I’ve run across yet another survey that claims to demonstrate “small businesses are rapidly cutting overhead costs to adjust to the new reality of a slowing economy.” Among other findings in this survey:
- 75% of small businesses negatively impacted by the current economy
- 72% are reducing overhead costs
- 50% are cutting back on business services
- 23% getting rid of physical office space
Overall it paints a picture of small businesses heading for the lifeboats - but how much can we tell about the reliability of this picture?
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In today’s turbulent economic times, it’s important to have lower expenses and increased income - especially for teleworkers. While many independent contractors are getting more business, it’s still wise to make deliberate efforts to thrive. Here are some ways we will be able to do that:
Hold on to your clients. There will be the occasional client who will be slower in paying out invoices, or even clients who give up and stop requesting your services altogether. Take the time to identify which of your clients might do these things.
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As the larger economic picture continues to look dismal, the reverberations are being felt within the tech sector. As our parent blog GigaOM reports, the venture capital firms are starting to get antsy about whether Silicon Valley can continue business as usual. Apple and other tech stocks are way down, and layoffs are showing up in the industry as well (though there are layoffs in good times too, depending on who you work for).
And yet, when we asked how the economy was treating you web workers personally, the majority of respondents didn’t report a slowdown. I’m seeing the same pattern in other communities I’m a part of - Rails developers, for example, still seem upbeat on the prospect of more work.
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If you’ve been paying the slightest bit of attention to the news recently, you know that the US economy is, by some accounts, in dire shape. With the failure of high-profile firms, the rescue of others, and a $700 billion bailout wending its way through Congress, it’s understandable that many are feeling jittery about the future. An era of contracting credit and a tighter job market don’t seem like much fun.
At WWD, though, we’re focused on our own little niche of the economy: the web worker. Here, the picture may be slightly brighter. But there are several forces that affect us directly when things get tight:
- Web workers can end up being viewed as easily-trimmed jobs, especially if they’re not in the office to exercise political clout.
- But contractors may be in a good position, because contracting work out is often cheaper than hiring more full-time employees.
- Tighter budgets may get more companies to consider telecommuting, as a way to save money on office space.
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