7 Big Business Trend Predictions

7 Big Business Trend Predictions

In our previous article, we began our exploration of business broker veteran Glen Cooper’s 5 tools that you’ll need for a rapidly changing future. This 7-part webinar series is designed to help business brokers navigate the coming decades, which will likely be some of the most transformative years in human history. Now, let’s dig in deeper and gain a better understanding of Cooper’s vision for business brokers and M&A advisors moving forward.

In 2011, Cooper created a list of what he thought would be the 7 big business trends and what adaptations and fixes would be needed to address those changes.

1. Rate of Change is Increasing

In the previous article, we touched on the fact that Cooper realized that the rate of change is increasing and that business brokers will need to deal with the accompanying stress.

2. Science and Technology

A second trend is that science and technology are key drivers. Business brokers must opt for lifetime learning or else they will be left woefully behind.

3. Increased Control

A third trend is that people want more control. As a result, business brokers will need to address the frustration of their clients and others.

4. Relationship Expansion

The fourth trend centered on the notion that relationships are multiplying, and this fosters the need for business brokers to “listen, teach and lead.”

5. Transparency and Accountability

The fifth trend cited by Cooper was “transparency and accountability are up,” and that means business brokers can’t hide their mistakes.

6. Freedom of Information

For the sixth trend, Cooper noted that ideas and information are now free and that means business brokers should opt to invest in systems and teams. As he points out, “intellectual capital is fleeting,” and thus adaptation is key.

7. Collaborators are Winning

The final trend to make his list is that “collaborators are winning” due to the fact that complexity forces cooperation. This point means it is prudent to partner with the best.

In Cooper’s view, the mission of predicting the future has, at its core, the task of data collection. He states, “Know your history, review it and brainstorm.”

Predictions of the future should be based on reviewing data, understanding that data, and then also looking carefully at emerging trends. The heart of success is possessing a relevant knowledge base, establishing one’s priorities, limiting distractions, continuing in the face of adversity, and, of course, doing the hard work necessary. He feels that these five points parallel his 5 tools.

Cooper points out that his thinking has been influenced by Phil Stutz’s book “The Tools,” which outlines a way for people to move forward when they are lost or in a rut. He feels that Stutz’s work ties into Tom West’s work. These works influenced his 5 tools for creating the future.

Phil Stutz’s “Psychiatrist’s Approach” has 5 points including Reversal of Desire in which people must embrace the path of pain to achieve progress; Active Love in which people accept others as they are; Inner Authority which is the idea that individuals must realize that strength comes from within; and Gradual Flow, which is built around the idea that the individual is connected to everything else (in short, “be grateful for everything.”) Lastly, there is Jeopardy in which the individual needs to pretend that they are in jeopardy so as to facilitate immediate action and progress.

Cooper sees Stutz’s ideas and approach tying into Tom West’s Five Fundamentals: Embrace Learning, Find Ways to Help, Bring It All (both the good and bad), Appreciate How You Can Help and Preserve, Endure, Don’t Quit.

All of this points to Cooper’s Five Tools that business brokers need for the future: Our Self Teaching Tool, Our Business Definition Tool, Our Differentiation Tool, Our Time Control Tool, and Our Time Travel Tool. In summary, these 5 tools center on the fact that business brokers must find ways to learn, define what their businesses do and why they are different, learn to establish priorities and control their time and endeavor to stay relevant moving forward.

The future is changing rapidly. Business brokers and M&A advisors must realize that they will not enjoy immunity from this change. Instead, your goal should be to find yourself right in the center of a world that is quickly evolving.