SMB Business Perspectives
2011 Survey Results and 2012 Projections
Zoomerang surveyed decision-makers in U.S. businesses with less than 1,000 employees to gauge the current state of Small to mid-sized businesses in 2011 and their 2012 business projections. A Zoomerang online survey was used to collect and analyze the data.
Objective – Obtain a deeper view of business projections from small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) for 2012 compared to 2011.
Results – In total, 1,003 SMB decision makers (e.g. founders, managers, etc.) from our Online Survey Panel completed the survey providing insights into their 2011 business results and 2012 projections.
Insights:
- Economy
- Of those surveyed, a majority (61%) stated that their business had been negatively impacted by the economy, yet 40% remain optimistic or very optimistic about their business heading into 2012.
- Half (50%) of respondents failed to meet their business goals in 2011, however, only 19% have plans to diversify their business in 2012.
- Business Growth
- The biggest challenge for SMBs in 2011 was customer/client growth despite the highest hiring rate in the business development sector. Similarly, 60% of SMBs plan to focus investments and staffing in the same sector in 2012.
- Of the SMBs creating new staffing positions, filling an existing position or promoting employees, the most promising business sectors for job applicants are social media and business development.
- In 2012, nearly half (45%) of SMBs plan to invest money in marketing and communications. Similarly, a third (33%) of respondents project using advertising/marketing or social media to attract new customers.
- Social Media
- In 2012, more than a third (40%) of SMB respondents plan to use social media, yet only a quarter (25%) expressed discomfort with using social tools.
- The top three reasons SMBs use social networks are: affordability, access to customers and word-of-mouth/referral.
Zoomerang is now part of SurveyMonkey. Learn More
Get Started Today!