3 Numbers Will Dominate Your Members

It's finally happened...we've entered the new decade of the 2020s.

Reflecting on our recent past, there are many uncertainties on a lot of people's minds when looking into the future. This is especially true for your members.

What I do know is that through all of the uncertainty, three specific numbers are going to dominate the success, or failure, of your members. It doesn't matter if you are a professional industry, such as CPAs, attorneys, doctors, real estate agents, or trade groups like manufacturing, pest control, construction, or auto dealers...every single industry will be impacted by these 3 numbers.

One speaks to record growth.

One speaks to a labor shortage.

One speaks to disruption.

RECORD GROWTH

The first number is 100,000,000. This number speaks to growth...record growth in our economy that will occur between now and 2030. This number represents the number of people in the U.S. between the ages of 9 and 34. Demographically and historically speaking, there are a record number of people in the next 25 year span...by a long shot. This mega group replaces the Gen-X generation right before them, which only had 69,000,000 people in it. That is 45% more people entering their prime earning and consumable years of life. As this generation enters their prime earning years in 2020 and beyond, it will drive economic growth in every industry.

LABOR SHORTAGE

The next number is 1,500,000. This number represents the labor shortage issue. If you haven't heard the latest numbers from the Department of Labor it shows that there are over 1,500,000 MORE jobs available than there are unemployed people. That is huge! This is what is contributing to the record unemployment rate that we are now experiencing. With it taking another 10 years for the Millennial generation of 100,000,000 to fully enter the workforce and replace the shortage we have in labor, every industry will be challenged to have enough employees to maximize the growth coming in the economy over the next 10 years. This is why it is so important for all industries to take serious steps to engaging and investing in the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, and Artificial Intelligence. These three key elements will help companies maximize expansion, while minimizing human resources, given that there are not enough new, qualified employees to hire in the coming years. With customer service being priority #1 in our new rate, review, and recommend society, your members can't afford to take on big growth without automation in operations, delivery, and workforce culture. Those who jump into full automation for capacity expansion will win the next decade and capitalize in a big way.

DISRUPTION

The next number is 40%. This number represents market disruption. In 2017, Forbes Magazine stated that due to disruptive forces in the marketplace and speed of change, 40% of all Fortune 500 companies would no longer be around by 2030. That's 200 of the largest companies in the U.S.! Did you hear that? 200 leading U.S. companies in the next 10 years...out of buisness! The challenge for your members is that they don't know which 200. Given this, it is more important than ever for your members to have a sound market analysis and conversations with their customers or vendors about their strategies to compete in this hyper-speed economy. Failure to do so could have your members quickly going downstream, and eventually out of business along with the 200 companies who are predicted to not be around by 2030.

Here's the deal...the next decade is going to be larger than life economically, but only if your members, including your association, move from old school thinking and into the disruptive technology age we now live in. We will see more change in the next 10 years than we probably saw in the previous 50 years. So, the question for you is...are you members informed and are they ready for it?