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This January, I\u2019m celebrating 10 years as a small business owner.\nTo say that a lot has changed since I started my very first website while breastfeeding my infant daughter is an extreme understatement.\nIt\u2019s not just the marketing tactics we rely on or the social platforms we frequent that have changed, though. I think it comes right down to the kinds of questions we\u2019re asking and the visions we\u2019re pursuing.\nOur businesses have matured\u2014and we\u2019re doing our best to keep up.\nSince my job is to both interview small business owners here on the podcast and observe the comings & goings of hundreds of small business owners in my company\u2019s small business network, I have a pretty great vantage point for seeing how the landscape is changing.\nI see 5 key trends shaping small business in 2019.\nOver the next 5 episodes, I\u2019ll be sharing each one with the help of interviews we\u2019ve done over the last 3 years.\nThe reason we can do that is because, well, these new trends are actually nothing new. They\u2019ve been bubbling beneath the surface for years\u2014as all good trends do. In 2019, I see them tipping, reaching the main stream, and affecting the way you look at how you do business.\nSo while these episodes are old, I encourage you to listen to them with new ears and a new perspective. Things have changed\u2014but these interviews represent the future, not the past.\nThe first trend I see shaping 2019 is prioritizing sustainability for your small business.\nNow, what I\u2019m not talking about here is the 4-hour workweek or passive income.\nIn 2019, small business owners are going to make substantive changes to the way their businesses are run to create something that has staying power.\nPeople will worry less about what\u2019s working right now and start thinking more about what\u2019s going to work over the next 10 years.\nFor some, that will mean building more robust teams. For others, it\u2019ll mean prioritizing values for social justice and environmental sustainability and building them into their business models. For still others, it will mean taking a careful look at their offers and paring back to the core things they\u2019ll be able to sell for the long-term.\nWhen I consider this trend, I think about Michael Siriani, who did the work to make his business a certified B Corp, or Jennifer Armbrust, who is exploring feminist business models.\nI also think about Susan Correa, whose line of environmentally-friendly children\u2019s clothes is changing lives in India, or Michelle Fifis, who\u2019s streamlined her business to make her business easier to run and more profitable.\nThere\u2019s also Natalie Sisson who is rebuilding her brand to be more focused on her customers and less on her or Chris Mittelstaedt, who has pioneered feeding the hungry with the product his company can\u2019t use.\nUltimately, the small business sustainability story I wanted to share with you is Michelle Ward\u2019s.\nMichelle has been building her business under the brand When I Grow Up Coach for over 10 years. While things have certainly evolved over time, much of how she runs her business and supports her brand has remained the same.\nMichelle has approached her business with an eye for sustainability from day one\u2014and it\u2019s supported her through the ups and downs of breast cancer and adoption.\nAs you listen to Michelle\u2019s interview\u2014whether it\u2019s your first time or whether ...