I’ve been hearing lots about how start-up, emerging, and medium-sized businesses are positioned to do very well in these rough economic times. In fact, I have even preached it. But is it really true? Is it happening?
I regularly check a blog written by Small Business Labs, and one of their recent posts inspired me to take a look at a few of the facts starting to filter in that will either validate or invalidate the claim that small businesses will generally do well in these difficult economic circumstances. We already know that all of the large companies throughout the world are tightening their belts and even closing their doors. What impact are these economic conditions having on small and medium-sized businesses?
So, I decided to take a look at some of our existing clients to see how they are being impacted (as an FYI, we serve as business financial consultants to our clients who range from start-up to more than $20 million in annual sales). Of the 17 considered, 13, or 76%, have significant plans for growth and are already seeing that growth realized after the first month of 2009. 3 more, or 18%, of them are on track to match their 2008 performance. Only 1, or 6%, will see a decrease in their total sales in 2009.
How does this match up to other studies? Intuit and UPS commissioned independent studies and found similar results (Intuit Small Business United Survey Findings & UPS Survey).
So far I have seen overwhelming evidence to support the claim that small businesses are going to grow and thrive through these difficult times. Of course time will tell how well they fare, but all signs point towards optimistic results!
