Fifteen years ago, Nashville was lovingly referred to as a big little town. These days, all that has changed. Based on U.S. Census data, the Nashville metro area experienced 1.8 percent growth between 2011 and 2016 – more than double the 0.8 percent national growth rate. All it takes is a look through Nashville’s streets–high rises sprouting like weeds and rush hour traffic that bears the evidence of Nashville’s growth spurt to over 2 million folks.
Despite the growing pains, this is great news for those doing business in Nashville. More people means more demand for goods and services, more opportunities, more niches and more networking possibilities. However, it’s imperative that business owners and employees can keep up with the trends and demand with their city as it grows.
Think Virtual
Considering the fact that there are 111,405 more commuters on the roads than there were just five years ago, it only makes sense to do less business involving commutes and more business virtually. Today’s business professionals choose webinars over traveling to conferences, paperless transactions with online signatures over stacks of forms and virtual assistants over many in-office employees. Virtual assistants are a great way to finally tackle those tasks that never budge from your to-do list.
Home Sweet Office
It’s hard to believe that Nashville area home sales have increased by a whopping 60% in the past 5 years, with commercial real estate reflecting this trend. That means two things to the business owner and entrepreneur:
1. Finding reasonably priced office space is increasingly difficult
2. Your home or residence has increased in value.
Not only has your place of residence increased in economic value, but has taken on new value as a work resource. That’s right, business professionals are beginning to utilize their homes as a workplace resource – whether it’s Airbnb-ing your extra bedroom, or using your home as your office. If a home office is not an option, Nashville has no shortage of coffee shops, restaurants or even libraries as options for meeting spots with clients.
Shared Workspaces
The hottest trend on the professional landscape these days would be shared workspaces. Shared workspaces can range from a communal coffee-shop like space to rentable meeting rooms, cubicles and private offices. Costs can range anywhere from $35/hour to $1000/month with amenities which may include business coaching, Wifi, Starbucks coffee, printing access and much more. The best part about a shared workspace is the built-in networking intrinsic to a shared group of people representing various trades and walks of life. Here are some of Nashville’s Shared Workspace options.
Think Outside the Stereotype
If you still picture the business landscape as middle aged men in suits, think again. Millennials are quickly inserting themselves into the scene and in fact Nashville boasts the second-highest rate of businesses owned by Millenials. The third-highest rate of businesses are owned by women.
That’s right, more than 140,000 women in Tennessee own a business. In addition, 160,000 of Nashville’s residents are foreign born–that’s an increase of over 40,000 since 2010. Once again, widening your view allows you to focus on the expanding options and business opportunities as the landscape becomes richer and more diverse.
There’s no doubt, this is an exciting time to be doing business in greater Nashville as the city grows and thrives. But like anything, if you don’t keep up with the pack, you’ll be left in the dust.
