We’re only a few weeks into the year, but already some key business trends are becoming clear. Make them part of your business planning and you’ll give your Blackpool startup a big boost.

Business never stands still. It’s always shifting, and over the past couple of years things have shifted more than they perhaps ever have. If you’re launching your business in 2022, you’ll already be busy getting your head around planning, marketing, recruitment and more (you can learn much more about all of those, for free, as part of Blackpool Enterprise week, here).

But if you can take advantage of some of the latest trends in business, you could lock in even greater success. To find out how, read on, then talk to Get Started for free advice and support.

Digital first

The pandemic was the point when everyone who’d been planning to upgrade their digital capabilities wished they’d done it a whole lot sooner.

Digital – in terms of selling goods or services or marketing them - has long been essential. But in 2020/21 it became business critical, even for businesses that traditionally needed little more than an aging website to get by.

For the rest of this year, smart businesses will be working to upgrade their digital capability because:

1. That’s what their competitors are doing
2. It’s what customers expect; and
3. As the last two years have shown, it’s essential to prepare for the unexpected

So how do you get ahead, digitally speaking, when you don’t know where to start? Keep checking our events for lots of digital support and advice throughout the year.

Supply chain planning

From big boats stuck in the Suez to lorry driver shortages, you’ll have heard plenty about supply chain challenges over the past few months. If you’re not a manufacturer, you might think you’re unaffected by such issues, but you are – you’re just one step removed from them.

Sooner or later, whether it’s the availability and price of materials from the Far East or the cost of energy, supply chain issues are issues for every business. You can’t influence how much Russia decides to charge us for gas, or even how much raw materials go up in price, but you can plan for them.

The better a business plans, the better it succeeds. We know that over the coming year materials are likely to cost more, be in shorter supply and take longer to reach us. So how can you mitigate the effects of that? Better still, how can you steal a march on your competitors by doing it better?

We can help you plan

Hybrid working

2022 won’t be the year everyone goes back to the office. In fact, long after the pandemic is (finally) done, there’s a real chance that many businesses won’t need everyone in the office full time ever again.

Hybrid (that is, part of the week in the office, part of the week at home) seems here to stay. If you’re starting a business in Blackpool, that’s good news for your costs because you may be able to get away with renting a smaller office (you can find Blackpool office space and far more here). You might be able to live without an office entirely.

And when you do need a professional space in which to meet, work or interview, you can hire a hybrid meeting room from just £10 per hour.

Finding fresh staff incentives

Inflation is on the up and that means staff costs are rising too. When you’re starting and growing a business, money is inevitably tight. Hiring the right people is critical, but giving them an-inflation busting salary or pay rise may not be possible. So how can you keep costs down while helping to ensure you recruit and retain critical staff?

One way is to help your people develop their skills. After all, a pay rise won’t help someone gain a promotion or build experience in a new role. But a commitment to growing your people’s talents can create loyalty and a team that’s better at its job – all of which is good news for you.

Find out more about growing your business through skills.

Influencer power

Show not tell, they say. That’s one of the reasons why Instagram and TikTok have become such marketing powerhouses, and even more powerful is having an influencer to help endorse you to an already willing audience.

If you’re not part of the TikTok generation, you might imagine using an influencer involves paying a Kardashian enormous sums of money, but this year is seeing the growing power of the micro-influencer. These are people with thousands of followers rather than millions but, when you choose the right influencer, their endorsement will be more targeted to your audience, will engage more effectively and – vitally – it won’t cost you a million.  

Acting responsibly

Social and environmental responsibility is, inevitably, a hugely important issue for the coming year. Doing good matters, and it seems to matter more with every passing year. So a big consideration - and opportunity - for any Blackpool startup is demonstrating to everyone that you’re not only responsible, but actively looking for new ways to do more. Take the initiative in this area and it could help differentiate you from your competitors.

Get Started has helped hundreds of people get their businesses started in Blackpool. If you’re planning to launch your own business this year, we’re ready to help – for free. To ensure you’re as prepped and ready for success, talk to Kriss Wilson now.