12/04/2007
New site offers wealth of easily searchable information about small businesses
CONTACT: Mike Diegel, 202-314-2004
Washington, D.C.--The National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading small-business association, has launched a searchable Web site that consolidates all of the unique data collected by the organization’s Research Foundation for the NFIB National Small-Business Polls.
The site, www.411SmallBusinessFacts.com, includes information from telephone surveys of small employers—those employing from one person in addition to the owner(s) to 250 employees. The data are gathered regularly for the Research Foundation by The Gallup Organization, and new data are added to the database eight times a year. The data currently includes approximately 2,000 facts about American small businesses and their owners.
The information can help small-business owners operate their businesses by answering the questions such as: What are my colleagues and competitors doing? How does my operation compare to them?
For example, a recent poll on promotion and advertising efforts revealed that 51 percent of small businesses have their own Web site, and that 21.3 percent of those sites allow customers to order and pay for products.
Small-business owners also can use the data to support advocacy efforts, such as gathering facts for writing letters or e-mails, making speeches or understanding policy issues. In addition, policymakers, vendors and others interested in information about small businesses will find a wealth of material from more than 50 NFIB National Small-Business Polls.
One of the Web site’s most useful functions is its search capability. The site has four ways to search through the information: Quick Search (similar to a Google search function), by keyword, by category, or by a specific poll. These features give users the opportunity to quickly gather facts on the specific issue or topic in which they are interested.
How to use www.411SmallBusinessFacts.com
In this example, we’ll take a frequently asked question: How do small-business owners respond to energy price increases?
Go to the site and you’ll see four ways to search the data base – Quick Search, Keyword, Category, and By Poll.
A good way to start is a Quick Search, which is a Google-style search. Type in the phrase "energy price increases." Click "Go." Six questions and answers about energy price increases pop up. All six address the issue directly. Click "All" in the upper left or check each question separately. Then, click "Go."
The first table you see (#20A) is the result of asking small-business owners if they offset energy prices increases by raising prices. The table contains two columns of figures. The first column includes ONLY those who experienced energy price increases while the second includes everyone. (The denominator is different in the two, reflecting the different populations included in the tabulations.)
The table reads that 29 percent who experienced energy prices increases in the last six months attempted to offset those increases by raising prices (first column), and 22 percent of all small-business owners -- whether or not they experienced energy price increases -- attempted to offset them by raising prices (second column). For those uncomfortable with tables, the Notes below the table present one number from each column in textual form.
Scroll down to see the next five questions and answers.
If you decide to consolidate the information in all six questions and answers, you have: Seventy-five percent of small-business owners absorbed part of the energy cost increases they experienced in the last six months with lower earnings. Fifty-seven percent did so by cutting their total use of energy, 29 percent by raising prices, 27 percent by cutting, eliminating or delaying business investment, 13 percent by laying off employees or not filling vacancies, and 13 percent by freezing or cutting employee wages and/or benefits.
You may look near the top of the table and see that these data were collected in 2001 and decide that’s too old for your purposes. (Actually, it isn’t too old for this type of small-business behavior, but you want something more recent.) Click the blue Search box in the bar near the top of the screen and return to the home page.
Try the Keyword search. Click Keyword. You see four boxes with about 45 keywords in each. Look for "Energy." The second keyword box actually contains four energy headings. For simplicity, highlight "Energy." Then, go to the box above and highlight "Cost/Expense." After all, energy price increases are about costs and expenses. Click "Go." Twenty-five entries qualify for your search. But only the first 10 appear. To see all 25, click "Show All Questions" in the upper left and the entries expand from 10 to 25. Scroll down to review your choices. Some overlap your Quick Search results. Check "All" or any number of specific listings. Click "Go" and your results appear.
The listings above show several questions and answers related to energy consumption in buildings. You may want to pursue that line of inquiry to determine measures small-business owners take to cut energy costs in heating and cooling. You may also want to know if they own the building(s), thereby having a direct incentive to make energy conservation investments in it. What about vehicles? They use considerable energy. Do small businesses use lots of vehicles? And, if they do, how do they react to gas/diesel (energy) price increases?
Return to the Keyword search. Highlight "Vehicles." Click "Go." There are 48 questions and answers pertaining to vehicles. The first that appears reports the number of small businesses with vehicles and the number of vehicles they have? Check that question from among the 48 and click "Go." The result indicates 83 percent of small businesses have business vehicles. Using less gas/diesel is a potentially important way to offset energy price increases. So, highlight "Vehicles" again; also highlight "Energy (Fossil Fuels)." Click "Go." Only one question and answer comes up. But it is probably the one you want – "Which best describes how you have changed operation of your business vehicles in the last year to compensate for higher gas and diesel prices?"
The third sort facility is the Category search. The Category search is a higher-level set of headings than the Keyword search. There are only 14 categories. Each opens into a list of appropriate keywords. Suppose you want to know specifically about conserving or reducing the use of electricity. You look up "Electricity" in the Keyword search. It isn’t there. So, you open the Category search. There are 14 choices. Select Energy and Environment and click the plus sign before it. The box opens to a number of key words, including "Energy (electricity)." Click "Energy (electricity)" and then "Go."
If you want to put this information in context, there is a single place you can find many of the facts on energy together and get commentary on them. Return to the home page. (Click the blue "Search" on the bar near the top.) Then, click the "By Poll" search facility on the right. Up pops a list subject titles. The most likely candidate for your purposes is "Energy Consumption." Click it. You now have the Executive Summary of the National Small Business Poll issue on "Energy Consumption." For your reference, to the left is a list of other Polls that have subject overlap.
The bar at the top offers other aspects of the Poll on "Energy Consumption." For example, if you want to read a brief commentary on a particular point, click "Descriptive Results" and move to the appropriate section. If you want the questions and answers, click Tables. All will give you more information on energy consumption, though not necessarily reactions to energy prices increases.
NFIB is the nation’s leading small-business advocacy association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small- and independent-business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system.
