The small business landscape has never been more complex. Shifting consumer expectations, ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and evolving workforce dynamics are forcing business owners to rethink traditional strategies and embrace more adaptive ways of operating.

A decade ago, the playbook looked different. Today, businesses face a swirl of uncertainty — tariff fluctuations, inflationary pressure, late payments and unpredictable policy shifts. Small businesses sit at the epicenter of these changes, asking: What’s truly different? What lessons still apply? And how can we continue to adapt and grow in this high-stakes environment?

A new reality: Pressure and possibility coexist

Challenges are nothing new for entrepreneurs. But today’s pressures are more intense, more layered and more sustained. From interest rate uncertainty to global trade tensions, small businesses often lack the cushion larger enterprises rely on to absorb these shocks.

Yet in that vulnerability lies strength. Small businesses are uniquely agile. They can pivot faster, stay closer to customers and innovate with purpose. The ability to adapt swiftly is what separates those who merely survive from those who grow stronger in adversity.

Related: 7 Reasons to Trust Your Gut When Starting a Business

How today’s small businesses are future-proofing for growth

1. Start with financial clarity

Cash flow is the lifeline of any small business. But clarity goes beyond just watching the bottom line — it means being proactive about payments, forecasting accurately and understanding how external economic trends affect your operations. Late payments and rising costs are disruptive, but preventable.

Business owners should work closely with accountants, bookkeepers, and local business groups to interpret policy and economic shifts. Staying informed isn’t optional — it’s your edge. Leaders who build financial agility into their operations will be far better positioned to seize opportunities and weather shocks.

2. Build operational resilience

The pandemic reminded us how fast things can change. Businesses that successfully moved online, adapted their customer experience or adopted new tools proved how vital resilience and nimbleness are.

But resilience isn’t just for crisis response — it should be baked into your day-to-day operations. Continuity plans, regular process reviews and a willingness to iterate based on feedback are key. Agility is no longer a competitive advantage — it’s a survival trait.

3. Innovate with intention

Innovation doesn’t mean chasing every new tool or trend. As AI and automation reshape industries, small business owners must ask: Is this the right investment now? Will it help solve a real challenge or improve efficiency?

True innovation is rooted in purpose. Whether it’s embracing digital tools that streamline operations or aligning your brand with social values, growth comes from clarity, not complexity. Technology is a powerful enabler—but only when aligned with your mission and customer needs.

Related: How User-Generated Content Helps You Build Trust and Credibility

4. Stay deeply connected to customers

Consumer expectations are evolving fast, and agility depends on staying in sync with those shifts. Case in point: nearly 90% of U.S. consumers prefer to pay by card — yet many small businesses still don’t accept them. Adapting to preferences like this strengthens loyalty and accelerates cash flow.

But flexibility is just part of the picture. Transparent communication — especially when external factors like regulation or supply chain disruptions arise — helps manage expectations and builds trust. Strong customer relationships aren’t just good for business — they’re the foundation for longevity.

Final takeaway: Lean into the unpredictable

In today’s unpredictable world, the most successful small business owners aren’t avoiding change — they’re leaning into it. They’re arming themselves with insights, embracing flexibility and leading with purpose. That mindset — not any single tactic — is what future-proofs a business.

If you want to grow your wealth faster than the average person, I suggest trying to think in two timelines that move together in unison.

The first timeline is analyzing what’s going on right now. The second timeline is analyzing what could happen in the future, with a consistent spread. It’s like having a dual computer processor always running in your brain.

I’ve been thinking in two timelines since 1999, when I got my first finance job out of college. Thinking this way was key to me building enough wealth to escape corporate America in 2012. I haven’t stopped thinking this way since.

Example Of Thinking In Two Timelines For Greater Wealth

The classic example to explain my suggestion is to people who are currently working.

• Timeline #1: How do you feel about your job now?
• Timeline #2: How do you think you will feel in ten years if you are still doing your same job today?

Most people I talk to never think about question two when they first start their job. They are thrilled to be there and full of optimism. But I want you to think about question #2 because I’m trying to get you to forecast your misery.

If you can approximate when you’ll be miserable at your job, you can take steps to prepare for when that misery comes. But if you don’t think about question #2 consistently in two timelines, by the time you are miserable, you are screwed. You have little-to-no options for getting out of a suboptimal situation.

