Some might say the future has arrived. While being somewhat oxymoronic, it is not far from the truth. Fully autonomous vehicles are still a long way from becoming reality. Yet we can turn on the television and see car commercials from major manufacturers featuring people taking their hands off the wheel and letting the car navigate autonomously. Even that step is one many of us thought would never be taken in our lifetime. It is the future. And we can taste it today. We can have the appetizer now, but will have to wait a little longer for the full meal.
Your business can't wait for what lies in store. Yet it cannot simply focus on the here and now. You have to take some bets on what is just around the corner. If you want to enjoy the first-mover advantage, you have to study the trends and prepare for what marketing will look like in the near future.
20 years ago, no one knew that social media marketing would change the way business is done locally and around the world. But those who saw the early signs got on board and staked a claim in the new sector. They learned to speak the language of social media while their competitors looked like the anachronisms they had become. We are at that moment again. If you want your business to be relevant in the far future, it is time to clue in on these near future technologies and trends.
Document Automation
Document automation is just one of the many trends that are changing the face of paper. It should be clear to anyone by now that paper is never going away. That was a silly idea that never had a chance of happening. Forget going paperless. Think about going paper smart instead. Document automation is a way of being paper smart as opposed to paper clueless. You don't need to fill in the same blanks again and again as is required with most legal documents. This fusion of digital and analog is what will make both more useful in the long run.
The best part is that this technology is available today. You don't have to wait for the future to enjoy the benefits right now. Just know that we are at the advent of what is to come. Paper will be a part of the way we do business for a long time. A secret written on paper and stored away in a fireproof safe is more secure than the same secret in a digital form stored on the average hard drive. In the near future, expect more tech to make paper even smarter.
Remote Work
Let's get one thing straight: Remote work is here to stay. It is not just some passing fad that rose up during the recent apocalypse and will fade away just as quickly. That is the attitude of a company that will not be in business long enough to ring in the new normal.
A surprisingly high percentage of people surveyed said that productivity increased while working remotely. Instead of taking this seriously, businesses stuck in the old ways are doing everything they can to reverse the tide and get people back into the office. What they are not considering is the massive number of first-time remote workers who got a taste and have no intention of ever going back. They also underestimate the number of companies that are already tooling up for the new era of remote work and are willing to snap up all that talent. Pivot now and thrive.
Data Security
It seems almost inevitable that there will be some kind of legislation to force companies to secure customer data much better. There is no person who operates online who hasn't had their data caught up in some type of breach. No need to look it up. You are already compromised. Now is the time to require all people in the company, including the CEO, to use strong passwords and 2FA. This is not the solution, but only the beginning of the solution. Better security tech is the near future. The time to implement better strategies is now.
The future is now. Start enhancing your business with it by implementing data automation, remote work options, and better data security.
