Say what you will about millennials and all the stereotypes devoted to complaining about how lazy, entitled, and spoiled they are, but they are the new generation of entrepreneurs. Not only do older business owners need to keep up with Generation Y as both consumers and competitors. Sometimes that involves embracing those stereotypes for the product of growth and evolution. If you don’t keep up, you’re just going to get left in the dust.
As consumers, millennials are an impatient group. They don’t have time for the old tactics. Passive marketing won’t work on this generation. They believe more in two-way marketing. Rather than waiting for out-of-touch ads to come to them, millennials tell businesses what they want and when they want it. They want their ads quick, relevant, and attention grabbing. They want apps, online shopping, and fast shipping.
As business owners, millennials already know how to market to their target demographic – themselves. They also know how to sell to older generations, which is one way they differ from seasoned entrepreneurs. Millennials don’t mind going with the flow. They’ll go old-school if it means getting business, whereas their competitors from previous generations are mostly loathed to update their practices.
You lose out on so much money when you don’t pay attention to the current generation, though. After all, if you don’t give them what they want, they’re happy enough to find someone who will. At this point, if you’re not ready to evolve your business practices, you might as well say goodbye to future profits.
