As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to be constantly on the lookout for anything that can give you an edge in your industry. Being an innovator is key as you know how lucrative getting one step ahead of everyone else can be.
There is a lot of noise about what the next big thing in entrepreneurship is going to be. Ultimately, you must decide what to bet your money on, but we’ve collated our best list as it stands now.
Smart tech
Smart software applications are big business. Business management apps like this one from Jobber are developed with one thing in mind – to increase efficiency and productivity and therefore profit margins.
It’s predicted that this kind of smart technology is going to become ever more prominent as more and more businesses start to adopt these as part of their standard operations and day to day ways of working. Statistics are showing that the failure rate of start-ups and small businesses has decreased by 30% over the past 45 years, and this can be attributed to smarter ways of working.
Specifically, many skilled trade businesses have been embracing business management apps which have revolutionised things like appointment scheduling and route optimization capabilities. Customer relationship management has also been transformed through the ability to service customers better using this technology, which has also enabled data-led strategic decision making rather than decisions being made based on hunches or emotional ties.
Low code and no-code technology
Next up, you have low code and no-code technologies. These technologies spearhead the movement to allow laypeople to develop applications, scripts, macro, and automation. As its name implies, this movement is trying to eliminate the complexities of coding and make it possible for employees and even customers to generate helpful tools independently.
With most jobs shifting digitally, it becomes essential to make it easier for people to do their jobs online. Low code tech and platforms give non-tech-savvy employees independence and relative ease in achieving mastery in their work and increasing efficiency.
Say for example that a person’s main job is to provide estimates, quotes, and bills to customers. Simple steps such as using this estimate template for example, will enable them to carry out their job faster and more efficiently than before.
Conversational marketing online
The last thing you can expect on e-commerce websites is a conversation. If you want to find an item that you need, just go to the search bar and type in exactly what you’re looking for. If you misspell the name or use a different term for the item you’re looking for, you can expect that the site will give you a different result, which can be frustrating.
This frustration is understandable. If you walk into a store, you can just talk to an attendant, and they’ll immediately understand what you’re looking for, even if you mispronounce or don’t say the right name for the product you want. It’s this level of customer service you want to be present at all times anywhere. Unfortunately, you won’t get it online.
You can try to talk with a support team member on an e-commerce site. They may get to you quickly. Sometimes, it will take forever. And most of the time, the shop doesn’t even have this option, and you’ll need to dig through their knowledge base, frequently asked questions (FAQ) page, or wait until someone gets back to you using their contact form just to get an answer to your question.
Because of this, entrepreneurs seek a way to make conversational marketing and business operations possible. Currently, you can only have this through search engines and virtual assistants. If you type a question on search engines, they have a high chance of giving you a result that directly answers your query. The same goes with virtual assistants you have on your smartphone.
Conversational marketing offers quick, personalized customer service. With it, the need for waiting times for talking to a live person is eliminated. The site’s artificial intelligence (AI) or program can deliver answers and recommendations right the first time, even if you use conversational language.
Conclusion
Those are the potential big hits in the entrepreneurship industry in the coming months and years. Now, as a business owner, it’s your job to speculate and see which one of them you will be putting your money on.
References:
- Shane, Scott. “Why Small Business Failure Rates Are Declining.” Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur, January 10, 2016. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254871
- IBM Cloud Education. “What Is Low-Code.” IBM. Accessed August 7, 2022. https://www.ibm.com/cloud/learn/low-code
- “What Is Conversational Marketing? an Introductory Guide.” Drift. Accessed August 7, 2022. https://www.drift.com/conversational-marketing/
