Some people get paid to look into the crystal ball for business. At Intuit, the Quicken/QuickBooks accounting software people, they decided recently to collaborate with the nonprofit Institute for the Future by sponsoring a study on small business trends. Smart business! If you know where your customers are headed, you can be like the wolf in the Red Riding Hood story–get there early and be ready for them.

Entrepreneurship on the Rise

Predictions at the Institute this year focus on the changing face of small business. More young people, more baby boomers, women, women-as-moms, and immigrant and minority entrepreneurs are going to mean more large companies can outsource, increasingly to people working from home or small offices rather than to other countries.

Multicultural marketing must reflect the growing diversity of both business owners and customers, and that doesn’t mean just language, according to Steven Aldrich, vice president, Strategy & Innovation, Small Business Division at Intuit. It also means identifying “the right media, influencers, and distribution channels.

One size does not fit all. Businesses will need their marketing to reflect the unique cultures and needs of their audiences. … small [es that may have been…serving a local audience…are now thinking globally in terms of marketing outreach, such as broader exposure on the Web and multi-lingual marketing campaigns…may discover new multi-cultural markets they hadn’t thought of before.”

New Wave of Entrepreneurs

More entrepreneurs can mean good news on the “green” front.

“As more and more entrepreneurs begin businesses in their homes,” says Aldrich, “the commute to work is reduced to a quick walk across the hall to the home office. These types of shifts can positively impact the environment by reducing traffic congestion.” As more talented people begin working on their own, fresh, creative ideas on all fronts–including the environment–are likely to come from these sources. An example, says Aldrich, is the small business Act Now Productions, now working with Wal-Mart to help them become a sustainable enterprise.

Anyway you cut it, if you’re an entrepreneur–whether self-selected or reluctant–you’re the future of small business. Corporate America is willing to do business with you, so get your ducks in order. Now we need to marshal more resources to help entrepreneurs find the funding and the support they need to meet the ongoing challenges of growing into their futures.

The Startup Era Begins

Write in your corporate blog about how you will reach out to small businesses. If you’re a small business, write in your business blog about how you’re preparing to help solve some of corporate America’s thorny issues. I think what this comes down to is two main differences in how we operate: 1) we’re becoming more personal (small business owners are personally engaged in delivering customer service), and 2) we’re going back to the frontier mentality…not finding jobs, as such,  but exercising more passion and creativity in finding ways to discover our strengths and use them to earn a living.