“Business First” WebinarMay 16, 2012

Fred Kocher, Host “New Hampshire’s Business”President, New Hampshire High Technology Council

Business Profiles

In which industry does your business specialize?

Businesses were as diverse as professional sports, funeral homes, real estate and consulting. Businesses which responded at the highest rate included:

• Real Estate• Accounting/CPA Firms• Law Firms/Legal Practitioners• Property Managers• Advertising/Marketing/PR• Education/Child Care

In all, businesses from 36 broad classifications participated in the survey.

How is your business incorporated?

The top two classifications of business were:

• Limited Liability Corporation – 33%

• “C”Corporation – 26%

How many employees do you currently employ?

The SBA defines businesses in wholesale trade as “small businesses” if they have 100 or fewer employees. Based on this, 88% of the respondents were small businesses, compared to 89% in 2011. Breakdown of businesses is as follows:

• 1-10 employees – 57%• 11-25 – 16%• 26-50 – 11%• 51-100 – 5%• 101-250 – 4%• 250+ – 8%

What was your 2011 revenue?

Nearly 50% of respondents (49%) were from businesses with 2011 revenues less than $1M, similar to 2009-10.

After businesses with less than $1M, next most widely reported 2011 revenue was $1M-$2M (20%) – consistent with 2010.

What is your ZIP Code?

Businesses completing the survey were clustered around the five banking centers. Respondents most often came from:

• Manchester – 41% (31% 2011)• Keene – 7% (15% 2011)• Concord – 7% (5% 2011)• Nashua – 11% (8% 2011)• Bedford – 9% (13% 2011)

Business Expansion

Business Expansion in 2011

• 54% “somewhat” or “very” likely to increase their capital expenditures in 2011

• 20% “very” likely to increase their capital expenditures in 2011

• Only 10% of businesses are “very” or “somewhat” likely to decrease capital expenditures in 2011.

Business Expansion in 2012

• 26% “somewhat” or “very” likely to increase their capital expenditures in 2012

• 14% “very” likely to increase their capital expenditures in 2012

• 43% of businesses are “very” or “somewhat” likely not to increase capital expenditures in 2012.

How hard is it to secure financing?

83% have not been denied access to business credit in the last two years(73% in 2011)

Employee Benefits

Employee Benefits

What are businesses doing to provide benefits for their employees?

76% of businesses responding provide employee health insurance coverage (68% 2011)

Employee Benefits

What are businesses doing to provide benefits for their employees?

59% of respondents are covered through a group health plan themselves

42% of businesses responding cover over half of their employees

66% of businesses have been forced to modify their health coverage due to increased costs

45% of businesses feel the costs associated with health care impact their ability to grow their business

Economy

Economy

In the last 12 months, I feel the national economy has:

Improved – 45% (40% 2011)Stayed the same – 39% (44% 2011)Worsened – 16% (16% 2011)

Overall – 84% feel it improved/stayed the same compared to 84% in 2011

Economy

In the last 12 months, I feel the regional economy has:

Improved – 36% (50% 2011)Stayed the same – 42% (33% 2011)Worsened – 22% (17% 2011)

Overall – 78% feel it improved/stayed the same compared to 83% in 2011

Economy

I feel the structure of the federal tax code:

Hinders expansion (58%)Is neutral (38%)Encourages expansion (4%)

In spite of this 82% of respondents are confident in their business’ ability to grow in the future.

Economy

66% feel that the national economy will continue to grow.

Business Management

Business Management

I found negotiating with my suppliers to be:

- 25% have more flexibility

- 66% report negotiations to be about the same

- 9% report less flexibility.

As such, 59% of respondents have not been forced to increase their costs to customers in 2012 (61% in 2011).

Business Management

62% report labor cost as the largest expense item (64% in 2011)

25% report benefits as the second-largest expense line item

The New Hampshire Advantage

82% of respondents “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” New Hampshire is a great place to do business (78% 2011)

Of respondents:59% are not natives of New Hampshire (53% from New

England; 47% from outside of NE)

The New Hampshire Advantage

33% of respondents do business in NH because of the tax structure

What are the top reasons to do business in NH?

Respondents feel that:• Current residency is the #1 reason• Tax structure is #2 reason• Friendly regulations ranks #3

Current Events

Current Events

44% “agree” or “somewhat agree” that uncertainty surrounding the presidential election is affecting their business

Only 28% “agree” or “somewhat agree” that they are waiting on business decisions until after the presidential election (42% “disagree”)

Marketing

Marketing

57% of businesses currently practice “traditional marketing” (58% in 2011)

Where is the decline in “traditional marketing”?• Increased tradeshow expenses• SEM (search engine marketing)• Client development (grassroots, direct to client marketing)• Increased web presence, including online advertising• Third party partnerships, including sales reps and channel partners

As such, 41% increased their overall marketing in 2012 from 2011. (46% 2011)

Marketing

70% plan on focusing more time and money on marketing their business in 2012 (60% in 2011)

79% personally belong to a social media site (61% in 2010, 70% in 2011)

68% of businesses were represented on a social media site in 2011... 72% of businesses are represented in 2012.

91% have websites for their businesses (88% in 2011)

Future Outlook

Overall Takeaways

• 84% of respondents feel the national economy has improved/stayed the same in the last 12 months (84% 2011)

• 78% of respondents feel the regional economy has improved in the last 12 months (83% 2011)

• 82% of businesses are confident in their ability to grow in the future.

• 82% of respondents think New Hampshire is a great place to do business

• 44% of businesses think uncertainty surrounding the presidential election is impacting their business.

Thank you for your time!