Business Trends Driving Growth for Product-Based Businesses in 2017

Pivot International  |   February 22, 2017

There’s a good deal of change occurring in the business world this year, with a new President promising to lower regulations and bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

But while President Trump will surely have an impact on American business as a whole this year, there are many trends that simply develop on their own – responding to the market, rather than to who sits in the Oval Office.

Here are a few of the trends that will be driving growth for product-based businesses this year.

Crowdfunding will continue to wield tremendous power in financing new products.

Believe it or not, according to data from 2016, crowdfunding was poised to overtake venture capital in terms of the amount of funding it provides the marketplace by the end of last year.

While we don’t know for sure whether it has – those numbers aren’t out yet – what we do know is that crowdfunding is a major player in the product-based business landscape, and it’s not going away any time soon.

Businesses that have dismissed crowdfunding as something only for independent product designers or companies with few resources may want to reconsider. There’s a chance crowdfunding could become a new part of the way your company launches new products.

Video is quickly becoming the preferred mode of brand communication for everyone from consumers to executives.

The introduction of Facebook Live, the platform’s live streaming feature, last year should tell you just how massive a force video is becoming.

For both B2B and B2C businesses, video is surpassing almost every other form of content in terms of capturing an audience’s attention. And it’s not confined just to consumers or to low-level employees, either.

Executives are also reporting higher rates of video consumption. A study by Forbes on executives and online video found that:

• More than 80% of responding executives watch more online video than they did one year ago
• 75% watch videos related to work on business-related websites on a weekly basis.

What this means is that businesses looking to advertise new products, connect with the crowd for funding purposes, even talk to investors, would be well-advised to spend their time creating video content, in addition to the slideshows and print materials that have become typical of product presentations.

Niche businesses are coming into their own.

Customers today are used to experiences tailored precisely to them and their preferences. That includes business customers, too – not just the average consumer.

At the same time, customers are interested in more specialized businesses, as well. Gone are the days when a company had to produce hundreds of products of widely varying types. Instead, companies can better afford to produce a few related products in a single area – as long as they’re experts in that one area.

More Millennials will be entering leadership roles.

The face of the C-suite will be undergoing changes this year, as more and more Millennials will be taking on leadership roles in the companies they work for.

According to the Bersin by Deloitte report “HR Technology Disruptions for 2017: Nine Trends Reinventing the HR Software Market,” more than 3 and a half million company heads are set to retire this year, opening up both their own executive spots and lower managerial positions for Millennial professionals.

This means that companies need to invest in leadership training for these younger workers now. Those that do will come out ahead of the curve in years to come, as they’ll have much better prepared leaders with shallower learning curves.

2017 is poised to be a disruptive, but positive year for U.S. businesses. Keeping abreast of these trends will help you both weather the challenges, and make the most of the opportunities, that present themselves.