Saving And Investing Enough To Break Free From Misery

When I was told I had to get in at 5:30 a.m. and stay past 7 p.m. to ensure I got the appropriate research from my colleagues in Asia for clients, I knew I couldn’t last 40 years in a career like my parents did. Instead, I made a more realistic assessment: how long could I conceivably last before burning out completely? The answer I came up with was age 40.

So I calculated how much I would need by then to have the courage to walk away. That number was $3 million. Depending on how the net worth was structured, it could generate potentially $100,000 a year in passive income. From that moment on, saving and investing $3 million became my mission. I constantly visualized what life would look like at age 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and beyond—free from the grind with that money in mind.

This two-timeline approach—present-day hustle paired with future-day dreaming—kept me focused and motivated. I truly believed that if I didn’t hit that net worth target, I might short-circuit my life from all the stress and hours. I was already beginning to suffer from plantar fasciitis, uncontrollable allergies, and weight gain.

In the end, I left three months before my 35th birthday thanks to an unexpected variable: the ability to keep all my deferred compensation and receive a six-figure severance package after 11 years at my last firm. That severance covered five years of normal living expenses. With that financial cushion in hand, I knew it was now or never—so I took the leap of faith.

Using Two Timelines To Become A Better Investor

Now let’s apply my two-timeline approach to investing.

1) Present Timeline:

Investors have done incredibly well since 2020, especially those who bet on tech. With the S&P 500 up more than 20% in both 2023 and 2024, the investor class has built far more wealth than expected. Real estate has also performed strongly since 2020, although some markets—like Texas and Florida—are correcting. Every investor should look at what their net worth was in 2020 and celebrate.

2) Future Timeline (10–20 Years Ahead):

If you or your parents don’t invest aggressively, life could stay in hard mode indefinitely. The wealth gap has already widened dramatically since 2020, and it’s likely to keep widening. In 10 to 20 years, buying a primary residence might be next to impossible. Finding a job that pays a livable wage could also become increasingly difficult as AI disrupts more industries.

What should we do?

The Plan To Ensure The Future Will Be OK

I’ve developed a general game plan to give my family a fighting chance to compete in an increasingly competitive and uncertain future.

1) Hold onto our primary residence and at least two rental properties to stay long real estate.

Real estate is one of the most reliable ways to build and preserve wealth over time. By holding onto property, we not only benefit from potential appreciation and rental income, but we also protect ourselves from being priced out of housing in the future. Owning one rental property for each child is something you should consider.

2) Build two 529 plans that equal the current four-year cost of the most expensive university today.

College tuition continues to rise faster than inflation, and there’s no sign of it slowing down. Fully funding 529 plans now ensures our kids will have the freedom to choose quality education without being burdened by debt—or burdening us. They will also have the option to attend the best college that accepts.

3) Invest at least the gift tax limit every year in each child’s custodial investment account and Roth IRAs.

By consistently contributing early, we harness the power of compounding. The goal is to build a financial foundation that allows them to pursue careers they enjoy, not just ones that pay the bills or seemed “high status” by society.

4) Aim to invest at least $100,000 a year in risk assets for the next 20 years for ourselves.

To combat inflation and maintain purchasing power, consistent investing in equities, venture capital, and other growth-oriented assets is critical. This aggressive approach is our hedge against stagnation and the rising cost of living. It won’t be easy as a writer, but I’ll somehow find a way through other activities.

5) Build $500,000 in private AI company exposure to hedge against a difficult job market in the future.

AI is both a threat and an opportunity. By investing in private AI companies or funds, we aim to participate in the upside of technological disruption, rather than simply becoming victims of it.

Why a $500,000 Investment in AI Makes Sense

Ever since 2017, I’ve been grappling with the reality of having to pay for college starting in 2036. Based on current projections, we’re looking at around $450,000 for public and $750,000 for private university tuition over four years. That’s a staggering amount—especially considering most of what’s taught in school today is freely available online.

One solution is to guide them toward attending community college for two years before transferring to an in-state university. Another is to educate them ourselves, or at least as much as we possibly can before they are adults.

But perhaps the most compelling solution is to invest in the very technology that’s likely to disrupt traditional education the most: artificial intelligence.

The Potential Returns On A $500,000 Investment

At first glance, allocating $500,000 to private AI investments may seem excessive. But when you compare that to the potential $450,000–$750,000 cost of college in 2036, it starts to look like a rational hedge.

The logic goes: if I’m willing to spend $450,000 to $750,000 on college in 2036 per kid, then I should absolutely be willing to invest $500,000 or more in the very companies that might make traditional education obsolete. Heck, I should be willing to invest $900,000 – $1.5 million in private AI companies now that I really think about it.

