Authors

Sanjeev Aggarwal, Partner

Laurie McCabe, Partner

Sponsored by Campaigner

Small Business Economic Outlook and Challenges 

This report, the first of two, highlights key findings from a survey conducted in July 2009 by Hurwitz & Associates, and is sponsored by Campaigner. The survey investigates how North American small businesses with 1-20 employees are succeeding today, and how they are adapting their marketing plans and budgets to compete more effectively.  

The economic environment has been challenging for many businesses. In many industries, fewer customers are buying. Those who do make purchases are often spending less. Even as competition intensifies, many businesses have been scrambling to do more with fewer resources. With limited cash flow and capital reserves, small businesses have been particularly challenged to grow their business. For instance, median annual revenue for businesses with 2-4 employees is under $250,000 (Figure 1).

Authors

Sanjeev Aggarwal, Partner

Laurie McCabe, Partner

Sponsored by Campaigner

Email Marketing Adoption and Characteristics  

This report, the second of two, highlights key findings from a survey conducted in July 2009 by Hurwitz & Associates, and is sponsored by Campaigner. The survey investigates how North American small businesses with 1-20 employees are succeeding today, and how they are adapting their marketing plans and budgets to compete more effectively.  Email marketing has become a mainstream marketing staple for small businesses (Figure 1).

• 46% of small businesses currently use email marketing
• 36% plan to begin in the next 12 months

• 18% do not use email marketing and have no plans to begin

Authors Nigel Stanley, Senior Analyst

Marcia Kaufman, Partner

Sponsored by Pervasive

Over the past few years relational databases have become more complex as the major vendors build more features in an attempt to make their products attractive to buyers. 

Line of business applications are the life blood of many small and medium- sized organizations. Many are bought to solve specific tactical problems but others may become an intrinsic part of business operations.
Many smaller organizations do not have the resources to support the extensive IT expertise that may be required to configure and manage such solutions on an on-going basis. In fact, many software vendors and developers strive to reduce the overall cost of ownership for such solutions and emphasize this benefit as a key differentiator.