Focus on future at NAFEM spotlight presentation

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 5, 2007  by James Scarpa

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ATLANTA -- The blossoming of an Orlando, Fla.-sized metropolis in rural Arkansas, willing and able octogenarians in the workforce and the rise of a vast Spanish-speaking trading bloc will be realities of the business climate two decades from now, attendees learned during a NAFEM Show 2007 spotlight presentation.

Gazing into the crystal ball was Steven S. Little, senior consultant for Inc. magazine, author and business growth expert, in a presentation called, "The Future of Opportunity: A 20/20 Vision of Your Success." Seeing the future, Little said, is something that successful growth companies concentrate time, energy and money on.

"Things like population shifts--where we live, how we live and who we live with--will affect who we hire, buy from and sell to forever," he said.

Little, author of "The Seven Irrefutable Laws of Small Business Growth" and a frequent speaker on the corporate circuit, painted a picture of humanity increasingly concentrated in big cities, with the exception of the United States. He pointed out that in 1900, only 12 percent of the world's population lived in cities of at least 1 million. Today, the figure is 50 percent, and by 2025, it is projected to be two-thirds. But in the United States, decentralization will be the norm.

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"People over the age of 50 with means are moving out [of cities] in droves," Little said. "Decentralization will affect every single person in this room."

The exodus will be to smaller markets like Rogers, Ark., Bozeman, Mont., and Asheville, N.C., that have less traffic and crime but amenities like good restaurants that city dwellers expect, he indicated.

By 2025, Rogers will be the size Orlando is today, Little forecast.

"Rogers is building the school system, the golf courses and the Cheesecake Factories," he said. "It's an incredible transformation. I'm not sure what it means. But I'm seeing opportunity moving to smaller markets. That will certainly affect how equipment is purchased and where foodservice will go."

Another formidable trend is the "grayification" of America, he said.

"It's not that there will be more old people," Little said. "Rather, it's that 55 used to be old but isn't anymore. My 16-year-old son will see 75 the way you and I see 55. You will have 85-year-old workers in your businesses in your lifetime. And one of them will be you."

Actors like Jaclyn Smith, age 62, and Sean Connery, age 76, are performing at an age when stars of previous eras were retired, he noted.

"Just 20 years ago, it would have been impossible to have 70-year-old movie stars," Little said. "The point I'm making is that you are going to have workers who are older and customers who are older. It's going to change equipment, it's going to change food preparation--it changes everything."

Graying Americans "have all the money," Little added.

"Seventy percent of discretionary spending in the U.S. is [held] by people 50-plus," he said. "They're going to drive what food tastes like and looks like, how it is served, where it is served and the equipment you use to make it."

Little also pointed to another prospective opportunity of the 2020s: a great trading bloc encompassing Canada, the United States, Mexico and South America. Already, smart business leaders are tailoring their messages to the growing Spanish-speaking population. Some 16 percent of the U.S. population speaks Spanish as a first language, and that figure is projected to reach 20 percent by 2025, Little said.

"The macro force is who you hire and who you sell to, and that will be dramatically affected by the Latino market," Little said. "Someone in your business should speak Spanish because there is money to be made in that arena."

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