The business world is a fascinating place nowadays. With incredible innovations, marketing trends, and the impacts of COVID-19, some disruptions are to be expected. All these factors have resulted in emerging business domains and promising opportunities across different industries.
It’s easy to spot these domains if you’ve been paying close attention. But attention is also another rare commodity in today’s information-overloaded economy. Adding to this is the fact that some trends just catch on overnight instead of taking years, if not months, to build enough momentum.
So yes, you may have a sixth sense for spotting business trends, but you can rest assured that you won’t see all of them a mile away. That’s why this post lists some of the most exciting and seemingly lucrative business domains emerging in 2022, after the last year’s economic meltdown.
Video Conferencing And Remote Work
As you might have guessed, remote work is here to stay. Some companies announced that workers would resume office work sometime during the year. However, more businesses are moving forward with the 100 percent remote decision. Consequently, the popularity of the work-from-home policy from last year will continue to increase during 2022.
Tech companies like Zoom will reap even more profits from this long-term effect of the pandemic. Demand for video conferencing solutions is at an all-time high, and more businesses will pop up to supply the needed services. The compounding effect will be increased internet-based assistance for entrepreneurs looking to register for vat online services and other such business-related tasks.
Automation
You can look forward to exponential growth and demand for industrial automation and business intelligence. Things are moving back to normal across many supply chains and manufacturing lines of the world. However, there is the issue of workforce shortage that several manufacturers need to overcome.
Here, automation powered by A.I, the internet of things, and robotics provides a viable alternative solution. Many top tech companies worldwide provide industrial automation, robotics, and AI integration around the world. When developing an AI business plan, it’s crucial to consider how these technologies can enhance operational efficiency and create new revenue streams. Some of those you want to keep an eye on include: Locus Robotics, CloudMinds, and UBTech Robotics.
Decentralized Finance
Unlike what many financial advisors and experts thought about cryptocurrency from back in the day, it is here to stay. The current opportunities created by the recent economic turmoil have also left many investors rattled and nervous. Therefore, raising capital to finance innovative ideas, research, and expansion has become quite challenging.
New businesses are left to rely on trends like blockchain technology, crowdfunding, and other alternative methods of decentralized finance to secure funding and raise capital. Although the traditional channels are also present, cryptocurrency denominations like Bitcoin and Ethereum will continue to rise in value and popularity due to the increased demand.
Telehealth & Telemedicine
Major organizations, particularly in the healthcare sector, are bent on reducing the risk exposure to workers and patients due to the pandemic. Several public and private entities are in the process of building sophisticated telehealth products and services to meet the needs of people from the comfort of their homes. Some of the typical offerings emerging at this point include Avatar-based and AI-powered diagnostics, zero contact medication delivery, like online weight loss prescriptions and doctor-patient video conferencing or consultation, often conducted by professionals in scrubwear to maintain a sense of medical professionalism and hygiene.
According to stats from the CDC, telehealth visits in March 2020 spiked by 154 percent relative to the previous year’s same month. And 46 percent of medical practitioners admitted that they serve their patients using telehealth in 2020, instead of 2019’s 11 per cent. Many experts predict these figures to increase over the coming months and years steadily. Companies in this field include One Medical, Teladoc Health, and Livongo Health leading the telehealth and telemedicine sector.
VR and AR
Another area of tech that has noticeably expanded since 2020 is virtual reality and augmented reality. It seems consumers are moving toward more immersive technologies, even for everyday tech such as entertainment. Apart from this, the remote work model ushered by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic also necessitated the adoption of immersive technology in many lines of business. Today, several companies and teams collaborate and communicate using VR and AR, and you can only expect this to spread.
AR and VR innovations’ immersive nature opens up a new world of teleworking possibilities across different industries. Examples are remote assistance, AR cloud, AR indoor navigation, eye tracking, virtual launch events, AI integration with VR and AR, virtual marketing, mobility AR, facial expression recognition, the list goes on. AR and VR’s applications will increase significantly in 2022, especially with the advent of the 5G network and improved internet bandwidth.
Conclusion
If you want to understand how technology and other factors will shape the business world in 2022, you need to consider the long-term impacts of COVID-19. Business and technological innovations are already fueled mainly by the changes in consumer behaviors, which many believe are here to stay.
At this point, one thing is for sure, the internet, which was at the center of consumer-brand interactions, has taken on an even more instrumental role in shaping how companies of all sizes conduct business. Ultimately, it will take visionary leaders and a new breed of innovative thinkers to take advantage of these emerging domains by solving consumer and business-related challenges.
