Google Data

Posted by Rich Rao, Director of Global SMB Sales, Google Enterprise

Editor's note: Did you know 60% of young business owners saw an increase in customer engagement after getting a professional email address? Or that 81% of young business owners said that online file sharing is critical to their businesses? That’s just a snapshot of what we learned from the Young Business Success report and infographic we released to kick off National Small Business Week. To further recognize all the contributions small businesses make, we'll also be highlighting a few customers throughout the week to hear how they got their businesses off the ground.

Twenty five years ago, Yong Kim, the father of a Googler, decided to open a dry cleaning business in the New Jersey suburbs. His first move as a brand new business owner? Give it a name starting with the letter A, so it would show up first in the dry cleaners section of the local Yellow Pages.

Those ubiquitous Yellow Pages may still be around, but starting a business today is a different ballgame. With the arrival and explosion of the Internet, new companies rely less on the resources of yesterday and more on tools built in the cloud to help turn their ideas into living, breathing, successful businesses.

This shift in resources has changed the way business owners can start and run their companies. No more carrying around floppy disks — with cloud storage, you can access important documents from your office, at home or at the 6th grade soccer game. No more worrying about missing an important call if you step away momentarily from the work landline — with video conferences, you can run your business from your computer, tablet or smartphone, even if you’re at the airport or rushing out to get your business cards at the printer. No more relying on an expensive storefront to show you’re in business -- with work email and websites, you can kickstart the company with a far smaller financial investment and without leaving your computer.

To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re releasing a Young Business Success report that shows how new companies across the U.S. use cloud productivity technology to help them succeed. The research shows how resources like professional email services, online file sharing, collaboration tools and video meetings are an integral part of helping businesses at each step along the way. Here are a few highlights:

• Starting a business: After getting a professional email address, 60% of young business owners saw an increase in customer engagement after they got a professional email address, and 42% saw an increase in sales.
• Building a business: 81% of young business owners said that online file sharing is critical to their businesses. 73% said that accessing email and documents from a mobile device helps them to close more sales.
• Succeeding in business: 81% of young businesses said they expect their companies to grow in the next year, and of that group, 69% said part of the growth is due to their use of cloud productivity technology.

Small businesses have come a long way since the days of Yellow Pages marketing. And with a little help from cloud technology like Google Apps for Business, they’ll continue to grow — even faster than before.