A Look at the Top 3 Business Growth Trends for 2023

As we enter 2023, the economic outlook for small businesses in the United States may not be favorable. Some, if not most, will face issues such as rising prices, inflationary pressure, and uncertain supply chains over the course of the year.

However, you can overcome these challenges with flexible plans, optimistic projections, and a steady cash flow.

So, keep reading because our digital marketing agency in Nashville will give you insights on growth trends for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). We'll also look at the potential pitfalls and the promising strategies to help you avoid them and build stronger businesses.

Let's get started!

1. Trends in Strategic Management

Your business plan will look further ahead than 2023. However, every small business should think about a few big things every day this year.

As the climate crisis unfolds before our eyes, public concern grows, making sustainability an essential part of any small business's strategy.  

One of the most crucial small business trends for 2023 is the increasing demand from investors and consumers for companies to have strong social and environmental policies.

So, if your small business has social or environmental initiatives, make sure to publicize them. Better yet, you can collaborate with our digital marketing agency in Nashville so that we can inform your prospects about your policies.

Moreover, businesses need to add new operations policies to their plans for 2023. One example is the move toward remote and hybrid work, which began long before COVID-19, and has been sped up by stay-at-home measures.  

This trend will still be a big problem for small businesses next year regarding logistics and keeping good employees.

RELATED: What the Pandemic Taught Us About Caring for Our Employees

While there are many other strategic factors to consider in 2023, many of which are industry specific, these two are likely to have an impact on SMBs worldwide.

2. Trends in Workforce Experience

The employee experience in 2023 will be marked by significant change. Throughout 2022, we witnessed "the great resignation" and "quiet quitting" as employees left long-term positions to reassess.  

This compelled small businesses to provide a better working environment, including the previously mentioned shift to remote and hybrid setups, which is expected to continue in 2023.

RELATED: Career Cushioning - The Evolution Of The Great Resignation And Quiet Quitting

To support the transition to a remote or hybrid shift setup, business owners must have access to at least one of the many increasingly affordable small business software solutions.  

Employees can help connect teams for better workplace collaboration, increasing productivity and employee satisfaction.

Here are some apps and software for team productivity that our digital marketing agency in Nashville utilizes to give you ideas for what to acquire for your team:

• Basecamp: Contrary to expectations, Basecamp is not a full-fledged replacement for traditional project management software. Instead, it is more of a real-time communication tool for teams to ensure everyone is on the same page (e.g., resource planning and long-term scheduling).
• Outlook: Outlook is a Microsoft personal information manager software included in the Microsoft Office suite. Outlook is primarily an email client but includes calendaring, task management, contact management, note-taking, journal logging, and web browsing.
• SharePoint: SharePoint is a web-based collaboration system that enables business teams to collaborate by utilizing workflow applications, "list" databases, and other web parts and security features. It also allows our company to use the platform to control information access and automate workflow processes across business units. ‍
• Slack: Slack is a business-oriented instant messaging platform that facilitates the sharing of relevant information among team members. Its user interface and user-friendliness make it a hit in the workplace. ‍
• WorkStory: WorkStory is a tool for measuring efficiency and productivity. With the help of this app, we were able to make the performance review process more efficient and effective for all our team members. Plus, it can also be integrated with Slack.

Small businesses used to need a meeting room and a whiteboard, but now nearly all employee interactions are online, so having collaborative virtual spaces in addition to more traditional communication channels is critical.

However, as inflation raises the cost of living and puts pressure on businesses, our digital marketing agency in Nashville sees larger companies lay off workers, implying that the labor market will shift in 2023.

3. Trends in Consumer Experience

The customer experience has evolved in the same way as the employee experience. In other words, it has been impacted by digital transformation. Customers now expect better communication channels from small businesses, including emails, social media, and online chat.

Services like online chat, video conferencing, group messaging, and web hosting are now widely available for small businesses, allowing them to create a unique web presence and offer their customers a personalized online experience.

RELATED: The 8 Best Customer Service Channels (& How to Pick Them)

With small business trends pointing to increasingly immersive customer interactions, that experience has never been more critical. Although the metaverse is still a long way off, customers want to be taken on a journey when purchasing goods in ways they have never done before.

Don't Just Follow the Business Trends. Embrace Them!

From the standpoint of both customer experience and employee expectations, 2023 will be an exciting year for small businesses.  

Even though a recession is on the horizon and prices are still rising rapidly, many independent business owners are confident in their ability to weather the storm.

It's not surprising that, in a rapidly digitizing work landscape, technology will continue to be a unifying factor in many of the small business trends we've examined for 2023.  

However, small businesses are well-positioned for this shift because of their adaptability and the comparatively low cost of digital tools.

As a result, collaborating with experts to help you position yourself and streamline your processes to embrace the trends mentioned above is the best thing to do, especially during a challenging business growth phase.

Digital Resource, a digital marketing agency in Nashville, will be an excellent partner for all of your digital needs.

Contact us today to find out how we can assist you in expanding your small business.