Today, many small business owners may be feeling better about the state of their companies and their prospects for growing thanks to the generally improving economy. As such, many are now focusing on their abilities to grow and take better advantage of the technology solutions available to them.
Close to half of small business owners these days say that they want to help their companies grow in the near future, and another 38 percent feel as though they should be focused on long-term growth, according to a new survey of owners from Dell and Intel. Meanwhile, 56 percent of those polled said that they expect to have better financial situations over the next 12 months than they do now, thanks to three-quarters expecting better sales, and nearly six in 10 anticipating more opportunities for growth to present themselves.
This change comes even as the vast majority seem at least somewhat concerned about the state of the economy going forward, the report said. More than nine in 10 have some amount of worry over the consideration, with close to four in 10 expecting few steps forward in the global economy, one-third believing interest rates will not improve, and 28 percent believing inflation will be problematic.
Despite this, it seems hiring could tick upwards in the next several months or more, the report said. While just one in five are currently hiring, 83 percent have either kept their staffing levels the same or increased them in the last three years. But those which cannot hire are likely more focused on increasing the ways in which they utilize technology. More than half of them said that small businesses and startups would choose to invest in technology rather than hiring over the course of the next year.
Nearly nine in 10 companies polled said that they are currently satisfied with how their technology needs are being met, the report said. However, 41 percent say that these needs are becoming increasingly complex.
Small businesses that rely more on various devices and other sorts of technology may need to do more to protect the sensitive information they save on it going forward. That can include taking out tech insurance that will help to cover the potentially massive costs of remediating a data breach should such an incident occur.
