Economic Trends
Trending Toward Micro-Markets
Markets are fragmenting into micro-markets. Instead of going after broad markets -- say, women aged 18 to 49 -- companies are segmenting their customers into narrower profiles based on lifestyle.Today it's not just about understanding the demographics of your target market. Instead, sellers have … Read More
Economy Slowing But Conditions Positive for U.S. Small Business
Economic conditions for small business in the U.S. are positive, although they have weakened somewhat since 2004.Higher energy costs and rising interest rates are slowing the economy.Employment, a lagging indicator, is actually still rising nicely. However, this is probably due to employers having … Read More
Toward the Empathy Economy
An article by Bruce Nussbaum in BusinessWeek suggests that the thing that will set American businesses apart in the future is their ability to provide great customer experiences. To deliver great customer experiences, businesses will need to hire people with right-brain skills involving creativity … Read More
Buying Sight Unseen a Growing Trend
A New York Enterprise Report story profiles an Ecuadorian immigrant who came to the United States 30 years ago. He sold encyclopedias door-to-door at first, opened a furniture store six years later, and today is a multi-millionaire and CEO of 1-800-MATTRESS.What a great illustration of the … Read More
When Employees Work Out of YOUR Home
One in four U.S. small businesses with employees works out of the business owner's home. This information comes from a 2004 poll by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.Note that we're talking here about small businesses with employees, not single-person small businesses. That's the … Read More
In Canada, Small Business Rules
The domination of the world by small business continues....
Canada recently updated its website of business stats. No surprises, either. Just like in most parts of the world, small businesses make up the vast majority of businesses in Canada.
Out of 2.3 million businesses in Canada, over half … Read More
New State Small Business Reports Marginally Helpful
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), which represents 600,000 small businesses in the United States, just inaugurated a new series of state surveys of small business owners.Called the "Small-Business Conditions" reports, they cover 26 of the 50 states. Each state report … Read More
Welcome to the “Service Nation”
I get asked a lot of questions at this site. At least once a month I get a question like this: "Which industries in the U.S. have the most small businesses?" Or this: "How many small businesses are involved in service industries versus manufacturing?"
My answer? America is becoming the "Service … Read More
U.S. Economic Conditions are Good for Small Business
Economic conditions are good for U.S. small business:
"Economic conditions for small business continued to be strong in the fourth quarter of 2004," said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy. "And for the year, GDP growth of 4.4 percent is good news for small business. In … Read More
Carnival of the Capitalists Has Arrived
Welcome to the January 17, 2005 edition of Carnival of the Capitalists, the Internet's most intriguing collection of free-market articles. With nearly 45 entries, we've got a huge line-up this week.
Organizing the Carnival entries is always a challenge. Since many of the entries could have fit … Read More
Top Economic Trends for Small Biz
Dr. John Soper, an economist with John Carroll University, will be speaking with us tomorrow about the economic trends impacting small business in 2005. I can't wait to hear what he predicts. And I hope you'll join us.It's another of our 45-minute audio Conversations with small business experts … Read More
The Small Business Advocate’s 2005 Predictions
Jim Blasingame, the Small Business Advocate, has issued his list of Top Predictions for 2005 in his newsletter (free subscription required). There are a large number of predictions -- 18 to be exact -- but I'll highlight just a few of the most universally relevant predictions:2005 Prediction: … Read More
Popular in Economic Trends
How Much Money do Small Business Owners Make? 17 
Business Failure Rates Highest in First Two Years 25 
Trouble Again in the Small Business Sector? 5 
Top 9 Rural Small Business Trends for 2012 15 
Is The US Economy Being Uncooperative With Your Small Business? 7 
Women Owned Small Businesses Enduring The Recession 4 
Credit Union Small Business Lending Act Would Help Small Businesses Find Capital 2
Find Your Highest Value Activity For Today
The average billionaire and the average bum have one thing in common – they have the same amount of time in a day. What they do with… Read MoreSmall Business News Releases
- SBA Announces New Initiative with Top Lenders To Help Veterans Become Entrepreneurs
- Ernst & Young Announces Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 Finalists in New York
- SBA and W20 Group Present Webinar on Creating Social Media Content for Small Businesses
We get our news releases from PRNewswire and would love to see you take advantage of its wide distribution network of 1000+ sites, including Small Business Trends, plus the Associated Press. To prove it we'll give you 30% off.
Use code SMBtrends30
Ryan
William Johnson
William Johnson
Richard
Alex Kozak