As a long-term investor, your focus is not on predicting what the market will do weeks, months, or years from now. You concentrate on investing in high-quality businesses that fit with your overall investment strategy. That allows you to steadily build your portfolio while shutting out temporary market noise. Eventually, you increase your returns. 

The trick, of course, is finding high-quality businesses that fit your investing strategy. In 2023, here are two excellent businesses you might want to consider. 

1. Airbnb

Airbnb (ABNB 2.77%) delivered supercharged financials over the last several quarters. It was helped by a rapid recovery from pandemic lows and continued growth from business and leisure travel as the world's economies reopened.

But even compared to pre-pandemic levels, Airbnb manages to impress. Its net income of $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2022 represented a 61% constant-currency jump year over year, and 260% growth on a three-year basis.

 In the current macroeconomic environment, some consumers may be hesitant to spend on travel, and they would be even more reluctant in the event of a recession. But these are relatively short-term headwinds when you're looking at a minimum investment window of several years. There's also growing evidence that even as consumers fear a potential recession, they are still planning to travel -- for work, for leisure, or for a combination of the two. 

According to a recent study by Expedia, 32% of consumers intend to travel for business in the next 12 months, while 62% of remote workers have business-travel plans. The study noted that among the business travelers, over 70% plan to include leisure time on the trip.  

Long-term stays remain a key source of growth for Airbnb now and in the future. CEO Brian Chesky said in the third quarter earnings call, "I mean the largest expense that most people have in their life is their housing, it's their housing costs. And we've built many of the tools and features that you would need to provide for a longer-term-stay offering already."  

Management plans to fine-tune its long-term-stay segment to remain competitive. The changing travel landscape as well as prolonged travel spending habits are key areas of growth that Airbnb is seizing upon. Patient investors who buy in now could be primed for considerable returns over the next decade and beyond. 

2. Crocs

Crocs (CROX 0.84%) has built a profitable business around a concept that once was dismissed as a fad when it launched its iconic foam clogs more than two decades ago. The company has since built itself into a multibillion-dollar business with a global online and brick-and-mortar presence. And its product line has expanded to include boots, sandals, and socks. 

In a rapidly changing retail environment, brands come and go and consumers have a shorter attention span than ever. The company has had its fair share of ups and downs, including management changes, layoffs, factory closures, and stringent business realignment in its efforts to launch and sustain growth.

These efforts were paying off before the pandemic, but the COVID-19 era revitalized consumers' interest in the company's products, particularly footwear known for combining versatility with comfort. Revenue jumped 13% year over year to $1.4 billion in 2020 and 67% to $2.3 billion for the full-year 2021. Net income was $313 million in 2020 and $726 million in 2021, representing year-over-year increases of 162% and 132%, respectively.

In the first nine months of 2022, Crocs generated revenue of $2.6 billion, a 51% increase from the same period in 2021, and net income of $402 million, down from a period of elevated period of growth in the prior year but still healthy performance. A notable driver of growth last year was its acquisition of casual footwear brand HeyDude in February 2022. The company has also captured an entirely new generation of consumers, particularly Gen Z shoppers, with a diverse selection of shoes that can be easily customized with its hundreds of Jibbitz shoe charms.

Meanwhile, Crocs has launched line after line of special limited-edition collections of its footwear stemming from lucrative, if not creative, partnerships with companies like 7-Eleven, Vera Bradley, and Yum! Brands' Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

With the addition of HeyDude, management estimates its total addressable market at $160 billion, roughly half of the $310 billion nonathletic footwear market. Crocs is not without competitors, but its products are unique, and it is now the second-largest casual footwear brand on earth.

Crocs still has plenty of untapped market opportunities left to explore. For long-term investors, adding this stock to a well-diversified portfolio in the near future could prove to be smart in the years ahead.