A crumbling stock market. The credit crunch. Gasoline approaching $4/gallon. Plummeting house prices. How are these impacting small businesses?
At PFL, we talk to thousands of business people every week, most of them in companies with 20 or fewer employees. Small businesses are in touch with their customers, and can sense economic trends long before they hit the news media. By contrast, big businesses tend to be so out of touch that they only recognize a downturn when it is nearly over.
What we’re finding is that small businesses are well aware of the challenges in the current economic environment, but remain optimistic about their prospects. We started hearing concerns about the economy last year. But as 2008 progresses, we are seeing a renewed commitment to marketing themselves and growing their businesses. Mailings of postcards and brochures are growing strongly, and we see lots of new business startups.
Does your company feel the headlines? How?
Andrew Field is founder and President of PrintingForLess.com, known by its thousands of happy customers as “America’s Print Shop.” He works and lives along the Yellowstone River in southwest Montana.
