Keeping up with trends is becoming necessary for small business owners to meet consumer, industry, and technological demands. Year after year, business strategies must evolve with market trends, and small businesses should leverage these strategies to improve business performance and brand value.

With the year 2025 coming, here are several business trends and predictions that small businesses need to get their radar on to get ahead of their competitors:

The unstoppable growth of AI

Data quality and availability remain challenging for businesses leveraging AI as an efficiency tool in 2024.  

An effective knowledge base is needed for AI to become an effective resource. While AI is a great data processor, its results have relied heavily on human help and training. It is only as good as the data it is fed or what it can scrape on the web—even if that information is unreliable. Moreover, the ability to build an AI app tailored to specific business needs is becoming increasingly accessible. 

With technological advancements running at full speed, AI is projected to take the first steps toward delivering better-quality, relevant, and reliable results and tasks in 2025. 

Here are some developments with AI in 2025:

• Google’s recent development of its Gemini 2.0 model introduces the future of AI agents that can leverage real-time processing and handle multi-step processes with reduced human oversight.

• AI agents can combine automation, conversation, and decision- and process-making capabilities, especially in order fulfillment, customer interactions, and financial decisions. They will be agents that can reason and take action independently, utterly different from and more advanced than today’s rule-based automation.

Max Tang, CMO at GEEKOM, says, “Today, business owners need to find ways to utilize these AI agents and adapt them into their business model not as a replacement for human labor but as a supplement and productivity tool to help make processes easier and recurve human abilities to more complex and value-adding tasks.”

However, business owners should not forget that AI still poses several legal issues. AI use, specifically generating and using customer information with AI, should be done cautiously to avoid violating data privacy laws.

According to Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, “Businesses using AI must actively implement rules and policies for its responsible use, including getting consent from customers on using their personal information—be it for AI or not.”

Enhanced cybersecurity measures

In May 2024, the FBI media office released a statement warning about the increasing threats of cybercriminals using AI to employ AI voice and video cloning techniques to impersonate trusted individuals to divulge sensitive information or authorize fraudulent transactions. 

Individuals and small businesses are at risk of these cybercrimes without the proper cybersecurity measures to recognize and protect themselves against AI-voice and video cloning scams.

Rodger Desai, CEO of Prove, says, “Cybercriminals are also moving at a fast pace to leverage technologies like AI to disrupt business systems, like using AI for voice phishing, identity theft, fraud, and other voice and facial generation features—called threat actors—to bypass security measures and trick users into providing sensitive business information.”

In 2025, businesses need to be more cyber-aware and take technological and smart precautions in dealing with the information they receive online. This includes:

• Be in the know on recent cybersecurity threats and developments
• Always verify the source of every email or message through an independent source 
• Conduct regular security audits
• Have backups—always
• Invest in AI or automated systems that can detect these threats in real-time.

Matthew Channell, Owner of TSW Training, says, “One of your first lines of defense against cybersecurity threats is employees who know how to be vigilant and identify spam, scams, and fishy messages. As technology advances, employees should also be given sufficient training to guard against potential cybersecurity threats.”

Exceptional customer service

While AI and technological advancements have continuously positively impacted business operations and efficiency, poor implementation of AI-powered customer service technology has diminished the human touch of quality service. This touch has now been replaced by the impersonal, automated, and repetitive response of ineffective AI agents and systems to customer queries. 

The poor strategic use of AI customer service agents and the reduced human interaction in customer service have frustrated many customers, resulting in increased customer churn.

In 2025, small business owners need to:

• Find the balance between leveraging AI as customer service support and giving customers the personal human touch from the start of their journey.

Nick Marshall, General Manager at Window Factory, emphasizes the importance of hyper-personalization in business, “Customers stay where they are given importance, and creating customized and personal experiences for your customers, especially in customer service, helps build their loyalty and satisfaction, driving more profits and increased brand value in the long run.”

• Businesses must also offer a new and unique experience that their customers may not find elsewhere—like seamless service or self-checkout options or giving visitors a welcome gift or a gift card. 

Murtaza Oklu, Owner of OMO Transfer, explains, “E-commerce and small online businesses should not ignore the impact of a positive customer experience on their overall business performance.” He adds, “Providing omnichannel support, a seamless, easy checkout-to-payment experience for customers, and a fully functional and user-friendly website or e-commerce store are key metrics for a positive customer experience.”

The shift to sustainability and circular economy

With small businesses making up 99.9% of the American economy and the notable increase in small business applications since 2019, these ‘small’ businesses also have a ‘big’ impact on environmental and climate protection. 

Despite larger corporations contributing the most carbon footprint, small businesses that refuse to pursue sustainability and conservation also significantly contribute to global emissions, damaging our environment and causing drastic global climate change.

In 2025, more business owners are:

• Shifting to more sustainable business and circular economy practices as more consumers patronize products and businesses that work for profit and contribute positively to global issues like environmental conservation and energy efficiency.  
• Realizing the dual materiality of corporate sustainability—where businesses impact and are impacted by climate and nature—and that sustainability and business should always go hand in hand.

According to David Speedy, General Manager at Workspace Direct, “From a business perspective, switching to sustainable practices gives small business owners more than just a competitive edge. It also helps reduce operational costs, improve brand image, and provide significant green tax incentives.”

Getting ahead of the game in 2025

Thriving in business doesn’t start and end with producing the right products and making a sale. To be a successful small business owner, you must recognize that the industry is experiencing ever-changing trends and demands, and keeping up with the times is the only way to compete, get ahead, and entice customers to recognize and patronize your brand and business in the long run.