Here’s a breakdown of how a $500,000 investment grows over 10 and 20 years at different compound annual growth rates (CAGR):

Over the past decade at Improbable and now with Somnia, I have worked on solving some of the hardest problems in the new digital age. We’ve learned a great deal from powering massively multiplayer video games, immersive virtual events and defense simulations so sophisticated they got me sanctioned by Russia…

But in the process of building tools for virtual worlds, we discovered something far more foundational: The infrastructure we needed for the metaverse turned out to be exactly what businesses need to operate in the AI era.

Like many, we expected that the surge of interest in the “metaverse” in 2021 would be a tipping point. After all, we’d been working on persistent virtual spaces since 2012. But the deeper we got into the problem, the more we realized the infrastructure wasn’t ready. Virtual worlds that allowed thousands of people to move freely across different platforms with their identity and assets intact simply weren’t feasible with existing systems.

Blockchain, on paper, offered the right ingredients: user ownership, decentralized control and the ability for different developers to build on shared standards. However, when we tried to use it for real-time interaction, it collapsed under the weight. These systems were too slow, too expensive and entirely unsuited to applications that needed responsiveness.

Imagine trying to run a Zoom call where every frame of video had to be verified by thousands of computers before it could appear on screen. That’s what we were dealing with.

Eventually, we faced a choice. Either continue building applications on infrastructure that couldn’t support them — or build the infrastructure ourselves. What we ended up creating, Somnia, started as a necessity for gaming. But it has become a blueprint for how business will operate in a future shaped by artificial intelligence, digital identity and real-time interaction.

Related: Is Metaverse the Future for Business?

The new demands of digital business

Three trends are colliding to reshape how modern organizations operate. First, AI is no longer just a chatbot; it’s an actor. Agents powered by large language models are starting to participate in digital ecosystems. In our testing, we’ve seen AI agents generate thousands of transactions per second simply through their interactions with each other and with users.

Second, digital ownership is shifting from a niche crypto concern to a mainstream expectation. People increasingly want control over their digital identities, possessions and reputations — and they want these assets to persist and travel with them.

Third, businesses are shifting from transaction-focused to relationship-focused models, where continuous engagement in digital environments drives loyalty and growth.

The infrastructure to support this convergence didn’t exist. So we built a system that could process over one million transactions per second, about 20,000 times faster than traditional blockchain systems. To put this in business terms: Imagine the difference between a corner store that can serve 50 customers a day and a Walmart Supercenter that can serve 50,000.

Beyond gaming: Business applications and cultural impact

This leap in performance has implications that go far beyond gaming and drive real business outcomes. Retailers can track inventory changes across thousands of stores in real-time for a fraction of a penny per update. Manufacturers can build secure, verifiable supply chains that don’t compromise speed. Financial institutions can process compliance checks, document verification and settlements with both transparency and efficiency.

But the bigger shift is cultural. As AI begins to automate routine tasks, we are entering what I call the “Fulfilment Economy,” as mentioned in my book Virtual Society: The Metaverse and the New Frontiers of Human Experience. This is not just about productivity. It is about meaning. People are looking for purpose, community and creativity in the digital environments where they now spend increasing portions of their lives.

AI helps by saving time and taking on the burden of process, allowing us to focus our energy on more valuable activities. These environments go beyond entertainment. They are places of work, collaboration, identity and economic activity. In many cases, AI agents will participate alongside us.

For businesses, this presents a strategic shift. When your users don’t just consume your products but contribute to and build on your platform, your role changes. You’re no longer just a provider; you’re a host. Your brand becomes part of an ecosystem — one that thrives on participation, portability and interaction. Supporting this shift requires infrastructure that can scale in real time, preserve ownership across environments and connect disparate platforms into a single seamless experience.

Related: The Future of Business in the Age of Technology

What comes next

Most business leaders aren’t thinking about blockchains, consensus algorithms or transaction throughput — and they shouldn’t have to. What matters is whether your company is ready for a world where intelligent agents transact alongside humans, where users carry persistent digital identities between services and where engagement happens in real time, not just during scheduled interactions.

The hype cycle around the metaverse may have passed, but the vision of shared, persistent, intelligent digital environments is more relevant than ever. What started as a solution for virtual worlds is now becoming the foundation for how businesses will deliver value in an interconnected, AI-driven future.