The truth about technology trends is that they don’t just appear, fully formed, out of nowhere. You can look closely and predict, with just a little insight, what is going to be big in the coming year. We always have our finger on the pulse of what is happening in business, marketing, and technology, especially when it affects our state. What will the trends in technology be in the clear-sighted year 2020? Get ready, Maine businesses, the future is already here!
How People Work
Does anyone work 40 hours a week for 40 years anymore? To understand how consumers spend, it’s critical to understand how they make their money. Many employees are now remote, at least some of the time, meaning they are at home, or in a local library or coffee shop. How does that affect what they are seeing and spending? Perhaps it means there is less drive time, so radio spots are no longer an effective marketing practice. Perhaps it means they are spending more time on social media or browsing their favorite websites because the boss isn’t looking over their shoulder. Along with a digital commute becoming more common in many sectors, we are seeing that time is dedicated differently.
Your potential customers may have two or three gigs, freelance jobs, or part-time opportunities. They are diversifying and becoming generalists. How will you structure your own company, and what can you learn from how the workforce operates?
These trends apply not just to millennials, and Generation Z, but it is important to not discount any of these demographics. All are valuable to a small Maine business.
How Transactions Work
Are you equipped to accept cards? Do you have a square reader or another digital device for your customers to take plastic wherever and whenever they want to make a purchase? Have you noticed that even in Maine, our remote, check-writing state, you don’t need to have cash on hand anymore, even at food trucks, pop-up shops, and other really small and fledgling businesses?
Do you have Zelle or Venmo? What about PayPal? Money is moving faster than ever, and as an enterprising and adept entrepreneur, you need to be acquainted with all the ways you can send and receive money for goods and services.
There’s really no way around it anymore. While a cash box is quaint, you need to be prepared to meet your customers where they are, and that means having the tools to take cards, with a chip reader or Apple wallet.
How Social Works
Everybody is on Facebook these days, not to mention Tik Tok, Instagram, Linked-in, Pinterest, and Twitter. You have to be connected if you want to sell and market your business. You have to have a presence on at least a few of these social platforms, ready with content that gives your profile a shape and perspective. Be part of the conversation. Listen as much as you talk. This is where you can do some real market research. Find out what is in demand, and where you can fill the space with your particular set of skills and goods. Technology trends in 2020 lean ever more toward the digital, which is dynamic, and interactive. Don’t get left in the dust.
Greenlight Maine has bold business ideas for the year ahead. Get ready to move swiftly with small business technology trends and more by getting on board!
