US Small Business Gets Success Report Card

What does it take to be a successful small business? The basic factor, some believe, is competitiveness, which is difficult to measure. But the sub-factors that determine competitiveness can be measured.

Network Solutions, LLC and the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business have partnered to conduct a baseline telephone survey of 1,000 small business owners in order to take the pulse of small businesses and track their competitive health over time.  Here are the factors they looked at and their calculations of the results.

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• Capital Access. D+ This area is the biggest disadvantage of U.S. small businesses.   The scarcity of capital may be costing the economy billions in profits and more than a million jobs.
• Marketing and Innovation. C- Small businesses are not as successful as they would like to be in effectively marketing themselves to grow their businesses beyond their current size.  They also fight to think of new innovations, but often come up short.
• Workforce. C+ Small businesses have average success in this area; they are able to manage employee turnover, while their most serious workforce issue is providing attractive benefits.
• Customer Service. A-. The bright spot for American small businesses is the impeccable service they provide customers.
• Computer Technology. C  Small businesses have moderate success in deploying
  and making technology work.
• Compliance. B+. Small businesses are highly successful in complying with laws and
  regulations, although they have a little more trouble keeping up with changes.

The big “ah ha” insight for me was the need to increase capital availability for small businesses in order to keep them competitive.  It’s tough to work on the other factors, like computer technology and innovation, without the capital for research and growth.

I will report more on this interesting facts in this report soon.  Meanwhile,you can take the quiz to see how your small business ranks with others on the Small Business Success Index.

The notes on each factor are quoted from the report.