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Four ways the web supports small business growth – new research from Deloitte
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, and they make our communities special. Businesses are revitalizing their towns, creating jobs, and shaping their communities—one customer and employee at a time.
We wanted to better understand the web’s role in helping small businesses grow in today’s economy, so we recently commissioned
new research with Deloitte
. The study found that the use of digital tools (such as websites, analytics, and online marketing) positively impacts small business growth in four key ways: reaching new customers, reaching new markets, growing faster, and creating jobs.
Reaching more customers
Digital tools help small businesses reach more customers at every stage of the purchase process. In fact, Deloitte’s research found that small businesses using advanced digital tools such as web analytics and online video, were almost
3x as likely to have increased customer interest, like calls and leads
. They were also more than
3x as likely to have seen more sales inquiries, like foot traffic and orders,
in the last year.
Wichita Furniture
in Wichita, KS has experienced these highly qualified leads first-hand. Their website traffic increased almost 50 percent in 2016, and they attribute the lion’s share of this growth to online advertising.
“...[Online advertising] brings quality customers through our doors—people who have seen our products and know what they’re looking for. As a result, we’ve seen a drastic increase in our sales per guest.”
-
Jay Storey, President & Founder, Wichita Furniture
Reaching new markets
The web can open up new markets to small businesses, whether they’re across the country or across the world. Deloitte’s research found that digitally advanced small businesses are
3x as likely to have exported
in the last year. That’s what Jim and Kelley Hobart discovered with their company
Alpaca Direct
, based in Hayden, ID. Digital resources like online video and
cloud-based communication tools
connect Alpaca Direct to customers across the globe.
"There are a lot of people all over the world who don't have a local yarn shop. We want to become their local yarn shop even though we're all the way here in Idaho."
- Kelley Hobart, Co-Owner, Alpaca Direct
Growing faster
Digitally advanced small businesses experienced
revenue growth that was nearly 4x as high
as the previous year. Businesses like
Kaleidoscope Hair Products
based in New Orleans, LA, are growing faster because of the web. In 2016, Kaleidoscope reached more than 43,000 customers and doubled their revenue from the previous year.
"We went from selling no products to having a full warehouse, exponential growth, and distributors all around the world."
- Jesseca Dupart, Owner and CEO, Kaleidoscope Hair Products
Creating jobs
Digitally advanced small businesses are job creators.
In fact, they were nearly
3x as likely to have created new jobs
in the last year.
Dreamstyle Remodeling
, based in Albuquerque, NM, is a job creator in their community. They have been growing 34 percent annually since 2013 and expect to reach $100 million in sales this year. Since developing their digital strategy, Dreamstyle has added 250 employees to keep pace with their growth. They plan on hiring another 500 people to support their expansion in two additional locations by 2020.
"We think [our 2020 plan] is possible... And the web and Google tools are going to be critical to that growth."
- Larry Chavez, CEO, Dreamstyle Remodeling
This is a glimpse into how small businesses are growing using digital tools. Read the full results from the
Deloitte research study
.
To learn how your business can get online and grow, check out new resources available through our
Get Your Business Online
program.
Posted by Soo Young Kim, Small Business Outreach
This National Small Business Week, Build Your Online Skills with Lessons from the Pros
Monday, May 1, 2017
The web is helping small businesses grow. As the place where people turn to learn, discover, find, and buy things, it’s connecting customers to small businesses and small businesses to customers. Being online can have a big impact–in fact, businesses that are online grow 40 percent faster and are twice as likely to create new jobs than those that remain
offline.
1
We see the power of the web working for American small businesses. Millions of small businesses are found on Google Search and Maps every single day across the nation.
With a little bit of elbow grease and the help of technology, we believe every business can grow online. So together with our partners, we’re continuing our mission to help make that happen.
Through our
Get Your Business Online
initiative, we’re bringing together free resources and tools to help you this National Small Business Week and beyond.
Learn from the pros through bite-sized lessons
Build your online business and marketing skills with five-minute lessons from
Primer
, our free mobile app. To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re happy to announce new lessons created by small business experts
Anita Campbell
,
John Jantsch
,
Ramon Ray
, and
Rhonda Abrams
. Each has created a special lesson from their decades of experience working with and coaching small businesses. We’re also excited to share
new web-based lessons
.
Get your business online
Be where your customers are. Get your free listing on Google Search and Maps. Show pictures of your business, list your hours, and add your phone number so customers can just click to call you or get directions. Businesses with complete listings are considered twice as
reputable.
2
Use this
handy tool
to get started.
Make sure your website works on mobile
Did you know that more than half of all Google searches happen on mobile phones? Mobile shoppers want quick results–53 percent say they’ll wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a
site.
