3 business development trends among millennials

Millennials, Generation Y, the Net Generation – this demographic has many monikers and continues to be a key focus for researchers, as they begin to have an increasingly large impact on the workplace.

Definitions vary, but most social commentators agree millennials are those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. McCrindle Research predicted that people within this age range will comprise 42 per cent of Australian workforces by 2020.

But how will millennial business owners run and grow their companies? Let's take a closer look at Generation Y to see what business development trends they may show in the future.

1. Aggressive about growth

Millennials are entrepreneurs at heart. A recent ManpowerGroup report showed that 34 per cent of individuals would consider self-employment in the future, despite only 12 per cent currently working for themselves.

New Xero figures paint a similar picture; the global financial crisis has encouraged millennials to go it alone. But poor economic conditions don't appear to have frightened them, with 61 per cent planning to expand in 2016 and 73 per cent citing customer base growth as their number one priority.

2. Success measured in work-life balance

Despite prioritising growth, 79 per cent of respondents to the Xero survey claimed the biggest indicator of success for their business was a healthy work-life balance.

The ManpowerGroup research echoed these results, with 86 per cent of people stating holidays and time off as a top priority when looking for a job. Meanwhile, 79 per cent said flexible working hours was on their employment wish list. Millennial-run businesses are therefore likely to embrace growth strategies that cater more to these attitudes than previous generations.

3. Embracing technology

According to Xero, 35 per cent of millennials run at least half of their business in the cloud, with 27 per cent of organisations completely cloud-based. Social media is also the most popular tool for communicating with customers for 61 per cent of Generation Y small business owners.

"Millennials see the value in technology and are willing to try almost anything if it will make their lives easier," said Jeff Phillips, chief executive officer of accountingfly.

Clearly, this new generation of company leaders has unique organisational growth needs and desires, which requires a tailored business development strategy to optimise performance.

Please contact a member of our team if you'd like to discuss our business development services.