Trend: Freelance Economy

Sabtu, 15 Mei 2004 at 20.08
Self-employment, contracting, and consulting have changed the nature of work. As the book Free Agent Nation suggests, the U.S. is truly becoming a nation of people freelancing their skills and talents.

Consultant used to be code for "just killing time between jobs." That's still true for some. But consulting has become a real business for millions of former corporate warriors who wouldn't take a "real" job if Beelzebub's home turf turned into tundra.

Large corporations want to be leaner and meaner. Rather than staff up, they'll outsource functions. As large firms respond to tighter times by restructuring, they'll continue to replace employees with contract workers.

Often those workers will be the same people who used to be on the payroll. When the person doing the work is not on payroll it's easier to change your workforce to meet changing needs.

Impact:
    Companies love it when the freelance market is a buyers market. That love can turn to fear when there is a shortage of good people. Anybody who had to hire IT professionals during the height of the dotcom boom is well aware of the corporate downside to a freelance market.

    Every change creates new market niches. As larger companies rely on contract workers and outside consultants, look for small businesses to develop and change to fill those needs.

    The old-line "temp" industry has already begun to morph into something new. Just what that something will become remains to be seen. But one thing is sure, it will have service and product needs of its own. And that's what we call a new market.

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Trend: Technology Levels the Playing Field

Kamis, 15 April 2004 at 20.01
Technology is making small businesses competitive in markets once thought to be the exclusive territory of larger corporations. This trend will grow stronger as common software platforms such as Microsoft Windows/Office combine with the Internet and low-cost, easy-to-use communications to reduce expenses, increase market reach, and push the envelope of creativity.

The Internet has shoved aside expensive libraries and information publishing services as the dominant sources of business intelligence. It lets small businesses quickly research their markets, find critical information, and stay on top of the latest trends. All for a fraction of what it would have cost just a few years. Research that was once beyond the budgets and staffing of small businesses is now had with the click of a mouse.

Low-cost, common software platforms have given small businesses access to the same spreadsheet, word processing, email, and other sophisticated software as Fortune 500 companies. Computers now cost less than the chairs some of their users sit in.

Today's home-based businesses have better communication capabilities than the largest corporations had less than a generation ago. Fax, email, voice mail, cell phones, conference calling, multiple landlines, and even VOIP are readily available to the smallest business.

Impact:
Small businesses are seldom on the cutting edge when it comes to a new technology. But they are often quick to recognize its value once the bugs have been worked out and costs drop. Small size gives them the agility to rapidly adopt any technology that delivers a competitive edge.

Look for falling software and hardware prices to continue give small businesses a level playing field and in some instances a clear advantage -- especially in niche markets.

As small businesses experience the advantages of rapid technological advancement, they become more likely to be customers for the "Next New Thing." They may not be the first buyers, but savvy small businesses will be close on the heels of early adopters. Savvy sellers of the latest tech will be looking for ways to take their products and services to the small business market more rapidly than ever before.

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Trend: Small Businesses Pick Niches

Minggu, 21 Maret 2004 at 11.31
Business specialization and niche markets will grow in importance as small businesses first identify and then scurry to serve narrower slices of traditional markets. Outsourcing, the Internet, and customer demand, will help shape niche markets and dramatically change the business landscape.

Outsourcing will fuel the drive to specialization. A new PR firm, for example, will be unlikely to start out as a full-service practice. Instead, specialization in a niche such as investor relations will be seen as the way to gain entry to lucrative markets.

The Internet's global reach will enable wider acquisition of customers. Small businesses will find taking their specialized strengths further a field to be a more viable growth strategy than broadening their offerings in a geographic market.

Customers will continue to ask for more as small businesses proliferate. When there is a Mexican restaurant every five miles, outstanding burritos and tacos won't be enough to assure success. Instead, the menu will offer "secret" recipes from a small mountain village where early Mexican food is prepared as it was hundreds of years ago. The center of the restaurant will be a plaza where the dishes are prepared over open fires using authentic cooking stones. Diners will stroll the plaza sampling the dishes of their choice.

New niches will grow out of existing specializations that are sliced and diced into ever finer segments. Few small businesses are the first entrants in their markets. Studies show that the vast majority of small businesses are not started with a new invention or unique idea. They are far more likely to put a different spin on an existing product or service.

Impact:
Specialization will increasingly be the name of the game in small business, and specialization begets more specialization. Service providers and vendors will need to be able to show how they'll deliver superior results for each niche market into which they are selling.

The effort to reach narrower and narrower targets will make channel partners more important than ever. Cross-referral relationships will become critical in many markets.

For those selling in the small business marketplace, recognizing the impact of greater specialization and narrower niches will be a make-or-break process. The fast changing small business market of tomorrow will require increasingly rapid responses to customer needs and wants.

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