What are the Top 5 issues on the minds of small business owners? I went to a Meetup recently where the presentation was on an un-scientific poll of small business owners by a local Small Business Development Center concerning their top 5 issues or concerns. Not surprisingly, most of their (our) concerns revolve around sales, finance and government red tape. David Gay is the Program Manager of Center for Entrepreneurship at the Illinois Small Business Development Center at College of Dupage. Gay says there are 5 core issues for small business owners, they are all interconnected and no other concerns come close to Top 5:
Results of the Survey
- Customers: They have tightened their purse strings and entrepreneurs and small business owners want to attract and retain customers. The sales process has gotten longer. (I have some ideas on how to shorten the process)
- Competition: “New” competitors are more cannibalistic and most of them are coming from the ranks of the unemployed, who have turned to consulting in a tough job market. The problem is they don’t have real price experience and the result is a market that cannot support sustainable pricing. Consumers don’t care about sustainability, either price or the business’ survival. (There are ways to monitor the competition to your benefit)
- Cash Flow: Pricing & margins, lowered revenue from reduced number of customers, delayed payments, and in the case of franchises, minimum inventories and other ‘requirables.’
- Capital: Small business is worried about covering debts and affording employees. Businesses don’t have any collateral. Cash accounts are gone. Gay spoke at length about the difficulties of getting a loan because reserve requirements are higher. “If I had more capital, I wouldn’t need a loan!” Many small biz owners use home equity to fund the business and we all know where that went. Many bootstrap their company using personal credit cards. (See the previous sentence on ‘home equity.”)
- Government: The only things growing are taxes and regulation, neither of which are helpful to small business owners.
Gay says everyone must go “belly to belly” in this economy to have a chance of survival. That means more face-to-face contact with prospects and customers.
He got a good laugh when he said that the best chance of getting a loan was from “family, friends and fools.“ Unfortunately, many of them are not lending either.
Maybe the SBDC can help? He offers a free open forum on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 10:00-11:30am at their office in Lisle, IL. RSVP required – call 630 942-2600. With 1,100 SBDC offices around the country, there may be similar options for you. Good luck!
But here’s a thought: Why not become the solution for one or more of the concerns of small business owners?
What keeps you awake at night?
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