SCORE Infographic: Online Collaboration Tools for Small Businesses

Small businesses use collaboration tools to grow faster and turn higher profits

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Aug 24, 2017, 10:10 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has published an infographic showing how small businesses that use online collaboration tools see 26% faster growth and 21% higher profits.

Among businesses with fewer than 100 employees, 12% currently use online collaboration tools, while 17% plan to use these tools in the next 12 months. Businesses with 100-1000 employees are using collaboration tools at an even higher rate, with 28% currently using them, and 35% planning to use them in the next 12 months.

SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has published an infographic showing how small businesses that use online collaboration tools see 26% faster growth and 21% higher profits.

The most popular online collaboration tools among small business owners include:

64% - file sharing
64% - instant messaging
50% - audio conferencing
44% - web conferencing
39% - video conferencing
35% - video chat
24% - stream-based messaging

70% of small business owners think online collaboration tools improve productivity. Use of these online collaboration tools result in an average savings of $1,700 per month, per small business, and a time savings of 43 minutes per employee, per day, due to more efficient message management.

These tools can reduce costs for small businesses, saving them:

40% on local calls
Up to 90% on international calls
Up to 90% on initial costs for a new business
30% in conferencing expenses

Despite these savings in time and money, small business owners shared the following concerns about online collaboration tools:

41% worry about cost/funding
36% - security/privacy concerns
33% - interaction with existing infrastructure
30% - user quality/experience
27% - end users require training

Download this month's infographic for more details on how online collaboration tools accelerate small business growth.

About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE's 10,000 volunteer business experts provide 350,000+ free small business mentoring sessions, workshops and educational services to clients in 300 chapters nationwide. In 2016, SCORE volunteers provided 2.2+ million hours to help create more than 55,000 small businesses and 130,000 full-time, part-time and contractor jobs.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, visit SCORE at www.score.org. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook and Twitter for the latest small business news and updates.

Contact Information
Betsy Dougert
800-634-0245
[email protected]

SOURCE SCORE