Small Business Year in Review

SMALL BUSINESS YEAR IN REVIEW AND OUTLOOK 2011 As we count down the final days of 2010, we took the pulse of smallI businesses in America to hear their biggest challenges and rewards of 2010 and their perspective of what's to come in 2011. While small businesses are still feeling the brunt of the recession, they enter 2011 motivated to grow and with realistic expectations. Take a look at what we learned from the front lines in our Intuit small business survey. Rewards and Challenges of Owning a Small Business in 2010 What was the number one reason for starting If you chose personal passion – Have you gotten away from the reason you started your business in the first place? Is the passion gone? your own business? MY PERSONAL PASSION 65% IT WAS A WAY TO PAY THE BILLS 83% 17% 17% SAID THE PASSION I WAS IN BETWEEN JOBS 16% IS STILL THERE A RECESSION 2% What is the number one thing about your business that keeps you up at night? What has been the hardest part of being a small business owner in 2010? 27% 26% GROWING PAYING MY BUSINESS MY BILLS 20% 16% 11% KEEPING MY FINDING TIME CUSTOMERS HAPPY TO DEVELOP AND RUN MY BUSINESS 7% 4% A DECLINE IN MY CUSTOMER BASE O DELAYED PAYMENTS FROM CUSTOMERS O DIFFICULTY ACQUIRING A LINE OF CREDIT O LAYING OFF EMPLOYEES KEEPING UP FINDING THE WITH THE RIGHT TALENT COMPETITION The Small Business Perspective on 2011 How long do you think it will be before the And thinking ahead.Which of the following are New Year's resolutions for your business? economy starts to recover? 57% 43% 29% 28% 56% 19% 17% 6% 41% 30% 29% SIX ONE TWO MORE HAS YEAR MORE THAN ALREADY TWO STARTED LESS (NET) MONTHS YEAR YEARS OR THAN A YEAR 10% YEARS (NET) 6% Do you expect your business to grow in the next 12 months despite the economic climate? FOCUS ON RETAINING AND GROWING MY 34% NO CURRENT CUSTOMERS ● EXPANDING MARKET TO ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS ● REDUCE COSTS AND SAVE MONEY ● EXPAND PRODUCTS AND OR SERVICES TO MAKE MORE MONEY 66% O INVEST IN EXPANDING OPERATIONS YES O HIRE NEW EMPLOYEES QuickBooks Online intuit. 32% 54%