If you haven’t noticed, Millennials have been on the rise. They are now the largest living group according to the Census Bureau.
Because so many Millennials are in charge of buying decisions, the world is changing and business trends for the upcoming years will have to cater more to this generation.
For an audience that craves success and technology, here are 10 strategies you may want to consider revamping for 2017.
1. Tools for non-technical entrepreneurs to build tech products
The need for technicality in your business is more imperative than ever before. In 2017, technology will be a necessary staple for every business if it expects to compete in today’s market. Look into CMS platforms like WordPress, which allows easy management of a website with minimal technical know-how, and other resources to help your business grow.
2. Tools to help with personal brand
With the internet, online personal branding will trending more in 2017 than ever before. With everyone releasing similar products, it is making competition too stiff for some. Personal branding tools will start trending even more, helping businesses gain individuality and reduce the number of direct competitors. Look into personal branding tools to increase business in 2017.
3. Focus on training remote employees
Millennials want to feel like they are constantly learning and growing their skills. With telecommunicating becoming a more prevalent part of business, business trends will focus on providing adequate training and resources for these remote employees. This will encourage employee empowerment and motivate them to work harder.
4. Businesses embrace the Millennials, instead of rejecting them
Since they are now the largest group and Baby Boomers are looking to retire, Millennials will be the main target for most businesses. To survive, businesses are starting to embrace Millennials and cater to their needs. This will be seen even more as the generation takes over more of the job force in 2017.
5. More businesses for sale
Along with the retirement of Baby Boomers, the economic recovery in recent years has made business sales more prominent. As Baby Boomers seek to retire in the next few years, you will see many businesses being sold, taken apart, and innovated by the Millennials. In addition, many of these Baby Boomers will try to get ahead of their competitors and sell next year, before the market becomes too competitive and business buyouts decrease.
6. Products that track nutrition
Millennials are concerned with their health and nutrition more than any other past generation. With the addition of technology, tracking nutrition and fitness levels is becoming even easier as people expand the market. In 2017, this trend will continue and the boom in fitness apps and software will grow the health and fitness market.
7. E-commerce will continue to rise
More people are experiencing more success with their online presence than their actual storefronts. This is increasing demand for online e-commerce tools. Recent studies have shown that 58 percent of shoppers are willing to add additional items to their virtual shopping carts to meet free-shipping quotas. As technology continues to expand in 2017, we should see an increase in e-commerce trends.
8. Businesses will focus on connecting customers rather than on selling to them
When we look at certain businesses now, they are becoming infamous in niches without having any of those assets to offer. So how are these businesses becoming more popular? They are connecting customers to services and products rather than directly selling them to them. Uber is the largest taxi company, yet it has no physical assets and can still deliver rides easily to its customers. We should see more businesses like Uber on the rise.
9. Strength-based training versus remedial leadership
As businesses grow in 2017, we will see a shift in how leadership training skills are developed. Instead of teaching everyone the same skills and expecting them to retain all aspects of it, businesses will focus on the strengths each employee has and developing those skills. Studies have shown that people have increased productivity by 21 percent when they are doing something they love. So business will invest more in training that focuses on a leader’s natural talent than on remedial leadership training.
10. Products becoming green
“Going green” is a term that’s been around for a while. However, it has only recently been taken more seriously as companies have developed more products to help push this mission forward. Already, over $500 million has been saved in energy efficiency and we should expect to see this grow in 2017 as these green products increase.
Look out for these trends in 2017
Expect the way businesses run to change drastically in the next few years as Millennials make up more of the work force and become target customers. If you expect to survive as a business, you will want to modify your business in 2017 and follow these popular trends.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
PUBLISHED ON: OCT 13, 2016