Despite the global economic downturn, 83 percent of small business executives stated they are optimistic about their company’s long term ability to rebound when the economy improves. However, 48 percent of respondents stated that local government is "unsupportive" or "not at all supportive" of their efforts and 39 percent say the same of national government, with almost a third of the respondents citing that "mid-size businesses do not attract enough attention" as a primary reason behind the lack of support. Larger enterprises garner greater media attention due to their size putting smaller companies at a disadvantage. In fact, 28 percent of SMBs said that the public at large perceives large enterprises as more important.
"While it is not clear if small and medium-sized firms believe they would benefit from a greater focus from governments and non-profit agencies, the data suggests a call to action for the public sector to think about programs that may offer greater aid to these companies during this difficult economic period," says Debra D’Agostino, Deputy Director in the Americas, Industry and Management Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
SMBs demonstrated great optimism in their own employees and leadership to ensure survival in the current economic climate with nearly three quarters of respondents indicating that employees are their greatest supporters. In addition, technology is a critical component to the success of SMBs as the study shows 57 percent "agree or strongly agree" that technology will be a critical competitive advantage to bring them out of the recession.
"Show me the opportunities! - That's what SMBs will be focusing on during these turbulent times," said Laurel Delaney, president and founder, GlobeTrade.com (a Global TradeSource, Ltd. company), of the report’s findings. "Whether they get help or not, they will continue to push boundaries and improve their business processes. It's not a matter of surviving; it's a case of extreme thriving. After all, they've come this far successfully by understanding what they have, what they know about and what their customers want. Now it's just a case of relentless pursuit of opportunity and delivering results."
Other findings in the study include:
- Once the economy improves, 65 percent of respondents expect their firms will enter into new geographic markets.
- 51 percent of respondents say their technology efforts will focus on improving processes and new ways to improve their business.
- 52 percent of respondents said Internal IT departments will be most important to helping firms achieve success. External or outsourced service providers are also key, with one-third of respondents stating outsourced providers of managed IT services and external technology consultants (systems integrators, value added resellers or application developers) as most important in achieving IT objectives.
"The fact that SMBs continue to remain positive despite the current economic downturn is no surprise as they truly are the cornerstone of business across the globe with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and great determination to succeed," said Ken Giffin, director of marketing strategy for Verio. "We have already begun to see an uptick in SMBs that are managing their business more efficiently through the use of technology and are aggressively expanding into new markets via their online presence. This study further supports the fact that SMBs are resilient, more nimble than their enterprise counterparts and remain confident in their ability to achieve great success."