3
How fast does your website load? Use the free
Test My Site tool
to see how well your site works on mobile. We’ll email you a personalized assessment with specific recommendations on how to make it better.
Want even more?
During National Small Business Week (and throughout the year), Google and our partners are hosting in-person workshops to help you grow your business online.
Find a workshop near you
.
Small businesses are the heart of our communities. Thank you for making the places we call home, home.
Happy National Small Business Week.
www.google.com/smallbusinessweek
Posted by Soo Young Kim, Head of Marketing, Get Your Business Online
1
BCG Report,
The Connected World: The $4.2 Trillion Opportunity
, March 2012.
2
Google
/Oxera,
The Benefits of Complete Business Listings
,
December 2014.
3 Google Data, Global, n=3,700 aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, March 2016.
Think With Google
.
Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Every new woman entrepreneur who takes the leap to start her own business or takes the helm of a business is creating a more diverse and inclusive economy.
1
In the U.S., women have been starting businesses at a rate that’s 1.5 times higher than men.
2
That’s added up to some big numbers: by 2015, 46% of the privately held companies were owned or co-owned by women.
3
Women-owned businesses now employ over 7.9 million workers in the U.S.
4
To celebrate women entrepreneurs this International Women’s Day, we chatted with some women entrepreneurs who’ve inspired us with their boldness. Here are some highlights.
What was the biggest hurdle you faced when starting your business? How did you overcome it?
“The biggest hurdle when starting a business [was] not knowing what I didn't know! Running a business is totally different...and co
mpletely different skills are required. I learned a lot by reading business and legal books, and making tons of mistakes.”
— Limor Fried
,
Founder & Lead Engineer of
Adafruit
“I probably should have started a business five years before I did. However, I let my fears hold me back from going after what I wanted. One day I just decided to go for it. I knew if I didn't, I would regret not starting this business for the rest of my life.”
— Kathryn Jackson, Founder of
Protect Your Pumps
“I think our biggest hurdle was handling growth. Once we got too big to do everything ourselves, we had to hire the right people to represent us and keep our customers happy, while preserving the culture of our small family business.”
— Jenny Doan, Founder of
Missouri Star Quilt Co.
What’s the best piece of advice you received when starting your business?
“
Make sure you have your happiest, most cheerful people working in the front of your store. Those are the people your customers will remember.”
— Jenny Doan
(Read more from Jenny
here
.)
“
Invest in protecting your business. Once you're on your way, invest in a proper accountant, legal counsel, continuing education and training, copyrights and trademarks and other legal protections, website design, R&D, etc."
—
Limor Fried
(Read more from Limor
here
.)
“Get started. Take that initial step, even if it is a small one. Don't let let the big picture overwhelm you so much that you don't even take the first step.”
— Kathryn Jackson
(Read more from Kathryn
here
.)
We hope Jenny, Kathryn, and Limor's voices and experiences will inspire budding women entrepreneurs everywhere.
#IWD2017 #BeBoldforChange
1 World Economic Forum "
The Importance of a Diverse Workforce
." May 2015.
2 Calhoun, Lisa. "
30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders
." 06 July 2015.
3
Calhoun, Lisa. "
30 Surprising Facts About Female Founders
." 06 July 2015.
4 American Express Open. "
The State of Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S. 2015.
" May 2015.
Go the Extra Mile with #SmallBizGames Challenges
Friday, August 5, 2016
Summer’s coming to an end, and with Fall just around the corner, small businesses are preparing for the upcoming season and looking ahead to the holidays. To help business owners brush up on their marketing skills at this key moment, we’re proud to share ten
#SmallBizGames
digital marketing challenges. Every day for the next two weeks, we’ll share a different digital marketing challenge aimed at improving your small business’ online presence – try your hand at setting up a Google My Business page, building your first AdWords keyword list, or creating a custom email address for your business. Each daily challenge is designed to hone your digital marketing skills and help you reach more customers online.
To participate or learn more, join the
Google Small Business Community
or follow us on
Twitter
. Best of luck in conquering the
#SmallBizGames
challenges!
Mother Knows Best: Small Business Lessons from Mom
Friday, May 6, 2016
There are 9.9M women-owned businesses in the US (Small Business Administration) and many of those businesses are run by moms. To celebrate Mother’s Day, we want to recognize the impact moms have on all types of small businesses. We reached out to our team of small business owners and experts to share the business (and life) lessons they learned from their moms. Here’s what they had to say:
How has your mom impacted your small business? Share your thoughts and stories with us in the
Google Small Business Community
or on
Twitter
.
Google & Twitter Small Biz Present: The #SmallBizSquad
Monday, November 16, 2015
November 28 is
Small Business Saturday
- one of the biggest days of the year for small businesses. To celebrate, we've teamed up with our friends at Twitter to form the
#SmallBizSquad
, bringing you the best tips and resources for you to get ready for the holiday season. Follow
@TwitterSmallBiz
and
@GoogleSmallBiz
on Twitter for the latest updates and use #SmallBizSquad to join the conversation.
