Unfortunately, the financial crisis will continue to take a toll on smaller businesses in 2009. But cloud computing and SaaS, green IT, and social networking are three markets that should evolve significantly next year and offer the prospect of reducing costs for growing companies while often enhancing quality.
There's one thing that dominates any attempt at predictions for the coming year. It's the elephant in the room that no one can stop talking about -- the financial crisis. It cuts across every business regardless of location, industry, or size. Even businesses that haven't been directly affected are bracing for it.
The financial crisis is the lens that will filter every business decision in the coming year, from the stock room to the boardroom to the server room. But the collective challenge of the economy presents opportunity. Moreover, small and midsize businesses are better positioned to seize those opportunities than large enterprises.
Not surprisingly, cost cutting will be the horse that many business owners flog to exhaustion in 2009. There's no shortage of tight budget predictions, particularly for information technology. IDC predicts IT spending will decline to 0.9% in 2009 -- a reassessment from the projected 4.2% growth forecast in August. According to the CDW IT Monitor, looking across all sized business and the public sector, cost management is the top priority for 41% of IT decision makers in 2009.
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But most of the doom-and-gloom scenarios consider business in general and don't focus on small and midsize business in particular. For smaller businesses, the effect of the credit crunch is perhaps less acute than for large enterprises. That's because, traditionally, smaller businesses rely less on banks for working capital. According to Warrillow & Co., 80% of employee-based businesses and 60% of sole proprietorships are self-financed -- only 11% rely on bank loans to for startup or acquisition funding.
Though Warrillow doesn't account for the slip in home values that limits business owners' ability to tap home-equity funds, the SMB advisory services firm does point to the nimbleness of smaller business in changing tactics to achieve objects.
That nimbleness manifests itself in everything from quicker decision making to a willingness to change suppliers and vendors or adapt products and services for new markets -- large enterprises typically take months to reach these decisions.
The ability to change direction is a huge asset for growing companies and positions these businesses to seize opportunity. Though not new, three markets evolve significantly in 2009 and offer the prospect of reducing costs while often enhancing quality.
Next Page: 2009 Predictions For Cloud Computing, SaaS, And Green IT
