Entrepreneur.com has a collection of some of the more interesting forecasts for small businesses in 2011:
1. More companies will use direct deposit to save money and help the environment.
2. Companies that take advantage of tax breaks expiring this year will have more growth capital for 2011.
3. New high-tech methods of reaching customers will be hot next year, including smartphone-readable QR codes.
4. More small-business functions will be done on free, cloud-based platforms.
5. Smaller stores will rule — that lower overhead will give sharp operators an edge.
Photo by thegreenhead.com.