I sent out a survey to my small business clients and prospects last month. Here are the results:
Q1 – What’s your goal for your business in 2015?
Perhaps not surprisingly the overwhelming answer was a variation on increasing sales/business. 81% of you gave this as your primary goal. The other respondents had a variety of goals from better branding to refocusing efforts to help stay on target. No one said they didn’t have a goal.
Q2 – What areas are your most challenging?
The answers here were more varied, although various themes came through over and over. The most popular answers were:
- Lead generation 12.5%
- Blogging/writing 12.5%
- Hiring good help 15.5%
- Balancing and time management 22%
Other answers included: Focusing, getting past the gatekeeper, handling paperwork, bringing outsourced contracted service back in house
Q3 – How do you plan on combating this challenge?
As expected answers were varied:
- Training/taking classes 35.5%
- Hiring help 38.5%
- Networking 55%
- Accountability group 16%
- Other 32.2%
Other included: being more organized, internet optimization/improving website, teaching a CE course
Q4 – Is one of your goals to increase your online exposure?
For 87% of you the answer was either “yes” or “maybe”:
- Yes 56%
- No 12.5%
- Maybe 31%
Q5 – If you answered yes to #4 how do you plan on accomplishing this?
Again the answers were varied but certain themes repeated:
- Revamping website 13%
- Adopting or improving social media 22%
- Blogging or moving to content marketing 26%
Other answers included: using a PR firm, trying online advertising, monthly email newsletters
Q6 – How old is your website?
- Less than 6 months old 16%
- 6-18 months old 34.5%
- Over 18 months old 47%
- Don’t have a website 3%
For those without a website I’d say “STOP – don’t pass go, do not collect $200” until you get a website up and running.
For those with sites over 6 months old (81%) and especially over 18 months old (47%) you are probably missing out on the mobile revolution – websites that are not mobile responsive are not going to get the same level of traffic as those that are.
For those less than 6 months old you should check to make sure its mobile responsive.
How do you stack up against these results? Let me know in the comments below.