However, in an effort to truly understand how Small Business owners are feeling about both the short-and longer term state of their business we surveyed thousands of entrepreneurs during April 2023.  And the results were more positive than the media would have you believe.

Undoubtedly, 2023 started off slow, but as we settle into Q2, the majority of Small Business owners think things are looking up for the rest of the year and sense the worst is behind them.  In fact, nearly 70% plan to invest in their growth within the next six months.

This speaks volumes to the resiliency and courage of small business owners that ZING Funding so greatly admires and we look forward to the opportunity to help support that growth mindset with the financing options we provide.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL SURVEY RESULTS

The post Small Business Outlook Positive Despite Slow Start to 2023 appeared first on ZING Funding.

Survey Highlight:  Nearly 70% of Small Businesses plan to reinvest for a recovery.

It has been a devastating 10 months for Small Business, with an estimated 25% permanently closed as of September 2020 according to the World Economic Forum, and many others still struggling to survive.  The bad news is all around us, but the mainstream media doesn’t report on the silver linings:  recent highlights from ZING’s Small Business Survey survey show that among the businesses that remained open in September, nearly 40% of have found opportunities to grow during the pandemic, and over 60% have maintained or extended their business hours.  

69.2% of Small Businesses plan to reinvest for recovery

When it comes to planning for a recovery, Small Business owners once again provide reason for optimism:

• While 7.7% of survey respondents do not plan to invest in their business, and
• 23.1% will take a wait and see approach,
• 69.2% of Small Business owners will “for sure” invest in their business to prepare for a recovery.

One thing is clear:  the entrepreneurial spirit cannot be extinguished!  Despite the challenges, the majority of America’s Small Business owners are undeterred in planing for their next phase of growth.  And that’s good news for everyone as the majority of all new job opportunities in America are created by Small Businesses.  In other words, Small Business will lead the recovery!

When we speak with entrepreneurs about how they plan to use funding to grow their business, we hear a wide range of responses.  Preparing for growth can mean investing in fresh inventory or new equipment, physical expansions, new marketing programs and online distribution models, to name a few.

How is YOUR business positioning itself to adapt and grow in 2021?  Will it be business as usual or will you be reinventing your business strategy?  How much financing will you need when the time comes to put your plans into action?  These are the types of questions that help us understand the needs of our clients and provide them with tailored solutions that make sense for their business.  Drop us a line today or join the discussion on our LinkedIn page to share your views on how your business will position itself for growth in the future!

Other highlights from ZING’s Small Business survey:

With so many businesses struggling (and closing), it’s great to see bright glimmers of hope.  The entrepreneurial spirit is strong!  America’s Small Businesses will lead the economic recovery.  Read our full survey results (PDF) and drop us a line if you have any questions or want to discuss how we can help finance your plans to emerge from 2020 bigger and better than ever before.

Here’s to New Ideas and Big Plans!

ZING is proud to support Small Businesses with Big Plans for the future!  Call us or apply online to speak with one of our Business Growth Advisors about how we can get you the funding you need within 2-3 business days – so you can get back to growing your business!

Thank you to all the Small Business owners who participated in the survey.  Percentage figures have been rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

The post Survey: Nearly 70% of Small Business owners will reinvest for a recovery appeared first on ZING Funding.

Highlight:  38.7% of Small Businesses have GROWN in 2020!

This has been a challenging year for Small Businesses, with an estimated 25% permanently closed as of September, according to the World Economic Forum.  ZING’s survey of business owners that survived the initial wave of closures reveals that while many are struggling with everything that 2020 has thrown at them, there is a silver lining:  a large minority of Small Businesses still open are adapting and finding new opportunities to grow.

• 23.1% of survey respondents reported a “significant negative impact” on their business;
• 38.2% reported “not much difference” in their business;
• 38.7% of survey respondents have “found opportunities to grow” despite, or many because of, the pandemic.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and America’s Small Business owners are finding new ways to adapt and grow in challenging times.  This might mean investing in online distribution models, new product lines, or shifting the model from retail to mobile delivery, as is the case with Beauty Moves, the subject of last month’s “Powered by ZING” profile.

How is YOUR business positioning itself to grow by adapting to new market conditions?  We’d love to hear your ideas and help you explore options to finance your plans.

