Generation Xers and Baby Boomers continue to be the back bone of small and medium size businesses. By now many have owned their business for 10, 20, 30 years or more. Their once thriving businesses seem to be suffering from what many think is simply a change is behaviors of what people buy, what they eat or what services they need. If this is you, a more important dynamic may be occurring that has nothing to do with the antiquation of your business product but more your antiquated method of reaching your target audience. 10 years ago advertising in the newspaper, on the radio or through mailers was still an acceptable tool for getting your product to consumers. Just 5 years ago, only 25% of internet searches were done on mobile devices, now that number is topping 75%, more depending on the product. Mobile devices are the navigation and steering wheel for consumers. Whether choosing a restaurant, buying a gift, a bikini, folk art or handmade jewelry, if you are not driving people to you, you might be driving them away.
Restaurant not on yelp? You probably haven’t seen anyone under 40 in a while. Don’t have a mobile enabled website, a company facebook page, Instagram or snapchat, click to call button or google reviews, then forced retirement is just around the corner. Don’t be fooled. People still like good service, great products, exceptional food and unique gifts. They just want it a little faster. The gap between the old way of reaching your consumer and the new is as wide as the gap between your programming skills and your granddaughters. Just this week I found a funky furniture resale shop I did not know existed. Finding it on a facebook post, I visited and now have a new favorite store. The owner said they had been in their new location for 4 months (I didn’t know they had an old location…) and had just started posting items on a local furniture facebook site. Voila. I have told at least 4 people about the lovely owner and the great hidden little shop. Stop resisting, and stop living in Denial. It truly is a very lonely place