A small business like any other is affected by the environment in which it is situated.
In fact the markets in which you the small business owner chooses to sell your goods and services are primarily determined by the world around you.
Your business is at the mercy of the fads, fashions and whims of your customers.
How can your view of the changes in the world around us be turned into business opportunities? We have all heard of the baby boom, that segment of the population that was born just after the Second World War through to the mid 1960's.
We all know that the Baby Boomers are now starting to reach retirement age and this will have a major impact on what is sold in the stores and what services will be offered.
One can see that this large chunk of the population is aging and will require health care products and services.
There has been a surge in retirement villages for seniors and this trend is expected to continue.
We live in the digital age and change is happening that much faster than ever before in History.
One needs to be able to look at world events and trends and understand what kind of changes they may bring to the consumer in general.
What products and services can one expect people to want based on these changes? What changes in supply and demand can you expect to see, and how will this affect your business? Being able to predict or understand what parts of your business are susceptible to changes in the environment will be a great advantage over your competition.
The energy crisis that we all living through now and is expected to worsen over time, is an example of change that we know is coming.
Perhaps start making changes to your business model that would minimize travel and transport and therefore costs that would hit your bottom line.
Perhaps move away from physical products to services that can be delivered to your customer through virtual means, using the internet.
The new term telecommuting, which means working from home using the internet, and terms like virtual offices are changes that we will see in use more and more so.
What products and services can be delivered to these people following these strategies? These are surely opportunities that can be tapped into.
Look at the state of Health care in general.
Also look at Education, Transportation and Global Warming.
There are countless others that are potential opportunities.
Most people just go from day to day with very little attention paid to the bigger picture.
As a small business owner you need to look at that bigger picture and start thinking strategically.
You need to pay attention to local, national and global events and issues.
Treat pieces of information as parts of a jig saw puzzle and piece them together into a picture of what you see coming in the not too distant future.
Try to gain some understanding of what impacts these events and issues may have on your business environment, for both better and worse.
How can the potential threats be turned into new opportunities? By not watching the signs, you could either miss out on golden opportunities or jeopardize your business because you did not see the inevitable coming.
As the old expression goes "forewarned is forearmed!"