Metaverse is something you’ve already heard of. Apparently, you’ve heard or seen something about it. But are you actually aware of it? In our experience, the majority of small company entrepreneurs we know don’t. But they should.
We are in a virtual world. It’s genuine, however. The internet has the potential to create its own economy. There’s little doubt that Mark Zuckerberg is a driving force behind this movement, which has so far been spearheaded by him and his company, Facebook, under the name Meta. However, the major companies are getting in on the action… and in a big way.
In the metaverse, Microsoft is putting its products in a better position for improved corporate cooperation. As a result of Google’s failure with Google Glass, the company is working on a more user-friendly and less cringe-worthy version of wearable technology. Similar gadgets are being developed by other firms, such as Magic Leap. In order to fund their “vision” for the metaverse, gaming business Epic Games has raised $1bn.
New trademarks registered by Walmart seem to imply that they want to create their own crypto and a collection of NFTs.
Ten trademark applications have been submitted lately by McDonald’s, including one for a virtual food restaurant that would deliver to a real residence. A new smartphone from Samsung has just been released in the metaverse, but there are some issues with it. Even PricewaterhouseCoopers, a well-known accounting company, has acquired virtual property on Sandbox, a platform for the metaverse.
The metaverse is how big? There have already been billions spent, and some experts predict that the market might be worth $30 trillion in the next 10 – 15 years.
Most individuals over the age of 30 have a hard time understanding the concept of the metaverse. The metaverse, however, will be common knowledge to the next generation, notably the Gen Zers born after 1995 and the children presently in elementary school. Because of this, they will be able to adapt to both virtual and real worlds. Like we’ve been used to living online. On average, Americans spend 24 hrs a week online. Nearly 800 hours a year are spent in the virtual worlds of Minecraft, Halo, and Call of Duty by the typical player. All of these virtual worlds are from the very beginning. The metaverse may take this to a whole new level of complexity. As usual, the major brands are leading the charge. Once the way has been cleared, new enterprises will spring up all over the place. How?
A virtual conference room where you may meet with an avatar or hologram of a client, partner, supplier, or employee and debate and evaluate virtual documents and things is going to replace Zoom and Teams for small businesses. In the course of your work as a real estate agent, you’ll take consumers on virtual tours of houses. If you’re in the building industry, you’ll do the same thing with properties that are still under construction. Your meetings will be conducted online. All of your presentations will take place online. You’ll be able to interact with a digital representation of yourself. This isn’t going to replace human interaction, so don’t be concerned. It will be a good match for it. It will make your conversations more enjoyable and personable, as opposed to the disembodied online encounters we’re now engaged in.
There will be a price to pay for all of this. When it comes to your meetings, you’ll have to invest in some real estate. These spaces will need artwork and furnishings. To create your presentations, you’ll need the appropriate equipment. However, there will be a lot of clever entrepreneurs selling these things, supplying the infrastructure, offering hot real estate, and items that everyone will desire, so there will be a lot of money to be earned as well.
It won’t impact your small company in 2022 but 2027 or 2032! It’s going to happen. Almost a decade ago, Apple’s iPad was released, as well as the likes of Instagram, Uber, Square, and Slack. Is it any wonder that we’ve all had a profound effect on the way we operate our businesses?
The coming decade will see a lot of change. The metaverse is what we will see. Plus, the most astute company owners we know are looking at ways to capitalize on this trend.
