Trends Over The Next 5 Years
Where Business Is Headed over The Next 5 Years
People often ask me where I see business going in the next five, 15, 20 years. I cover eight different things that entrepreneurs should pay attention to in the next five plus years.
#1: Attention Span
As a business owner, it’s very important to pay attention to attention span.
Did you know that the average attention span of a goldfish is nine seconds? They’re swimming around, see a shark, and nine-seconds later they’ve already forgotten about it. According to Time Magazine, in 2000, the average attention span of a human being was 12 seconds. Now it’s been lowered to eight seconds. We have a shorter attention span than a goldfish!
I believe that over the next five to 10 years, the attention span of human beings will drop even more. As an entrepreneur, if you don’t know how to grab attention quickly, you’ll lose people, and if you don’t know how to maintain attention, you’ll lose people.
#2 Speed
I also believe that in the next five to 10 years that speed will be very critical. People want things NOW and that expectation will only increase in the future.
Businesses that have speed be on their side are going to have an edge. The largest generation we had in the past were baby boomers. We now have a newer generation with 78-80 million people. Business owners have to learn how to connect with them, and speed is a very important way of doing so.
#3: Social Issues
In the coming years, it’s going to be important to be very social conscious in all you do. Just think about what Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are. We call them social media. It’s not just media, it’s SOCIAL media. The word, “social” is going to carry a lot of weight with a lot of different things because social connects with the heart. If you don’t know how to socially connect with the heart with your business, and your competitor does, they’ll have an edge over you.
#4: Education
Check YouTube link below for my predictions on how education will be disrupted in the coming years.
#5: Data
Data has always had a lot of value, but the value of data will increase even more over the next five years. This is because it’s now easier than ever before to measure your data against a lot of other things and if you can prove through your data that you’re connecting with this or that audience, you make a bigger case and argument towards the people you’re dealing with.
#6: Mobile
Check YouTube link below for my thoughts on what you can expect to see with mobile marketing in the future.
#7: Boring Industries Will Dominate Exciting Industries
It’s tempting to chase the next exciting industry. When something new comes out, everything thinks, “This is IT!” The great thing about that is that when everyone is running to the new hot thing, if you keep working on the “boring” industry, you’ll be the one to disrupt that industry.
Think of it like this. Everyone wants to chase the hot guy or girl, but the smart thing to do is to chase the one who will make a great spouse. The great thing about this is that the “boring” one may be a lot more exciting than you initially thought, once you get to know them. Those are the people – and the industries – you should put your money on.
Pay very close attention to the boring industries that other people ignore.
#8: Transparency
There are no secrets today. Everyone has skeletons in their closet. There are no perfect people, if you judge others or attempt to come off as perfect, that will backfire on you.
Instead, be transparent. Be vulnerable. The more you do that, the more you’ll connect with your audience because at the end of the day, we all like connecting with people who are real, genuine, and just being themselves.
If you’re a fake entrepreneur, and you don’t really run a business, or if you’re ripping people off, it will become known. And your bad reputation will last for a long time.
Be real. Be yourself. Be honest about who you are and what you’re doing. That type of transparency will give you an edge over other entrepreneurs.
How will you elevate your customer experience to keep pace with the above trends?
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