Business Trends 2021 – What Does Your Business Need to Focus On?
No one at the start of last year could have predicted the difficulties we would all face as the pandemic swept across the globe. In the UK, businesses are still grappling with economic uncertainty and will do for several months into 2021. Planning in uncertain times is hard but it’s something that every business needs to do but what it is you are planning for?
Digital will be the new norm
Admitting, the digital revolution was never a flash in the pan but there was still a lot that we were doing face to face. For example, many of us were visiting the supermarket every week or buying clothes from a high street store. With the first UK lockdown in early 2020, a lot of these sales went to online orders.
But it wasn’t just selling that moved to the online world. The way we work has changed with remote or home working set to become a key staple for businesses of all shapes, sizes and industries in the coming year.
Zoom calls, Microsoft Teams meetings and Skype conferences, amongst others, will remain part and parcel of how we work.
Employers and employees have made big changes in how they do things to keep businesses functioning. Whilst some argue that working from home stifles creativity, others suggest this is only the case because not all firms have been agile enough to adapt.
The advent of the Internet along with various platforms and apps has created whole new industries from which others can learn. For example, with VoIP technology, diverting calls from one number to another means that anyone on your team has the potential to answer calls, no matter where they are working, very much like how a virtual assistant operates.
It may be that your business adopts a hybrid approach, with some staff working from a work location part of the week and continuing the rest of their working week from home or another COVID-secure location. Either way, the digital boom is hard to ignore now and in the future.
Working from home is not something that everyone finds easy. Being creative and productive can be difficult and so taking tips from people who work from home on a regular basis can be helpful.
People want to shop and work locally
Optimising for local SEO is nothing new but the 2020 pandemic has led to more people wanting (and needing) to buy locally. There is also the suggestion that employees will want to do less travelling in the future too, especially as public transport has been difficult in the last few months.
Small, independent firms and shops have bucked the recent downward trend in trading, possibly because 64% of shoppers want to shop local.
For businesses across all industries, this means a potential new audience of customers looking for a local business just like yours. For example, someone walking to work may normally have picked up a coffee to go from a high street chain but have altered their buying habits to call into an independent café instead.
But it’s not just shopping. The UK Government announced a £2 million package to ‘create a new era of walking and cycling’. And that means people spending more time in their local area, a change in habit that your business could capitalise on.
Cash could become a tool of the past
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, bartering was fashionable because it meant goods could be exchanged for other goods. Whilst the pandemic didn’t have the same effect, what it did potentially signal was the end of cash.
Cash – both notes and coins – is laden with germs and viruses and so no wonder that people didn’t want to handle it when the coronavirus crisis started. And they still don’t.
Cash payments have been in decline for some years now with 58% of people declaring they only use cash ‘if they have to’. The pandemic has possibly hastened the decline of cash as even traders and businesses who conduct business away from established retail premises, accepting card payments via a secure data or WiFi connection is perfectly possible.
With contactless payments replacing purchases under the value of £45, making a card payment is super easy. As a business, what it does mean is upgrading to technology that supports new payments methods including chip and pin, contactless, Samsung Pay, Google Pay and Apple Pay
Spending decisions have and are changing
The UK, along with many other countries, has been plunged into a recession, a direct result of a dropping GDP figure linked to lockdown and subsequent very poor trading conditions. Uncertainty over Brexit has, arguably, also played a role.
For businesses, a recession means many things but the outstanding fact is that consumers, with less disposable income, will make different spending decisions. That said, the costs of raw materials mean the price of goods and services increases.
For businesses, this means agile thinking as well as excellent marketing that taps into the needs of their consumers. By offering what your consumers need at a cost-effective price, sales should remain buoyant.
There is a psychology behind purchasing decisions. Can consumers trust you, for example? Your website, for example, needs to send all the right signals, with brand voice also speaking clearly to your target audience.
Relationship management will be an essential skill
Businesses that have continued to be successful during the pandemic have been those that have recognised the ‘new normal’ and adapted attitudes, as well as how things are done.
Taking time to invest in relationships with consumers, suppliers and stakeholders in the coming months of 2021 and beyond will help navigate the challenges we are yet to face. There could be unexpected changes and with such uncertainty marring the trading landscape, being able to adapt and manage key relationships will be essential.
How do you feel about business in 2021?
The past year will have yielded opportunities for some and hard lessons for others. For example, with gyms forced to close, fitness companies and celebrities jumped at the chance to provide profitable online classes. Companies making and selling PPE and hand sanitiser also fared well, although other businesses, such as cafes and restaurants, found the going tough.
The coming year will be difficult. There will be need to re-train and re-skill, as well as creating a responsive, agile platform from which to operate. What do you see as the main challenges and opportunities for your business in 2021?
