'Tis the season for predictions. I'd love to get a compilation of all of them, but, in the meantime, here's a good list from Steve King of Small Biz Labs, with some of my comments in between:

Economic Trends

1. The Recession Drives Small Business Innovation

I hope so. Sometimes tough times and pressure can drive people away from trying new things. Steve says "Driven by the need to improve productivity and increase customer value, small businesses will re-evaluate, re-design and refine their products, processes and business models."

2. Government Plays an Increasing Role in the Economy

3. Global Infrastructure Spend

4. The Number of Small Businesses Will Increase in 2009

This number 4 worries me. I want it to be true. I'm rooting for it. But I see a lot of small businesses contracting. Here's for the new startups, baby boomer retirement businesses, people who've lost their big-company jobs starting out on their own. I hope it happens. And now, back to Steve's list:

5. Small Business Globalization Will Temporarily Slow

Demographic Trends

6. Baby Boomer Retirement Problems Will Lead to Increased Interest in Small Business

7. Generation Y Will Turn to Small Business

Technology Trends

8. Mobile Computing Continues Strong Growth

9. Cloud Computing Continues Strong Growth

10. Small Businesses Will Expand Their Use of Online Marketing Tools

For all but one (point 5) of these predictions, I want to add, as a programmer friend of mine used to say, "from your blog to God's ears." Or, in honor of my week in Mexico (my country-in-law) last week, ojala  with an accent on the last a). I hope it's not wishful thinking. Steve has some good supporting arguments for every item on his list, and I hope he's right.