Phimation Small Business 2012 Trend Report - Summary

Small Business 2012 Trend ReportThe Top Trends Impacting Second Stage Companies December 2011

About Phimation & Phimation is a management consulting, coaching, and training firm that works with a wide variety of Stage 2 small businesses – those This Report who are past start-up and at a stage of sustainability, that typically have 20-200 employees. These trends are taken from our work assessing issues in the operating environment inside small businesses, and in the market environment around small businesses. The point of this report is to spur discussions in your leadership team about how you could or should be doing things differently. The full version of this report has recommendations for how to use the trends. Dave Haviland Dave Haviland is author of this report and The Stage 2 Owner’s Founder & CEO Manual. For the last 10 years, he has been a strategy and management advisor to Second Stage companies. He serves on the boards of several companies, and has helped hundreds of companies to grow their businesses, operate more effectively, and transition their leadership. The Stage 2 Owner’s Manual (stage2ownersmanual.com) includes a chapter about how to use trends in your company’s strategy.

2012 Small Business Trends New Agraria Our world is looking more and more like an agrarian society, rather than the industrial environment that many small business leaders are accustomed to. In 2012, small businesses will face the business world much like farmers of the 1800s… with “seasons” and weather patterns, and the need to manage the changing environment one plot at a time. In the New Agraria, though, today’s small businesses will work in communities defined by interests, instead of geography. Photo by Prayoga D. Widyanto

2012 Small Business Trends It’s a MAD* World (* Massive Adaptation Daily) Small businesses are operating in an environment of extreme change. The best companies are finding a way to survive day-to-day, and engaging all of their staff to evolve in significant ways that create new opportunities and efficiencies. Photo by Hakan Dahlstrom

2012 Small Business Trends The Almighty Network The balance of power is shifting – The Almighty Network is now in control. The Internet provides small businesses with essential availability, intelligence, capability, and capacity to serve their customers – but it’s not just a one-way relationship. The Network is demanding more from small businesses, and the best companies are responding. Photo by Masakazu Matsumoto

2012 Small Business Trends Stretched The tough economic environment is stretching small businesses to their limits and forcing them to up their game. Strong leaders are responding to this challenge and gaining strength; the challenge is sapping weak leaders. Photo by Wapster

2012 Small Business Trends Lean and Mean Small businesses are keeping most of their costs lean. The smartest companies are also taking a strong growth-oriented approach to the most important parts of their businesses. Photo by irene nobrega

2012 Small Business Trends Investing in the Dark The environment is as uncertain as ever, but small companies are making strategic investments. The best companies are implementing “traction control systems” for their investments by upgrading their accountability and decision-making processes – leaders cannot see very far ahead of them, so they’re relying on “improved handling” to ensure their success. Photo by cuttlefish

2012 Small Business Trends Thirty-SOMETHINGS! Thirty-something year-olds are significantly impacting small businesses, as they move into leadership positions. Companies are taking advantage of the new set of capabilities that these young leaders bring to the workplace. Photo by Linus Bohman

2012 Small Business Trends Empathy: Humanity’s Best App The world is more complex than any of us can manage on our own. It’s through empathy that we help others make the world simpler. Small businesses can no longer just rely on physical proximity to connect with customers – they need to use The Almighty Network to create emotional proximity. Photo by maewe

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Phimation Small Business 2012 Trend Report - Summary

by Phimation Strategy Group on Dec 20, 2011

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