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Thanks again for your great post with numbers to back up my belief!
Kevin :)
http://remarkable-leadership.com/brl
But here's some proof of what you say, John...
One of my clients, in an effort to promote awareness of the OTCBB as a viable platform for both investors and small issuers, maintains an index of 30 OTCBB stocks (none of them are the company's clients) called the PCMC 30. Get this -- YTD returns for 2008 is currently up 4.3%, while the S&P 500 is down more than 20% and the Russell 2000 down more than 12%. Last year, the index returned over 40% and the year before that, 50%.
Point is (besides me thinking those stocks are a good investment) -- entrepreneurship continues to succeed in a bad economy!
Here's another point...
According to the SBA, while small businesses employ about half of the private sector workforce, 60 to 80% of net new jobs over the past decade come from small business. In other words, small business drives economic growth -- big business doesn't.
There's nothing to be scared of as a small business owner in the current economy. In fact, there's a wealth of opportunity. Watch my blog later this week for some of the specific kinds of opportunities, as well as some stories of entrepreneurs who are taking advantage of them.
Our nonprofit, Winning Workplaces, along with The Wall Street Journal will name 15 Top Small Workplaces on October 13 (see their special report that day), and I can tell you that one of the themes that separated the winners from the over 400 small firms that applied is their focus on employee engagement practices for the long term to help them survive AND thrive in both good and bad times. This year's winners are small but growing at double-digit rates -- a far cry from the turmoil most people associate with business today if you read only the stock ticker.
I'm going to have to check out that ADP small biz report. Thanks, John.
Small business now faces a brighter future than it has in some time. With big biz faltering, having overextended themselves, the opportunity has presented itself for reliable, friendly, creative people to step in and fill the gap.
1) Services or materials to large businesses.
2) Services or materials to employees of large businesses.
Think of a small company town when the company goes away...
The unsung heroes of most economies around the world are the small and medium business owners who often work harder than most , sometimes for little return.
Governments can be wooed into thinking that its all about the big boys in town when most of them rely in their supply chains on the little guys who help them make their world go round.
A lot of people see a recession as a time when companies trim the fat and become lean and mean again. Well small business is already lean and mean and these conditions gives them tons of opportunities.
According to SBA standards, a "small" business can have multiple millions in annual revenue and still be considered "small," so long as it has under a certain number of employees. It's time for a new business category, the category of Indie Business, a term I coined to describe a subset of the larger category of "small" business owners. We are a sort of cross between consumers and business owners. We are consumer business owners if you will. And if Congress has its way, we will be regulated right out of existence.
For example, I am the president of the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization of 700+ Indie cosmetics companies. I and several of my members were on Capitol Hill and at the FDA in August to lobby against a new draft law that would put thousands of tiny food and cosmetics businesses out of business by imposing huge fees (up to $12,000 a year!) and mountains of paperwork -- even requiring these businesses to have at least two employees on staff. Larger companies are finding it challenging to compete online against these companies. After all, some companies need only have a good search engine optimization plan and competing against a mega-company becomes a piece of cake. I predict that, come January, no matter who takes office, regulation will be seen as the savior of our economy. And that means that the level playing field upon which we now compete is in grave danger.
Not only do we have to accept the fact that we are the engine that keeps the economy going, we have to be organized enough to fight and be able to maintain that position and the responsibility that comes along with it. The current draft of the bail out law bears this out. It contains a provision allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to, at his discretion, waive laws that prevent the diversion of federal small business contracts to large companies who have found a way to skirt around the definition of "small."
This is only the beginning. Food and cosmetics today, everything else tomorrow.
Entrepreneurship is the next great civil and equal rights issue of our time. Now is the time to rise up and ensure that our children and their children are able to start businesses of their own. If we don't, future generations, no matter how hard or smart they work to build a lasting business legacy, will see those legacies constantly at risk of being demolished at worst and undercut at best, by the very government that is duty-bound to protect, defend and support them.
Wall Street is like a soap opera for guys. It's time to change the channel back to reality.
But what it will do is cause people to spend their money a little more wisely. Better planning will be required. I would expect Marketing Plan Pro to be in great demand right now. Ideal Client, Core Market, etc. has never been as important as it is now.
Unfortunately, many small businesses exist to provide either:
1) Services or materials to large businesses.
2) Services or materials to employees of large businesses.
Think of a small company town when the company goes away…
Michael, my experience tells me small business does not need to overly worry about a decline in big business demand. Just be sure not to have full reliance on big business as a revenue source. My company, Instructional Solutions, trains and coaches business people to write better, and we've been at it for ten years. In the early years, 95% of our business was from large corporations and 5% from individuals or small groups. The past few years has seen a big swell in smaller groups and individuals - they're small businesses like mine, training to keep competitive.
Small businesses need services, and there are many, many more small business than large corporations.
I so agree with this post, and the many insightful comments. I concur that small business and entrepreneurship will be the driver of our recovery. Thanks for the grounding comments in the midst of media frenzy.
I received several great responses such as the ones above than I received this one: "I closed." Pretty sobering remark to find in my in box. It brings a reminder to me that sometimes all things are not what they appear to be. Small business is tough and fortunately we are an optimistic group, the ones still talking.
I encourage us, since we are mostly marketers, in tough times to be more frugal and smarter in our efforts. Let's show some creativity in our marketing approach.
http://obama.3cdn.net/d14eb1b3649c4d6745_0evzmv...
P.S.
I agree that small business is the solution to the economic crisis and sustaining our economy, but one thing to remember when quoting SBA stats... they consider small businesses to be any company with less that 500 employees.