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Survey Says: Gas Prices Hurting Sales, May Lead to Layoffs
Two-thirds of business owners say revenue is down as a result of high gas prices, according to a new survey.
Posted 5/ 16 11 at 4:00 PM | Business Trends, Money, Advertising & Marketing, Sales, Business Travel, Online Business, Consumer Products & Services, Energy, Environmental Services, Retail
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Americans -- particularly men -- don't appear to be all that committed to going green. But they are committed to saving money, however, which is why they're crazy for daily deal sites. One area they're spending more on? Gas. Here's a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.It's a Gas, Gas, Gas
Rising gas prices are hitting entrepreneurs hard. In a survey conducted by online wholesale distributor DollarDays.com, more than 64 percent of business owners say revenue is down as a result of rising gas prices, and more than 25 percent fear they will have to lay off employees if prices continue at current levels.
More than half (58 percent) of the business owners polled say their customers are making fewer shopping trips (driving less) due to higher gas prices -- and business owners expect the situation to worsen during the summer months.
One solution? If you're a retailer and you're not selling online, you should consider adding an e-commerce component to your website. As customers cut back on driving, more will be shopping online -- so make it easy for them to shop with you.
Going Green Is for Girls
Even with Earth Day behind us, Americans continue to be inundated with green marketing messages. But those messages aren't getting through, according to a new study called Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal, conducted by sustainability consultancy OgilvyEarth.
While 82 percent of Americans have good green intentions, just 16 percent (dubbed the "Super Greens") are dedicated to fulfilling them. That leaves 66 percent in the "Middle Green" category -- and motivating these masses to go green is tough. Part of the problem: Fully 82 percent of respondents think going green is "more feminine than masculine." While the Super Greens were primarily women, men were more likely to be Green Rejecters. Among the "Middle Greens," many men were embarrassed to be seen buying or using green products, fearing negative reaction from their friends and associates.
Do I smell an opportunity here? Maybe an entrepreneur should design a line of "manly" reusable water bottles and totes. Or maybe you guys should just "man up" and worry about the earth more than your masculinity.
Swamped By Savings
One thing Americans can agree on is that they love daily deal sites. According to the Savings.com Deal Survey, seven out of 10 Americans (69 percent) get anywhere from one to more than 20 deal e-mails per day. Most (62 percent) have made purchases using deal e-mails, and 35 percent do so at least once a month.
For many, however, the flood of deals is getting unmanageable -- 47 percent of those surveyed say they end up deleting the e-mails. What motivates people to act on deal e-mails instead of zapping them? The top motivators are price discounts (26 percent), the desire to support a local business (26 percent) and alignment with their personal interests (24 percent).
If your business hasn't yet tried deal sites, these results are fairly encouraging. I'm especially pleased to see that supporting community businesses is such a strong motivator for customers to buy.
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports.
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Comments (Page 1 of 2)
WARNING: in tucson we have a TV station, channel 9 who boast that they are on our side. Over the years I have had several things to report to them and I guess my stories aren't good enough for their ratings and so they have proven to be full of crap as far as being on my side. But this is important and I have heard more about it yesterday and this a.m. My girlfriend is 46 and you'd never find a more giving and caring person. Me and her 2 daughters beg her constantly NOT to hand out money to various friends calling and asking for a loan, and she works a very menial job and really has no money. BUT, night before a man called her, "hello there cousin, how is everyone"? she fell right into it, he's coming to tucson in a few days and they're all going to eat, blah blah blah. He calls back yesterday and has been in a horrible accident, can you please help me. She goes to the bank and wires this person a large sum of money. He calls back, a child has now died from the wreck can you send me more money, she did. He calls back, "now I have funeral expenses, can you help me with that?" and FINALLY the light comes on and she resist, But not until she's called her sister in Calif. and actually asked her to help, at which time the sister slapped her into reality. She chose not to confide in her grown daughters, one involved in police work, the other studying to be a Dr., or me and why we are all so upset with her. Talk to anyone in your family who is gullible and foolish. Another story I heard was the same kind of thing happened, the guy called, "Hi Grandma", and Grammy says, "is that you Steve" and the guy ran with it.
