2026 Business Trends Every Entrepreneurial Mom Needs to Pay Attention To
Dec 15, 2025
This year has been one of the most insane, painful, and incredible years of my life as a business owner and a mom. I’ll be unpacking all of that in my “what worked, what didn’t, and what blew up in my face” episode soon, but for today, I want to look forward with you.
Let’s talk about the trends I see coming in 2026 that actually matter for your business growth — especially if you’re a mother navigating the intersection of ambition and family life.
And before we dive in, I want to be super clear:
You do not build a sustainable business by chasing trends. You build it by focusing on foundations, then using trends to support those foundations.
So that’s the lens we’re going to use here:
Realistic, grounded, and fully honouring the fact that you are a human with a very full plate.
Why Your Foundations Still Matter More Than Any Trend
I say this every year, and I’m going to keep saying it:
If you don’t have your business basics in place, trends won’t save you.
Things like:
- Clear lead generation systems (how people find you)
- Simple, repeatable sales systems (how people buy from you)
- Systems to manage delivery, operations, and follow-up
If you’re still winging it every week, constantly reactive, and on the edge of burnout, these are the things to clean up first. You can absolutely listen to this episode (and read posts like this) and then come back to it later — but your priority should always be building a business that’s set up for longevity, not just the next shiny idea.
With that said, there are some big shifts happening under the surface that I believe will shape how small businesses grow in 2026. These are the ones I want you to be aware of — and to use thoughtfully, without burning yourself out.
2026 Trend #1: AI & Automation Everywhere
If you’ve been hiding under a rock hoping AI would go away… 2026 is the year that rock gets taken away.
We’ve officially moved from:
“AI is a cool bonus tool”
to
“You’re making your life harder if you don’t use it.”
This doesn’t mean you have to turn your business into a robot. It means you start asking, “Where can I let tech handle the repetitive stuff so I have more space to think, lead, and create?”
Some places AI and automation can support you:
- Automated DMs and follow-ups
- Onboarding and offboarding sequences
- Drafting content, emails, and sales pages
- Invoices, reminders, and scheduling
- Answering FAQs with chatbots or flows
A simple way to start:
Let AI take the first pass, and you do the final 10%.
That’s exactly what I do. I’ll have AI draft something — an email, a sales message, a content outline — then I go in, edit, soften, add my voice, and strip out the extra emojis.
The businesses that thrive in 2026 won’t necessarily be the ones doing more. They’ll be the ones using smarter tools to buy back their time, energy, and brain space.
Ask yourself:
“What am I doing manually right now that a robot could happily do for me?”
2026 Trend #2: Digital-First & Social Commerce
If your customers aren’t finding you through short-form video and social right now… it’s probably because they’re finding someone else.
TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are no longer “nice-to-have.” They’re where:
- Discovery happens
- Trust is built
- Buying decisions are made
And for product-based businesses, social platforms are becoming full-on shopping malls with in-app checkout. People can buy without ever leaving the app.
This is huge, especially if:
- You don’t have a big fancy website
- You’re overwhelmed by funnels
- You just want people to be able to pay you easily
For service-based businesses, people might not be buying your full package in-app, but they are deciding whether or not to work with you based on your content. Your presence. Your videos.
Practical shifts for 2026:
- Show your product or service in action with simple, imperfect videos
- Turn on native shopping features if you sell products (product tags, shops, live selling)
- Make it ridiculously easy for people to buy wherever they already hang out
If you make it hard for people to give you their money in 2026, they will simply… not.
2026 Trend #3: Trust, Experience & Authenticity as the New Currency
We are deep in what I’ve called a trust recession.
People are:
- Skeptical
- Tired
- Burned
- Very, very good at sniffing out BS
Attention is no longer the main game. In 2026, trust will be worth more than attention.
What buyers want now:
- Transparency about what’s really happening
- “Receipts” — proof your thing actually works
- Behind-the-scenes, not just highlight reels
- Real humans, not faceless brands
The brands winning right now — big and small — are the ones taking people into the messy middle:
- The process
- The ups and downs
- The human beings behind the logo
Practical ways to build trust in 2026:
- Share real client stories and social proof regularly
- Take people behind the scenes of how you do what you do
- Show the humans in your brand — including you
- Make trust-building a core part of your marketing, not an afterthought
If you focus on trust, you don’t have to shout as loudly.
2026 Trend #4: Purpose Is No Longer Optional
People care where their money goes. They’re watching.
And purpose doesn’t just mean you slap “sustainable” on your website and call it a day. It can look like:
- Ethical sourcing
- Lower-impact packaging
- Supporting local communities
- Clear, real commitments to causes you care about
We’re seeing a shift in consumer behaviour: given the choice between “more stuff” and supporting something meaningful, a lot of people are choosing purpose.
As a small business, you don’t have to plant a million trees or donate half your revenue, but you can:
- Be clear and vocal about the causes you support
- Partner with local or aligned initiatives
- Show how your business is trying to do good in a way that feels genuine and sustainable for you
People want to buy from brands and humans that give a damn.
So show that you do.
2026 Trend #5: Collaboration Over Isolation
This is a big one.
If you are still trying to build your business in isolation — head down, doing everything alone — 2026 is your sign to stop.
Corporate sponsorship budgets are shifting. More money is flowing into:
- Micro-events
- Niche communities
- Small but mighty platforms
- Partnerships with founders who have deep, engaged audiences
You don’t have to do everything solo. In fact, I don’t think you should.
Collaboration in 2026 might look like:
- Co-created offers
- Sponsored events or programs
- Guest workshops and podcast swaps
- Brands partnering with you to reach your audience
- You partnering with them to support your community
This is a huge part of what I’m leaning into with This Mother Means Business Live 2026 and beyond:
Bringing in aligned partners to help us expand the impact of this movement, so we can support more mothers in business — better and faster — together.
If you continue to build alone, I genuinely believe you’re going to feel like you’re working twice as hard for half the results. Collaboration will be a serious advantage.
Bringing It All Together for 2026
When you hear words like AI and social commerce and sponsorship and sustainability, it can sound big and overwhelming — especially when you’re already maxed out.
But here’s what I want you to remember.
2026 will reward business owners who are:
- Adaptable (willing to try new tools and approaches)
- Honest (showing the real human behind the brand)
- Visible (especially in video)
- Efficient (using tech where it makes sense)
- In community (not building alone)
This is not about doing more.
It’s about doing what really matters — smarter, with support.
If you don’t yet have your foundations in place, start there.
Then, come back to this and decide which one of these trends you want to lean into first.
You don’t have to implement everything.
You just have to take the next aligned step.
And if you want help navigating any of this — in a way that honours your business and your life as a mother — that’s exactly what we’re doing inside This Mother Means Business.
Here’s to an abundant, grounded, wildly impactful 2026 for you. 🤍
