23 Aug Examining small business and its importance
Confidence in Institutions: Why do small businesses matter?
What institution in the United States has more public confidence than the medical system, Congress, the media, big business, or even the military? The answer – Small Business.
According to a recent Gallup Poll, the American public was asked to rate their confidence level for a variety of government, media, religious, and business groups.
As the result, small businesses as a group came out ahead of all other institutions for confidence metrics.
But why?
Below are five reasons the American public trusts small businesses.
Local Ownership
Small businesses are made up of people who live and work in their communities. They must earn and keep a good reputation to retain customers and clients. Word gets around fast about a bad small business, in turn, small businesses that exist for years and years are the ones that treat their customers fairly and provide excellent products and services.
Business Means More to Them
Small businesses place a phenomenal amount of effort into starting, growing, and scaling their business.
Their sweat equity comes with a unique sense of pride of ownership, and in many cases, the name of the owner may be on their storefront or marquee. In many scenarios, the business may be family-owned, and customers could be generational. At the core of it all, small business is personal.
It’s Not Just About the Money
Small businesses need to be profitable, but that isn’t their only objective. In addition, small businesses believe in the fabric of their communities and towns and want to see the larger community prosper. They sponsor youth sports teams and give to local charities. As a result, small businesses are the very best corporate citizens.
They are Fighters
Small businesses face threats from the outside every day. Dynamic changes within products, shipping, real estate, technology, and regulations can wipe out a small business quickly. Therefore, small businesses owners must grind day after day to stay relevant and at the forefront of their industry.
They Value Their Employees
The best small businesses value and take care of their employees. The people that make up their business are not just a number or a file in the HR system. Instead, they are valid as what they are – real people with families and goals.
The current state of Small Business
While many businesses are on the rebound from the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the verdict is still out on how different industries are recovering.
Industries in finance and insurance, along with agriculture and construction proved to show an uptick during the past year.
In turn, industries such as oil, recreation, and local transportation showed a downward trend in revenue from March 2020 – March 2021.
With much of the country returning to some aspect of normalcy, the status of many small to medium businesses in many industries remains up in the air.
Resilient and Worst-Hit Industries
In a recent report, QuickBooks conducted research on many of the most resilient and worst-hit business
Their methodology included one million small businesses that use QuickBooks to manage their business.
Other parameters included net bank deposits, SIC segmentation, total revenue decrease in April 2020 along with other items such as zip codes among more.
To summarize the report, some of the key trends include:
- During April 2020, small business revenue dropped by 22% nationwide.
- Around 61% of industries saw annual revenue increase during the pandemic and have recovered since April 2020.
- Home improvement businesses and real estate have remained consistent performers over the past year. At the end of March 2021, mortgage banker’s revenue was up 30%.
- Recreation and entertainment were the worst-hit industries. This includes businesses such as gyms, bowling alleys, and movie theaters.
- In most cases, small businesses in high-density, urban areas, more so in areas on the east and west coasts experienced a greater financial impact. Brooklyn, New York, and San Francisco, California were two of the worst-hit cities.
What does this mean for small businesses marketing?
If you were thinking you were the only business that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, then you were not alone.
Every business faced its own challenges which lead to forming new ways to conduct business. Adaptation was key to success and many businesses showed their resiliency.
Going forward, many local businesses should plan to navigate new marketing practices and trends.
For many years, local businesses have coasted on their name alone and being the only game in town. As many areas are growing due to relocation and population growth, keeping your name in the conversation within your industry is key.
Along with contemporary marketing practices such as SEO and social media marketing, businesses should look to their old ways, made new.
Making communication personal is vital, and old tactics like thank you cards, handwritten notes and gifts are an ideal way to connect with new customers and prospects alike.
At the same time, look to owned media and text or email to communicate more with your audience, depending on your industry.
Adams + Swann is a small business that works with small to medium-sized businesses every day. Our priority is to help local businesses grow and achieve their communication goals through advertising and digital marketing.
If your small business needs a partner you can rely on, let’s talk.