Small Business Startup News

U.S. SMBs Planning Strategic Growth, Survey Says

Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 9/23/2011

Small business owners are continuing to hire and make plans for expansion in the upcoming months. Many are experiencing growth due to the use of social networking sites like Facebook.

A recent survey conducted by Ink from Chase found that 75 percent of small businesses are adding positions and investing in talent despite the uncertain economic climate, up from 72 percent in 2010. Showing an optimistic outlook for an economic recovery, 67 percent of small businesses also plan to expand into new U.S. markets as part of their growth strategy.

U.S. Small Businesses Plan for Growth

In addition, 14 percent of SMBs are hiring to upgrade talent, and 59 percent are planning to produce more revenue from existing customers. In regard to 2011, 33 percent of small business owners expect their firms to exceed both revenue and profit goals for the year, while 30 percent expect to meet those goals.

Looking at six months in the future, 51 percent of respondents said their company's business will likely improve slightly, 23 percent said they expect much better business and 21 percent expect to maintain their current business.

Many small businesses have also experienced significant growth through the use of social networking sites, particularly Facebook. According to a recent Pagemodo survey, 47 percent of small business owners said Facebook is driving traffic to their websites, and 48 percent said having a Facebook page has increased their sales.

When asked if their Facebook usage would increase or decrease in the next six months, 73 percent of small business owners said it would increase, while 25.4 percent said it would stay the same. Only 1.6 percent plan to decrease their usage of the social networking site.

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