What are the challenges faced by small business owners in this era of globalization?
According to the study, majority of small businesses (61 percent) considers finding and retaining qualified workers as the most significant challenge to the growth and survival of their business. Other major concerns of small businesses include: state and federal regulations (35 percent), economic uncertainty (29 percent), keeping up with the technology (28 percent) and access to adequate capital (27 percent). Interestingly, only 16 percent of small businesses consider doing business on the Internet as a threat. In fact, half of the respondents of the survey (50 percent) intend to use the Internet as their key growth strategy for the next 12 months. The report noted the growing acceptance of Internet as the driver for growth, from only 33 percent last year to 50 percent this year. A vast majority of small businesses (85 percent) now uses the Internet, primarily for email (71 percent) and research (60 percent). However, a mere 3 percent of small businesses surveyed indicate that e-comme
