How 2020 has changed business trends in Exeter
2020 has been a challenging year for businesses up and down the country. However, here in Exeter, we’ve seen a number of local businesses thrive. Here, we’ll discuss how a strengthened sense of community has helped these businesses succeed. We’ll also take a look at how small business owners can improve the likelihood of their businesses succeeding by learning more about market trends.
Exeter’s Business Success Stories
For many small business owners in Exeter, the pandemic has been the springboard to improve and innovate. Lockdown has left us with more time on our hands, and many people in Exeter have used this time to launch new and successful businesses. This includes Ben Fleming and Quinn Leatherbarrow-Stokes, who have launched Qwerty Beer Box and are already receiving national acclaim. Similarly, a young schoolgirl from Exeter has also set up an environmentally-friendly sanitary towel business called Pads for the Planet. Aged 15 and with only £400 of investment, she’s already turning a profit.
As a result of these success stories, a clear ‘new normal market trend’ has emerged: more Exeter residents have been shopping locally than ever before. As a result, if you’re a small business owner in the area, you need to keep on top of this and monitor the stock market closely. This is because, as people’s shopping habits alter, changes in the stock market will be reflected onto smaller, local companies. Due to this, learning about the stock market will give you an indication of what the market will look like when the coronavirus pandemic ends. Consequently, it’s often a great idea that business owners actively engage in the stock trading market and educate themselves about the forces that guide its movements. By learning more about what moves the price of stocks and shares, business owners will be able to spot opportunities in the market and position their business for success.
How Does This Shape the Future of Business in Exeter?
Thanks to the current situation, many local Exeter residents have discovered that it’s more important than ever to support local businesses rather than relying on large conglomerates. Due to this, throughout 2020, we’ve seen a strengthened sense of community emerge in Exeter, with people looking to help each other.
This has applied on a personal and governmental level. After all, throughout the pandemic, small businesses in Exeter have also been supported by the local government. In Exeter, over 2,200 businesses have taken advantage of some form of financial support, with Exeter City Council dishing out more than £27 million to businesses in the area. For many businesses, this money has proven to be a lifesaver in preserving cash flow during lockdown. It has also allowed them to keep staff on and retain jobs. When industries reopen, this will be vital for improving the local economy.
Looking ahead to 2021, it will be interesting to see whether these trends hold or whether residents begin to slip into old habits. After all, when the economy reopens, we may see that large conglomerates begin to reduce prices in an attempt to tempt buyers back. However, although local businesses often cannot compete with these pricing models, it appears as though consumer buying habits have fundamentally changed as a result of the pandemic, and the community spirit that has caused many people to shop local appears likely to hold.
In 2021, as things return to normal, expect local businesses in Exeter to go from strength to strength. However, as always, this success will not apply uniformly to businesses in the city. Instead, businesses that are most likely to succeed are ones that monitor the stock market trends closely. In doing so, they’ll understand the drivers for success and will be able to position themselves well for any further change.