Other highlights from ZING’s Small Business survey:

With so many businesses struggling (and closing), it’s great to see bright glimmers of hope.  The entrepreneurial spirit is strong!  America’s Small Businesses will lead the economic recovery.

Among US Small Businesses that have survived 2020 so far:

• 38.7% have grown their business since the beginning of the pandemic;
• 15.4% have expanded their business hours to meet increased demand;
• 46.2% believe that the worst is now behind us;
• 69.1% plan to invest in their business to prepare for a recovery.
• Full survey results (PDF)

Here’s to New Ideas and Big Plans!

ZING is proud to support Small Businesses with Big Plans for the future!  Call us or apply online to speak with one of our Business Growth Advisors about how we can get you the funding you need within 2-3 business days – so you can get back to growing your business!

Thank you to all the Small Business owners who participated in the survey.

The post Survey Results part 1: “How has your business been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic?” appeared first on ZING Funding.

BACKGROUND

2020 was going to be a banner year for Marc’s growing full service medical spa retail location.  Located in a thriving strip mall, Beauty Moves was building a loyal clientele.  Even more exciting, Marc had just purchased and equipped a brand new Mercedes Sprinter van to offer medical services by appointment on-site at medical clinics.  Loaded with state-of-the-art tools for performing medical spa treatments as well as a 55-inch 2-way videoconference screen to allow the doctor to be “virtually there” and staffed by a professional nurse/practitioner, the mobile unit was an innovative approach to expanding the business into B2B medical spa services without having to invest in fixed real estate.

COVID EFFECT

The year was off to a great start, but we all know what happened next: like most other businesses around the world, Beauty Moves was forced to close its retail storefront due to the global pandemic.  And with non-essential medical clinics also closed, the brand new state of the art mobile unit was sitting idle as well.  Like tens of millions of business owners across America, Marc was bleeding money and needed to change course fast.

SOLUTION

Successful entrepreneurs have an agility that allows them to make strategic decisions and implement them quickly.  They don’t sit still and hope for the best; they take stock of their situation and chart a new course – immediately.

With customers unable to come into the retail location, and with his mobile unit sitting idle on account of medical clinics being closed, Marc had an idea:  why not use the mobile unit to bring spa services to customers’ driveways?  It would require a significant investment to outfit the van to offer all the services of the retail location, but it would open the door to a major opportunity that would allow Beauty Moves to survive a pandemic and continue growing the business.

Beauty Moves’ upfitted mobile unit: delivering Medical Spa services to the Miami area.

So, Marc went ahead and refitted Beauty Moves’ mobile unit to include equipment for hydro facial treatments, laser hair removal, and laser skin resurfacing.  Then he had the vehicle wrapped in an eye-catching design that showcases the professional services offered inside.  Finally, Marc devised an online marketing plan to create awareness of the new service and generate online bookings.

All of this required a significant investment – and this is where ZING came in!  In Marc’s words: “The reason we went with ZING Instead of the bank is the convenience and the technology.  The application was easy, Luis (@ZING) made it easy to structure the financing, and the whole process took 4 business days.  As a result, I got the working capital I needed and just kept moving forward.”

RESULT

Beauty Moves now offers all the spa services of the storefront location on a mobile basis.  No longer shackled to a fixed location, and with an innovative online marketing program that is generating results, Marc has reinvented Beauty Moves to thrive during a global pandemic.

And it gets even better:  Based on the success he’s had with the new approach, Marc is adding a second mobile unit to capitalize on the demand for at-home spa treatments.  And now that retail is open again, he’s adding a second physical location.  2020 turned out to be an even better year that he had planned pre-Covid — talk about a comeboack story!

Here’s to Marc and all the entrepreneurs out there who are finding ways to shift, stabilize and grow their business.  This is how Small Business will lead the recovery, and this is why we support your Big Plans!

MORE ADVICE FROM MARC:

Why work with ZING instead of the bank?  “The reason we went with ZING is the convenience and technology.  ZING allowed me to keep the business moving uninterrupted and made all the difference in the world.  The opportunity cost of working with my bank was simply too much.”

Marc’s advice to entrepreneurs looking to finance their plans?  “If you’ve got time, go to the bank.  If you need to move in 48 hours, talk to ZING!”

