NEW YORK — There’s nothing these business owners and executives can’t handle – even a recession A new international survey of 3,700 business owners and executives finds a varying degree of confidence when it comes to their business’ ability to weather potential financial storms if they were to hit.
In America, for instance, 73 percent of owners believe their businesses can survive economic downturns. Likewise, a high percentage of Asian and Oceanic nations surveyed had a strong sense of economic resilience for their businesses: India (97%), Philippines (90%), Australia (82%), Malaysia (80%), and Singapore (76%).
In the European nations surveyed, however, it’s a different story. Only two in three German (68%) and French (66%) business owners feel confident they can weather a crisis. In the U.K., a mere 43 percent felt confident.
Is a recession on the horizon?
Commissioned by GoTo and conducted by OnePoll, this news comes in as 69 percent of respondents globally believe a recession is likely to occur within the next six months. In America, it’s enough to cause 70 percent to prepare their business for economic headwinds at any given time.
While 71 percent admit they’re “nervous” about the state of their business, 36 percent claimed to already have plans in place in case of an economic downturn. Another 36 percent stated they’ve begun implementing their plans to get ahead of any pending crisis.
In the U.S., execs are preparing their businesses to be economically resilient by understanding how to access economic relief in the form of grants or loans (43%), consolidating or evaluating technology needs (39%), and making plans of action for potential disasters (36%).
“Whatever is ahead, it is clear businesses need to be prepared in order to support their employees, protect their bottom line, and maintain business continuity. By taking relatively simple steps such as consolidating tech stacks to save money, creating plans for multiple scenarios, and improving their security practices, businesses of all sizes can stay resilient in the face of potential economic uncertainty,” says Paddy Srinivasan, Chief Executive Officer, GoTo, in a statement.
What doesn’t kill (your business) makes you stronger
On a global level, 51 percent of businesses have come face to face with economic headwinds in the past. Of them, 93 percent of owners and execs say they learned what to do for any future potential disruptions to their businesses.
When asked what piece of advice they’d give to survive economic headwinds, respondents claim it’s important to “be prepared,” “plan ahead,” “keep calm,” and “be optimistic with strategies and goals while going through the process.”
In order to get ahead of potential economic headwinds, the survey found that 76 percent said it was important to keep their employees protected during economic downtown and 77 percent said it was important to keep the morale of your employees high during a potential recession. In fact, three out of four say they would “do anything” in their power to retain employees through a possible recession.
The secret to creating a strong workforce and a recession-proof business, according to global respondents, requires maintaining work equipment on a regular basis (49%), having cost-effective products (44%), and equipping employees with technology needed for success (42%).
Sixty-eight percent of global businesses have had important work interrupted by technology issues and 74 percent believe making sure employee devices are working properly is vital to keeping their businesses running and prepared for any future issues.
Survey methodology:
This random double-opt-in survey of 3,700 Senior-level executives and IT decision-makers in America, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore was commissioned by GoTo between August 25 and September 2, 2022. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).