Top 8 Current Trends For Small Business

The competition between businesses is increasing within digital media each day. Current trends for small businesses can save time and increase brand awareness. Are you curious about digital marketing strategies for small businesses? Or are you in search of small business ideas from home? It’s time to put your business forward and boost your success! Here are the top 8 current trends for small businesses in 2021.

1. Remote work

Especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, working from home became more important. So, small businesses should adapt to the digital era. The advantages of remote work are:

• Save time and costs.
• You can find many talents from different geographies.
• You can go global by working remotely with people speaking various languages.
• Provide work opportunities for people with disabilities.
• Responsibility for own working hours.
• Less office space.
• Fewer office distractions may increase productivity.

However, not every position or sector is suitable for working from home. Fortunately, current trends for small businesses in 2021 are enabling remote working.

Small business ideas from home:

• Sell products from home. You can either buy products or handmade products and sell them online.
• Customize products. You can follow current trends and transform them into print-on-demands products. Or you can use your creativity for the designs.
• Offer your professional expertise online. You can work from the comfort of your home! Freelance writer/designer, virtual assistant, digital marketer, social media manager are the most popular remote jobs.
• Sell your clothes online. Sustainability is a growing trend in 2021. More and more customers prefer sustainable clothes than spend on big brands. Thus, selling any unwanted item is a plus for our environment!
• Transfer your knowledge! By using sites like com, Coursera.com, you can offer online courses to millions. However, you need a proper environment to record your videos. Pre-recorded online courses are a way for passive income!

2. Care about the environment and take social responsibilities

Especially younger generations expect companies to be eco-friendly and socially responsible. As a small business, show that you care about climate change, social equality, and so on. Moreover, social media is useful to promote your projects to your audience. Charities and social works are not for showing-off. Yet, they contribute to the brand image. Besides social media, you can emphasize them in your vision and mission.

3. Create a user-friendly website

A strong online presence is an outstanding trend for small businesses. As a small business, you want to attract organic traffic to your website. So that, if you want customers to stay at your site, make it easy to use! Your website should be creative and simple at the same time.

How to make a user-friendly website?

• First, make sure that your website is mobile-optimized. Since most people are using their phones to reach websites. Certainly, mobile phones are our inseparable devices!
• Sections and categories should navigate users towards what they are looking for.
• Don’t hide information about prices, contacts, services, and the business itself. Be precise about who are you and what you provide as a small business.
• Last, your site should load within 4 to 6 seconds. Because users leave the site after 6 seconds. Additionally, speed is important for search engine ranking.

Need more help? These are the best website builders for small businesses.

• Wix: The pricing varies between £3-£18 monthly. Wix is focusing on small businesses, and it’s easy to use. Also, you have a wide scale of templates!
• WordPress: The pricing is from $2.75 per month. It is suitable for any type of business. You have a lot of template choices. Thus, you can easily customize your website. A range of free plugins is possible to arrange.
• Weebly: If you focus on e-commerce, Weebly is perfect for you! The prices are between £4-£18 per month. Weebly also comprises free stock images and an app store.
• HostGator: This is the cheapest website builder for small businesses. Pricing is between $2.75-5.95$ per month. HostGator has a simple interface to use.

4. Digital marketing strategies for small businesses are more important than ever!

Nowadays, most companies are using digital marketing strategies to reach their audience. Digital marketing is effective in cost and speed. It is much cheaper and effective than traditional marketing. Again, the right digital marketing strategies boost brand awareness and image. Small businesses can cover all the promotion steps by using digital media. Hereby are some small business ideas for digital marketing:

·         Adapt SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to your small business.

Even though getting results from SEO takes time, it is the most effective way to grow your business. Through SEO you can compete even with bigger businesses. Thus, it’s an effective way to gain organic and free traffic. There are different and effective ways of using SEO. You should publish engaging blog content regularly. Then, your content should have some inbound and outbound links. Last, don’t forget to optimize your website with meta tags.

·         Content marketing strategy for small businesses is vital!

Small businesses shouldn’t avoid testing different content. Testing and evaluating is a way to learn about customers’ interests and demands. What can the right content strategy do for small businesses?

• Increase brand awareness.
• Provide leads.
• Increase online sales by leading users to purchase products and services.
• Compete effectively with other businesses.

·         Social Media Marketing is essential for small businesses.

While digital media is developing, the average time on social media is increasing. Small businesses should show a powerful presence on social channels. Social media serve as a communication tool between businesses and customers. Hereby are some social media marketing tips for small businesses:

• Create appealing and interesting content.
• Your content should align with your business strategy and persona.
• Reply to comments and questions.
• Adress customers’ complaints.
• Collaborate with influencers.
• Create online or offline events related to your small business.
• Lastly, adopt a friendly/kind attitude!

5. Gen Z’s as employees and customers

Another current trend for small businesses is integrating GenZ into the company. Generation Z is the future employers and customers. People born between 1995 and 2015 are generating one of the biggest customers group. Thus, they make up 40 % of consumers at the end of 2020. Even though some of the GenZs are children, they are a significant market. Yet, small businesses should follow different marketing approaches. Because Generation Z is fully integrated into the digital era. As a result, this target group needs personalized and one-to-one experiences. Since children can affect the spendings of their families. So, small businesses should adapt to digital marketing and new technologies.

Furthermore, Gen Zs compose a big scale of employees. This generation wants to make an impact on their fields. Small businesses should give a space for creativity. Thus, Gen Zs are searching for the answer to ”why”. You should persuade them why your business is important for their generation. Why should they work for your small business? You should give them the chance to make a difference by using your business. Gen Z is in search of deeper impact and connection.

6. Analyze your customer activities

It is crucial to identify what kind of content is the most engaging. Also, test different campaigns to find the most effective one. Not receiving the desired feedback is not a failure, but one step close to success! Last, check out customers’ reviews and feedbacks.

7. Pay attention to the workplace environment

Welcoming workplace culture is a fundamental trend for small businesses in 2021. As a leader, you should know your colleagues can enhance your business. There should be explicit and honest communication. Certainly, passion-driven small businesses are more successful. So that, collective mind and autonomy are important for a productive business environment.

8. Networking!

Start-up businesses must have powerful networking. Especially, building a strong network with LinkedIn allows finding qualified teammates. Likewise, you can build your network by attending conferences and events. Each individual you know may contribute to your business in the future. Moreover, try to connect with other entrepreneurs. Sharing similar experiences and ambitions will motivate you.

Do you have the perfect small business idea? But you haven’t met the perfect teammates. Or you want to improve your business in a motivational environment. Sign up for The Entrepreneur House community from here! Meet other young entrepreneurs or even teammates!

By: Eliz Kapitanova