Ideate’s Top 10 Predictions for Small Business in 2009
by Fred on 12/01/09 at 10:56 pm
15 comments
This is the time of the year that everyone is gazing into the smoky crystal balls. And, true to Ideate style, if there’s a bandwagon we’ll jump on it. We got together the day before New Year’s Eve and pencilled some predictions for the new year.
Here they are, in no particular order…
1. Return to Un-remarkable
With all the bad news gracing the business pages, we reckon we’ll see small business think hard about what the core of their offering is. For so long, we’ve had business coaches and motivational speakers repeat Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow‘ mantra telling us to make our product remarkable. We reckon the next 12 months will see a return to un-remarkable, with businesses realising that what people REALLY want in 2009 is a good product at a good price, delivered on time or executed well. That’s not remarkable; it’s just business sense.
2. Digital (R)Evolution
This was a no-brainer, since we know about the June arrival of the Seacom pipes that will increase internet speed and reduce broadband prices in Africa. We think this will impact hugely (and positively) for small business. It means greater exposure to more customers, smoother communication and increased productivity. Small businesses will start to use the net, both mobile and traditional, creatively. E-commerce will pick up even more. The best thing: internet is a great leveller. It allows small enterprise to act like a big dog, so we’ll see small business use the web to aggressively take on the incumbents.
3. Smart Marketing, on a Shoestring
Marketing budgets will get cut, but most smart business folk out there will realise that times of trouble also represent opportunity.
The point here is: When everyone else is quiet, the noise you make is far more likely to get heard.
Small business will embrace cost effective noise-generating techniques including PR (agencies as well as DIY), email marketing, events, brand ambassadors, networking groups and PPC advertising.
4. Small Business goes Viral
It makes sense doesn’t it?
Look at this, this and this. These are just some examples of small businesses getting worldwide publicity via a hand held camera, an idea and an internet connection – no heavy media-placement spend required.
Small business in SA will start experimenting en masse, including the Ideate stable of businesses. Watch this space.
5. Less Hype, More Integration
The hysteria around the mobile and social media marketing channels will calm down – only to be replaced by a smarter, focused and converged approach to marketing. People will continue to use blogs, social networks and mobile marketing, but in a smarter, more converged way. At World Wide Creative, we’re already seeing great projects that require a multitude of digital channels working together towards the same objective. Small business will soon figure out that they can employ a potent combination of PR and digital marketing without breaking the bank.
6. Cape Town will Officially Become South Africa’s Silicon Valley
There are so many IT shops, camps, tweet ups and mash-ups happening in Cape Town right now, it’s hard to keep up with all of it. We’re based in Gardens, a small city-central suburb at the foot of Table Mountain, so, believe me, I know all about it. Walking to the shop, you can’t kick a hacky-sack without attracting a swarth of fellow Google-eyed geeks. Directly opposite us, we’ve got Vinny Lingham’s Synthasite. There are 20 or so digital and design agencies within a mouse-swinging radius from us. Around the corner from us, there’s Charl and crew at Blueworld.co.za; and across town, all the geeks at the Bandwidth Barn; the stunningly high-tech 24.com (venue of The Heavy Chef Sessions) and the Naspers buildings are quietly humming with world-dominating individuals. Not to mention all the activity beyond the boerewors belt, with Adii’s WooThemes quietly ticking over…
7. South African Start-Ups Go Global
A natural progression from point 6, Ideate predicts we’ll see some small South African start ups getting global recognition for their work in 2009.
We’ve already seen some groundwork made in 2008 with Ushahidi, Afrigator and Mxit.
We’re predicting that, right now, there are a handful of Mark Shuttleworths tinkering in their garages about to break it big time. And, don’t tell anyone we told you, but we have it on good authority that three of our leading e-commerce shops (Yuppiechef.com, Springleap.com and Cybercellar.com) are quietly launching globally-focused marketing campaigns in 2009.
8. The Great Small Business Green Leap
Thanks to a handful or early adopting pioneers, small business SA is finally starting to wake up to the green revolution. For various reasons (like being distracted by other more pressing issues like crime), we haven’t been as interested in saving the planet as our northern hemisphere counterparts.
Watch for double bins, paper-recycling baskets, bicycles and carbon credits coming to SA’s SME’s. Point your readers here (and of course to Ideate) to keep up with this trend.
9. SA Brain Gain
Thanks to global financial navel gazing, it seems South Africa (and, in particular, Trevor’s conservative fiscal policies) have become sexy all of a sudden. Internationally, the news is rife with widespread redundancies in all sectors and not too rosy an outlook for the year ahead. With Canada, UK and Oz feeling the worst squeeze in 80 years, we predict a sudden surge in our brethren coming back to our shores. For those luckless sods who chose Iceland as their land of milk and honey, you’re probably back here already. Opportunity here is bright, business is booming (well, relatively) and – oh yes – we’re world beaters in 2 of our three national sports. Yehhh baby.
