CED, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in North Carolina, has released its annual survey of members. Key findings indicate that entrepreneurs are feeling cautiously optimistic about their business prospects and many are planning expansion and new hiring in the next 12 months. In addition, “managing growth” emerged as the top concern of respondents.
“These results, while not conclusive, confirm the impression that the entrepreneurial community in the Research Triangle is on the upswing,” says Joan Siefert Rose, CED president. “While many entrepreneurs continue to express uncertainty about government policy and the economic climate in general, they are upbeat about their own enterprises and showing new signs of confidence.”
The 2011 Entrepreneur Study was conducted by Percept Research between April 21 and May 6 and had 873 respondents. Of those, 85 percent worked in companies with 50 or fewer employees. Industries represented were split equally among technology, life sciences, and business/professional services.
Key findings of the survey were:
* In the past year, 63 percent said they had expanded “a little” or “a lot”; more than 90 percent predict expansion in the next 12 months.
* 30 percent said they are “likely” or “extremely likely” to hire new employees in the next 12 months; 18 percent say they are “unlikely” to add employees, with the rest undecided.
* The top three concerns ranked by respondents were managing growth, the state of the economy in general, and marketing.
* Half of the respondents indicated that access to capital had “stayed the same” in the past year; the other respondents were equally split between expanded and contracted access to capital.
* The most likely form of financing for companies is self-funding/”bootstrapping” (63 percent), followed by personal credit cards/line of credit (56 percent), and friends and family (35 percent). (Respondents were asked to check all that apply.)
* 29 percent reported funding from angel investors; 18 percent from federal grants, such as SBIR; 15 percent from corporate partnering; and 14 percent from venture capital.
* Half of respondents report doing business internationally.
More results from the 2011 Entrepreneur Study are available in the CED blog.
About CED
CED is a private, non-profit organization that provides the entrepreneurial community in the Research Triangle Park region with the necessary tools, connections and resources to start something new – from an idea, to a company or even, a relationship. CED’s extensive range of initiatives from personal consultations and mentoring to educational programs and conferences empower entrepreneurs to transform ideas into businesses and to take existing businesses to the next level.
Visit www.cednc.org for more information.