Four in 10 small business owners believe 2024 will be a “make or break” year for their business, according to new research.<br /><br />The survey of 2,000 small business owners — half of whom work in tech or retail — revealed that 40% think this next year will be pivotal for their business.<br /><br />Respondents listed the economy, the upcoming election and declining sales as some of the reasons this year will be a “make or break” for their business, while others mentioned continuing supply chain issues and retaining good employees.<br /><br />But it’s not all “doom and gloom” for small business owners: 49% said their business performed better than anticipated in 2023, while only 21% said it was worse than anticipated.<br /><br />The survey also revealed that 71% are optimistic about the state of their business as we enter 2024 — but there’s a juxtaposition between the unexpected success of the past year and the perceived pivotal nature of the upcoming one.<br /><br />With that, a third of respondents (32%) are worried their business won’t survive through the end of 2024.<br /><br />Even if they’re not pinning all their hopes on this upcoming year, 38% are more worried about their business as they enter 2024, compared to 2023 — while only 26% are less worried.<br /><br />Conducted by Slack and commissioned by OnePoll, the survey delved into small business owners’ worries and looked at what respondents are doing to alleviate them.<br /><br />Top worries included inflation and economic conditions (47%), followed by the need to raise prices (32%) — and an increase in competition (24%).<br /><br />Respondents are also worried about needing to update their technology without the budget to do so (16%), and feeling like the tech they use for their business is outdated (14%).<br /><br />But small business owners aren’t sitting idly by as these worries mount: the survey revealed 74% of respondents are currently taking steps to help alleviate their concerns.<br />This includes expanding marketing efforts to bring in new customers (51%), setting money aside for emergency use (45%) and exploring new technologies to increase productivity and efficiency (43%).<br /><br />A quarter (26%) of small business owners surveyed also implemented new technology in 2023 — with 41% of those implementing new productivity or collaboration technology.<br /><br />For those respondents, they believe these enhancements will help them better communicate with customers (70%) and internal teams (55%), share information across their teams (54%) and reduce the number of software tools their team uses (40%). <br /><br />“The state of small businesses in 2024 reflects a clear desire to maximize efficiency with limited resources,” said Jaime DeLanghe, Senior Principal, Product Management, Slack. “Regardless of what sector the business is in, productivity and collaboration tools can be a key driver of businesses’ growth and productivity.” <br /><br />Small business owners also worked to improve their business throughout 2023, and they ended last year with some positives.
