GoDaddy released a Global Entrepreneurship Survey today, revealing interesting insights around the current state and journey of small business owners in India compared to other regions around the world. According to the survey, small businesses in India that are already online are much more inclined towards building a website for their business than their global counterparts. Almost one-third (32%) of the total Indian small businesses surveyed (that are online) reported that they already have a website and about 19% responded that they plan to build a website soon as compared to only 16% of their global counterparts.
The survey also delves into the swirl of challenges faced by Indian SMBs, which require them to adapt, in order to flourish. 42% of the Indian small businesses surveyed cited their inability to invest sufficiently in the business as a major growth challenge. Other external challenges included societal turbulence (35%) and failure to keep up with the technological advancements (23%).
Cyber-attack is another concern that 21% of the Indian entrepreneurs cited as a potential challenge to their success. While, only 8% of Indian small business owners responded that they experienced a cyberattack, 31% of them responded that they lost access to their accounts, 28% said it cost them money to get it fixed and23% mentioned that it compromised client information, supporting the concept that while it may not happen often, security should be a priority.
Even with these challenges, small business owners in India remained optimistic, with 46% reporting that they expect to grow at least 50% in the next three to five years, which is 1.7 times more as compared to the global counterparts (only 27%).
“Owing to the massive growth of digital economy in India, entrepreneurs and small business owners are showing increased optimism towards creating an online identity that can prove critical for their long-term growth and expansion. As these business owners embark on their journey towards digital transformation, we at GoDaddy, aim to provide them with the guidance and easy-to-use and affordable online tools and solutions to help them grow and prosper,” said Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, GoDaddy India.
While technology can help reduce barriers to entry for creating a small business, it can also help the business owners to become successful entrepreneurs. 30% of the Indian respondents said that they believe that technology tools will help them expand their reach and create a better market place. Moreover, about 26% of the Indian small business owners responded that technology will run the business more efficiently and cost effectively, whereas 23% of the respondents said thattechnology will help maintain a close relationship with customers.
Besides looking at how businesses are adapting to change, the GoDaddy Global Entrepreneurship Survey also elaborates the behavioural aspects of small business owners in India. Here are some of the key findings:
· 41% of entrepreneurs in India value the flexibility of running their own business, saying it’s the best aspect of being an entrepreneur. For 13% of respondents, security and status of owing a business is the biggest benefit of running their own small business
· On the flipside, 22% said that uncertainty about the future and finding good workers are the two key obstacles in being a successful small business owner, while 21% cited the risk of failure as the third most challenging thing about owning a small business
· Interestingly, 85% of Indian respondents said they would start their own business if they had to make the choice again knowing what they know now (Global: 79%), and 82% Indian respondents reported they are happier since becoming an entrepreneur (Global: 72%)
· Out of those who claimed to have a running website, 60% of them responded that they have a regional enabled website. Moreover, 62% said that their website supports English and Hindi as the language to help the customers understand services offered
The survey was conducted by a research firm Savanta in April and May 2019 and surveyed 4,505 small business owners across 10 countries including India, Australia, Canada, and The United States amongst others. The survey size in India was 500 small business owners with 25 or fewer workers.
