What does the business of the future look like?

The future can be a scary place – for you, but especially for a business. People involved in business thrive on the predictable – they want prices to stay the same, they want everything to be just right so they can find ways of improving quite easily. The world is not like that though. If the world is anything, it’s a fluid place of change and that applies to the world of business. Stocks rise and fall; markets change and adapt. Things happen beyond the control of mortal mankind! That scares people in business because they want the essence of predictability to be able to plan efficiently. However, they won’t get it – business shifts, and it changes.

The future doesn’t have to be scary because of its unpredictability, though – it can become a land of opportunity if you look at it in that manner. A business that can take advantage of developments in both society and technology can truly make waves in the future of business. In fact, that’s an interesting point, isn’t it? Shall we take a look at what the business of the future looks like?

Currently, the world of business is all about networking, and if it’s not networking via the internet, it will be some form of connection. It used to be that business models were very ‘top-down’ and aggressive in their management structures. However, it looks more and more like we are seeing horizontal models of businesses arrive and thrive – with cooperation and networking becoming the order of the day. As time passes, that might be more common, and we will find that businesses resemble flat and open plains rather than ladders that rise high. That might be better for business – it might even be better for society at large. The business of the future? It will follow a horizontal structure.

Technology is one thing that the business of the future will be able to harness, and they will see the industry 4.0 value in a connected workplace. Technology will smash down walls keeping businesses from connecting. The business of the future will be global, and it will be connected. The workplace will evolve – it might not exist in the future, not as we know it anyway. With increasing conference calls and opportunities for collaboration, we will see the business of the future harness technology to get connected. That can only be a good thing.

Let’s return to horizontal structures for a moment. If we can move away from ‘top-down’ models of business operation, we might be able to move a corporation into more of a group – or community. The workplace will evolve, and the definition of a business or company will change. Staff incentives and benefits will evolve to suit individual staff needs, and a single staff member might have a huge influence in how a company operates. The business of the future might emulate a co-operative where every employee invests for the benefit of themselves and the company at large.

It might be that the business of the future cannot survive alone – it might need to reach out to other organizations to create partnerships to the benefit of both businesses. Larger corporations will need to absorb smaller companies without eradicating the identity of either business. Businesses will merge, but it won’t seem like that to the outside world.

The business of the future might grant a large role to a client or customer in a view to how the business runs. Customers might come on board to help businesses solve issues. This can be seen through companies that offer roles in the company to customers. Businesses and their workforces might begin to mirror the makeup of the target audience. The business of the future will be smart – it will bring connectivity to the workplace via physical assets, and it will put networking at the center, and the forefront of everything it does. There will be some kind of automation – that is to be expected. Whether it comes via physical means, or via software will depend on the role that the business performs. Some sort of automation in the workplace is to be expected, though.

As time goes on, we can develop more of a clear picture as to how the business of the future will work and look like – it will be automated, it will involve staff and clients more, and it will certainly operate in a different manner. Will all forms of traditionalism be eradicated? It’s yet to see – the law might prevent a lot of changes from taking place.