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Small BuSineSS OwnerS POSitive regarding grOwth, deSPite ChallengeS Some 58% of small business owners expect business growth within the next 12 months, according to CAN Capital, Inc., a market share leader in alternative small business finance. This finding is part of CAN Capital's quarterly Small Business Health Index, powered by Sur- veyMonkey™. The Index taps into key issues and trends that can help business owners across the country expand and grow their businesses including access to capital, marketing, government regu- lation, competition and talent recruit- ment and retention. "While a majority of small business owners are optimistic about growth, we are seeing concerns about being able to access needed capital, keeping up with new trends in mobile and digital adver- tising, meeting new regulatory require- ments and winning the war for talent with larger competitors," said Daniel DeMeo, CAN Capital CEO. "At the same time, there is an appetite for ex- panded marketing efforts, hiring and in- vestments in inventory, equipment and technology. Our survey aims to provide insight into the challenges and opportu- nities that exist in the marketplace and shine a light on potential solutions that will help businesses achieve their growth goals." Promoting Growth Small businesses are increasingly re- alizing the importance of new forms of marketing and advertising. Survey data shows that 38% of small businesses are looking to expand and/or try new forms of advertising/marketing activities (such as online ads, email marketing, etc.) within the next year, up from 31% last quarter. Some 30% also cite digital mar- keting as being very or extremely impor- tant. However, while many small business owners plan to expand and/or try new forms of advertising/marketing activi- ties, they are still unsure about how to navigate this area, with 39% saying they have not optimized their business' web- site for all mobile devices. Furthermore, only 31% cite social media marketing (such as Facebook ads) as being very or extremely important to their growth strategy. Some 35% of small business owners surveyed say their growth plans include purchasing equipment and/or making inventory investments, up nearly 10% from last quarter. Some 20% of small business owners plan to hire more peo- ple and another 20% plan to implement new technologies or operational tools (such as a customer relationship man- agement system). In terms of consumer trends, 41% cited mobile and/or online business re- views as having the biggest impact on their small businesses. This was followed by online shopping, which was cited by 34%. Despite the increased popularity of online shopping, more than 50% of small business owners surveyed do not accept payments online. Navigating Challenges More than two-thirds of business owners said they faced challenges grow- ing their businesses over the past year. However, no single challenge stood out, with between 10% and 14% of respon- dents citing each of the following: navi- gating and remaining profitable through recent regulatory changes, not having a good understanding of new technology- based marketing tools that could help them grow their businesses, trouble identifying and/or retaining quality new hires and not understanding how to ob- tain working capital. From a regulatory perspective, the Affordable Care Act was cited as the most significant regulation that has had or will have an effect on small business, followed by the minimum wage increase and new overtime law changes. Respon- dents were not asked if they expected the effect of these regulations to be positive or negative. When competing with big businesses, offering competitive prices was seen as the biggest challenge, with the ability to offer competitive benefits for employees coming in second. These were also the top two concerns of small business own- ers last quarter. As they did last quarter, 35% of small business owners said the biggest threat to small businesses today is rising employment costs. Capital Access Some 43% of small business own- ers surveyed anticipate needing external capital to run their small business in the next year, down slightly from 45% last quarter. Some 61% say it is quite or ex- tremely challenging to gain access to this capital, compared with 65% who said the same thing last quarter. Applying for a bank loan was cited by 34% as the easiest way to obtain funding/ working capital, making it the top option again this quarter. However, for the sec- ond quarter in a row, loans from friends and family were cited as the number one way respondents have secured funding/ working capital. In our latest survey, nearly half (49%) said they secured fund- ing this way, up from 40% last quarter. This compares with 41% who said they were successful in securing a business loan from a bank through a traditional process. Last quarter, 27% said they suc- cessfully secured a loan from a bank. DeMeo said, "While it seems that people are having more success lately in securing bank loans, that method still pales in comparison to going to friends and family, suggesting that the traditional bank loan process still isn't working as well as it should. More than one in ten small business owners told us they are unsure of what sources to go to for working capital, and many appear to be unaware of the ease of new options such as peer-to-peer lending or selling a portion of future credit card receivables, with fewer than 15% taking advantage of each of these options. CAN Capital offers tools to educate business owners about these and other options so they can explore the full array of opportuni- ties available to help them expand their businesses." Learn more about the CAN Capital Small Business Health Index, powered by SurveyMonkey™ by visiting www. cancapital.com. Business OPeRATiOns N e w s 20 nOvemBer 2014 | Fuel Oil newS | www.fueloilnews.com