The busy holiday shopping season is nearly upon us, and every year it serves as a big driver for the overall success of millions of small businesses across the country. This year, the expectation among many entrepreneurs is that the success they see over the next month or so is going to be even more significant.
In all, 40 percent of small business owners say that they believe they’ll see more sales this holiday shopping season, leading to growth of the overall success of the company, according to a new survey by Ink from Chase. Further, more than 3 in 5 say that they believe much of this newfound success will come from consumer demand, up from just 31 percent who felt the same way last year.
In addition, 43 percent of owners say that they’ve tried to do more to meet consumers’ changing preferences when it comes to this kind of shopping, and have consequently expanded e-commerce and mobile shopping capabilities that will help them perform better as well, the report said. That’s up from just 27 percent who felt the same way a year earlier.
“It’s encouraging to see that U.S. small business owners continue to maintain a positive outlook about their business and future growth opportunities,” said Laura Miller, president of Ink from Chase. “The successes of small businesses continue to help drive the U.S. economy forward.”
Marketing makes a difference
Meanwhile, 45 percent of companies say that they’ve tried to do more to streamline their marketing efforts, and that, too, is likely to start translating to better business this year, the report said. Only 31 percent felt the same way in 2013. In fact, 52 percent of those optimistic owners say that as much as 20 percent of their holiday sales could come from new customers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that 64 percent of owners now say they feel as though they’re more prepared for the holiday season than they were in the last several years.
Owners who want to make the best use of their money overall might want to consider the benefits of cutting their costs for other aspects of their companies. For instance, finding more affordable small business insurance – including liability insurance coverage – could end up saving thousands of dollars annually that could then be put toward other aspects of a firm’s bottom line.
