Long before the advent of the digital age, buying something meant getting into your car and driving to the nearest store – with word of mouth as its key tool for promotions and are staffed by people who knows a handful of things about you. And the moment you move or visit to another town with a different set of shops, all the knowledge on how you consume products are gone.

But today, businesses now have the ability to keep valuable customer insights right at the tip of their fingers.

Unlike when only the big players can have access to this pool of knowledge, savvy small businesses is able to do the same things and more – now, they can actively gather the same amount of information with the aid of a wide array of digital techniques.

The term digital carries several definitions, but for small and medium enterprises, the word meant coworking, cloud computing, social media, online sales, search engine optimization, social graphs, mobile technology and the power to reach out to several talents from all around the world.

Small businesses found aid in the wide array of accessible digital technology of today. Offering startups the same opportunities that used to be only available to large enterprises, companies can now garner customer data, create market offers to customers, can help transient customers feel local, and gives them the ability to encourage customers to be part of a large community within hours – instead of years.

Managing director accounting software developer Intuit, Pernille Bruun-Jensen said in an article from The Guardian that the changes in today’s industry is surely exciting him. A large majority of today’s businesses are now online – either purely (12%) or partially (58%).

Amongst the large variety of modern techniques being used by several businesses across different industries, there are 3 distinct technologies that are used by many.

A big part of how SMEs are able to conduct operations online is through the onset of cloud computing – the capacity of one user to store documents and access services online instead of utilizing a software from their own computers. Surveys from last 2011 say that a third of small enterprises around the world are in the cloud, using one or more internet-based apps excluding email.

Startups are also taking advantage of social media. Bruun-Jensen says that its concept is exceptionally exciting to him and is being taken seriously by today’s industry as it is a simple and inexpensive way of meeting brand new potential customers.

45% of today’s SMEs gain success using social media and allocate twice as much of their budget as large companies do to it. Should there be the unfortunate event of falling short among your local community, you can expand your reach further, globally even, with the help of internet.

Digital technology isn’t just changing how businesses curate customer-centric products and strategies, it’s also slowly destroying the ideology of one single permanent office.  Today’s generation of young professionals can now take their work anywhere they want. Mobile phones and the internet have allowed them to work during normal hours, on weekends or even at night.

Skype, cloud-based customer management tools such as SalesForce and Nutshell has allowed companies to hire employees from almost everywhere in the world. Some businesses even run without a physical office.

Coworking has allowed startups to lease desks, private offices and even virtual offices for a cost-efficient rate. Operations can run with ease through a shared workplace that allows you to not only strengthen collaboration within your team but with several other teams or individuals as well.

SMEs flock these flexible workspaces not just for its rates and great amenities but for its immeasurable community of passionate people. Not only does it help them widen their network, it also introduces them to a large pool of creativity that can inspire innovation.

Commercial real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield published a report early last February discussing the current trends that are powering coworking’s growth in Asia Pacific.

In Asian countries, the shared workspaces market has undergone tremendous changes over the past couple of years and even back during the year 2015, the pace that the region was going was astounding.

Executive Producer of the coworking conference series Global Coworking Unconference Conference, Liz Alam, said in the first GCUC in China that at the rate that the movement is going in Asia, China specifically, has made coworking in the US look as if it’s in a stand still.

According to the aforementioned research, memberships are growing at a high rate than its deemed global average of 40%. Operators have become significant demand stimulus across the region as the industry leases more than 8 million square feet within the span of the last two years.

The latest study entitled “Asia Pacific Coworking Trends: Space is Now a Business Solution” cited 6 major key drivers in the APAC market.

Much similar to the trends in the US and Europe, large corporations in Asia are now taking over coworking spaces in the aim of attracting and retaining top talent as well as furthering their business growth.

The growing demand from these big players plays a significant role in the expansion of the movement in several Asian cities over the last two years. The memberships acquired by enterprise clients have doubled over the last 12 months. In addition to this, SMEs are also utilizing the model in developing their business.

Developers are also starting to see the value of offering versatile spaces. Landlords and other real estate providers are embracing the movement by partnering with existing developers and giving them access to outdoor event spaces.

Though traditionally, developers would simply invest in spaces and would let coworking operators provide the design as well as technology, there are certain ones who are going down the path on their own by creating their very own brands.

Around the world, lifespan of known companies has been deteriorating over the years. The aforementioned report said that only 12% of companies have survived between the years of 1955 and 2016. Creative destruction and several market disruptions have driven them out of business due to the scarcity of dynamism and innovation that are needed to survive today’s hypercompetitive global.

And because of this, tech leaders and other conglomerates are either partnering with providers or creating their own in-house shared offices, recognizing its ability to foster innovation.

Coworking spaces allows them to work with talented developers, budding entrepreneurs, startups and other creative professionals that can aid them in building and improving business solutions.

