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Intuit: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
Future of Small Business in the Cloud
Source: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
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Intuit: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
Plug-in Players
Plug-in Players: Small businesses will increasingly adapt to the cloud by taking advantage of specialized service that can be seamlessly integrated into back-office operations. Instead of spending time and effort on the nuts-and-bolts of finance, marketing and human resources, cloud-adapted small business will plug into cloud-based providers who deliver comprehensive, tailored solutions, giving small business operators the ability to focus on mission-critical areas of business.
Source: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
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Intuit: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
Hives
Hives: Cloud-adapted small businesses will increasingly be made up of individuals who share talent to form a team. These businesses will operate virtually, with employees working in different locations, and staffing levels will be increasingly flexible, rising and falling to meet to project needs. For example, independent contractors will use virtual spaces to connect and market themselves. On Main Street, small manufacturers and producers may share a commercial facility.
Source: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
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Intuit: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
Head-to-Headers
Head-to-Headers: A growing number of cloud-adapted small businesses will compete head-to-head with major firms, using the growing number of platforms and plug-in services to reach markets once only accessible to large corporations. This is already being seen with platforms such as AirBnB, which provide individuals with the ability to reach a mass market through community infrastructure.
Source: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
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Intuit: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
Portfolioists
Portfolioists: Successful cloud-adapted freelancers will bring together multiple income streams to create a career portfolio. These largely will be people who start with a passion, or specific skill, and are motivated primarily by the desire to live and work according to their values, passions, and convictions. They will increasingly build personal empires in the cloud, finding previously unseen opportunities for revenue generation.
Source: Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.
According to a recent Intuit Study, “nearly 80% of U.S. small businesses will be fully adapted to cloud computing by 2020”1 The report described how small businesses will continue increasing their use of cloud technology in order to gain efficiencies and transform the ways they achieve their long-term goals. (Figure 1) This newest report is the latest in a 10-year partnership between Emergent Research and Intuit centered on trends in small business.
The Study, “Small Business Success in the Cloud” reveals various faces of the new economy in the personas of small businesses that are embracing ‘the Cloud’ for their computing needs and more. Among these faces are Plug-in Players (Figure 2), Hives (Figure 3), Head-to-Headers (Figure 4), and Portfolioists (Figure 5). [Note: Make certain to review the detailed descriptions of each persona within the figure comments adapted from Intuit's slideshare presentation (link below).] These personas define how cloud computing is impacting individuals and groups of individuals making it easier and cheaper for entrepreneurs to start and upscale their businesses. For more information about the study see the Intuit slideshare.
Steve King of Emergent Research said, "Today the US and global economy are going through a series of shifts and changes that are reshaping the economic landscape." Clearly the Cloud is making it possible for people, who 10 years ago had no idea of a way to start a new small business, to today start-up, grow, and reach out to parts of the world in service offerings, or supply mechanisms, never before possible.
Fortunately my-take away from the Intuit Study confirms my own thoughts and observations on the effects of the Cloud (and World-Wide-Web) on small businesses. (It's always nice to find a professional study, paid for by someone else, to confirm your own impressions. Ha Ha) The Intuit/Emergent Research study describes how a variety of forces are driving this new business economy including Technology and infrastructure, Socioeconomics, Platforms and ecosystems, and Customer needs (or demands).
Take the economy for example. Even the overall economic decline and lack of jobs, along with reduced compensation for those jobs that are out there, has resulted in people who would have been traditional 'employees' setting a new course and creating start-up businesses. One of the most attractive results can be that this new 'economic freedom' of being your own boss, while demanding, has in many cases given individuals more work/life flexibility than their prior traditional 8-to-5 job. The ability to turn your spare room, or just your laptop, into a 'world-wide' office furthers the attractiveness of a start-up business.
Cheaper, easier to use and maintain 'cloud based' technology has made it possible for many up-start businesses to get underway. No longer does a young company need to invest heavily in Information Technology infrastructure such as servers, networks and software from day one; they can now access Cloud based applications, like QuickBooks Online, from almost any device, anywhere. (I can remember the 10's-of-thousands of dollars I spent on 'servers' 15 or 20 years ago.) Today monthly subscriptions for cloud based software or storage reduce start-up costs so a new business can devote their limited capital to essentials such as advertising, inventory and personnel.
The Cloud also provides a wealth of 'ways to do business'. Cloud based platforms like EBay and Amazon make it possible for materials distribution without the need of large inventories or warehousing. A variety of manufacturers and suppliers are also partnering with small business to provide product and distribution ecosystems. Today many 'once large-retail only' wholesale companies are now doing business with what seem like small upstart companies, and embracing them, because they see how 'the Cloud' and world-wide-web are allowing these small companies to literally 'do business around the world.' In my way of thinking, today's upstart could well be tomorrow's Walmart!
When you couple these capabilities with the growing needs and demands of Customers seeking services and products they cannot find locally, the Web has made it possible to allow almost anyone, anywhere, to find what they are looking for... (from someone) even if they are half a world away. The 'Cloud' makes it possible to service those needs and demands by offering a way to not only 'find it' but 'acquire it'. E-commerce shopping carts, integrating with the Intuit QuickBooks Online ecosystem, supported by inventory management from products like Lettuce (or other Apps) that sync with QuickBooks Online, when coupled with shipping management or distribution chains, make around the world ordering and distribution, from even the smallest mom-n-pop shop, not only a possibility, but a growing reality in Small Business for the future.
The world is evolving, small business is changing, and the 'Cloud' is making things possible we could hardly have dreamed of just 10 years ago. Are you floating that dream of yours in the Cloud? Are you aiming at success with a birds-eye-view from the Cloud? Or are you stuck on the ground (still trying to do things the same old way)? Now is the time to embrace 'the Cloud'.
Studies (like the one mentioned here from Intuit) show that 'small business success is in the cloud'. If you stay stuck on the ground long enough, the Cloud may very well have left you behind on its way to far beyond.
Murph
PS - Thanks Intuit (and Emergent Research) for helping to keep us all 'focused on the future.'
1- Small Business Success in the Cloud, Emergent Research and Intuit, Inc., August 4, 2014.