Nearly three fifths of respondents to recent poll of 800 small businesses operating in 17 sectors plan to invest this year in technologies that would improve their companies’ productivity.
Nearly half intend to invest in mobile technologies that could help them increase market share or cement customer relationships. And close to half of those polled say they’ll invest this year in cybersecurity tools to protect their data.
However, this poll—conducted by Kabbage (www.kabbage.com), a global financial services, technology, and data platform for small businesses—reveals less enthusiasm for tech spending among the construction small businesses.
The good news is that more than half of the 80 construction-related small businesses that responded to the poll plan to invest in technologies that would remove manual processes, reduce paperwork, or improve productivity. But fewer than two-fifths of construction companies that responded to the question about cybersecurity spending said they were “somewhat likely” or “definitely will invest.” Just over one third said they’d invest in mobile technology.
Only one third of construction busineses says they are willing to increase their ad spending by at least 20% on social media, compared to nearly half of all respondents.
None of the small businesses from any sector participating in this survey was too keen on spending for real-time analytics or big data solutions. Less than one-quarter—23.45%—of the construction companies were somewhat likely or definite about making such an investment this year. Only 28% of all respondents thought big data was worth in vesting in; in fact, marketing agencies and services was the only business sector where more than 40% of its respondents answered affirmatively to this question.
The survey also asked small businesses about their attitudes on economic conditions, and the construction respondents were among the most positive. More than 69% of construction companies somewhat or strongly agreed that the U.S. economy is headed in the right direction. That compares to 63.5% of the total survey’s respondents. Marketing agencies were the most buoyant about the economy (73.3%); law office and legal service small business the least optimistic (36.4%).
Seventy-seven percent of the construction companies expected their revenues to increase by more than 20% this year, compared to 73% of the total respondents. Insurance services, manufacturing, marketing agencies, and real estate companies expressed the highest confidence about revenue growth.
Related Stories
Building Enclosure Systems | Oct 30, 2024
Winners of Building Envelope Innovation Prize focus on secondary glazing
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the winners of the first phase of the Building Envelope Innovation Prize. The prize targets high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems to improve efficiency of commercial windows.
M/E/P Systems | Oct 30, 2024
After residential success, DOE will test heat pumps for cold climates in commercial sector
All eight manufacturers in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge completed rigorous product field testing to demonstrate energy efficiency and improved performance in cold weather.
Engineers | Oct 23, 2024
Navigating battery energy storage augmentation
By implementing an augmentation plan upfront, owners can minimize potential delays and unforeseen costs when augmentation needs to occur, according to Burns & McDonnell energy storage technology manager Joshua Crawford.
3D Printing | Oct 9, 2024
3D-printed construction milestones take shape in Tennessee and Texas
Two notable 3D-printed projects mark milestones in the new construction technique of “printing” structures with specialized concrete. In Athens, Tennessee, Walmart hired Alquist 3D to build a 20-foot-high store expansion, one of the largest freestanding 3D-printed commercial concrete structures in the U.S. In Marfa, Texas, the world’s first 3D-printed hotel is under construction at an existing hotel and campground site.
Brick and Masonry | Oct 7, 2024
A journey through masonry reclad litigation
This blog post by Walter P Moore's Mallory Buckley, RRO, PE, BECxP + CxA+BE, and Bob Hancock, MBA, JD, of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC, explains the importance of documentation, correspondence between parties, and supporting the claims for a Plaintiff-party, while facilitating continuous use of the facility, on construction litigation projects.
AEC Tech | Sep 25, 2024
Construction industry report shows increased use of robotics on jobsites
Nearly two-thirds of contractors surveyed, who cited use of robotics on jobsites, are either using monitoring and/or service/labor robotics.
3D Printing | Sep 17, 2024
Alquist 3D and Walmart complete one of the nation’s largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures
Walmart has completed one of the largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures in the US. Alquist 3D printed the almost 8,000-sf, 20-foot-high addition to a Walmart store in Athens, Tenn. The expansion, which will be used for online pickup and delivery, is the first time Walmart has applied 3D printing technology at this scale.
Building Technology | Aug 23, 2024
Top-down construction: Streamlining the building process | BD+C
Learn why top-down construction is becoming popular again for urban projects and how it can benefit your construction process in this comprehensive blog.
Curtain Wall | Aug 15, 2024
7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks
It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus.
