Small Business Owners are Hunkering Down.

Image by ShashiBellamkonda via Flickr

News I hate to share. Thanks Jeff Cornwall. No really thanks I think this needs to be dealt with. Jeff shared what what I hear from almost every business owner I speak to.

 What is the solution? I am really asking and can you share what you believe will help.

 Here is what I have heard from Business owners and Entrepreneurs.

1. We are losing current clients

2. We struggle to get the phone to ring

3. We are losing money and our budget is on fumes

4. Networking meetings work but not to sustain our business

5. Yellow Pages are dead

6. Valpak works just not well enough

7. ...



What can you share?

Amplify’d from www.businessinsider.com

Increasing Evidence That Small Business Owners Are Hunkering Down

Several recent studies suggest that small business owners are hunkering down.  As sales have declined, these entrepreneurs have cut expenses and shed debt to survive the Great Recession and to hopefully be able to thrive when that increasingly elusive recovery actually begins.

A new study release by Forbes Insights confirms the findings of previous reports.

One of the cautions about some of the previous studies is that the samples used in the studies may not be fully representative of all small businesses.  Most of these are conducted among small business owners from membership or client lists.

This study is based on a comprehensive survey of 1.777 small businesses conducted by Forbes Insights in October 2010. All businesses in the survey had 250 or fewer employees, and representative samples of three segments--micro businesses, (less than 10 employees) small businesses (10-49 employees), and medium-sized businesses (50-250 employees)--were targeted. Geographically, respondents were from six international markets: Canada, China, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, and the U.K.

Results from this study reports that small businesses have been turning inward, looking to put their financial houses in order to help ensure they are well positioned to take advantage of economic recovery once it occurs.

Many have tried to reduce their risk by cutting debt and avoiding taking on any new debt.  These business owners understand that they need to rebuild their liquidity before they are able to embark on their growth plans. More than ever -- Cash is King.

Many business owners in this study are concerned about another downturn.  However, as in other studies, these are the business owners who have survived the first two years of the recession so they have at least a glimmer of hope that the worst of the recession has passed, and that their current actions will put them on the road to future growth and success.

Separate reports are available detailing key findings from each of the six countries sampled in this study.

So those who have survived have adjusted to their new normal and are finding ways to hang in their until good times return.

Sadly, none of these studies find that entrepreneurs are poised and ready to expand.  None of them seem prepared to step forward and add fuel to an economic recovery.  That is a concern, since it has been small business who have led us out of almost every past recession.

Jeff CornwallEmailSubscribe to his Twitter feed Jeff Cornwall is a serial entrepreneur and professor of entrepreneurship at Belmont University.

 See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/io96

Related articles

• Small Business Optimism Increases (Barely) (legallyeasy.rocketlawyer.com)

Be a Fan

Do you want to increase Sales? A think Tank by Street Smart Sales Forum.

Do you want to sell more and grow your business?
Stupid question, of course you do and If your like most you need to.

Would you agree?

• Times have changed
• The market has changed
• How we sell has changed
• What else has changed?

Are you open to participating in a think tank to get your answers? 

If you agree there is more then one way, this is for you! 

http://sgatter.wordpress.com/  Biz Buzz Media Recommends!

This group is for you if you are:

• A business owner of a small to mid sized business
• A Sales Manager
• A Sales Professional
• An Entrepreneur

To quote Steve "We are a Think Tank at which we introduce ourselves and share our biggest challenges with the group to tap into the expertise and experience."

We recommend Street Smarts Sales Forum and meeting with Steve, and the quality people you will meet. Tell Steve we sent you.

If this is for you or someone you know click the like button above.

*The contact info is listed above*

Show some love

Related articles

• 20 Blogs Every Business Owner Should Read (businessinsider.com)

Be a Fan

How Google Hotpot will help your local business listing

Cindy King and Ron Capps recommended this.



Surprise I do as well.



It will be interesting to see how Google handles this in their limited testing in Portland, OR and other test markets. It has tremendous potential for local marketplaces and hyper-local marketing. Monitor the ways it is used and any potential impact you can detect on local brands or markets where it is in use.



Google already have Places that provide a local business with the opportunity to get found online by potential customers. Places can be set up for free and Google also have a few related products that a local business needs to pay attention to - particularly Google Hotpot



PS. If this was helpful show some love and hit the "Like" Button

Amplify’d from www.om4b.co.uk

Google Places, Tags & Hotpot

Google are continuing to increase the number of services they provide to local business owners.  If you have been wondering what Google Tags and Google Hotspot are below is a brief summary and the video explains everything.

They already provide Google Places  - a free place to create and develop an online listing for your local business, and they also have two other additions.

Google Tags

Now you can "tag" your business with a yellow highlighter so if you have anything you want potential customers to know it will stand out.

Google Hotpot

People can log in to rate your business using Google Hotpot and provide you with reviews. These ratings and reviews help your Google Places listing results so it is worth asking your customers to do this.

Google Boost

This provides online advertising opportunities and you can pay (a little like pay per click but this is local pay per click)

According to the video neither Tags or Boost will make a difference to where your listing appears in search results, only Hotpot will

Read more at www.om4b.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/idud

Be a Fan