We drive all over the city to service our clients. We are a interior plant maintenance company that care for Tropical Plants in buildings. GAS Prices are killing us... Our plants are shipped in from Florida and California... We've been hit with Fuel Sur charges...$300 and $400 extra per load. Our clients are under contract so how do you pass that on to them? So we just watch our profits go down and struggle. Sorry can't deliver Big Plants on the City transit Bus.
Lets not forget 2008 and the LOSER that started this mess! Remember that? Housing market crash, stock market crash?????? Ring any bells?????? I happen to own my own business and profits are coming back. They are coming back slow, but they are coming back. I was actually able to hire more help this year! This is the first time in 4 years!!!!! So thank you Mr. Obama as for you FERRELLFARMER, your ignorance is showing!!!!
First of all Bush didn't start this the housing problems really started under Carter for anyone who has kept up with Politics. Bush came to the Democratic controled congress to warm them of the housing problems due to Freddie Mac and Fannie May but they didn't listen and why would they it was their base they would hurt if the reigned it in so thet let it go. (This is fact you can watch his address to congress) anyway the bubble burst he was listed at fault. We now have greater unemployment worst economy and no real apparent fix just a lot of platudes and talk and no real action. Social Security is listed as an entilement but when Roosevelt created it it was not suppose to be another tax but a seperate fund. It wasn't it was used with the general money so it's been spent. For all the pin heads out there. If the country is broke (3.7 Trillion dollars in debt) There is no social security! Its not that it wont be there in 10 years it isn't there now. We are pay it out with more debt. What really is being said the COUNTRY will be out of business in 10 years think about it.
hey everyone that voted for HOPE AND CHANGE thank you and I am sure everyone that is goingot get layed off and that has lost tere houses and lost there businesses will thank you as well because that STUPID BOBBLE HEAD IN WASHINGTON IS RAISING TAXES HOW STUPID so once again thank you for all who voted for HOPE AND CHANGE everyone should thank you DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK THAT WHEN YOU RAISE TAXES THE RICH DOES NOT OBSORB THAT COST BUT YET PASSES THAT SAVINGS RIGHT DOWN TO THE CONSUMOR AND IF YOU HAD A RAIN IN YOUR LITTLE PEA PICKING HEAD THAT MEAN ME AND YOU DUMB DUMB SO THERE AGAIN FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART THANK YOU HOPE AND CHANGE
how about this how about putting the blaim where blaim beleongs with higher taxes and who is to blaim for that you got it good ol HOPE AND CHANGE himself and who that might be you guesed it good ol BOBBLE HEAD up there in washington now you mayask how do I figure this it is real simple you raise taxes on the rich and they are just goingot pass that savings right along to you and I in the form of higher prices and yet this is not working good ol BOBBLE HEAD has not stimulated the the econemy he has yet to creat any new jobs he has yet to stop the stock market from dropping and he sure has not done anything for blacks whites or anyone else. if i am wrong then he has stimulated you but i realy don`t think he has so on that note we all need to stand up nad thank everyone that voted for HOPE AND CHANGE and remember higher taxes means higher prices on everything
Higher taxes are not the reason for higher gas prices. I can tell by your comment that you are uneducated. Grammar goes a long way when trying to convey a thought. If you are not happy, don't sit on the computer and make yourself look stupid. Get out there and do something about it! If you are so smart and have all of the answers I guess we will see you in the next elections!!!!
Thankfully I knew "spread the wealth" means o start cutting back, thus I fired 18 employees just before dumbo took office and fired all the rest after Pelosi made her infamous speech "After the bill is passed you can see whats in it" I knew "being a citizen of the world " meant time to fire everyone let Bama take care of them and grab my social security 5 years earlier then expected.
It is going to get a lot worse as Taxes go higher to make up foMorere government wasteful spending
You "fired 18 people BEFORE dumbo took office" AND YOU BLAME HIM WHY? YOU SHOULD BLAME THE OTHER DUMBO. Do you hear yourself???? Pot calling the kettle black, perhaps?
B ecause his policies have NOT address the problems! Isn't that apparent to you? The "community organizer" is out of his league.
