The Golden Age of Small Business
October 20 2016 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Intuit Research Reveals Five Trends Shaping
the Future of Small Business
A new small business economy is emerging, driven by rapid
technological change, a shifting workforce and evolving consumer
demands. The new “QuickBooks Future of Small Business” report,
developed by Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) in partnership with Emergent
Research, outlines five trends that will give small businesses a
competitive edge over the next decade:
- World-class business
infrastructure.
- Insightful data.
- A growing pool of on-demand
talent.
- Online marketplaces.
- Cost-effective online advertising.
The report also forecasts an acceleration in the growth of U.S.
small businesses over the next decade, from 30 million in 2016 to
over 42 million in 2026. This represents an average annual growth
rate of 3.3 percent, a significant increase on the 2 percent
average growth seen between 2004 and 2014, the most recent data
available.
“This next decade will be the decade of the small business.
Industry-shifting trends like lower-cost, scalable infrastructure
to start and grow your business, the ability to build a team with
amazing on-demand talent, and data that helps you fuel your
business and delight your customers are game changers,” said Karen
Peacock, senior vice president of small business at Intuit. “At
QuickBooks, we are committed to helping small businesses navigate
these trends and be successful in a rapidly changing world.”
“The next few years will see an acceleration
in the number of small and micro businesses thanks in
large part to new technologies that reduce the
costs and risks of operating a small business and open up
access to customers around the world,” said Steve King, partner at
Emergent Research. “While running a business is always going to be
tough work, economic and technological changes are making
it easier and cheaper to start and operate a
successful small business.”
Five Trends Shaping the Future of Small Business
Driven by demographic, technological, social and economic
shifts, the new economy provides state-of-the-art opportunities
that uniquely position small businesses to succeed. These
opportunities spawn from the five emerging trends, giving small
businesses access to:
- World-class business
infrastructure: Small businesses have the ability to build upon
technology infrastructure that was once the sole domain of large
organizations, such as cloud computing, manufacturing and
distribution. These resources are now available at a variable cost,
allowing small businesses to scale up and down and only pay for
what they use. Today, 62 percent of small businesses are operating
their business in the cloud, up from 37 percent two years ago.
- Insightful data: With 90 percent
of the world’s data generated in the last two years, small
businesses are able to use their own data to gain deeper customer
and business insights. Technological advances such as machine
learning are taking the complexity out of data analysis, providing
small businesses with the ability to make faster, better decisions.
QuickBooks Financing, for example, enables small businesses to use
their own data to demonstrate their credit worthiness to secure
loans. Seventy percent of small businesses using QuickBooks
Financing are accepted for loans, compared to the 60 percent
decline rate for small businesses at traditional banks.
- A growing pool of on-demand
talent: Driven by the growth of contingent workers, projected
to represent 43 percent of the workforce by 2020, small businesses
have access to the right people at the right time in a flexible
way, without the responsibility of hiring traditional employees.
This creates an opportunity to propel small businesses forward by
providing them with the talent they need, and an opportunity to
nurture aspiring small business owners.
- Online marketplaces: Rising
consumer demand for niche products and services, coupled with the
emergence of online marketplaces, is allowing small businesses to
embrace and scale their do-it-yourself roots. Small businesses can
now participate in online marketplaces to gain access to millions
of previously unreachable customers at the click of a button to
sell their niche products and services.
- Cost-effective online
advertising: There are countless opportunities for small
businesses to deliver their targeted messages to prospective
customers around the world. Online options range from sponsored
photos to in-stream video ads, and many of them are fairly low-cost
with sub-$100 options readily available.
The “QuickBooks Future of Small Business” report is a
continuation of Intuit’s research focused on the emerging small
business economy. Past research reports have focused on small
business cloud adoption and the growing trend of the on-demand
economy.
About Emergent Research
Emergent Research is a research and consulting firm focused on
identifying, analyzing and forecasting the key demographic, social,
technology and economic trends and shifts impacting business and
society. Emergent Research partners, Steve King and Carolyn Ockels,
are co-authors of the Intuit 2020 Report and the Intuit Future of
Small Business Report Series.
About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions
that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers
and accounting professionals.
Its flagship products and services
include QuickBooks® and TurboTax®, which make it
easier to manage small businesses and tax preparation and
filing. Mint provides a fresh, easy and intelligent way
for people to manage their money, while Intuit's
ProConnect brand portfolio includes ProConnect
Online, ProSeries® and Lacerte®, the company's leading
tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.
Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.7 billion in its
fiscal year 2016. The company has approximately 7,900 employees
with major offices in the United States, Canada,
the United Kingdom, India, Australia and other
locations. More information can be found
at www.intuit.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161020005548/en/
Intuit Inc.Sarah Voros,
650-944-4385sarah_voros@intuit.comorAccess Emanate
CommunicationsJen Garcia,
415-844-6244jgarcia@access-emanate.com
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024