6 Business Trends Baby Boomers Aren't Ready for That Could Cost Millions

What spurred this article was actually several pieces of research that I have recently read on each one of these 6 areas and its impact on different generations. While none of them focused on the boomer generations specifically, I was able to glean from all of them put together that there’s a rude awakening coming like freight train. Boomers will face a choice over the next 5 to 8 years to embrace these concepts or be wiped out by those of us who do.

1. Mobile Technology – Over the last year alone, I’ve met hundreds of business owners. And only 1 out of about 20 has a smart phone. What’s up with that? Even less have an iPad or some sort of tablet. By the way, having a blackberry doesn’t count! My iPhone increased my productivity and created freedom for me in my business. My iPad took it to another level. But I first had to take the leap and invest in the technology.

2. Social technology – This is a bit of surprise given that just over 1/3 of the American population is on Facebook and another 1/3 is on some other sort of social platform. This means that there are over 200 million people participating, in most cases daily on social technology. This is as opposed to traditional media that has lost over 80% of its readers, viewers, watchers, etc over the last 5 years. So think of it like this. If you are going fishing, don’t you want to fish where the largest concentrations of fish are? Not participating in social technology is the equivalent of fishing in your bathtub hoping to catch that record-breaking bass. It just isn’t going to happen.

3. The death of traditional media – I know this won’t come as a shock, but traditional media is dying. What will come as a shock is how much you will have to change your business to deal with this. Most boomers are not ready for this and continue to pump money into traditional marketing methods and use outdated practices. A good example of this is your business cards. For the most part, 95% of business owners can stop using business cards. Mobile and social technology have all but erased the need. But some people are still holding on.

4. Consumer driven businesses – Like it or not, consumers have more input now on the growth and direction of your business than ever before. An example of that is a local burger franchise near us. We learned about it via Faceboo