Businesses are facing critical transitions in 2021 and heading into 2022. As they come out of a pandemic-focused 14 months, they are now looking at a continued focused digital transformation by taking the best of what we learned in 2021 and applying it to becoming a more agile business in the future.

Employers are struggling to hire workers, and productivity has fallen in many service-oriented industries. Inflation is also seen as a considerable threat as governments have continued with deficient spending to keep the economy from spiraling out of control. Many workers were unable to work throughout much of the past 14 months.

Read on for our in-depth look at the major trends facing small businesses heading into the next year and how business owners can prepare now for what's coming in the future.