Main Street Monday – Small Business Owners are Prioritizing Digital Aids to Support Business Operations
May 16, 2022
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
Main Street Monday – Small Business Owners are Prioritizing Digital Aids to Support Business Operations
“Looking longer term, entrepreneurs anticipate that emerging technologies, such as cybersecurity, 5G and automation, will become increasingly important to business success. Many business owners are also adopting digital tools at a higher rate to aid in their business operations, including online banking and cashless payments. In the decade ahead, 44% of business owners plan to prioritize digital sales over brick-and-mortar,” writes Sharon Miller, Head of Specialty Banking and Lending at Bank of America, in the 2022 Small Business Owner Report.
Here are the facts from the 2022 Small Business Owner Report:
• In the next year, 64% of small business owners expect their revenue to increase.
• 62% of business owners say that their business has wholly or partially recovered from the pandemic.
• The pandemic’s effects on small businesses have been split with 44% of small business owners stating their business is better off while 56% say their business is worse off.
• About half of the owners (48%) attribute part of their business recovery to increased consumer spending.
• Over half of business owners (57%) have taken steps to address future risks to their business based on the pandemic.
• To address future risks, small business owners are focusing more on digital sales (37%), adopting new technology (36%), and diversified revenue streams (31%).
• 17% of business owners are currently prioritizing digital sales, but 44% of small business owners plan to prioritize digital sales in the decade ahead.
• 70% of business owners adopted new digital tools and strategies over the past year. 43% are accepting more forms of cashless payments, 34% are increasing their social media presence, and 28% are setting up an online sales presence.
• In 2012, word-of-mouth and direct mail were considered more effective marketing tools (87% and 37% respectively), but in 2022, social media has become more important while word-of-mouth continues to be significant (53% and 74% respectively).
• Similarly, the sources small business owners use for news impacting their business have shifted. In 2012, 56% of owners used print news while 17% used online media outlets. This year, 61% use online media outlets, and 34% use print media.