5 Things That Will Completely Change How Small Businesses Are Run..
and put at a disadvantage those who don't adopt...
I've been toying with these for the last 3-5 years, and they all have an impact on
- Sales
- Operations
- Finance
Dont ignore these ...
1. Generational Cultures
Younger generations have completely different value systems.
not better / worse - but definitely different.
This means they say yes/no to jobs for different reasons, make different decisions, and want different things.
Where older wanted
- stability
- predictability
- retirement
Now
- flexibility
- environmental
- Cultural
- relative morality
all matter!
Where will this matter:
Hiring first and foremost.
Pay
Benefits
Career Ops
... will all look completely different.
To get ahead:
Consider your why.
Its no ok to just make a profit.
You don't need to change the world, but you need a why, and it needs to be real.
Every company I know that is is hiring for reasonable rates has a why, a mission.
It may be private, and small, but its there.
2. No Code
No Code tools put the building in the hands of those with ideas.
Tools only used to get built when a market large enough wanted them.
No code applications will enable a massive long tail of tools that will reveal latent ideas from all walks of life.
Where this will matter:
These tools will allow people to
- do things faster
- make less mistakes
- create customized workflows with less wasted time and "workarounds"
- reduce costs on outside consultants and developers
- better grab, analyze, and decide from their data
To get ahead:
You can start learning some simple tools.
You can hire an in-house "builder" to start building these out.
You can freelance out some simple ideas to no code agencies to see whats possible.
3. Automation
Broad idea, specific application.
Companies that try to keep up with CRM/Excel SMBs, using fax and notepads can only handle 1/10th the volume.
Almost all have moved forward.
We are making that jump again.
If your competitor has 100s of robots that
- follow up on late invoices
- pay bills
- analyze & contact customers
- do bookkeeping
- create reports and send them to internal/external stakeholders
- manage purchase orders
- adjust inventory levels in real time to env changes
You will be spending (or hiring for) hrs every week that they don't.
You don't need automation
Its not a strategy itself
But offloading low value tasks to
- a simple bot,
- that run continually in the background,
is hard to compete with over the long run
Where this will matter:
As alluded to above, this will make the largest impact in low value tasks.
Repeat Tasks
No judgement used
No matter how complex
... automate!
Operational daily/weekly tasks
Sales lead gen, prep, crm loading
Financial reports and analysis
To get ahead:
Use tools that have automation built in.
Use services that API basic services.
Understand just how powerful Python + RPA is.
Build tools that API to your current suite.
4. Machine Learning
This can be (and is) overhyped.
However, businesses that are using it correctly
- understand their customers better
- iterate operations faster
- better understand market opportunities
- more quickly capitalize on macro opportunities
ML is a pattern finder.
So you can
- predict inventory
- cluster customers
- segment suppliers
- forecast sku usage and mix
- simulate crisis ahead of time
Even if these give a 20% advantage... This compounds
You can
Buy less inventory
Buy at better prices
Do businesses with the best suppliers
Locate your ideal customers
Run operations with less risk.
Day after day after day.
Where this matters?
I have seen real Machine Learning matter most with companies that
- have inventory
- use supply chain
- deal directly with consumers
- have routes
To get ahead:
Start with looking at some at
- do you have data to look at?
- can you get it into excel?
- use some basic statistics on it to find some patterns (EDA)
- learn Jupyter Notebook
- consider scikit-learn & pandas to supercharge
5. DeFi
This one is a ways off before it becomes more accessible.
Even more before the traditional SMB will use.
But, its coming...
Where it will matter:
- Managing your cash reserves
- Obtain LOC for inventory or upfront business
- Securitizing assets and cash flows
- Managing your cash cycle
- Factoring any business cash flows
- Use trade notes for global supply chain
How to get ahead:
You have time on this one...
My favorite way to learn, is to subscribe to 1 or 2 newsletters on the topic.
Week 1 you'll understand nothing.
By week 8 you'll start to get the gist of the macro idea
By week 52 you'll know more than most people you run into.
Those that embrace, even at a low level, these 5 trends will be
- ahead of the curve
- keep market share
- won't burn out
- will maintain margins
- may even capitalize...
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