Looking at the overall environment, it would be easy to suggest that most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) mean to rein in spending on virtually every front and hope that it's possible to just survive until things get better. But according to a new study from Zogby Analytics, as commissioned by Xero Limited, SMBs will be doing anything but, and one in three actually plan to bring in some new tech this year to help said businesses not hide, but push forward.
It's easily the high point of the survey, as 33 percent of businesses—according to the online survey which encompassed 500 small businesses in the United States—planned to invest in new technologies this year. That's a point that became evident with some other points for backup; 1.6 percent of respondents declared the corporate role model of choice to be Uber, the mobile ride summoning service. What's more, fully 80 percent of Millennials involved in the survey note that Facebook (News - Alert) is routinely used for business, a point which is actually quite well established. This was supplemented by a point from Inc. and Emergent Research, who noted that, by 2020, 80 percent of business owners would embrace the cloud in one use or another.
That wasn't all the study had to say, of course, as it brought out several other noteworthy facts. For instance, all those tech plans have a key underpinning: 74 percent of small business owners report being optimistic about projections for growth this year, and may well be putting collective money where collective mouth is, so to speak, by investing in tech. 62 percent are focused on customer growth, and fully 53 percent don't work with an accountant. Just to top it off, the Millennials in business are bringing in a whole new state of things, as 45 percent—more than the “others” in the study—are seeking a better balance between work and life. Millennials also plan to beat “others” by one other key metric: simply working more. 30 percent report no plans to take a vacation of any sort in a year, more than the others class of the study.
What becomes immediately clear from the study is that most small business owners—including a lot of Millennials—aren't planning to take a weak economy lying down. These businesses are doubling down on better tech, on corporate role models, on sheer force of will. Said business owners are planning to work longer and harder—even if same would like to get a little better balance going between work and life—and hopefully the efforts will pay off in the long term. A growing array of new technologies that can help augment business and save money, like Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) tools, are certainly available to be bought into. Plus, new reports suggest that lead management opportunities are on the rise for small businesses, making it all too likely that the harder work will be met with better profits.
Whether or not more investment in better technology will help businesses see growth in 2015 is the kind of thing that only the arrival of 2016 can answer. But one thing is clear: whatever happens in 2015, it won't happen for want of effort and it won't happen for want of better hardware. It may well be a major development in the works, or it may be a lot of blood, sweat and tears for naught, but 2015 is going to be a very big year for small business...one way or the other.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi