Running a Small Business Is No Joke.
Here There Be Krakens.
The Small Business Owner Is a Diver
To be successful, the small business owner must be a Diver. And The Diver goes to depths that others won’t to capitalize on opportunity. The Diver is an adventurer, a risk taker. When it comes to their business, it’s sink or swim.
The Bigger Guys Are Krakens
The bigger guys are the worst. They’re krakens — greedy, snarling monsters who seek to devour all the treasure in the ocean. And, for smaller business owners, that ocean is pretty freakin’ big.
The Small Business Ecosystem Is Huge
Newsflash: Running a smaller business is no joke. Take a look at the facts:
There are almost 28 million small businesses in the U.S. Of those businesses, 22 million are self-employed individuals with no additional payroll or employees.*
Businesses with less than five employees make up 62 percent of all businesses in the United States.* The U.S. is a great ecosystem for smaller businesses. That’s why over half of the businesses in America couldn’t field a full basketball team.
Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms.* That’s a pretty big piece of the pie.
And smaller businesses make up 42.9 percent of private sector payroll.* We’ve all heard that small business is the backbone of America, but this number definitely proves it.
To sum up: It’s a pretty big ocean filled with plenty of small businesses.
But there’s a problem. The ocean can be unforgiving.
About 543,000 new businesses start up each month. However, more of those businesses will shut down than start up each month.*
To make matters worse, here there be krakens.
Publicly traded companies make headlines but represent less than 1 percent of total businesses.* Those publicly traded companies have all the brand awareness. Small business owners are left to fight for the scraps.
Those publicly traded companies are krakens.
The Problem with Krakens
The problem: The ocean knows all about krakens. They have all the market share and brand recognition. It takes a lot for a small diver to stay a step ahead of the big guy.
The Solve
The solve is simple: Smaller businesses need marketing to stay alive. Some business owners understand the importance of this.
Only 12 percent of small business owners said it’s easier today to run a business than it was five years ago.*
Of that group of small businesses, 89 percent cited online marketing tools that make it easier and less expensive to market their business.* Smaller business owners who are doing well understand the importance of online marketing.
Seventy-five percent of small business owners consider internet marketing to be “effective” or “very effective” for attracting new customers.* Internet marketing is playing a large role in helping smaller business owners get new prospects.
Sixty-six percent of small businesses plan to invest as much or more in digital marketing as they did last year.* More and more, smaller business owners are recognizing the importance of digital marketing.
But, without the proper tools, small business owners encounter problems with digital marketing.
Seventy-six percent of small business owners face marketing challenges — especially when it comes to the increased growth of online marketing.* Online marketing is effective, but it isn’t easy.
Small business owners face many problems in digital marketing, including turning leads into customers, generating web traffic, finding time and resources for digital marketing, and turning web traffic into leads. In fact, many small business owners don’t know if they’re marketing effectively.
Smaller business owners have a lot of uncertainty around marketing. It gets worse when you realize that not every small business owner understands the importance of digital marketing or creating online demand generation.
Sixty percent of very small businesses haven’t even established an online presence.* Well over half of very small businesses are still missing out on establising a presence online.
Only 46 percent of smaller business owners prioritize expanding marketing and advertising efforts.* Some business owners just don’t get the importance of marketing and advertising.
Only 44 percent of small business owners prioritize nurturing relationships with current customers.*
Many of these divers have a small team or take the work on for themselves. Many of them have to handle marketing efforts on their own.
The Diver Has His Work Cut Out for Him
Smaller business owners need help. Whether it’s due to a lack of understanding the marketing ecosystem, a lack of marketing resources, or just the inability to wrap their heads around some of the finer points of marketing, business owners need assistance.
In order to defeat The Kraken, The Diver needs help.
That’s why Hatchbuck created this small business marketing assessment tool. Continue reading to assess what type of small business marketer you are, young Diver.