Thanks to my friends over at Intuit‘s Small Business Labs blog for pointing this out.
SBA Chief Economist Chad Moutray published a report about small business titled Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Owners. He outlines the five major challenges facing small business:
- Strengthening the overall economy
- Taxes and regulation
- Cost and availability of health insurance
- Attracting and retaining a quality workforce
- Global competition
He also outlines some opportunities that “small businesses will hopefully pursue”:
- Increased investments in technology and innovation
- “Economic gardening” and grooming local entrepreneurs
- Pursuing new markets overseas
- Promoting business ownership among selected demographic groups
- Advancing education and training
Here are links to the SBA’s full report and summary.
Did you know we recently signed a strategic alliance memorandum with the Small Business Administration in Maryland? Check out our article about the alliance and a related blog post. As the most trusted advisers to small businesses, we believe this is the time for CPAs to jump in and help small businesses navigate this turbulent economy.
Check out more resources from the Maryland Small Business Administration.
We have been blogging about all of these issues in posts on the economy, Small Business Administration and innovation. We were the first to cover Intuit’s Future of Small Business Report in Second Life and real life at last year’s Maryland Business and Accounting Expo. Look for these major topics on the economy, innovation, and leadership at this year’s MD Biz Expo already scheduled for June 16-17 at the Baltimore Convention Center.