And don’t forget - November is #CustomerLoyalty month in the Google Small Business Community.
Join us this Friday
(11/20 at 12 noon PST) in a live video Q&A as we talk to Lauren Licata from
Belly
about how to find and retain loyal customers.
Stay tuned throughout the rest of November for more tips and tricks and as always, join the
Google Small Business Community
to get the help you need to succeed on the web.
Introducing Google Small Business Community Office Hours
Thursday, February 12, 2015
With a mission to help small businesses to get the help they need to succeed on the web, the
Google Small Business Community
team connects small business owners to experts and each other every day. In addition to our monthly Hangouts on Air, we’re now excited to bring you more ways to connect with experts to answer your most pressing questions. Each month, we will have experts spanning different fields pertaining to small businesses.
This month, our theme is productivity and we have three experts in to lend their advice. Ray Ramon is joining us from InfusionSoft, a company that helps small businesses streamline their marketing processes. We have Jamie Viggiano from TaskRabbit, a task-based service that helps small businesses find temporary help. We’ll also have some experts from the Google for Work team to talk about cloud-based tools that help you and your team work better, together.
Join us on
February 17 at 12 PM PT
for a live text Q&A where our experts will answer your productivity questions, such as
“What are some of the tasks a small business can automate to be more productive?”
and
“What are ways I can save time with Google apps?”
What are some topics you’d like us to cover in our monthly Office Hours? Join the Google Small Business Community and let us know.
Posted by the Google Small Business Community
A Hangout On Air Conversation with SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
There are 28 million small businesses in the US, and small businesses represent almost half of US private-sector jobs. What kind of support and resources does our government provide to make sure these small businesses thrive? Where can we find tips on how to start or grow a business? What funding opportunities are there?
On Wednesday, August 27th, the leader of the
U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) and the voice of small business in President Obama’s Cabinet,
Maria Contreras-Sweet
, will join the
Google Small Business Community
for a Hangout on Air to share tips and insights for small businesses.
Since being appointed by President Obama, Administrator Contreras-Sweet has made a priority to meet and hear from small businesses. On Wednesday, she will answer questions directly from small businesses through Hangouts. Over the past two weeks, thousands of small business owners from all over the US, representing various backgrounds, experiences, and businesses, have submitted questions for the Administrator covering funding for businesses to technology.
Five small business participants will be joining the Hangout on camera along with the Administrator. One of the attendees, Brantley Crowder, is the director of e-commerce for
Savannah Bee Company
. Savannah Bee Company started in 2002 with a single beehive and a mission to support regional beekeepers by selling their honey and making honey-related health and beauty products. They started delving into digital with their website which launched in 2010 to support their stores in Charleston and Savannah.
The Hangout has participants like
David Winslow
, writing, “the SBA is beginning to make headway in an effort to lead the Government into a friendlier, more engaging place!”
Join the SBA Administrator tomorrow at 1:30 PM PT / 4:30 PM ET in the
Google Small Business Communit
y, a public community, which gives business people direct access to experts and industry leaders like Contreras-Sweet. The event will also be accessible live on the
Google+ Your Business YouTube channel
, in the
event invitation
, and the
SBA website
, and the video will be posted for viewing post-event.
RSVP
to view the broadcast and submit your questions for a chance to have them answered live, on-air during the Hangout.
Posted by the Google Small Business Community
Happy Small Business Week!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Small business owners are some of our favorite dreamers and doers. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and two out of three new jobs in the U.S. each year are created by small businesses. It’s clear that you make a big impact with your creativity, hard work and passion.
As you grow, we know that you may have lots of questions on how to make the most of the web. National Small Business Week is a chance to say thanks for all you do for us and our communities and to share a few helpful resources.
Today we’re launching the
Google Small Business Community
, a place for you to share what makes your business special, connect with other businesses, and get a direct line to help from online experts. Join the community from May 12 - 16 for special content like a message from President Obama and tips from business leaders and the Small Business Administration.
After this week, the Google Small Business Community will continue providing information and inspiration. Daily posts, weekly trainings and regular Hangout series will be based directly on what you want to learn. And a team of trusted Advisors and Googlers with digital expertise will always be around to answer your questions.
We’ve also created a new
Helpouts page for small businesses
to get one-on-one advice with experts over video on topics like online marketing, branding and web design. And if you join the Google Business Community between May 12 - 16, you’ll get access to a Helpout of your choice.
We’re excited to meet you.
Drop in
and tell us a little bit about your business. Happy Small Business Week!
Posted by the Google Small Business Community team
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