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SME's - Trends to watch for new business opportunities over the next decade or two
| Guest post by: Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
Article Overview: A review of predicted trends for the next decade - what business opportunities exist among them?
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Free Download - SMEs – SMEs struggling in South Africa. Why? By Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
SME's - Trends to watch for new business opportunities over the next decade or two
The big trends for the next decade or two are:
o going to involve new fuels for motor cars
o alternative power generation for electricity such as solar energy, wind energy, wave energy and geothermal energy for warming water instead of electric geysers.
o geothermal heating will be used to warm homes
o there will be new systems for refrigeration and air conditioning using old technology
o they will grow a wider range of fruit and vegetables locally in greenhouses to reduce the damage done in transporting these items around the world
o clothing will move back to natural fibres such as leather, wool and cotton
o organic food will be an important issue in the future
o music CD’s will be out
o computer hard drives as we know them will be out
o wind up lights, radios, clocks, and a variety of other items will be in again particularly, but not only, in rural areas
o the cable telephone is going out, particularly in rural areas, and will be replaced by wireless systems such as GSM and CDMA type cellphones
o the Internet will play an ever increasing role in our lives including television delivery
o there will be revolutionary changes in sea and air travel, which might even look like a return to the early days
o security will intensify a lot. Travelling will initially become more difficult, particularly for developing countries, until they can comply with new passport requirements which will require the inclusion of a microprocessor chip that contains biometric data such as eye scans, blood details, DNA details and more. This is due to terrorism. Homes and cars will become more secure and home entertainment will become more and more important.
o as home entertainment becomes more important, so too will getaway type holidays to remote but secure locations
o AIDS and TB will continue to ravage developing countries. There will be many opportunities to solve the problem for government of AIDS orphans. If they are not looked after they will become a roving band of murdering thieves, as they fight to survive in a society that has not cared for them. Set up homes to care for them and educate them for their future and yours.
o facilities for old people and also for frail people will spring up everywhere in developed countries due to the baby boomers going into retirement
o SME’s will experience enormous growth and many large corporate businesses will downsize once they build the necessary trust relationships with SME’s.
o banks will make a large shift in attitude and volume of lending to SME’s
Leverage Subject Matter Experts
Restricted Access to Finance
5.2.1 The MIT-SME section: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
What can business and governments do to promote SMEs?
Facts about SMEs in Africa
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About the Author: Dr. Rob Smorfitt RSS for Dr. Rob's articles - Visit Dr. Rob's website Have an MBA and a PhD in entrepreneurship. Three key areas of ongoing research are entrepreneurship and innovation in large business strategy, the impact of legislation on SME development and SME finance. Run my own SME blog at http://sme-smb-smme.blogspot.com as well as an entrepreneurship and innovation for large businesses blog at http://innoveur.blogspot.com I have been self-employed since 1982. I have started or purchased in excess of 50 businesses since then. Most were sold again and a few were shut down because of a lack of profitability. Many were run by staff or family while I worked full time in my bigger businesses. Author of 6 books. Written articles for various magazines, newspapers and websites. Experienced in research within developing countries.
Click here to visit Dr. Rob's website  
 SMEs types of opportunities SMEs a link between funding and a compliance model SMEs are youths cut out for entrepreneurship SMEs opportunities in Africa SMEs a solution for Africa |
Related Forum Posts
Re: In-House or Outsource?
- Unfortunately, in the South African context, very few SMEs see outsourcing as an option. They believe it is too expensive, and they are paranoid that someone will "steal their ideas".
I believe that the three main functions that cannot be outsourced are marketing, sales and strategy. These must be done in house I believe. If you do not have the marketing skills then get them. Hire a consultant or attend a course, but get the skills. Even if you use a consultant, you need to understand what marketing is about, as no one knows your market like you do. Marketing is made to seem difficult and complex, but everyone who really understands their markets, can easily learn to do their own marketing.
In South Africa, labour legislation is extremely inflexibile, and consequently labour broking is a large industry. This is an ideal starting point for SMEs in South Africa, as it is a legally complex area, whih comes with severe penalties.
I say do it!
Rob Smorfitt
Hello, Dean Futrell Here
- Hey guys, my name is Dean Futrell and I own Futrell Autowerks. We are based in Beaverton, OR and specialize in VW/Audi repair, service, and tune ups.
I've been a small business owner for over a decade and very much look forward to becoming an active member of this forum!
Re: Thanks for the link Barbara
- Yes....last year - and again this year - I've subscribed to MLB TV on the web, so I can watch baseball games on my computer. I can watch every baseball game this season, "on demand" which means not only when the game is going on, (except if its blacked out in my area - a restriction that really annoys me!!!), but after the game is over, even if it was blacked out, I can watch it. Very helpful to keep track of the Seattle Mariners, since they're 3 hours ahead of me and I can't stay up that late to watch my favorite player, Ichiro!
And you can continue to watch games past for the whole season.
For sports writers, that's an invaluable tool!
My only regret is that baseball started recording games so late...I would so love to be able to watch a full game of Lou Gehrig...
Re: Happy New Year
- Happy New Year Everyone!
Here's to reaching your goals and beyond in this new year and new decade!
Re: Search Engine Optimization
- John,
I'm going to check it out. Sounds similar to the tool I've been using for nearly a decade, but I'll be interested in what wordtrackers doing for sure.
Thanks.
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