Top 5 Business Trends Waterville ME

Prospects for the U.S. economy may appear bleak, but entrepreneurs can stay at the front of the curve by paying attention to market and business trends. NuWire identified and ranked the Top 5 Business Trends. Collectively, these trends take into account three major factors—increased global awareness, advanced communications technology and demographic changes —that are influencing present and future market landscapes.

Entrepreneurs might wish to build a new business to capitalize on these trends, or figure out ways to incorporate one or more of them into an established business. In either case, knowledge of business trends can help successful business owners continue to do what they’ve always done: evaluate and adapt.

Outsourcing minor legal work is one way companies can cut costs 1. Outsourcing

Most people are already familiar with the concept of business process outsourcing (BPO), such as the outsourcing of large company call centers overseas. As the outsourcing trend continues to grow, some companies are beginning to utilize the foreign workforce in higher-skilled trades though knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), according to an article in Time magazine published earlier this month. One subset, for instance, called legal process outsourcing (LPO), entrusts lower-level legal tasks and research to overseas attorneys at a fraction of the cost of legal fees charged in the U.S.

The benefits of outsourcing are not solely reserved for large, wealthy corporations; a market for personal outsourcing has also emerged, catering to small businesses and individuals. Indian companies such as Brickwork and Get Friday, for example, provide overseas “personal assistants” to perform even the most menial tasks and errands at a rate of $15 to 25 per hour, according to an article published in The New York Times last November. Both companies were recommended in Timothy Ferriss’s bestselling book, The 4-hour Workweek , which urges readers to outsource anything that can be done for a cost less than the value of their own time.

Recent trends suggest that personal outsourcing won’t be limited to overseas networks. Personal outsourcing may also begin to utilize untapped domestic resources, such as college students. Additionally, tech companies such as Rearden Commerce are jumping on board by developing “virtual personal assistant” software.

2. Exporting

The dollar has weakened  after a record trade deficit of $847 billion in 2007, according to the CIA World Factbook. However, U.S. exports appear to be on an upswing; in February, U.S. exports amounted to $151.4 billion, a 20.8 percent increase from February 2007, according to the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report released April 10. Imports also increased by 16.4 percent from the February 2007 level to $213.7 billion.

As foreign economies capitalize on the lowered costs of U.S. exports, demand for A...

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