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04. Part 4―Looking to the Future of Business
Given all the uncertainty of the past year and a half, many survey respondents didn’t feel adequately prepared to meet the challenges of the evolving workplace. Only 14% of respondents said they felt equipped to handle the future needs of their businesses.
Despite the challenges, small business leaders reported feeling optimistic about the future.
Published: Jan 6, 2022
A majority (58%) said sales and growth at their companies have improved thanks to digital transformation and remote work. Nearly half (43%) felt “the ability to meet virtually with prospective clients has made it easier” for their company’s revenue to grow. And only 27% said “the inability to meet face to face with prospective clients and customers has made it more difficult.”
Outlook by Company Size and Industry
Across most sectors, recent digital transformation appeared to be spurring small business growth.
The vast majority (87%) of small business decision makers in the tech industry said their sales and growth have been positively impacted by digital transformation and remote work, compared to 58% of small business decision makers overall.
A plurality (43%) of small business decision makers felt meeting virtually with prospective clients has made it easier to grow revenue, while 27% said being unable to meet face-to-face with prospective clients has made it more difficult to grow revenue.
“We see that the way that they get new clients and work with those clients has changed quite a lot. They're not doing it in person, but it hasn't necessarily been a negative impact. They're able to do it more often. It's made it easier for their company's revenue to grow,” said Davis Trice, Director, Client Services at Morning Consult.
How Prepared are Companies Feeling?
Technology and people together have helped many small businesses ride out the storm of 2020 and 2021. Hiring stands to benefit from new practices. More than half of respondents (60%) said they’re more open to recruiting from outside their regions because of remote work adjustments.
Small business decision makers felt most prepared to “manage payroll and benefits for employees” (90%) and “retain current talent” (85%). A majority of respondents felt “very prepared” or “somewhat prepared” to handle the following scenarios:
90% felt prepared to manage payroll and benefits
85% felt prepared to retain current talent
78% felt prepared to attract new talent
84% felt prepared for adapting the new normal of working environments
What Concerns Business Leaders Most
When asked to name the issue that concerned them most, the number one concern was maintaining high levels of productivity. Retaining talent was their second greatest concern at 12%.
Small business decision makers were least concerned about managing payroll and benefits (4%) and employees changing residency (2%), when asked to select the issue they were most concerned about.
“How are they going to navigate these challenges looking to the future? Well, like we've been saying, people are the core of their companies and their growth. Number one is training current talent to handle new problems,” said Trice. “It's about investing in their own people to make sure they can handle these trying times, these changes and the growth that they're looking to have in the future.”
“Nearly half of the U.S. GDP is generated by businesses with fewer than 500 people. Together, these relatively unseen businesses are building the future.”
— Michael Mendenhall, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer/Chief Communications Officer at TriNet
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