Keeping ahead of the curve is critical to business success. It’s no longer enough to just replicate a winning formula – blink, and it could well be over, particularly in the age of instant access to new forms of content and information.

If you’re in a position of responsibility like I am, you simply have to know what’s going on around you, so you can set your sails against the many winds of change we experience in the business. 

This isn’t a burden – it’s an immense opportunity! When business trends tend to be fluid, you’re never too far away from finding the next big winning formula. I know just how critical this can be in setting your business up for success.

While some of those trends can be completely opportunistic, we can at least come to expect some things. Here’s what I believe will be the top emerging business trends in 2023.

2023 Business trends to watch out for :

I believe we can expect to see these business trends in 2023:

• AI-Driven Marketing
• Global teams continuing to expand
• An enhanced spotlight on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
• Crypto & Blockchain-Friendly business practices
• A focus on lean principles

AI-Driven Marketing

While not a ‘new’ trend in marketing per-se, a deep and automated understanding of consumer decisions that is built on data collection is sure to change the game in 2023. 

This isn’t new in its overall context, because data has been guiding decision-making in marketing for a long time. Over many years, and with the advancement of technologies, this has become easier for businesses to do. Now, artificial intelligence is making this so cutting-edge that it has the potential to leave so many non-adopting businesses behind.

It’s not just about data – it’s about understanding what language makes you take action, it’s about personalizing your experience at a granular level, and in real-time, it’s about taking the basis of the data that’s always been available to us and doing so much more with it.

The possibilities this could have on a business are immeasurable.

Global Teams

The workforce is going global. There are so many more flexible working opportunities available to jobseekers now, and even a quick scroll through LinkedIn will demonstrate that ‘Remote’ is now a new office for some businesses.

In fact, in North America, it’s projected over 25% of all professional jobs will be remote come to the end of 2022.

While it doesn’t work for everyone, to some, it’s perfect. It gives them balance in their lives, and flexibility in how they work, and they don’t commit two hours of their day to a commute when they could be doing something else. I definitely understand why it works.

This of course presents both challenges and opportunities. From my own personal experience, I have seen how this allows a business to tap into talent across multiple continents and time zones.

Which is revolutionary, right? Think about it – you can just go and pick out the people with the skills you are missing and plug that gap. I don’t see how there could be a downside to this.

It may require a tweak to ways of working, and you will have to get creative with how you onboard your new employees, but the shift towards a global team puts an emphasis on skills, not just location.

Social Responsibility & The Importance of Sustainability

This has of course been a trend that has grown for many many years – but it’s really kicking in now. Businesses aren’t just committing themselves to ambitious sustainability goals because they have to – it makes them more appealing to both customers and employees.

It’s not even just about the specific subjects either – it’s about having a purpose. 71% of Millennials in the US want their employers to take the lead in tackling social issues. 

To that end, companies with a clear sense of purpose are 50% more likely to successfully expand their business into new territories, and that’s because they’ve already tackled one of the hardest parts of being a new business – being unique! Having something to stand for is just so critical now. 

It’s two-pronged as well. It’s as important to employees as it is to customers. During Covid-19, a lot of time was spent reflecting on our consumer habits, and the effects these were having on the environment around us. 

The Institute for Business Value recently found that 93% of surveyed individuals from across the globe said the pandemic had a direct impact on their views on sustainability.

Now, consumers will pay a premium for sustainable goods and services, as opposed to alternatives. 

That premium typically equates to a 59% increase in price. Let’s be clear – money isn’t the focus here. 

The message is clear – give some good back to the world to keep your employees and your customers onside.

Crypto & Blockchain-friendly Businesses

If you’re in Dubai right now, there’s no way you won’t have heard about crypto. In 2022, the UAE government implemented very crypto-friendly policies, aiming to make it the ‘Wall Street of Cryptocurrencies’. 

Major players such as Binance have established offices in the region, and blockchain-based business solutions are forecast to be worth close to $12 billion in 2022 – up from $6.6 billion in 2021.

Crypto isn’t simply a trend that’s going to disappear, particularly in the UAE. The foundations have been set for its long-term future in the region, and companies that can feasibly incorporate it into their business model should definitely consider how they can do this. 

To that end, blockchain technologies have the potential to revolutionize how you do business. It’s not just about shifting online – it’s about how your data is handled, stored, and kept private. In security-critical industries, this solves so many issues that were previously unsolved. 

Embrace the world of crypto, and you may just open yourself up to a brand new audience. 

A Focus On Lean Principles

Lean principles can be the difference between operating a good business, and a great business.

The concept of lean revolves around the idea that you achieve the maximum output out of the minimum required resource and time. That’s not a cost-cutting exercise, it’s the utilization of resources in the right places, for the right amount of time.

With the uncertainty that the business world has felt over the last couple of years, companies have started to look inwards at how they operate themselves. 

While we as business leaders can’t predict what’s coming next, we can certainly turn our focus to what we should and shouldn’t be focusing on – whether that’s from a time, resource, or monetary perspective.

Whilst not necessarily a reflection on the market overall, a focus on lean principles is just a solid way to operate, and having a lean business is a great North Star to be aiming towards.

What Does Your 2023 Entail?

What will your core focus be heading towards 2023? Will you look to be an AI-driven marketing machine, or reevaluate what your corporate social responsibility looks like? 

If, actually, your core focus is to begin that business venture you’ve not quite made the first step with, let’s have a conversation! At Set Hub, our core focus is to help business dreams like yours turn into reality.

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