Sixth Annual Brother Small Business Survey Shows Majority Of Small Business Owners Are Ready To Invest In Their Businesses

Compared to 2010 Results, Survey Witnesses 18-Percent Swing in Preference to Invest, While Other Answers Show Clear Benefits of Cloud Computing & Introspective Nature of Small Business Owners

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Brother International Corporation

Mar 25, 2015, 08:00 ET

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Brother International Corporation, a multi-billion dollar leader in technology for offices of all sizes, today released results from the sixth annual "Brother Small Business Survey," which showed that 54 percent of small business owners surveyed would prefer to invest in their businesses—rather than stockpiling cash—an 18-percent swing in preference since 2010.

Other survey results shed light on how small business owners feel about the economic climate. This year, 42 percent of the survey respondents report a high level of stress because of the economy, a figure that is flat with last year (42 percent) and down 16 percent from a 58-percent high-water mark recorded by the survey in 2013.

Forty-one percent of respondents say they would like to spend money on tech purchases or upgrades if they increase their revenues by five percent or more this year.

"Our survey shows that a majority of small businesses see a light at the end of the tunnel and are willing to invest in technology solutions to increase productivity and capitalize on new technology trends," said John Wandishin, Brother Vice President of Marketing. "Brother has been at the side of the small business customer for decades, and we sell all-in-ones, printers, and scanners that are part of broader solutions that solve major business IT challenges, including those involving the cloud and mobility."

Small Business Owners Open to Tech Change; See Benefits from Cloud Computing
Roughly two thirds (67 percent) of survey respondents are looking to invest in making a tech change this year, and the results would indicate they should aim to invest more in cloud computing. Among the 62 percent of respondents who use the cloud, 95 percent found the cloud beneficial to their company, with 69 percent citing the benefit of easier access, storage and analysis of data. Additionally, 34 percent of respondents believe the cloud has helped them save money.

A third of respondents would like to deploy technology to take better advantage of the "Internet of Things," a term meant to describe the increasing number of consumer devices that can be connected to—and managed through—the Internet. Thirty percent of respondents would like to start accepting mobile payments from customers.

Small Business Owners Consider Professional and Company "Makeovers"
Small business owners have varied thoughts regarding changes they would like to make to their work and computing environments, given the current state of their businesses and the overall business climate. Among respondents, 35 percent would like to reduce or eliminate taking on so many roles and responsibilities, 26 percent would like to take more time off, and 20 percent want to work on their work/life balance.

If given the opportunity to perform a tech "makeover," 38 percent of survey respondents would replace their current laptops, 20 percent their mobile devices and 13 percent their desk phones.

Survey Methodology
The Brother Small Business Survey 2015 was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 500 U.S. small business owners of companies with less than 100 employees, between February 10^th and February 24^th, 2015.

Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.4 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.

About Brother
Brother (www.brother.com) is an industry leading provider of small and mid-sized business printing and imaging solutions developed to help increase productivity, improve workflow, and enhance organizational efficiency, all while helping to reduce costs. Brother is also a leader in electronic labeling and provides the number one line of facsimile machines in the U.S. The U.S. corporate office in Bridgewater, N.J. was established on April 21, 1954 and currently markets many industrial products, home appliances and business products manufactured by its parent company, Brother Industries, Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan. For more information, visit www.brother.com.

NOTE: All trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective companies.

Contact:
Nina Korfias
MSLGROUP
781-684-0770
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SOURCE Brother International Corporation