American Small Businesses Report Growth in Customers and Revenue

Some detailed numbers from the survey around customer growth, revenue and goals for 2011 included:

• 87 percent of micro businesses met some or most of their goals for the year;
• 29 percent reported an increase of more than 30 customers, while 36 percent increased by 1-10; and
• 28 percent cited a revenue increase of between 11-19 percent, while 25 percent grew by between 1-10 percent.

Micro businesses cited customer growth as the most important goal when asked about plans for 2012. According to this year’s survey, respondents said that the most effective marketing channel in driving revenue and customers in 2011 was word-of-mouth, garnering 54 percent of responses. Social media ranked second at 13 percent.