Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Blog

My friend has a daughter who is all about fashion. In her mid-20s, she is convinced that among the necessary expenses of everyday life are housing, food, transportation, phone and fashion. She would rather shop for shoes than eat I suspect. But even she is feeling this economic crunch, and it’s been interesting to see how her buying habits — and those of her millenial generation — are changing.

Millenials have always cared about fashion. But where before it was best to wear designer labels and celebrity-branded items, now with less disposable income, it’s chic to be more conservative and to wear environmentally conscious garments. Less labeling — more authenticity.

Millenials are driving less and biking and walking more. Better yet, they are using technology to do their traveling for them.

Stores like Whole Foods are seeing an increase in sales as millenials (and others) are cooking more and eating out less.

And rather than have an MP3 player, a camera, and a phone, this age group is streamlining in terms of gadgets and going with the Apple iPhone or some other device that allows them to have all the technology they need in one in one handheld wonder.

Keep an eye on these consumers, and they’ll tell us where to head next. Then our challenge is to keep up.

I recently joined Facebook because many of my “younger” friends thought I should be “out there.” I resisted this for as long as I politely could because the whole idea seemed strange to me — sharing details of my life and activities where all could see.

However, once I started investigating it, I realized that what is shared really is solely up to me, and the potential benefits far outweighed any threats. As one of my Facebook friends told me, “It’s a nice discussion with friends all day long.”

The entire experience has caused me to re-examine how I feel about online networking, social media and cyber marketing. I’ve concluded that it is all much ado about something. It really works. However, I ran across a report today that reminded me that amidst all of the noise about online marketing, it’s important to remember the balance of media that is needed to truly reach a wide demographic audience.

This source reported that 21 percent of Americans have still never visited a website, sent an email or searched the web. Hard to believe, I know. But this report stated that in many highly developed countries, such as France, Belgium and Austria, more than 40 percent of the population never uses the Internet. The percent of the population offline in the far East? Believe it or not, it’s 85 percent.

Many segments of the consuming public still prefer print marketing. For instance, the Hispanic community responds eagerly to direct mail marketing, and 85 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 44 read direct mail pieces, while only 53 percent read email marketing messages.

The lesson: use a mix. At least in the near future, a menu of marketing options will help you reach the widest audience most effectively.

This April we marked another Earth Day, which was greeted by numerous media features on ways to preserve our environment, cut our dependence on oil, build more environmentally friendly structures and minimize our carbon footprint.

From a small-business perspective, a green enterprise not only is politically correct, it’s economically shrewd. From an entrepreneurship perspective, green business ideas can be profitable and rewarding. Many of these ideas come through our center, or we read about them in the many trend publications we see. It’s apparent to us that the number of entrepreneurs who want to make an environmental difference while making a living is on the increase.

Here are some of the most interesting ideas we’ve seen lately:

• A French company has created a delivery business using truck-sized cargo bikes instead of motorized trucks and vans. These lightweight vehicles operate with pedal power, weigh about 175 pounds and can carry as much as 350 pounds in a 50-cubic-foot space. These so-called cargocycles are faster, more agile, easier to park and completely non-polluting.
• A student in product design has developed playground equipment that can create enough electricity to power a school classroom by capturing the energy generated when the equipment is in use. For instance, 10 minutes of play on a see-saw generates enough power to light a room for several hours. The energy is transferred to a storage unit through an underground cable. This idea has tremendous applicability in remote areas of developing countries where the need for power is enormous, but the infrastructure and resources are completely lacking. (more…)

This time of year, the smell of freshly cut grass, the song of wrens in the morning or the sight of an oscillating sprinkler in the yard transport me back to the summer afternoons of my childhood filled with the sound of Harry Carey announcing a Cardinals game and the smell of my dad’s incredibly wonderful barbecue on the old Coleman grill.

My dad was a great cook, and outdoor cooking was his specialty. He’d cut swatches of hickory from the backyard trees and then start his charcoal in the late afternoon. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do on that well-seasoned grill.

So you can imagine why I kept thinking about him while I visited with the boys at Spicewine Ironworks to learn more about their custom meat smokers, spices and sauces. (more…)

Mary Paulsell is the writer and editor of The Entrepreneur Next Door Blog. She will introduce you to some of Missouri’s most interesting entrepreneurs, share some amazing stories of entrepreneurial success and impart a bit of helpful information along the way. In addition, our team of seasoned and expert business counselors is available to assist you at any time. Your success is our business.