10. Spotting the Yuppiechef Mini will Become a New Craze
The word is out that my colleagues over at Westlake Business Park have pimped up a new ride to deliver their kitchen-inspired goodness. More to follow shortly… (can’t let the cat out the bag just yet).
…as for us at Ideate; you can expect great things. We’re plotting some cool additions to this forum, including a jobs portal, competitions, giveaways, and perhaps even another Extreme Business (the reason we started Ideate in the first place). Thanks for all the support and emails – keep ‘em coming.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred.
Tags: advertising, recycling
enzo
Jan 12th, 2009
“internet is a great leveller. It allows small enterprise to act like a big dog, so we’ll see small business use the web to aggressively take on the incumbents.”
agreed. i predict the rise of the ‘top underdog’; a company that can deliver an appealing product/service easily and repeatedly while maintaining the sense of intimacy of a small business.
i’d also like to highlight the record sense of optimism in the air. elevation has gripped the world at large and i think it’s here to stay. at least i hope so.
Fred
Jan 13th, 2009
Thanks for your comment, Enzo – I like your term ‘top underdog’. In other words, in the same way that small biz is using the net to look like big biz, the inverse is also happening.
Love your sense of optimism. Since the markets are driven by sentiment, let’s hope we can convince others – especially since we’ve got the not too small task of infecting the other 78% of the population with our enthusiasm:
http://www.thetimes.co.za/Business/BusinessTimes/Article1.aspx?id=916672
Bruce Wade
Jan 13th, 2009
Great predictions, I love the focus on enthusiasm and IT development. We at the Entrepreneur Incubator have labeled 2009 as The Year of the Entrepreneur. We are gearing ourselves up for a bumper year of expansion as many new people birth their ideas into growing small businesses. Welcome 2009, we stand at your door with open arms. Check out our predictions for 2009 on http://entrepreneurincubator.wordpress.com/
Jed
Jan 13th, 2009
Fred – i like the vibe you are putting across. How about chatting a bit about the implications of mashing for us non dinner27 type attendees – how can someone like me get in touch with a geek to develop a very specialised piece of software – how do we approach it, what are the opportunities (and don’t say endless), limits (and don’t say the sky), pros, cons, costs etc.
Rob
Jan 13th, 2009
Awesome!! Got a great feeling about 2009.
Greg Priday
Jan 13th, 2009
Why would a tightening economy mean we have to abandon remarkable products? Don’t we now, more than ever, need the free word of mouth marketing that these sorts of products get. And remarkable doesn’t mean expensive and flashy, in fact, it can mean quite the opposite. Compare Wikiepdia (remarkable) to Encyclopedia Britannica (un-remarkable). Which is better priced and more timely?
Fred
Jan 13th, 2009
@Greg = I see your point, but for the average small business, how much time, money and resources does it cost to conjure up something remarkable? That cost inevitably gets passed on to the consumer.
Right now customers are reverting cheaper functional offerings. For the time being, small businesses will (and mostly should) focus on where their profit is and then delivering as best as they can.
And besides, to many SA customers, getting something on time, at a cheap price, with good service – that is remarkable!
Fred
Jan 13th, 2009
@Jed – you pick up a phone and set up a meeting. I’ll make you coffee on the World Wide Creative balconey…
Andrew
Jan 13th, 2009
@Greg I think we need a whole new blog post on “un-remarkable business” to explore this theme. Fred’s point was that so many South African small businesses don’t even have the absolute basics in place, so they mustn’t worry about trying to do anything extra yet. For example, we’ve been trying for a few months to get an electrician to quote on about R10,000 worth of work that we need done. They either don’t return our calls, or they don’t pitch to quote. Three have come to see us, but we still don’t have a single physical quote in our hands. We’re not looking for a remarkable electrician – just one who will let us pay them money to do some work!
Greg Priday
Jan 13th, 2009
@Fred, Andrew – There isn’t a shortage of ideas on how to be remarkable, there’s a shortage of people willing to be remarkable. Andrew’s story is a classic example of this lack of motivation. Maybe a blog post on “10 ways to make your business remarkable in 24 hours” would get people motivated. I can think of 4 or 5 ways off the top of my head.
At the end of the day, it’s all about the customer. In the words of Seth; if they’re happy with your business, they’ll talk (remark) about it and you will, by definition, be remarkable.
Fantastic blog post by the way. It’s a great time to be in Cape Town.
Simunza S. Muyangana
Jan 14th, 2009
Is Ushahidi a South African start up? I thought it was Kenyan?
rafiq
Jan 14th, 2009
Ushahida, not from ZA.
Fred
Jan 14th, 2009
@simunza and rafiq – apologies, guys. For some reason, I always thought it was a SA initiative…
henrylow
Dec 18th, 2009
Often we forget the little guy, the SMB, in our discussions of the comings and goings of the Internet marketing industry. Sure there are times like this when a report surfaces talking about their issues and concerns but, for the most part, we like to talk about big brands and how they do the Internet marketing thing well or not so well.
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