TOMI Magazine November 2012

Netherlands, German, France and Spain. “Our fourth annual study of small businesses con- firms what we know from working closely with them; they consider and manage a wide varie- ty of local, national and global risks everyday while keeping faith in their values and ambi- tions. We hope that the insights in our study will help all those supporting small businesses make their essential contribution to economic recovery” - commented Bronek Masojada, CEO at Hiscox. Although small businesses had experienced tough trading conditions, the study found 48% of respondents were optimistic about the year ahead for their business, compared to 27% who declared themselves pessimists and 26% who were unsure. The Spanish (28%) were the least optimistic, the Dutch (61%) the most, and the US (55%) was in the middle. In five of the six countries, a majority of re- spondents reported an increase in new cus- tomers: the leader was Germany (72%) fol- lowed by the USA (64%) and the Netherlands (62%). Across all countries, 75% of respond- ents hope to avoid layoffs in the year ahead or even recruit new employees, and 61% were not letting the Eurozone crisis affect their business plans (575 in the five EU countries). Only 20% of US small businesses reported their plans were changed by the Eurozone cri- sis. As many as 91% of all respondents found benefits from running a small business as compared to working in a large company. Tight finances - but stable relationships with lender Forty-five percent of small busi- nesses reported profit growth over the past 12 months (33% in Spain, 50% in the US). How- ever, across all countries, 62% did not need to renegotiate borrowing terms from a lender, and 74% of those who had renegotiated had been partially or entirely successful. Small business owners stressed but de- termined Across all six countries, the average working week for leaders of small businesses was 42.8 hours, and 2.1 of those hours were Key Themes from the Study : Optimists outnumber pessimists

iMEDIAte ENTREPRENEURS IN 2012 L OSING SLEEP BUT NOT LOSING HOPE A Revealing Survey of Small Business Owners in the USA and Europe as They Cope with the Economic Crisis. - Optimism presides : Many more small busi- nesses are optimistic than pessimistic despite tough times in the last year. - Working hard for new customers : A majority of small businesses in five our of six countries reported increases in new customers. The av- erage working week for a small business own- er is 42.8 hours, but Germans work nearly 8 hours longer per week, on average, than their US counterparts. - Stresses and strains : The downturn has brought more stress to 43% of small business owners, and 31% reported sleeping problems. More women reported stress, sleeplessness and health problems than men. - Eager but lacking language skills : Small busi- nesses who had recruited school graduates gave them higher ratings for keenness and motivation than for language skills. - Few small businesses seek outside help : Only 22% of small businesses had turned to outside help from elected representatives and busi- ness groups and those that did preferred a business organization or a local representative to a national politician. NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2012 ( GLOBE NEWS- WIRE) -- A wide-ranging report published to- day gives a unique and revealing portrait of entrepreneurs in the USA and Europe as they cope with another year of economic crisis. De- spite financial pressures, stresses and sleep- lessness, they still have faith in their futures and maintain the determination to succeed. Published today by Hiscox, the the in- ternational specialist insurer, the fourth DNA of an entrepreneur study reports findings from a survey of 3,000 owners or partners in small and medium-sized businesses in six countries; the United States, the United Kingdom, the

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