In the middle of what experts have dubbed a fourth industrial revolution, there are plenty of developments to try and stay on top of. Here are four of the most important technological and business trends for small business owners to be aware of in 2018.

Virtual reality is now a reality
It began as a sci-fi fantasy, then found a natural home in the gaming world. After a lot of premature hype, virtual or augmented reality now seems to be reaching a tipping point.

VR tours are helping developers sell apartments off the plan, cosmetic surgeons are using VR to provide patients with before and after simulations of their planned procedures, and anyone with an iPhone X can Photoshop a piece of furniture they are considering buying into a photo they’ve taken of their living room. If VR hasn’t already impacted your business, be prepared for it to do so in the next year or two.

The share economy promises a bigger share of profits
Expect Australians to keep embracing the sharing economy with gusto in 2018 as online platforms continue to take off. As the recently launched Agtribe (it’s a marketplace which allows farmers to recoup some of the cost of big-ticket agricultural machinery by renting it out) demonstrates, there’s still plenty of potential for lots of industries to be ‘Airbnbised’.