Research of the top 50 companies listed in ‘The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work for 2019’ by Oxbridge found that the average age for an individual to start a business was 40.
There are descriptive names for those born in certain times, around 20 years each - Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y/ millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. A 40 year old today is considered to be at the end of the “Gen X” generation. Therefore business owners in the future are more likely to be “Millennials”.
Its accepted amongst sociologists that behaviours shift between individuals born during different time periods. Attitude, motivations and priorities are typically seen to change.
Everyone is an individual of course, but if the behaviours of business owners in the next generation cohort are similar to those of the general population, then the approach to marketing needs to be in line with the expectations and needs they will have for their professional advisers.
This blog shows how Capitalise can support your firm to offer services which appeal to all business owners, but especially those in the younger generations.
Digital natives value live data
Millennials have grown up with on-demand data, 24-hr news, faster broadband connections and an explosion of tools available in their hand using mobile phone technology.
They expect to have virtually instant access to the latest information and to be able to use it to their advantage.
How does this translate to their business lives? Firms can assume that new business owners will happily set up cloud accounting without expecting anything other than an app which they can access at any time of the day or night.
However, once their period end completes, will they assume that it will be signed off within days, rather than months?
Firms targeting the new generation of businesses may benefit from promoting a service level agreement which includes communication methods, timeframes and a clear understanding of expectations on both sides of the relationship.
Experience to deliver on their ambition
Younger business owners have lived through a period when tech giants were formed and then exploded quickly (such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google known as the FAANG stocks).
Even local start-up businesses raising equity has become much more commonplace thanks to the crowdfunding sector and TV programmes such as Dragons’ Den.
Many younger business owners now want to grow fast, exit and then form more companies becoming serial entrepreneurs. By profiling case studies on your website and social feeds from clients who have raised finance for growth and then ultimately sold the business, you can demonstrate that you have the expertise to advise them.
Providing explanations of technical issues such as how companies are valued, EIS/SEIS, R&D Tax Credits and how to access innovation grants will all contribute to their confidence in your firm’s abilities.
Promoting products necessary to run a growth business
Entrepreneurs will value support to help them formulate their business strategy, business planning and cashflow forecasting. Maximising their access to finance, both internal and external will also be crucial.
The award-winning technology available exclusively from Capitalise provides additional risk and opportunity insights, derived from both their publicly available data and cloud accounting. It is these added-value pieces of information which will impress them the most.
Focusing on improving their credit score will assist them to access better terms from suppliers, including free supplier credit, and then lower interest rates from lenders when they require further lines of finance to boost their working capital.
Where next?
Your website and social media channels will be used by potential new clients to research your knowledge, experience and contacts before they decide whether to contact you for a discussion about your services.
If you want access to the Capitalise tools and products to support your firm to attract younger clients, please speak to one of our team.
We can also provide additional marketing tools and content to help you to communicate your market-leading offering to potential clients across all the generations.
