29% of Business Owners are more Tenured Than You Think
When you ask small business owners why they started their companies, a surprising number will tell you “by accident”. Many entrepreneurs don't set out to be small business owners, but instead stumble into a hobby, a side project or a niche that quietly grows into a full blown business. How many? About 29% of the market. Roughly one-third of small business owners report that their current business was once only a secondary source of income.
The majority of these side businesses have significant incubation periods. Business owners reported running these fledgling efforts for about 3 years before they became a primary income source.
As a marketer, this means you have a few issues to anticipate and solve in your prospect and customer data:
The small business market is not a single market at all, but an amalgamation of hundreds of small segments determined by factors like industry, tenure, and employee size. Improve your marketing efficiency and effectiveness by focusing in on small segments rather than blanket marketing this diverse mix of entrepreneurs.
The majority of these side businesses have significant incubation periods. Business owners reported running these fledgling efforts for about 3 years before they became a primary income source.
As a marketer, this means you have a few issues to anticipate and solve in your prospect and customer data:
- Ramp-up, not Start-up: Many business owners won't take steps to formally register these side businesses until they are primary income sources. As a result, what looks like a start-up in your data may be a three-year-old business just hitting its stride - with a very different set of needs from true start-ups. Look for telltale signs of more tenured businesses like non-residential addresses, vanity domains in email addresses, and ecommerce websites to help segment out these businesses.
- False Tenure Reads: Likewise, many of your existing customers may have older businesses than your data would suggest. Remember, tenure is the measuring stick for most small business owners; it's a piece of data you want to get right. Don't miss the opportunity to collect accurate tenure data from your business owners at any interaction.
The small business market is not a single market at all, but an amalgamation of hundreds of small segments determined by factors like industry, tenure, and employee size. Improve your marketing efficiency and effectiveness by focusing in on small segments rather than blanket marketing this diverse mix of entrepreneurs.
