Entrepreneurs Share Their Opinion on the Future of Entrepreneurship

In today’s challenging times, where technology, regulation, politics and competition moves on at the speed of light, it can be hard as an entrepreneur. As well as managing a team, finding ways to launch new products and keep your customers happy at the same time, there’s the threat of globalization, and being able to maintain and increase your market share. As a business owner, juggling so many of these things at once can be all-too-often exhausting – but not for everyone.

The sign of a good entrepreneur is somebody who can work hard, make money and look for new opportunities, all whilst being on the ball and ready to fight back against competitors and other challenges. The entire construct of an entrepreneur is changing, from a stuffy corporate professional into something more dynamic, creative and flexible. But what makes entrepreneurs, and what is the future of entrepreneurship in these changing times? We asked our favorite entrepreneurs their thoughts on the future of entrepreneurship, and this is what they had to say.

“A huge rise in international expansions” 

In order to compete against giants like Amazon, eBay, Google and Facebook, businesses of all shapes and sizes have to look further afield to find their success. Mastering your local town is all well and good, but there’s a chance that a competitor could enter the market tomorrow and swallow up your entire customer base in a couple of months, so businesses have to work harder than ever before to stand out and grow their presence in new markets. Indeed, I believe that diversification is the key to entrepreneurship in the future and businesses that want to truly have an impact and make a difference must do everything that they can in order to find growth opportunities.

Expanding into a territory such as Latin America, for example, can be fantastic if you want to grow your market share and sell more of your products and services to more customers, but the hard work is entering such a market, overcoming the cultural and language barriers, and making changes to your business in order to appeal to a whole new audience. A good entrepreneur is happy to make those changes, even if it means that they have to sacrifice their brand image or change the way that they do things in order to appeal and appease a new market. A customer in the United States is just as important as a customer in El Salvador, and so finding a way to bridge the gap between the two and offer the very best services that are not only personalized but also meet the needs of everyone in the market. Sure, diversification and expanding into new territories can be hard work, and there are oh-so-many potential risks, but with hard work, the results will pay off and allow businesses to become global entities with long-term prospects.

Craig Dempsey, the founder of the Biz Latin Hub.

“A more aggressive focus on marketing”

Digital marketing has changed the way we promote our businesses, and savvy entrepreneurs of today know that digital marketing is about much more than posting your products on social media and writing the occasional blog post. Businesses of all shapes and sizes now have to compete against these huge businesses that have millions of pounds to spend on videos, PPC campaigns and state-of-the-art websites, and whilst it may seem daunting to begin with, it’s much easier than you may first think. It’s important that you hone your craft and decide how you want to promote your business. A faceless industry like accounting or law may choose to go down the search engine optimisation route and write lots of high-quality articles, tutorials and guides that will rank them ahead of their competition, whereas a visual business like a bakery should put all of their focus into an Instagram account, using influencer marketing to grow their audience. I think that the future of entrepreneurship is about knowing what you’re good at and marketing the hell out of it – you cannot promote your products half-heartedly online any more! 

Timothy Greene, founder of Marketing Matters

“A focus on female entrepreneurs”

Being a female in the business world can be tough, particularly in male-dominated markets like recruitment and sales. I think in the coming years, we’re going to see a huge rise in the number of female entrepreneurs entering the industry and being taken seriously. On the Fortune 500, only 5% of all CEOs were women – and that figure really has to change. We’re seeing some changes to the way organizations handle things such as the gender pay gap and inequality in the workplace, and some organizations have made an effort to ensure that they will have an equal workforce split in the coming decades. I’m looking forward to seeing a real change, and I think by working together, we can inspire the future generation of female CEOs. I’m excited to see where that is going to take us!

Rachel McAndrews, an associate at Women Like Us 

“The rise of the microentrepreneur”

A couple of years ago, I decided to quit my job and start working for myself. I decided that I was unsatisfied with my long commute, mundane workload and lack of respect from my manager, and so I decided to go it alone and start working on my own projects. I have since signed up to sites like Fiverr, People Per Hour and Upwork, and I also run my own website where I sell my consultancy services. I think in the coming years, we’re going to start seeing entrepreneurs pop up around the world as we adapt to a freelance marketplace. Indeed, in the next decade, the US workforce is expected to be made up of at least 50% freelancers.

We’re seeing changes not only in the way people are choosing to work, but people’s attitudes to going it on their own. Of course, there are risks and money is not always guaranteed, but it offers much more freedom and allows people to choose their own working hours and clients.

Andrea Young, freelance business development consultant

What do you think about the future of entrepreneurship? Let us know in the comments below!