With such an unpredictable market, especially with the influences of the pandemic, it can sometimes feel impossible to know what 2022 has in store.
Although by making some educated predictions, we’ve identified some of the possible challenges that your business could be facing this year. From new legislation changes to forecasted global issues, here are 5 challenges that you could be facing in 2022.
The Impact of the Pandemic Will Still Be Felt
As much as we would all love the pandemic to be over, we aren’t quite out of the woods yet, with COVID-19 continuing to cause major issues for both businesses and their customers.
Over the past two years, the pandemic has had a tremendous impact on almost all businesses across every industry, changing the way customers behave, altering their buying patterns, and having lasting effects on the way businesses operate.
We’ve learnt that the pandemic cannot just be ignored, which is why it is so important to keep a close eye on the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, to try to do the best we can to ensure the safety of staff and customers of businesses throughout 2022.
The Increasing Climate Issues
As well as the COVID-19 pandemic, another issue dominating the news and affecting businesses over the past few years is climate change. This is an issue that is increasingly becoming more urgent and concerning as we move into 2022, with more pressure on businesses to take more action to prevent further damage to the earth’s warming atmosphere.
Customers are now taking more notice when businesses aren’t taking the right steps towards a better planet and helping to tackle climate change. People are demanding action and are holding businesses accountable if they are having a serious effect on the earth’s climate.
In 2022, businesses need to consider how their actions are impacting our planet and move towards a more sustainable and eco-friendly business model to retain their customers and help fight climate change.
Plastic Packaging Tax
Similar to our previous point about looking after the planet, the Government have announced that they will be bringing in new legislation that aims to reduce plastic packaging usage and encourages businesses from industries like manufacturing, distribution, shipping, etc. to use better recyclable alternatives for their packaging.
Starting in April 2022, all UK manufacturers, importers and consumers who buy/create plastic packaging or goods in plastic packaging will need to pay tax on any plastic packaging that doesn’t contain at least 30% recycled plastic. The rate of this new tax will be £200 per metric tonne of plastic packaging.
If you’re a business within industries like manufacturing, distribution or shipping then this new legislation is likely to affect you and possibly be a challenge for your business once the new rules come into effect. This legislation provides a clear economic incentive for businesses, and without moving towards using more recyclable plastics, costs will increase, and customers are likely to be more reluctant to purchase your products.
Cyber Security
Cyber-attacks are on the rise and aren’t expected to slow down anytime soon.
In the first half of 2021, ransomware attacks had almost doubled compared to 2020, according to a report by Check Point. These evolving cyber security threats are expected to continue to increase in 2022, which may cause challenges for businesses if they aren’t focusing on how their business may be vulnerable online.
In 2022, businesses need to be spending more time and resources ensuring these cyber threats don’t cause any issues, by educating staff on possible cyber threats, finding out how your business may be vulnerable online and putting systems in place to prevent possible cyber-attacks.
Saturated Markets
With the growth of social media and other online marketing channels, these platforms and markets are becoming increasingly more crowded. There is now so much noise across these channels with everyone having something to say online that it can sometimes be a challenge to stand out and get users to actually listen to what you have to say.
The growth of these online platforms isn’t stopping anytime soon, with more businesses joining every day in the hopes of selling and promoting their offerings online. While these online marketing channels can still be beneficial when utilised in the right way, if a business really wants to be heard they might need a more direct approach.
By finding new markets to break into and using more direct marketing strategies, businesses can start to really be seen amongst audiences and get their brand name out there. One example of these more direct marketing approaches is a strategy we know a little something about, that being telemarketing.
When every business is jumping on the bandwagon and starting to use more online marketing channels, going back to more traditional methods can actually be really beneficial. Telemarketing can be a great way of cutting through the noise and having a one-to-one conversation with your target market. It’s a more proactive approach that can help you to actually start generating new customers and building rapport in 2022.
In Conclusion
With all this in mind, businesses must be prepared for the possible challenges that we may be facing in 2022 and be ready to change strategies and go a different direction if things aren’t working out. We all need to be planning ahead and making sure we are able to overcome the obstacles of this new year to ensure we can all stay afloat throughout 2022.