Decision making is one of the most important parts of running a business. If you are a leader, sometimes you might need to make decisions without knowing all the variables and data. This can be disastrous for your company as you are prone to take steps without conclusive evidence that it’ll work.
What if you could change that!
For that, you need to study numbers. Numbers with respect to the effectiveness of different methods, and numbers that speak volumes about different areas in business.
Why are SMB Stats important anyway?
Believe it or not, the internet will give you a massive competitive edge over your competition. Information is power. And there are loads of information on the internet to take your business, no matter what size, to new heights.
All for free!
The stats, the numbers, all the related information you will find on the internet will give you superpowers in terms of business advantage.
Here’s a list of states that we think are the most important ones in the sea of numbers.
Biggest Reason why most Small-Medium Businesses fail
The biggest reason in terms of sheer numbers, small and medium businesses fail is because of cash flow problems.
A study by the financial services company U.S. bank shows that almost 82% of small-medium businesses fail because of poor cash flow management.
When your business starts to grow more money will flow. This will also be a blessing in disguise. As you start to get more clients, sometimes it may take longer than 30 days to receive your payments.
Then there are other problems like achieving less than the needed gross margin for your organization, excess assets that will not bring value to your company, or bad debt instead of good debt and more.
To tackle this situation, you need tools that will help you manage your assets in a better way, hire good accountants that understand bad debt along with good debt.
The average amount of investment
Many people think that you need a lot of money if you want to start a business. While it is true that you need money, but it not always the most important part.
According to the United States Small Business Administration, you need less than $3000 or even less to start a micro business. And $1000-$5000 for a small street franchise.
So, according to specified numbers, the excuse that you need a lot of money to start your venture is not true. It is extremely easy to get started. So, if you have been holding on your dream due to lack of finances, you don’t need to worry if you have enough.
The right people for your organization
The lack of a proper hiring decision can cost your company much more than you can initially calculate for. You need to hire the right people for the right job. Especially in your growing stages.
Reports by folks from NFIB show that for 48% of job openings small businesses couldn’t find the right candidate.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds. You need to make sure you have the right decision-makers along with the right tool to execute your job recruitment process.
Proper Marketing Channel Implementation
One of the most untapped opportunities one can take advantage of is implementing proper social media. The ROI you get is still to this day extremely positive compared to its capabilities.
Instead of traditional media marketing, 75% of small-medium businesses are convinced that the internet in its current form is the most effective way to attain new customers.
If you are thinking of spending your marketing budget to attain, retain, and convert the most number of customers, it is high time that you jump on the e-marketing bandwagon. There are multiple tools available for free that will help you achieve this. Multiple social media platforms even offer completely free courses on how you can use their tools to help your marketing efforts.
Adaptability To Marketplace Changes
According to the SBA, indifferent to industries the survival rate of a business is 2 years for two-thirds of the total number, 5 years for half and one-third of the whole number of businesses started will survive for 10 years.
One of the main costs of this low number is the lack of marketplace adaptability. It is the same in every industry. One main reason for this is the rapid changes in different areas of the work process due to the internet. Things are getting a lot faster, a lot more complicated for the average users.
Keep up to date with the latest trends. Figure out ways on how you can use them for your brand. Implement the latest technology in your workplace. Adapt to the marketplace changes that is going around you.
SMB Make the Big Portion of the Economy
It’s not always the big players that are the most influential for an economy. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite.
2 out of 3 jobs created are through small and medium businesses also 50% of the Americans either own or work for small businesses.
As you can see from the official statistics, small-medium businesses hold a large portion. When it comes to sheer numbers. While everybody is concentration on the big market players the most important players in the field are the small ones. The internet has given everyone a level playing field in for audience numbers, tool implementation and much more. The small ones can reach the same amount of people just like the big ones.
Automation Makes a Huge Difference
On average, the team of a small-medium business spends almost 23% of the time is spent on tasks that you can easily automate. If combined, a whole day in terms of a week.
Millennials are optimistic about their businesses. Three out of four millennial business owners expect to see their businesses improve over the next year. And to do that they need to spend as little time as possible to by deploying automation.
Have Any Interesting Stats You Want To Share With Us?
These are some of the most important that our eyes recently caught. These numbers will help you get a glimpse of how the startup industry regardless of the category is working right now.
If you have any interesting statistics that you find interesting, don’t forget to share it with us.
