MaineBusiness.com

There's some interesting points in a presentation on top small business trends. It's a quick look at what's driving small business this year.

It's a list of 10 trends. But there really is one trend that's creating lots of ripples. Basically that trend is the economy. It's creating necessity entrepreneurs. These are laid off workers who are seeking customers instead of jobs. It's also delaying retirement for baby boomers who are starting businesses. These people have a lot of valuable expertise and can do well.

The economy also is driving incremental innovation. That's small improvements in how things are done. It isn't sexy but it's necessary to cut costs and reach new customers.

And the recession is an equal opportunity force. Generation Y is becoming more prevalent in small business. It's harder to find a job out of school these days. So the younger workers are becoming younger entrepreneurs. This is important because this is the most technically savvy generation to start doing business. They don't need to be educated on social media. They're going to be using it to find customers AND vendors.

They also are using the latest technologies and gadgets. This is going to help them use technological innovations to improve their businesses. They're also the early adopters who can signal significant new trends.

The key is incremental innovation. There are a lot of new entrepreneurs entering every new market. And they need to do business better than the established businesses. The established businesses need to innovate to stay competitive and replace lost customers. So any business that can help other businesses save money and find new revenue will succeed.

The recession is a problem. But it's a problem that businesses need to solve. Successful marketing will explain how your business solves the problems created by the recession. This opportunity is there for entrepreneurs young and old.