I think it’s safe to say that we live in a world of rapid technological, economic and social changes. If you’re a small business owner like me, it sometimes seems as though these changes affect us more than someone who draws a paycheck from a large corporation or a government entity. In our view the recent events concerning COVID-19 have only reinforced this perception. So what should we expect going forward?

Without resorting to a crystal ball, trends that began before a crisis arises will often accelerate dramatically in response to fear, necessity, or both. The list of trends and forecasts are likely to impact the small business owner;  understanding how these trends will affect you will be indispensable, enabling you to not only survive, but thrive.

How future employees are educated will change dramatically

This is personal for me since I spent the better part of a quarter of a century in a classroom teaching working adults. In 1987 (yes Reagan was still President) when I taught my first class, online education didn’t exist; when I retired from the classroom, the University of Phoenix (UOP) was almost entirely online. In the early years, UOP was derided for its foray into online education by the traditional university world. Today every university has an extensive menu of online classes.

With today’s tuition rates out of reach for middle class parents, look for inexpensive online classes to proliferate to the point where college degrees can be earned by anyone, anywhere at any time at an affordable price. Gone are the days of hoping to get accepted at an elite university limited by classroom space and indecipherable standards for acceptance. Work and education will become permanently intertwined. Employers will need workers with new skills and will steer employees as to where they can obtain such skills… increasingly available online.

Remote employment and services will appear in places you never imagined.

We have lived in a world of rapid technological change for some time. What we may not have fully appreciated is how this change will affect every aspect of our daily work lives. Business owners will by necessity need to ask themselves if the amount of real estate used today will be needed in the future. Shared office facilities for everything from testing products to college exams will likely vastly increase. Remote employment, increasingly more common, will likely become the dominant place of work for millions of office workers who may not currently be working from home.

Efficiency has always been the key, and will be more so after the current crisis ends. There will be winners and losers in the process. Those businesses that adapt rapidly to the new models going forward will win in the long run.

Questions or Concerns? Reach out!

The Modernize Wealth team will have many more trends and strategies for business owners, the bedrock of the economy, moving forward…so stay tuned.  Please reach out to me at 480-346-1283 or email hello@modernizewealth.com if you have any questions, or just want to discuss further.

About the Author

John Herbert’s financial industry gravitas comes from almost 30 years’ as a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Portfolio Manager. An accomplished educator, John taught Economics at Chapman University and the University of Phoenix for many years. Sensitive to finding a balance between business, family and finance John has always had a passion for helping people build long-term wealth for their families.

What can you do in times of volatility to make sure your financial investments stay in line with your goals? Brandon Hebert,  CPWA®, CEPA®, CEO of Modernize Wealth, presents four quick tips to help you figure out where to start when it comes to evaluating your investments. If it’s been a while since you did an investment evaluation, especially given the long bull market we’ve just experienced, take a couple of minutes to watch this.

If you have any questions or want to talk about your investments and your financial goals, call us on 480.346.1283 or email hello@modernizewealth.com.