How ZING is helping Small Business lead the way:

ZING is a new idea that came about during a pandemic.  With the global economy facing its biggest setback in decades, we watched as the Small Businesses that drive the US economy struggled to survive and access the government loans that were intended to help them. Many business owners spent days navigating the traditional loans application process only to find out that priority was given to bigger existing customers.  ZING’s mission was born: bring flexible and responsible funding options directly to Small Business owners, make it quick and easy to do business with us, and get them back to growing their business as soon as possible.

ZING is committed to the success of Small Business, and we look forward to partnering with you to provide the financing solutions to help you adapt and grow your business.

The post Beauty Moves: Small Business, Big Comeback. Powered by ZING appeared first on ZING Funding.

So far, 2020 is not another “normal” year of strong growth, job creation and increased prosperity. For many business owners, plans to invest new equipment, additional staff and new technologies have been put on hold.

But a recovery will happen, and when it does, Small Business will be leading the way.  Just like we always do!

From “business as usual” to “flatten the curve”

Most of us put our plans on hold and started cutting back on expenses, furloughing employees, and calculating the costs to our business.  To add tragedy to hardship many of us have by now had to cope with losing friends and loved ones to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For most of us, growth plans have been replaced with contingency and survival plans.  And questions about the impacts on our economy, and the future of our business.

What is the “new normal” for Small Business?

Since the start of the pandemic we haven’t stopped talking about getting “back to normal”.  It was easier to hope for a quick recovery when we didn’t know very much about how the pandemic would spread and how many lives it would take.

Now it looks like getting back to normal may take the form of a cautious, staggered approach to re-opening our schools, businesses and institutions on a state-by-state basis.  And the new normal may include more social distancing measures, and a greater emphasis on hygiene and sanitation.

As Small Business owners, we each face our own unique challenges around getting back to business as usual based on our location, our industry, and our financial situation.  But the recovery will happen, and we need to be prepared to lead the way.

How do we know that Small Business will lead the recovery?

For starters, we’ve done it before.  Since the recession of 2009, Small Businesses have created 64% of all new job opportunities in America, and the success of our economy depends on us continuing to play that important role in our country.  We represent 99% of all businesses in America — so if we don’t grow there will be no recovery. It can’t happen without us!

Then there’s the fact that Small Business owners are simply better at meeting challenges.  We know from our own experience that nothing moves forward unless we’re continually pushing, fixing problems, and going the extra mile.  We have more passion, more drive, and are more agile than Big Business because we are entrepreneurs at heart.

For Small Business owners, overcoming challenges is business as usual.

Gut-check time: how agile is your business?  It’s time to start asking ourselves the important questions:
• How have customers’ needs changed?
• Does this impact the way we interact with them?
• Will we need to re-think supply chains?
• Will people respond to the same marketing and sales tactics, or will we need a new strategy?
• Can we afford to re-hire staff and add inventory?
• When do we need to be ready to hit the ground again?

Now is the time to summon our entrepreneurial spirit and get creative with the answers.  We may be in this together, but it comes down to each of us to find the answers for our own business.

The entrepreneurial spirit is the biggest asset we have in the recovery ahead. Be prepared to come back with a vengeance when the moment is right!  Build your plan ahead of time and stay realistic by adjusting your sails along the way to set yourself up for success in the “new normal”. And make sure you have the financing options in place to draw upon when you need them.

Small Business has led America’s economic recovery before, and we will do it again.

How Zing can help Small Business lead the way

ZING is a new idea that came about during a pandemic.  With the global economy facing its biggest setback in decades, we watched as the Small Businesses that drive the US economy struggled to survive and access the government loans that were intended to help them. Many business owners spent days navigating the traditional loans application process only to find out that priority was given to bigger existing customers.  ZING’s mission was born: bring flexible and responsible funding options directly to Small Business owners, make it quick and easy to do business with us, and get them back to growing their business as soon as possible.

ZING is committed to the success of Small Business, and we look forward to partnering with you to provide the financing solutions to help you adapt and grow your business.

Information sources and additional reading:

• ZING’s financing options for Small Business
• SBA statistics Sept 2019 
• SBA Office of Advocacy Bulletin April 2020
• PBS – 33 million have sought U.S. unemployment aid since virus hit

The post Small Business will Lead the Recovery. Again. appeared first on ZING Funding.