Small business executives remain optimistic about the long term despite global recession
This optimism is somewhat surprising—and perhaps overly inflated—given respondents’ sobering views on the short term: Only 37% of respondents expect their companies to do better this year than last. This is in line with Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts, which predict a contraction of global GDP in 2009 of 1.8%, and only a modest expansion of 1.9% in 2010.
Furthermore, 48% report that local government is “unsupportive” or “not at all supportive” of their business, and 39% say the same of national governments and lenders, respectively. Reasons cited for the lack of support include “mid-size businesses do not attract enough attention,” (39%) “the public at large perceives large companies as more important than small and mid-size companies” (28%), and “small and mid-size businesses have fewer advocates than large companies” (24% globally).
“While it is not clear if small and medium-size firms believe they would benefit from a greater focus from governments and non-profit agencies, the data suggest 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.
Other findings in the report include:
·Only 6% expect the quality of talent in their organisations to decrease once the economy improves and 38% expect it to increase. The data suggest that when it comes to attracting and retaining skilled people, small and medium-sized firms are in adequate shape.
·Reaching new customers was cited as the biggest obstacle to growth; 56% of respondents are actively acquiring new customers through new means, such as entering unfamiliar geographical markets. Yet only one-third cited customer service when asked to name the main ways their firms could prepare for economic recovery, signalling a possible disconnect in strategy.
·Once the economy improves, 65% of respondents expect their firms will enter new geographic markets. Marketing is seen as the most critical means of helping firms prepare for an improvement in the economy, according to half of respondents. The data suggest that firms are not retrenching, but are actively pursuing new growth opportunities.
·Fifty-seven percent agree or strongly agree that that technology will be a critical competitive advantage in bringing their business out of the recession, yet only 20% plan to invest more heavily in innovative technology as a means to outpace competitors. Internal IT departments will be most important in helping their firm achieve these goals, but external or outsourced service providers are also key: 35% ranked 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; one-third said the same of outsourced IT services providers (managed services).
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