SBE Council's landmark study, "Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps: A Small Business 'App'ortunity," continues to receive widespread media coverage. Recent pieces focus on the explosive growth of mobile app usage by small businesses, and how these practical and innovative tools are saving firms time and money while improving productivity.
See the recent articles here:
DIY Apps Save Small Business Time and Money, BusinessWeek
Mobile Apps Fuel Small Businesses, McClatcy/Tribune
The explosive growth in apps (and their rapid adoption by consumers) also demonstrates why the U.S. needs more spectrum to accomodate and encourage this growth. This would start with a sound and common sense approach toward spectrum auctions. Unfortunately, the FCC seems to be doing all it can to mess them up. Similar to what the Administration is doing in other sectors (i.e.: energy), the FCC wants to pick winners and losers. In this case, choosing what companies will be able to participate in the auctions. It wants to "manage the outcome" of the auctions to ensure competition. That means it could exclude the biggest players that actually have the resources to purchase this valuable spectrum. Oh, and they need the spectrum too.
The current FCC is only impeding progress, something it has been doing quite well over the past several years. It has become the single greatest barrier to building out our nation's broadband and wireless infrastructure. The FCC is hamstringing investment, innovation, job growth, U.S. competitiveness, and in the case of spectrum auctions, an inflow of revenue to the federal government. It's time for Congress to start asking questions about what purpose such a government agency serves, particularly if it believes its main job is to micromanage a successful industry whose growth and vibrancy is so critical to the entire U.S. economy.
In regard to spectrum auctions, a bill has been introduced in the House to limit the damage that the FCC can do -- thank goodness. All players should be able to bid on spectrum, and the FCC must not be allowed to discriminate against specific companies. We all know what happens when government picks winners and losers in the marketplace. Time and again, industrial policy has proven itself a failure. The economic stakes are much too high to allow the FCC to pursue and prove (yet again) the failure of such misguided policy.
The FCC is overreaching. It is putting U.S. economic and innovative strength at risk, and Congress must hold it accountable.
Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO
Showing posts with label mobile apps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile apps. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Kerrigan in The Washington Times: “Apps for an Edge”
In a July 19 Washington Times oped, SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan covers the ways that wireless technologies are helping the economy, and specifically small business owners.
Kerrigan reports on SBE Council's recent study, “Saving Time and Money With Mobile Apps”, which shows that entrepreneurs are turning to mobile apps to operate their businesses and stay competitive. Mobile devices and apps are helping small businesses operate more productively, cut costs and find new revenue streams.
The growing use of mobile apps and wireless devices means we will need more capacity and greater investment in the nation’s wireless infrastructure. Kerrigan lays out how government should fundamentally respond to this need: “Regulators and Congress can spur wireless growth through smart policy, but mostly by staying out of the way. They should avoid the temptation to dictate business models to this rapidly changing industry, which is thriving on private investment. Now is not the time to stunt such needed activity.”
Read “Apps for an Edge” by clicking here.
SBE Council Staff
Kerrigan reports on SBE Council's recent study, “Saving Time and Money With Mobile Apps”, which shows that entrepreneurs are turning to mobile apps to operate their businesses and stay competitive. Mobile devices and apps are helping small businesses operate more productively, cut costs and find new revenue streams.
The growing use of mobile apps and wireless devices means we will need more capacity and greater investment in the nation’s wireless infrastructure. Kerrigan lays out how government should fundamentally respond to this need: “Regulators and Congress can spur wireless growth through smart policy, but mostly by staying out of the way. They should avoid the temptation to dictate business models to this rapidly changing industry, which is thriving on private investment. Now is not the time to stunt such needed activity.”
Read “Apps for an Edge” by clicking here.
SBE Council Staff
Friday, June 03, 2011
NEW REPORT: Mobile Apps Saving Small Businesses More than a Billion Hours Annually
...SBE Council study finds much more potential for savings and productivity increases with stepped-up adoption of mobile apps
A new report published by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) finds that small businesses are saving a significant amount of time and money by using mobile applications to help run their enterprises. The study, "Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps: A Small Business 'App'ortunity," looks at the growth in mobile technologies and why small businesses are turning to mobile apps to help solve key business challenges. The study also surveyed small business owners and found that mobile apps are helping these entrepreneurs squeeze more productivity from their workweek and enabling employees to do the same. The use of mobile apps among small business owners is also reducing overhead costs, increasing revenues and sales-related activity, improving competitiveness, and even allowing firms to add employees.
The report was released on June 1 as a part of the unveiling of a new mobile app called Jot by Chase Card Services. Jot saves small business owners time in the back office by enabling them to easily track, categorize and organize business expenses in real-time from their mobile devices. Chase partnered with SBE Council on the study.
"Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps" found that small business owners who use mobile apps estimate that they personally save an average of 5.6 hours weekly. Seventy five percent of small businesses using mobile apps report employee time savings as well - an average of 11.33 hours on a weekly basis. The study estimates that small business owners are saving 372.8 million hours of their own time, and 725.3 million employee hours annually. In total, the co-authors estimate that small businesses are saving almost 1.1 billion hours annually by using mobile apps.
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan, co-author of the study, said: "Hours of paper-pushing, administrative work, customer research, extra driving trips and unproductive down-time due to, for example, a lack of access to key documents, add up very quickly. Mobile apps are allowing small business owners and their employees to get more time from their day and to focus on higher value work."
