Small Business Owners Outlook for 2011

AN OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK FOR ENTREPRENEURS IN 2011 John D. Rockefeller once declared, "If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success." Given the visible rate of economic recovery, perhaps more Americans are taking his advice and applying it to their start-up businesses. 48% 56% of small businesses have not of small businesses plan on making existing customers their number one priority in 2011. determined their social media budgets for 2011. 69% 72% of small businesses believe the of small businesses in China economy will stay the same or improve in 2011. plan to add staff in 2011. SMALL BUSINESSES VS. ALL BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE Small businesses play a vital role in the recovering global economy. Seeing their plans to hire more new staff than all businesses combined shows why entrepreneurs have an optimistic year ahead of them. 2/5 of small business owners in most major economies say they plan on increasing head count. MORE HIRING AND LESS FIRING Percent of businesses intending to hire new staff in the first half of 2011, by country. 1 Small Businesses I All Businesses In China, 67% of small businesses plan to add staff. South African small businesses plan on hiring 10% more staff than all businesses combined. Small businesses in Spain plan on hiring 17% more staff than all businesses combined. 70 60 50 40 30 20 U.S. SMALL BUSINESSES: LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEW YEAR Overall, the economic outlook for the next 12 months is positive. THOUGHTS ABOUT THE UPCOMING ECONOMIC STATE IN 2011 -OTECHNOLOGY UPGRADES O- Small businesses planning to upgrade their technology in the next 12 months, by percent who are upgrading a specific category. Small Businesses say the economy will. X) 53% Have no plans to upgrade 28% 30% Get Worse Improve O 29% will upgrade software 42% 24% Will upgrade hardware Stay the Same Will upgrade functionality to 17% website Combined, 72% of small business owners, managers and partners believe it will improve or stay the same. 15% Will upgrade mobile technologies 1% Will do other upgrades 46% Say that accessing their 84% accounting and financial records from their mobile phone is appealing. 38% Would like to be able to process credit card payments on their mobile phones. 84% Believe sales will increase or remain the same over the next year. SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN 2011 1/3 of small businesses plan to use social media sites in the next 12 months. What small businesses plan on spending on their social media marketing budgets: 48% Don't know how much they want to spend on their social media budget 37% Plan on keeping their budgets the same 13% Plan on increasing their budgets 2% Plan on decreasing their budgets NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FROM U.S. SMALL BUSINESSES When asked about their New 56% Focus on current customers Year's resolutions, small business owners said the 41% following: Expand marketing to attract new customers 30% Reduce costs and save money 29% Expand products and/or services to make more money 10% Invest in expanding operations 6% Hire more employees WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A NEW LINE OF CREDIT? Small Businesses in the U.S. would perform the following if they had access to a new line of credit in 2011. 50 40 - 30 20 - 10 - Increase marketing and/or advertising budget Expand range of services and/or offerings Invest in new technologies Hire more employees Sources: zoomerang.com marketwatch.com intuit.com A Increase social media budget regus.presscentre.com Grasshopper Group EMPOWEANG ENTREPRENEUR