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2024 was quite the year for change and it doesn't look like the pace will be letting up in 2025. Below I’ve captured my biggest pieces of advice for navigating the business landscape as an entrepreneur in 2025.

So what changed? The biggest shift I saw in 2024 was a slow down in consumer spending. And if people are spending less at the till, brands aren’t making as much money, agencies aren’t being given enough campaigns and people are getting laid off so even less money is being spent at the till.

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And I've seen this play out in my creative community. From freelancers and full timers being out of work to others who are having to sell their homes to keep their agencies afloat.

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But sellers are carrying on as normal, the coaches, consultants and people running the group programs. The message goes: we have the framework to help you build a thriving business with a consistent flow of customers that will make you rich and happy.

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What they are ignoring is the reality that people have less money: inflation, looming trade wars, job losses, reduced agency budgets, etc. , etc.

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They are mostly carrying on like there is ‘nothing to see here’ but you can spot them because at no point in their marketing or their program do they talk about the earning power and spending potential of your ICP (ideal client persona).

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And then the general push in messaging is ‘AI is making things worse for people” or “AI can make you rich.” There is no in between.

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And while that’s the bad stuff, thanks to technology it's also never been easier to start a business and grow a niche brand that is different, distinct and able to attract a core consumer base.

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While things are changing, where should we focus on growing relationships and market share?

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AI, economic changes, and shifting attention spans.

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AI: real ways it can help your marketing and productivity.

We can't talk about anything without the mention of AI anymore. To be completely honest I sat on Chat GPT for the first year. It was a very murky playground of people telling me “here’s how it makes you rich”, and for most of my life processing this message as a red flag has served me well. Also, the idea that a machine that is making a best guess at what word comes next with information derived from the open web was going to displace so many jobs felt wrong.

But I got my head into it last year and saw a great deal of practical uses for Chat GPT as a business owner who is trying to reach people and grow my market share.

1. I was able to use Chat as a brainstorming tool to allow me to flesh out ideas and build some cool stuff. I could move quickly instead of waiting to run things past my partners and advisors. Instead I could go to them with something more fully formed that we could build on.
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2. I’ve leveraged it for marketing. Everything I do for clients and building my business is centred around the ICP (ideal client persona). Over the last few years I can humbly say I have mastered the ability to craft ICPs and audience personas for clients. And Chat has made the process more data driven and helped me see connections that I may have overlooked without it. Not only does it help me build profiles from real people, it lets me take those insights to build better products to meet their needs and deploy marketing to get their attention.

AI is fundamentally changing marketing and it's going to have an impact on everything we do in the future. For me it has helped me create more in a shorter time, helped me push through obstacles when I was struggling to figure something out on my own, improved my overall productivity and freed up time. I also just really enjoy using it to help create value for others every day.

I will also point out that the hype-train is real and not going anywhere from those trying to convince you it's a way to get rich quick and help you make money while you sleep. But they have always been there and always will; AI is just the latest technology trend they are latching themselves to.

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Adaptability is essential

I started my career as a ‘strategist’ in 2019, just before the pandemic hit. The clients I ran into the most friction with were those asking for “an implementable plan of action”, firstly that's not what strategy is and eventually I just had to turn these people away.

But why did they want this? Because that's all they knew. Gone are the days of the 5 year plan. Just look at the fluctuations we’ve seen in the last 10 years; pandemic, inflation, regulation, government…

The landscape our businesses operate in is rapidly changing and to stay salient we need to be better at adapting and iterating our approach to what the market needs. Strategy (business, brand and marketing) is an ongoing thing. You’re wasting your time if you want a consultant to come in and tell you what to do, write a report and then leave. This is why I’m recommending business owners consider looking beyond just focusing on operations but embrace becoming strategists in their own business.

Because, when the owner becomes the strategist of their own firm, the organisations can become dynamic in the way they operate and serve while maintaining a foundation of being driven by their principles.
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Principles of marketing are timeless

I’d be rich, and I mean really rich if I said “here is the magic bullet - The one that keeps clients coming back, gets you rich and happy”. But I need to sleep at night and be able to look at myself in the mirror.

I see this promise made every day on social media posts, webinars and DMs - the slew of people saying they figured it out, they know the secret, it worked for them, got them rich and they can teach it to you.

If there was a guaranteed blueprint for this in theory it could be scalable and Disney wouldn't be making redundancies.

I've read all the marketing books and seen how multinational brands apply them. The fundamentals of marketing and brand building are timeless, it's the technology that changes which we have to adapt to.

Where should you start? Look at the people your business wants to serve and how you want your business to serve you. At the intersection is how you build the thing no one else can compete with.

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​Attention spans are at an all time low.

Thanks to short form video people are used to getting their satisfaction from the dopamine hit in shorter timespans. And your marketing needs to do better at grabbing their attention and keeping them engaged, not getting sidetracked and moving on to the next shiny thing. Whether that is a post or landing page it needs a killer hook and compelling copy to keep them there. Also, the value of information has shifted, with so many counterparts offering a ‘freebie’ makes it harder for you to differentiate. The focus needs to be on creating deeper engagement with your audience and understanding the journey to purchase.

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Reconnecting with your business.

Do you remember why you got into this in the first place? For me it was the freedom and flexibility to do more meaningful work that felt fulfilling and allowed me to be in control of my financial security.

So while ‘how’ we go about that is changing (since 2017 I have been a paid photographer, videographer, editor, agency owner, consultant, coach, facilitator, business, brand and marketing strategist) ‘why’ we go about it is probably still the same.

Your business should serve your life, not consume it, so if you are an entrepreneur who:

• Has a spark of an idea and wants to ignite it into a thriving business?
• Already has a business but feels stuck and unsure of the next step?
• Loves your business but wants to move into the ‘next phase’ of growth?
• Can’t keep going the way you are and needs a new direction?
• Wants to pivot to something new without throwing away everything you have?

You're in the right place. Ultimately I believe that focus on core principles like value creation, customer connection, and brand differentiation are what will see any business thrive over chasing the next trend or tactic. Your core principle will be the only way to survive the rapid changes that happen around us.

Sid.

P.S. We need more honest conversations in business. So let me know which one of the above entrepreneurs you are and what your biggest struggle is right now?

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Connect with me here; https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidsaraiya/​

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