Despite Japan’s traditional culture of running after corporate employment, things seem to be undergoing significant changes. The report predicts that the year 2018 would transform the coworking landscape in Tokyo. Japanese companies are reportedly recognizing the latent demand for shared offices.

Well-known provider WeWork has also started to enter the aforementioned market, sparking additional competition to developing operators in Asian countries.

One significant factor that’s paving the road to expansion is the merging and acquisitions of several coworking operators around the world. Cushman & Wakefield says that the pioneers of the movement are uniting as well as scouting for new investors in the aim of strengthening their foothold in growing markets. The said strategy allows them to learn from well-developed models and curate brand new services.

At the same time, it’s also useful in fending off competition. Local providers are struggling to stay relevant as established operators push for aggressive expansions and is in need of backing from bigger brands. Bigger brands, on the other hand, can greatly benefit from smaller players as they can aid in guaranteeing a successful entry into a new market.

Cushman & Wakefield adds that we can expect mergers and acquisition deals to take off this year as the competition within the region heats up.

SEA is home to a few of the world’s most versatile and fastest growing economies. The respective government support and funding that’s powering the development of startups and incubators in the regions has accordingly accelerated the evolution of coworking spaces.

A private equity firm in Vietnam has invested in creating a new share workspace; Indonesia’s Rework has received funding from ATM Capital and Jakarta’s EV Hive has joined forces with Clapham Collective. In addition to this, corporates with much influence in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Manila have started occupying coworking spaces.

No longer just an alternative, the movement in Asian countries has proven itself to be a business solution for companies of all sizes from across all industries. It has successfully revolutionized the real estate market with its benefits and wide array of services.

Experience what’s it like to work in Asia and join our very first coworking space.

Though originally targeted towards today’s young generation of remote workers, tech start-ups and solo-preneurs, coworking spaces are expanding its reach further as they tap into the market of well-established corporations.

Experts from Deskmag Magazine says that large enterprises are expected to become members of the movement over the next following years. Highly-acclaimed providers such as Mindspace now host Microsoft and Samsung as its first corporate subscribers while Serendipity Labs provide workspaces to Amazon and multinational conglomerate General Electric.

Big players are intentionally integrating coworking into their respective business strategies. JLL’s Director of EMEA Research Karen Williamson, said in an article that corporations are running after the competitive edge that these shared offices provide them with, allowing them to gain access into new possible products and ideas that they could have never found in the premises of their own offices.

Defined as the combination of corporate business and coworking, Corporate Working remains true to the original concept of its predecessor. Adding certain specifications and modifications in the endeavor of meeting the prerequisites of traditional companies, it carries with it the versatility found in flexible workspaces and the community it prides itself in – making sure that the needs of both employers and employees are met.

Behind the growing trend are certain factors that are driving it into popularity. The highest on being innovation and collaboration – both of which are commonly found in strategies in establishing a ‘forward-thinking’ culture within big players and companies.

Susan Harrison of Serendipity Labs’ Sales and Enterprise Solutions noted in an article that businesses with the aforementioned factors automatically gain an advantageous position in capturing innovative opportunities. Simultaneously, start-ups also benefit from collaborating alongside them. These budding organizations appreciation the validation they get from the big players as they become a reputable provider of products and services.

Accenture’s research on harnessing the power of entrepreneurs further supports Harrison’s statement by reporting that 78% of the participating corporate executives believe that collaboration is needed in order to tap innovation.

Another obvious driving force is its corporate economic efficiency. In hindsight, the potential of decreasing overhead costs and the chance of redirecting the savings somewhere else is the main rationale of large companies. Mindspaces’ Marketing Vice President, Oded Israeli, explains that early adapters aren’t the only ones who understand the movements’ benefits. The market’s big players are now locating teams into these shared offices and are growing an appetite for its environment.

As the break new ground within these shared offices, they have also come up with a new use for them.

Leveraging the modern office layout that community providers take pride in, big players have made coworking spaces their new playground in terms of expanding network and testing out foreign markets.

JLL’s Williamson explains that with the movement’s short-term lease, entrepreneurs can now easily experiment with the present market overseas. They can easily travel to another country and gain access to its local trading as majority of today’s large scale providers allow members to switch locations from one city to another.

By joining a coworking organization, companies can easily become global companies.

Each of us have once experienced a rough transition towards a new chapter of our life. When we reached our teenage years, we ventured out of our comfort zones in attempt of finding our true selves amidst the peer influence and societal pressures. As we entered college, this journey continued on. We slowly figured out what we wanted to be in the future and pursued it with great passion.

Now that we’re out in the real world, it felt like we were back to square one – each lesson we learned in school contradicting the laws of this modern jungle. Standing amidst the storm that is creating a career for ourselves and making it on our own as an independent young adult, we can’t help but feel out of control.

When we feel stuck, how do we keep moving forward on our travels?

The most crucial first step that we should make is to own up to everything in our life.

