturing industry. Again, if we cast our minds back to the early 20th Century, most cars were manually manufactured. Sure, machines were used, but they were operated by humans. Now, manufacturing companies have loads of machines that automatically do everything they’re programmed to do. It leads to better accuracy, fewer errors, and quicker production. Automation is rife throughout all industries, and it will only get more prominent in the years to come. To prepare your business for this trend, you may want to consider the various tasks that automation can improve. Here’s a free one for you: responding to emails. This can be far more efficient when automated.
5G Technology
5G is the next big thing in the telecommunications world. There’s a lot of debate over this technology, but most people agree that it will transform many things. 5G is believed to be the fastest wireless speed possible, surpassing 4G and your usual internet signal. It’s mostly associated with cellphone data, but the capabilities of 5G go beyond this.

There have already been examples of the power of 5G in action around the world. Most notably, you may have seen videos of augmented reality dragons in sports stadiums over in Asia. This was powered by 5G, showing the potential it has with things like virtual and augmented reality. Businesses can take things like this and do so much with it. AR could form the basis of so many marketing campaigns, and there’s no telling what else you can do with 5G. From a basic standpoint, it could power your office network and offer more security and faster speeds.

Of course, this technology also opens a can of worms with regards to permissions and policies. Look at something like the Oracle 5G policy control function; it helps you get ready for 5G when it comes. You need to implement different policies within a 5G framework to keep security tight and improve other aspects. If you want to get ready for this trend, you have to get to grips with policies and other security aspects. It’s also worth reading up on 5G to learn more about what it is and how your business can use it.
Virtual Businesses
You’ve seen lots of changes in the way businesses operate over the last 9 months. It was touched upon earlier, but the global pandemic has been a huge influence on business decisions this year. Cast your mind back to March, and three-quarters of the world was shut indoors. Everyone was told to work from home, prompting many companies to discover video meetings for the first time.

Ironically, all of this time indoors showed lots of businesses that working from home is highly beneficial. It’s easier than expected, and it actually led to improved results. As a result, organizations decided to carry on working from home even when they were allowed to return to the office. It presented massive financial savings, productivity improvements, and more profits. Naturally, this hasn’t worked for everyone – some companies were desperate to get back to normal! Still, it’s sparked a trend of virtual business worldwide. Who knows, could we see more virtual companies in the coming years? Perhaps this could bring about greater changes throughout society as well. The office blocks can be vacated, leaving room for affordable housing or green areas. It’s just a thought, but what you should think about is if your business suits the virtual role. If you feel you can run your company without a physical base, why don’t you start making changes to accommodate the switch right now?
Sustainability
This is a massive trend that’s sweeping businesses right this second. Sustainability is the art of making your business more eco-friendly. That’s the premise of the idea, anyway. You follow particular processes and provide products that are sustainable and good for the environment. A huge example of this is a clothing company called TALA. It’s based in the UK, and it offers a sustainable alternative to activewear fashion. All of the products are made out of recycled materials/off-cuts, and the tags can be planted to grow plants! The business is built around the idea of being as sustainable as possible, and having a small carbon footprint.

Why is sustainability important? Without it, the world will die. Businesses need to be more sustainable if we want to prevent a climate disaster. This means that your company should start adopting some sustainable practices to be more eco-friendly. There’s an excellent video below that talks about sustainable businesses in more detail. If you have a few minutes spare, I strongly suggest you grab a cup of coffee and give it a watch!

Near-Instant Delivery
Let’s be frank, the online business model works a treat. Online retail companies are probably the only ones to experience significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic. This is because they’re perfectly suited to a world where everyone is stuck inside. You can order everything online, getting it to your door the next day.

However, this has kicked off a new trend in the business world; same-day delivery. Consumers are impatient, and the one negative about online shopping is that you have to wait at least a day to see your products. Now, many companies are toying with the idea of near-instant deliveries on the same day. Supermarkets and grocery stores are partnering with Uber and Deliveroo to get goods to customers in a matter of minutes. Amazon has trialed a Prime Now system in many cities, meaning you can order products and receive them the same day. As technologies improve, the opportunities for faster deliveries will grow. There’s a lot of talk about drones being used to carry goods to houses on the same day they’re ordered. Perhaps it’s time your business thought about how you can get your products to the consumer as quickly as possible.

Some of these business trends will bother you more than others. It depends on your business and the industry you’re in. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to understand all of the upcoming business trends. The more you know, the less of a surprise they will be in the future. Plus, you can prepare better than everyone else and take your market by storm.