"To do" or not "to do" is the question
of the day, according to RBC Royal Bank small business survey
TORONTO, September 27, 2006 — High tech tools
such as Wi-Fi laptops, keychain hard drives, and email-linked
cell phones may be keeping Canadian small businesses wired
into their working world, but when it comes to managing time
and productivity, 58 per cent of small business owners still
rely on the humble "to do" list.
That's one of the findings from RBC Royal Bank's 2006 Small
Business Survey, conducted by Ipsos Reid, which was released
today. Other methods mentioned most often by small business
owners to save time or run their businesses as efficiently
as possible include online banking services (60 per cent),
accounting software (38 per cent), and communication technology
(35 per cent).
"Small business owners may well be creating and storing
their 'to do' lists on computers or cell phones, but it's
interesting to see something as straightforward as the 'to
do' list rising to the top," said Kristina Depencier,
national manager, Small Business, RBC Royal Bank.
However, knowing what needs to be accomplished, and actually
getting that work done, continues to be the challenge. "More
than one third (36 per cent) of the small business owners
who participated in our survey told us they would like to
be spending more time attracting new clients. Almost that
same number (32 per cent) indicated that time-drainers such
as administrative and computer information/technology tasks
are taking up too much of each working day," noted Ms.
Depencier.
Ideally, the small business owners surveyed indicated they
wanted to spend over two-thirds (67 per cent) of each week
attracting new clients, while in reality they admitted they
were only spending less than half (47 per cent) of their week
doing so. Similar "reality" gaps were noticeable
when it came to developing their business network, their business
skills, and planning for the future.
Despite their time-challenged workdays, one in five (22 per
cent) of the respondents not using any productivity solutions
thought their business was "too small" to benefit
from such assistance. "When small businesses say that
they are too small, what they're often thinking is that there
aren't any solutions out there that meet their specific needs,"
Ms. Depencier added. "For example, I think they would
be very pleasantly surprised to find out just how many timesaver
tools are now available to help small business owners spend
less time on the routine day-to-day financial management of
their business."
These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/RBC Royal Bank poll
conducted between August 4 and August 14, 2006. For the survey,
invitations were sent to a representative sample of Canadian
small business owners 18 years of age or older, resulting
in 2,032 completed online interviews. With a sample of this
size, the results are considered accurate to within ±2.2
percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
RBC Royal Bank delivers a wide range of financial services
and practical advice to small and medium-sized businesses
and their owners. RBC is Canada's leading financial institution
for small business, serving one in four small businesses.
For practical advice and information about starting, owning
and managing a small business, visit: www.rbcroyalbank.com/business/resources.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathy Bevan, Media Relations, (416) 974-8810
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