The third annual survey of small business owners indicates a majority are optimistic about 2004 (79.8 percent) and their business future but most are still working without a firm plan.

An analysis of the results revealed that most small business owners not only did not have a defined plan, but had not identified goals they would like to meet, yet they continued to spend time and energy investing in advertising and marketing activities.

Denise O'Berry, President of The Small Business Edge Corp in Tampa, Florida, said she had learned a lot from the results of the survey.

"Through this annual survey of small business owners, I've discovered that most of them continue to make the same mistakes as their predecessors," Ms O'Berry said. "Over 50 percent have no action plan, no goals, and no idea how to market their business, yet they expect an increase in revenue."

The good news for the business world is that most small business owners realize the value of having an "in-house" customer list (64.2%) and many have embraced email as an effective tool for their business. A massive 92.5% use email regularly to communicate with their customers compared to 53.4% who use only regular mail.

Ms O'Berry said unsolicited e-mail was one factor deterring small businesses from using e-mail to keep in touch with their clients.

"Unfortunately, because of the proliferation of unsolicited email on the internet, small business email messages may get lost in the crowd if they don't find a way to leverage their 'in-house' list and use it to their advantage," she said.

A major surprise of the survey findings was that only 29.8% of these owners use the least time consuming and cost efficient method to market their business - a public relations strategy. Instead, they continue on traditional methods such as direct mail and advertising to spread the word about and promote their business. However, research shows that these methods are two of the most expensive if done incorrectly.

Ms O'Berry said those results were an obvious indication that such businesses owners needed a helping hand.
"Clearly, these small business owners need help," she said.

"They deal with tough issues each and every day to maintain the independence they've worked so hard to achieve. And they don't have a lot of time to waste moving in the wrong direction."

Key details from the survey may be downloaded (PDF) at http://www.whatspossible.com/small_business_owners_survey_stats_2004.pdf

About the author:

Phil Wiley is the author of the best selling book Mini Site Profits www.minisiteprofits.comand writes the free weekly Letter from Phil at www.ozemedia.com

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