Doing well, but could be better
Small businesses in Central Florida are doing well in 2024, but not as well as they would like, according to Hal Thayer, Associate Director at the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida.
According to research at the Florida SBDC, 75% of local business owners report having either increased revenues or flat revenues and 68% report that their current performance is either excellent or meeting their expectations.
“That leaves a whole big number that isn't happy,” said Thayer. “But I think, in general, we're doing pretty well.”
That’s felt by local business owner Alfredo Barott Jr., president of ADB Building Solutions LLC, who said his goal is more growth this year.
“This year has been a little challenging,” he said. “I think part of it has to do a lot with interest rates, inflation, and then, of course, our upcoming elections.”
Barott said that’s caused him to lean more on established relationships to help his small business thrive.
The U.S. Small Business Administration uses size standards, which can vary by industry, to determine if a business qualifies as a small business.
“So if you're a restaurant, you can be a small business with $10 million in revenues. Above that they consider you a big business,” said Thayer.
Growing
According to the SBA’s 2023 Small Business Profile, there are more than 3 million small businesses in Florida representing 99.8% of all businesses in the state.
And in 2023 alone, there were more than 667,000 new business applications in the state of Florida.
“That really speaks to the energy behind entrepreneurialism and new business activities because those aren't all franchises coming in,” said Thayer. “Those are people starting stores at home or online.”
However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of new businesses fail within the first two years of opening.
Access to Capital
Access to capital continues to be the biggest barrier facing small business owners.
“Most lenders aren't that excited about lending to new businesses. So a lot of times it's really up to the entrepreneur to locate their money from their friends and family, their savings and credit cards to help them get started,” said Thayer.
That’s why people like Alfredo Barott Jr., president of ADB Building Solutions LLC, go to the Florida SBDC for help.
“I was able to obtain a line of credit through this program,” said Barott. “That has helped me to be able to move into other projects. So that I could continue to scale my business and not worry as much about how I'm going to pay the bills, especially overhead costs.”
In 2023, the Florida SBDC served more than 2,300 small businesses delivering nearly 19,000 consulting hours, according to Hal Thayer.
“What's great about that, is the SBDC was able to help our clients acquire more than $60 million of that capital that is so hard to find, as well as win over $122 million of government contracts,” said Thayer.
Other than accessing capital, Alfredo Barott Jr. said it’s also important for new small business owners to understand their target audience, secure one or two clients to help from the very beginning, create a business or marketing strategy plan, understand strength and weaknesses, and have a solid picture of the financial outlook for the business.