Kerrigan observed that 1.1 billion hours saved is indeed a lot of time, but added that there are an abundant number of opportunities for small businesses to save time and operate more productively. To put the 1.1 billion number into perspective, Kerrigan said that U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend 6.1 billion hours a year alone just to comply with the U.S. tax code. She noted that small business owners and their employees expend significant time on administrative, redundant and even necessary business activities where technological innovations -- such as mobile apps - are helping to compress functions while allowing entrepreneurs and their employees to conduct and complete tasks on the go. The study conservatively estimates that an additional 3.54 billion hours could be saved annually by small businesses through wider mobile app adoption.
Study co-author and SBE Council Chief Economist Raymond Keating noted that time saved is money saved: "The time savings derived from the use of mobile apps among small businesses is impressive. Those hours saved, of course, translate into dollars saved. Small business employee hours saved, for example, are worth an estimated $17.6 billion each year, under conservative assumptions. If all small businesses were to take advantage of mobile apps, annual owner hours saved could reach an estimated 1.2 billion, with employee hours saved hitting a projected 2.34 billion. The 2.34 employee hours potentially saved are valued at $56.9 billion annually."
Mobile apps enable small businesses to focus on sales growth. As reported in the study, small business owners are time-crunched, and would spend more time dealing with one of their toughest challenges - increasing sales and revenues - if they could save time on administrative functions. Nearly 50 percent of the small businesses surveyed for the study believe they have been able to spend more time on growing business revenues due to their use of mobile apps. Fifty one percent of these small businesses say their firms are more competitive, 36 percent were able to reduce overhead costs and 10 percent were even able to add workers because of mobile app usage.
As reported in the study, small businesses overwhelmingly view the Internet as their "most valuable business tool" and firms that are currently using mobile apps plan to significantly increase usage. The authors of the study conclude that rapid innovation and the dawn of the 4G network will accelerate adoption because of faster speeds, newer devices, and enhanced and more effective mobile apps.
"Currently, small businesses face significant challenges and uncertainties, including, for example, an under-performing recovery, rising business costs, the threat of inflation, and high energy costs. But there always are benefits to be found in technological advancements that allow for reduced costs, and the enhanced ability to compete. Mobile apps clearly provide such rewards," said Keating.
To access "Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps" please click here.
A new report published by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) finds that small businesses are saving a significant amount of time and money by using mobile applications to help run their enterprises. The study, "Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps: A Small Business 'App'ortunity," looks at the growth in mobile technologies and why small businesses are turning to mobile apps to help solve key business challenges. The study also surveyed small business owners and found that mobile apps are helping these entrepreneurs squeeze more productivity from their workweek and enabling employees to do the same. The use of mobile apps among small business owners is also reducing overhead costs, increasing revenues and sales-related activity, improving competitiveness, and even allowing firms to add employees.
The report was released on June 1 as a part of the unveiling of a new mobile app called Jot by Chase Card Services. Jot saves small business owners time in the back office by enabling them to easily track, categorize and organize business expenses in real-time from their mobile devices. Chase partnered with SBE Council on the study.
"Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps" found that small business owners who use mobile apps estimate that they personally save an average of 5.6 hours weekly. Seventy five percent of small businesses using mobile apps report employee time savings as well - an average of 11.33 hours on a weekly basis. The study estimates that small business owners are saving 372.8 million hours of their own time, and 725.3 million employee hours annually. In total, the co-authors estimate that small businesses are saving almost 1.1 billion hours annually by using mobile apps.
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan, co-author of the study, said: "Hours of paper-pushing, administrative work, customer research, extra driving trips and unproductive down-time due to, for example, a lack of access to key documents, add up very quickly. Mobile apps are allowing small business owners and their employees to get more time from their day and to focus on higher value work."
Kerrigan observed that 1.1 billion hours saved is indeed a lot of time, but added that there are an abundant number of opportunities for small businesses to save time and operate more productively. To put the 1.1 billion number into perspective, Kerrigan said that U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend 6.1 billion hours a year alone just to comply with the U.S. tax code. She noted that small business owners and their employees expend significant time on administrative, redundant and even necessary business activities where technological innovations -- such as mobile apps - are helping to compress functions while allowing entrepreneurs and their employees to conduct and complete tasks on the go. The study conservatively estimates that an additional 3.54 billion hours could be saved annually by small businesses through wider mobile app adoption.
Study co-author and SBE Council Chief Economist Raymond Keating noted that time saved is money saved: "The time savings derived from the use of mobile apps among small businesses is impressive. Those hours saved, of course, translate into dollars saved. Small business employee hours saved, for example, are worth an estimated $17.6 billion each year, under conservative assumptions. If all small businesses were to take advantage of mobile apps, annual owner hours saved could reach an estimated 1.2 billion, with employee hours saved hitting a projected 2.34 billion. The 2.34 employee hours potentially saved are valued at $56.9 billion annually."
Mobile apps enable small businesses to focus on sales growth. As reported in the study, small business owners are time-crunched, and would spend more time dealing with one of their toughest challenges - increasing sales and revenues - if they could save time on administrative functions. Nearly 50 percent of the small businesses surveyed for the study believe they have been able to spend more time on growing business revenues due to their use of mobile apps. Fifty one percent of these small businesses say their firms are more competitive, 36 percent were able to reduce overhead costs and 10 percent were even able to add workers because of mobile app usage.
As reported in the study, small businesses overwhelmingly view the Internet as their "most valuable business tool" and firms that are currently using mobile apps plan to significantly increase usage. The authors of the study conclude that rapid innovation and the dawn of the 4G network will accelerate adoption because of faster speeds, newer devices, and enhanced and more effective mobile apps.
"Currently, small businesses face significant challenges and uncertainties, including, for example, an under-performing recovery, rising business costs, the threat of inflation, and high energy costs. But there always are benefits to be found in technological advancements that allow for reduced costs, and the enhanced ability to compete. Mobile apps clearly provide such rewards," said Keating.
To access "Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps" please click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)