Other notable findings from the Focus Index Report are:
Hiring Trends
- Hiring on the rise heading into the final Quarter of 2010; 38% of respondents said they are increasing their workforce, whereas 17% said they plan to reduce their workforce.
- Real estate and construction industries expect to decrease their workforce.
- The Top 3 industries expected to increase hiring over Q4 and into 2011 are:
1. IT/software
2. Finance and banking
3. Telecommunications
Biggest Challenges Facing Business Owners Today
- The biggest challenge facing business owners today remains economic uncertainty, with 24% of business owners saying that it was the single biggest challenge they have faced over the past year.
- Weak demand for products was the 2nd biggest challenge facing business owners, as 22% said it was the biggest obstacle they have had to overcome in 2010.
- Breakdown of the report's top 5 biggest challenges facing business owners:
Economic Uncertainty: 24%
Weak demand: 22%
Increased competition: 13%
Government regulation/compliance: 8%
Employee recruitment/retention: 7%
Overall Business Sentiment
- Overall business health is much stronger today than it was a year ago, with 12% more business owners reporting stronger sales this year than 12 months ago.
- 54% of respondents projected a stronger business performance in 2011 than they have experienced in 2010.
- 41% of business owners increased revenue in 2010 as compared to 12 months ago.
- Only 20% reported decreased revenue since this time last year, while 39% said revenue had not changed.
- Large enterprise business owners reported greater sales increases over the past year than small and mid-sized business owners, with
- 51% of large business owners experiencing sales increases, while only 34% of small and mid-sized business owners said the same.
- However, large businesses are also experiencing more layoffs than SMB's, with 26% saying they are reducing their head count, while only 14% of small biz owners said the same.
