BC Business
Agile small businesses find low-cost solutions – like social media for marketing needs.
Small businesses in B.C. overwhelmingly hoped to increase their revenues this year, but at the same time faced big challenges in doing so. Apparently, they're taking care of it. SOHO – or Small Office, Home Office – is a Vancouver-based operation that has been connecting small businesses in Canada for more than a decade.
SOHO – or Small Office, Home Office – is a Vancouver-based operation that has been connecting small businesses in Canada for more than a decade.
SOHO was launched by the indomitable Moe Somani while he was confined to a hospital bed in Vancouver with a crippling (and, blessedly, temporary) infection. The company has now grown to a membership of 25,000 small businesses in Canada, primarily in B.C. and Ontario.
With those kind of numbers, interesting insights can be gleaned from SOHO’s regular surveys of small business operators’ thinking.
Two of the most recent ones concerning plans and challenges in this year caught my eye because they appeared to describe the rhythms of small business operation.
In the first one, of January 18, almost 80 of 90 business operators taking part in the poll said they expected to increase revenues in 2011. Let’s check that one off to the ever-present hope and enthusiasm that small businesses often display, especially at the beginning of a new year.
Less than a month later, reality had apparently set in. In a poll, 42 of 45 businesses identified growing revenues as their biggest challenges faced this year. This was followed by managing cash flow and managing time.
(Hey, I hear ya on those . . . it’s the business epidemic of the modern age. Is there anyone who doesn’t suffer from it?)
But, small businesses appear to move fast to deal with a problem.
A couple of weeks later, 19 per cent – the largest number – of those polled answered the question, “If you were handed $10,000 for your business, where would you spend it?” with, “Marketing – social media.” This is a relatively easy and cost-effective method of marketing and growing a business.
To me, this indicates that when faced with a problem, small business operators find a (relatively) low-cost solution quickly.
And then they move on to other pressing matters.