SCOREÂ today released results from the fifth annual “Brother Small Business Survey,” which notably revealed a surprising 72 percent of small business owners indicate new technologies will offer a bigger return on their investment than new employees (28 percent) in 2014.
While the results show small business owners believe the use
of computing and digital technologies will help with increased efficiency and keeping business running smoothly, they are still having difficulty keeping up with every tech innovation. In fact, 63 percent of respondents (a mere 3 percent less than last year) frequently feel overwhelmed with the number of technologies available to run their business.Small business owners are split 50/50 regarding where they see greater risk — investing in technology too quickly and not receiving a sufficient return on investment, or not investing in technology and giving competitors an advantage. Yet, technology-tool related investments (49 percent) still top the priorities of small business owners in 2014.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets top the list (41 percent) of the technologies small business owners find necessary to run their business. Respondents also named Customer Relationship Management tools (32 percent), social technologies (21 percent) and cloud services (15 percent) as necessary to their business.
The survey which was held in partnership with Brother International Corporation revealed that “while small business owners understand the value of new technologies, they are still a bit overwhelmed and struggle with choosing the right time to adopt them to have the greatest impact on their business,” says John Wandishin, Brother Vice President of Marketing.