2015 Small Business Industry Predictions

2015 is officially here! And business forecasters all across the internet are scrambling to their crystal balls to give their predictions as to what is, and isn’t, going to work in the new year. Of course, if you regularly follow our blog, you’d know we beat them by a good month with our infographic “2015 Small Business Industry Predictions.” But just in case you missed it, or you want a refresher as to what we think will be the best industries to start a small business in, here’s a quick rundown of what we think is going to happen.

What industries are going to do well in 2015?

It looks like the real estate and housing market is poised for an explosive come-back, which is good news given the lackluster performance of the industry over the last few years. Real estate agents and brokers are predicted to see a 23% growth, and complementary industries like such as the construction industry and contracting industry are expected to grow right along with them. As far as non-real estate industries go, computer systems should see some solid growth in 2015 as well. This is in line with our entrepreneurial poll, in which the majority of respondents felt technology would be a fast-growth industry throughout this year.

Which ones may struggle?

You can’t have the good without the bad, and some industries are looking at rocky roads through 2015. Clothing manufacturers, tobacconists, and companies that make and sell recordable media equipment, like DVD players, are all at risk largely thanks to changing consumer tastes and international competition. Interestingly, computer manufacturing also made the list, which juts up against our expectations that the tech industry will do really well. Of course, the risk is likely due to the fact that the computer industry is dominated by a small handful of well-known, extremely wealthy companies, so independent manufacturers will have a hard time making any sort of inroad.

What should small business owners focus on this year?

2015 is the year of mobile. Analysts predict that this is the year when mobile searches surpass desktop searches. Total internet usage via mobile devices has already surpassed PCs, so this trend makes sense. It follows that investing in a mobile version of your site is money well spent. You should also consider tweaking your marketing to better cater to mobile users, otherwise you’re going to be missing out on a significant amount of web traffic. So if you aren’t already, start working on appealing to people checking you out on their phones!

What do you think about our small business industry predictions? Got any of your own? Leave a comment with them below! Then, in December, we’ll re-visit this post and see just how clear our vision of the future was!