It’s time for us to accept that we are now in full control and that blaming anyone or anything else for the troubles we are experiencing will not get us anywhere. Making peace with this now known fact about your life accelerates your personal growth journey.

If there’s anything in your current situation that bothers or upsets you, you have full authority of taking action. Nothing – or no one else – can make you feel happier and content with what you have other than yourself.

Once you have embraced this, start identifying the certain parts or aspects of your life that you want to improve. The term personal growth is very broad and could mean improving different qualities of ourselves or skills. Write down the areas you want to ameliorate on a piece of paper or maybe at the very first page of your brand new planner.

For example, you may want to polish your communication skills and public speaking capabilities or you could master a new technical ability. The more specific you become the better.

After doing so, follow these three steps:

A fool-proof way of both learning and enhancing an expertise is by reading about it.

Don’t just read one or two books about your chosen subject or field. Instead, collect five to ten materials and this will dramatically increase your overall knowledge of that specific discipline. Experts suggest using audiobooks such as Audible so that the time you spend commuting can be used to learn something new.

People often mistake networking as the act of finding as many experts and professionals as you can for the sole reason of “cherry picking their brain”. Majority of the entrepreneurial community have called this off, saying that one should always consider the value that they can give to the other party as well.

With that said, keep in mind that you should build meaningful relationships and friendships that are for long term. These strong connections that you make are far more valuable that the information you can pick from someone else’s mind for 10 minutes.

It’s best to join platforms such as Eventbrite or Meetup to converge with like-minded individuals as you learn about your chosen field. You can even share offices with them by joining coworking spaces. The well-known flexible workspace takes pride in curating an environment for professionals of different fields and cultivating them into community-woven offices that promotes creative collaboration.

A large number of today’s workforce is jumping into the movement in the endeavor of expanding their network as they grow their business and studies have backed this up by publishing reports stating just how happy its members have become since joining.

Participate in seminars and other live events not only for that one discipline you are focusing on but other skills as well. Use these gatherings to expand your reach further. Check if any conference is being held in your city or nearby town. You can also give boot-camps a try to get a full immersion experience.

Providers of coworking spaces also hold in-house symposium and conventions with well-known experts and sometimes its hosts are even their own members. This specific feature of the movement is another contributing factor as to why more and more solo-preneurs and freelancers are making the move.

Make the effort of attending them each year. Taking the time to truly learn is one of the best investments you can make for yourself and will surely yield high results.

Do these steps for each skill that you want to build and continuously escalate your personal growth.

British economist Frances Cairncross – together with a large number of social and media theorists – predicted the death of distances during the 1990s when the advent of the internet spread across the world.

They argued that if every single place in the world can instantly connect with one another, space itself would slowly become irrelevant. So much so, that we could go to work without going to our offices. Immediate communication with almost anyone in the office would soon render workspaces obsolete.

And though the concept seemed imminent, humankind still have somehow charted to a different path than the one predicted by Cairncross.

Despite of the global and instantaneous communication handed to us by today’s technology, a large number of us still commute to work every single day – and it’s not exactly the best part of our work day.

This trend that we seem to be following for almost a century now is commonly known as the paradox of place.

The anomaly that places and locations are seemingly less important due to how connective modern technology have made it more easier for us to connect with one another, anywhere we are yet at the same time, it remains to be a critical factor due to the pressing realization that it is a prerequisite to interaction and innovation.

A living proof of this is that though telecommuting continues to grow and has created significant disturbances in how humankind works, we cannot ignore the growing popularity of coworking spaces.

More and more professionals are leaving behind the traditional way of making a living, in exchange for the chance of roaming the earth as digital nomads or remote workers. Simultaneously, shared offices such as the coworking movement are growing by large numbers as an answer to the growing need of a third place where in people aggregate and share knowledge – both old and new.

Experts predict that the paradox of place is surely here to stay as humans are social creatures by nature. Places and locations will remain necessary but at the same time, modern technology will continue to lessen its importance.

Due to the pressing need for actual social interaction, a handful of companies who have allowed telecommuting, recently made policy changes and have called their remote workers back in the office.

And with such modifications, it opens up the question of whether or not flexible work hours is an effective workplace strategy. But JLL Managing Director Peter Miscovich that there’s no black and white answer of yes or no. He adds that the binary question underestimates the complexity of workplace strategy. Miscovich suggests that companies and even office space providers need to curate versatile strategies in order to attract this generation’s digital talent. ManpowerGroup Solutions recent survey reported that 63 percent of job candidates today believe that they don’t really need to be stationed at their desks to get work done. In addition to this, 45 percent of respondents say that flexibility is a key motivating factor in their career decisions.

Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report strengthens this claim when their results reported that the happiest participants are those who don’t spend their whole week in the office – yet at the same time, not spending a majority of it from their respective homes.

Curating a workplace environment that allows professionals to have a balance between concentration and collaboration for a diverse workforce creates better results.