A survey undertaken by eBay and YouGov suggests that British online small businesses are optimistic about the prospects in 2016 with many seeking to expand, employ and export more in the next 12 months.
49% of small online businesses in the study said they are bullish about their prospects for the New Year, with only 22% pessimistic about the UK economy and their own trading forecasts.
13% of small online businesses are expecting to employ more staff over the next 12 months and that could mean thousands of new jobs in the UK. And 13% also believe that they will expand the number of global markets they sell to in 2016.
And many are looking to sell more lines too: 40% of online small businesses are confident enough to expand their product offering in 2016.
eBay UK’s Kit Glover, who is the director of professional selling, says of the survey: “The business community should be very encouraged by the findings of our Small Business Optimism Index. Despite a tough retail environment, the fact that digital small businesses are looking to expand their product offerings, export to more foreign markets and thus employ more people here in the UK can only be a good thing.”
And here’s a bit about the survey methodology: “The Small Business Optimism Index is eBay’s regular barometer of companies trading on the internet. The index focuses on the attitudes and business performance of hundreds of online businesses operating on eBay. It is based on a major survey of 400 online retailers.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 409 Owners of small businesses who have an eBay account/ online presence. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16th – 25th November 2015. The survey was carried out online.”
