One of the “secrets” of succeeding in business is learning how to take advantage of trends to boost your small business economy. To take advantage of those trends, you need to watch for them.
An article that appeared in the Washington Post a couple of days ago got me thinking about this. Here’s part of what I read:
For the first time, lawmakers, businesses and even White House officials are courting consumers from cash-rich countries such as China, India and Brazil to fill the nation’s shopping malls and pick up the slack for penny-pinching Americans. They are wooing travelers with enticements such as coupons, beauty pageants and promises of visa reform. The payoff, they say, could be significant: 1.3 million new jobs and an $859 billion shot in the arm for the economy over the next decade. [Read more]
There’s an emerging trend to pay attention to! The Post is reporting on what the government is doing to boost our economy. You need to think of ways to boost your own small business economy.
It’s a good thing the Internet has leveled the playing field for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Most of us are taking advantage of that fact. We’ve taken our small businesses online. But have we fully used the Internet to improve our own small business economy?
Today we can compete on a global scale and in a global marketplace. Are you taking advantage of that fact? I don’t think many are. It might be a little difficult to wrap your head around it but you need to.
For instance, what if the U.S. succeeds in attracting travelers from around the world? And other countries are bound to get on that same bandwagon.
How can you get in on a piece of that International pie? You may not speak another language well enough to court consumers in other countries, but you can think of marketing campaigns aimed at them as travelers in your country.
Think about this:
In section deeper into the article, a young family from China had traveled to the U.S. to visit areas of interest while on vacation. They spent quite a bit of money on rental cars, hotels, restaurants, activities, attractions and shopping. They bought all kinds of everyday items as well as things they could have purchased in China. For instance, the man said he bought a pair of Adidas for only $25 at an outlet mall. In China they would have cost a great deal more. He also bought t-shirts and a laptop.
Get your brain working on this. Think about your own small business economy. How could you attract a vacationer from another country with any of your products or services? Could you expand what you have to include something to offer them?
From services to attractions to sundry items and casual purchases, the traveler already has his or her wallets open. How can you entice them to spend with you?
Marketing is all about creating a message that your target market relates to and gets them to takes action. How can you be ahead of the curve on this deal?
“Those shifting dynamics have spawned a movement to encourage foreigners to spend their newfound wealth in the United States, placing the country in the unfamiliar role of supplicant.” Get familiar with this. Your small business economy depends on being flexible and taking advantage of opportunity.
Further this article reports, “This year, [foreigner] spending is up 13 percent compared with last year, to nearly $87 billion.”
Watching trends helps you find the low hanging fruit and move your small business economy deeper into the black.
How could you capitalize on this idea?
What trends are you watching to improve your own small business economy?
