HOW THE WEB IS HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES - GOOGLE RESEARCH

If you’re a new small business owner, an entrepreneur or a manager of an SME, Google has a ton of research which gives cause for optimism. Whether you’re reading this blog as an app agency franchise owner or are considering a new business opportunity, the World Wide Web is helping businesses to grow, globally.

Recent research commissioned by Google and carried out by Deloitte recognised the benefits of digital but set out to discover what hampered small business and entrepreneur use of digital. Here are just a few of the highlights…

Female SME heads use more digital tools

We’re often told the future is female and when it comes to embracing digital tools, the Deloitte analysis found that women lead the way. According to its findings, there was a 45% increase in female-owned businesses in the nine year period from 2007 to 2016. Those businesses with a woman at the helm were found to be much more likely to embrace and use digital tools, with 55% of women-owned small businesses using more advanced digital tools.

Where your small business is based will impact on how closely it embraces digital

If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner living in a countryside location, Google’s research shows you’re less likely to be using digital tools to help run and grow your small business than city counterparts. The research found that US small businesses in rural areas where twice as likely to suffer from a poor internet connection – suggesting improved internet access in more rural areas could see even more small businesses thriving.

Micro-businesses are less likely to use digital tools

The saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. For entrepreneurs, running a micro SME (with less than 10 employees) means you might be moving quickly but you’re less likely to use digital tools. The research found that very small businesses shied away from using digital advances, with only 12% of those with fewer than 10 employees being digitally advanced. In comparison, 39% of small businesses with between 100 and 250 employees are digitally advanced.

Many small business owners encounter barriers

A number of small business owners surveyed said that they encountered barriers when using or attempting to use digital tools. Reasons and problems varied, but 38% considered digital to be ineffective, 40% said it wasn’t relevant and 34% said they worried about how secure digital tools were and whether their data was safe or not. 28% said digital was too expensive but there were also worries about skills shortages, time constrains and a lack of experience.