It is getting worse, not better. Put on your big boy pants Obama
after reading some of the comment i can see that most of the people that place a comment in here
are uneducated,blind,no brain to think or they just mad with Obama for what ever reason they can not see the true behind the courting and see that the past goverment is responsible for what is happining now and that the president don't have a magic stick to resolve the big mess bush let for ours country it take time and with all of the opposition from special interest politician it will take even longer let make this country 95% democrat and 5% republican and we all will see what a great country we will be
Obama is a radical leftist and he is follolwing the model of that school of thought. He said he was going to "change the fabric of the country" and he i doing exactly what he said he was going to do. Its just that many didn;t realize what he was promising.
Gas Prices are very much affecting inflation. However the root cause of the problems are just GOVERNMENT. Government thinks it has to control all aspects of our lives, no domestic oil production, more regulations, more taxes, and of course now Obama care. Government is NOT helping the problems in the country, that lie is getting old. Government needs to take care of our country and it's CITIZENS. Stop telling us they need more money for their projects, stop telling us how to do our jobs, stop creating stoppage of oil production and God's sake stop spending money we do not have. WE NEED LESS GOVERNMENT AND POLITIANS THAT DO NOT HELP THIS COUNTRY AND IT'S CITIZENS (forget the needs of illegals) and build a solid and safe country. Then we can talk about this other BS from all over the world.
Look all I can say about your post is, ditto. Wow, you could teach a Sheeple if you could get them to care about someone other then themselves. You summed up the entire problem, Government. The American government is the problem, and here in California government it is a monumental Failure. At the polls the Sheeple believed the lies, spin and attacks on real change that would have saved jobs and paid off the states debt. The loss of jobs and the future of more jobs loss in CA will further our collapse. Debt like DC, no cuts to public Unions or other government projects and to top it all off, the hostility to business. Governor moonbeam said he would not touch Prop 13, he has gone after it and is in the middle of attacking for the second time. Higher taxes is his answer. Business, is in business here in California, to make money for the State. More businesses will start going to State's like Texas. Our Ca government energy policies have us screwed, now and for the future, for many years if not for ever. The Socialist Fascist Progressives / "tree huggers" Democrats have killed California, and they are after America herself now. People need to understand Government is Not the answer, The People are. We are. We The People... TY.
With Obama's "hope and change" policies, I've just been hoping to get some change back!
like the monopoly will ever change.we all know were being lied to daily and the media is fully controlled and we only get what they decide we should or shouldnt have this gas issue is no diffrent than any other issues in history money and power controls.
The govt has let the oil companies get so big and powerful that it is afraid to do anything about the high gas prices,afterall it was the govt that helped the oil companies steal the oil that was sitting on property owners land,under the guise that the land owner didnt own the mineral rights,in which the govt let the oil companies rape the land without any compensation to the land owner.oil companies and govt sucks,they make the rich richer,and the poor poorer
I am the dirty rich guy that makes more than 250,000. Rather MY company is the dirty rich guy. Ihave 5 employees. I have accountants, that i pay, I buy office supplies, i pay insurance, i buy paint, carpet, cleaning supplies, Five people depend on me for a paycheck directly, not counting the other people i pay a monthly check to for services. Accoridng to the president, i am not paying my fair share. I need to pay the government more because we work 6 days a week 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. When i have to pay more taxes, i will raise the cost of my goods and services to the poorest person that walks in the door. If not enough people come in the door, i have to lay off some workers or cut their hours so they make less money. They will have less money to buy the expensive gas to get to work , less money to buy groceries and pay their bills.
Yes I admitt My company is the evil rich that needs to have more of what we earn taken away. If the democrats steal the next election I willnot contiue to bother to run my company and pay most of the incoe to the government. I will close the doors and put my wokers in the workers paradise obama has envisioned
My business is down 50% since Obamanomics took office. Good olde Mr. 'We got it but I wont let you drill for it'. 'I'd rather send our kids off to war to defend our rights as an energy DEPENDENT nation.' Gotta luv 5.00 a gallon King Obama. Its plain and simple... gasoline prices ALONE remove more discretionary income out of this already hit economy than we can live with. Its killing all our business. Thanks Obama! Thanks, its your energy policy that did this. Gas was 1.59 per gallon the night her won the election. Thanks to everyone who voted for him too