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| An owner report considers several elements of the business landscape, such as economic outlook and business growth's expectations. |
When starting a business, you may need to look for an incentive or a new perspective to help you make a decision, whether it is starting a business from scratch or dedicating yourself full time to the one you have already been developing. In these cases, financial corporations, such as Bank of America, can offer you a guide with their several studies such as the Small Business Owner Report.
What is Bank of America?
The Bank of America (BOA) is a multinational banking and financial services corporation, which seeks to improve the economic life of communities and clients, ranging from companies and institutional investors to individuals. Through its eight lines of business, this institution offers financial services and products that can help them achieve their financial goals and success.
As an institution committed to financial growth, BOA is concerned about the advancement of small businesses and therefore launches a study that seeks to provide an overview of this particular industry.
The Small Business Owner Report, Fall 2017
The Small Business Owner Report is a biannual study that aims to describe and clarify the perspectives and concerns of small business owners and entrepreneurs. It explores aspects such as growth expectations by area, gender, and generation; views on health care quality and availability, work-life balance, the importance of social media, among others.
The sample surveyed for the 2017 fall report included 1,013 small business owners from the United States reporting an annual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999, and employing between 2 and 99 employees. Likewise, 300 small business owners from 10 major cities were surveyed.
Relevant conclusions
The report explores several relevant aspects of the small business owners’ economic outlook, whose most relevant conclusions are explained below.
Economic confidence and optimism
The study reveals that the economic confidence increased compared with 2016. Small business owners honestly believe that the regional, national and global economy will improve. They are also optimistic about their business growth, as 71% of the people surveyed think that their 2017 year-end revenue will be higher than that of 2016. However, their expectations about the increase of taxes in the next 12 months remain flat.
Expectations between urban and rural business owners
There are several differences between urban and rural business owners regarding revenue, hiring, business growth and national economy improvement. Regarding the three first aspects, the business owners in downtown locations have better expectations about an increase of their revenue in the next 12 months (52%), have more plans to grow their business over the next 5 years (57%), and have a higher tendency to hire employees in 2018 (20%).
When it comes to the national economy, the rural small business owners are the ones having better expectations about an improvement of the said economy over the next 12 months (51%).
Generation optimism
The report reflected an evident difference between the business optimism of the four age groups (millennials, Gen-Xers, baby boomers and senior), being the millennials the ones with the most optimistic outlook.
Considering the analyzed parameters (revenue increase, hiring, business growth and local economy improvement), millennials tend to anticipate the rise of their revenue in the next 12 months (81%) and an extension of their business over the next five years (76%), and have a better expectation about hiring more employees in the next 12 months (43%) and a local economy improvement in the next 12 months (63%).
Importance of social media
Although in this era technology and social media are seen as essential elements for business success, the report shows that entrepreneurs are split on the importance of these tools. In fact, 67% of the surveyed business owners have stated that social media did not have any impact in their business bottom line and 51% did not believe that social media and virtual communities are essential to the success of their business.
These conclusions just show the expectations and perspectives studied by the Bank of America Small Business Owners Report; however, they could be seen as an indicator of the business growth landscape and how it is being developed.
If after reading this you still have concerns about starting your own business and the path you should follow to create a successful strategic business plan, do not hesitate to contact Guillén Serrano & Associates, an accounting firm specialized in international tax and business consulting. For more information follow them through their social networks and leave a comment at any time.
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| It is a study that explores and analyze several aspects of small business owners' life throughout the U. S. |
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