‘Small Business Success in the Cloud,’ describes the impact of cloud technology as it is progressively adapted by more and more small businesses – moving from an initial focus on efficiency gains, to the emergence of new models of business, through broad-based saturation across business and society. The report is the first in a new ‘Dispatches from the New Economy’ research series, a comprehensive research project exploring the ways economic, technology and social shifts will shape the future of small business success. The series builds on a ten year partnership between Emergent Research and Intuit tracking trends in small business.

1. Dispatches
from the
New Economy
Intuit’s Future of Small Business:
#SMBecosystem

2. Small Business Success in the Cloud
STEVE KING, Partner, Emergent Research
#SMBecosystem
TERRY HICKS, Vice President and General Manager,
QuickBooks Online Ecosystem, Intuit
JOSHUA REEVES, CEO & Co-Founder, ZenPayroll

3. We are going
through a
disruptive shift…
…and watching a
new economy
emerge
#SMBecosystem

4. Dispatches from the New Economy:
Small Business Success in the Cloud
Authored by Steve King and
Carolyn Ockels, Emergent Research
Methodology: Mix of research
and forecast methods
Builds on 10 years of forecast
research with Intuit
First installment released today;
more to come
#SMBecosystem
Emergent
Research

5. Major forces
are converging
Socioeconomics
Customer needs
Technology +
infrastructure
Platforms +
ecosystems
#SMBecosystem

6. Socioeconomics
Technology
• Cheaper, easier
• Marketing reach
• Advanced capabilities
Support infrastructure
• The Cloud
• Variable cost services
• Coworking
• Financial services
• New funding sources
• Education (on & offline)
• Govt. programs, ACA
Businesses
• Partnering
• Outsourcing
• Contingent Workers
• Supply Chain Expansion
Consumers
• Local
• Unique/customized
• Services
• Experiences
Economic
• Lack of jobs
• Reduced job attractiveness
• Job Polarization
• Economic uncertainty
Social
• Work/Life Flexibility
• Passion, Meaning
• Autonomy, Control
Market & Labor Platforms
• Etsy, Ebay, Etc.
• oLance, TaskRabbit, Mturk, etc.
• New talent agents
• Airbnb, other sharing, etc.
Ecosystems
• Apple
• Schwab
• Google
• Intuit, etc.
Networks
• Online
• Meet-ups
• Business partnering
• Accelerator programs (e.g. Google Ventures)
Demographic
• Aging Boomers
• Millennials
• Women
• Minorities
Forces Driving the New Small Business Economy
Customer needs
Technology +
infrastructure
Platforms +
ecosystems
New
Small Business
Forms, Organizational
Structures & Ways of
Doing Business
#SMBecosystem

7. #SMBecosystem
Implications:
Touches everyone
New models for businesses both big and small
Completely new forms of small businesses emerging

8. The cloud is
redefining the small
business playing field
#SMBecosystem

9. 2000’s 2010’s 2020’s
Business & Societal
Transformation
2030’s & Beyond
Cloud Computing:
A Transformative Technology
GENERATION 3: Transformative
Impacts on Business and Society
GENERATION 2: New forms,
structures & ways of doing business
GENERATION 1: Efficiency gains
#SMBecosystem

10. The Cloud Democratizes IT
Implications for Small Business:
Cheaper and easier to start
and scale a business
Variable instead
of fixed costs
Greatly enhanced
customer acquisition,
service and support
Access to technology and
capabilities once only available
to large organizations
Enables platforms,
networks and
ecosystems
#SMBecosystem

11. Faces of the
New Economy
#SMBecosystem

12. • Plug in to services platforms and products
provided by other firms
• Enabling niche small businesses, the sharing
economy, and peer-to-peer commerce
• Creating business models based on ecosystems
and networks
EXAMPLES
• DemandForce
• Contingent workers, partnering and outsourcing
• Growth of side gigs
#SMBecosystem

13. • Emperors of his/her own personal empire
• Brings together multiple income streams to
create a career
• Various activities may or may not leverage
each other
EXAMPLES
• Freelancers
• Millennials
• Baby Boomers
#SMBecosystem

14. • Individuals and small businesses leveraging
shared talent to form teams
• Focus on flexibility and agility
• Teams form up and down as needed
EXAMPLES
• Pooling of resources in co-working and
other shared workspaces
• Agents using platforms like Elance and
MBO Partners to form work teams
#SMBecosystem

15. • Small businesses and individuals who compete
head-to-head with larger firms
• Leverage technology and platforms to attack
markets once only served by large corporations
• Happening in almost all industries
EXAMPLES
• 80 to 100 VC backed Pharma or Biotech
companies will be created this year; hundreds
more will start without VC funding
• Craft brewers; artisan bike manufacturers;
specialty clothing companies; etc.
• Kiosk investment banks
#SMBecosystem

16. The Future of Small Business
is in the Cloud
37%
78%
20202014
By 2020, 78% of small businesses
will be fully adapted to the cloud,
up from 37% in 2014
#SMBecosystem

17. For more information, contact:
#SMBecosystem
Steve Sharpe
Intuit, Inc.
650-244-2362
Stephen_Sharpe@intuit.com
Jen Garcia
Access Communications
415-844-6244
jgarcia@accesspr.com
Stay tuned for Intuit’s next
Dispatch from the New Economy
Intuit’s Future of Small Business