VerticalResponse, Inc. Surveys 831 Small Businesses Across America; Finds Support for Public Healthcare Offering Mixed

VerticalResponse, Inc. Surveys 831 Small Businesses Across America; Finds
Support for Public Healthcare Offering Mixed
After the vote to overhaul health care was passed by the full House of
Representatives, 25.2% surveyed would not cancel employer-provided coverage if
given public healthcare offering

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- VerticalResponse, Inc., a leading
provider of self-service email marketing, online surveys and direct mail
solutions for small businesses, today releases the results of a survey of 831
small businesses of under 500 employees, which showed that over a quarter of
respondents would not cancel their employer-provided coverage if given a
public healthcare offering. In the wake of this weekend's successful vote to
overhaul health care by the full House of Representatives, the survey provides
a pulse check on how small businesses feel about a public offering of
healthcare(i), their hiring practices, and whether they will apply for funding
in 2010.

The survey results highlight the disparity between healthcare conditions for
small businesses of different sizes, with marked differences between companies
of 1 to 10 and 11 to 100 employees. When asked whether or not small businesses
offered healthcare to their employees an overwhelming 72 percent of small
businesses with 1-10 employees do not offer healthcare to their employees.
This compares with 24 percent of businesses with staff of 11-100 who do not
offer healthcare. However, amongst those businesses with 11-100 staff who do
offer healthcare, 41 percent wouldn't cancel their employer-provided coverage
if there was a public offering. One small business survey respondent in
support of the proposed healthcare reform was The San Francisco Art Exchange.

"A public offering of healthcare unburdens small businesses and entrepreneurs
alike, as it allows them to focus on core parts of their business such as
innovations and new products," said Theron Kabrich, CEO, San Francisco Art
Exchange. "It also removes an unfair competitive advantage for small
businesses when trying to attract the best employees, and levels the playing
field."

The survey findings are released just after the American unemployment rate
rose to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983(ii). Although the
small business sector continues to be a pivotal part of the economy--creating
65 percent of all new jobs in America over the past 15 years--most of the
survey respondents have halted hiring in the past year. In the 11-100 employee
businesses, there are approximately 2.5 times more respondents--or 33.3
percent--that are still hiring versus the 13.2% of companies in the 1-10
employee size.

Among key findings, VerticalResponse reports*:

Healthcare: Most small businesses with fewer employees don't offer healthcare
as of today, and most wouldn't cancel their current coverage for their
employees.
-- 40.9% of businesses with 11-100 employees wouldn't cancel their
employer-provided coverage if there was a public offering and the
largest portion of businesses with 1-10 employees also wouldn't.
-- Of all small businesses an average of 16% of businesses would cancel
their employer-provided coverage if there was a public offering.

-- 71.8% of businesses with 1-10 employees do not offer healthcare to
employees--versus the 69.4% of businesses with 11-100 employees who do
offer healthcare to employees.

Hiring: For the most part small businesses realize they need to hire to
continue growth in the near future, however most of the businesses seem to
have halted hiring in the past year.
-- In the 11-100 employee businesses, there are approximately 2.5 times
more respondents--or 33.3 percent--that are still hiring versus the
13.2% of companies in the 1-10 employee size.
-- Smaller businesses report they will take longer to recover from the
current economic downturn. In the next three months, only 11 percent
of
businesses with 1-10 employees are planning on new hires--versus 27.1%
of businesses in the 11-100 staff range who are planning to expand.
-- Over half (52.5%) of all respondents said the number of employees in
their company had stayed the same over the past year.

-- More than double the larger business size reported an increase in
their
employee number--or 34.3 percent--versus just 16.9% of businesses with
1-10 staff reporting an increase.

Funding for small businesses: Funding of all types continues to be a challenge
for small businesses in the recent past. In the future many will try to apply
for funding.
-- Close to one fifth of respondents applied for funding in the past
year,
and were unsuccessful.
-- 62.6% of all small business respondents did not try for funding in the
past year.

-- When considering funding for 2010, 33% of small business respondents
plan to apply for funding.

"As VerticalResponse is both a small business, and a staunch supporter of the
small business community, we were excited to see where our customers stood on
government policies and healthcare reforms," said VerticalResponse CEO and
founder Janine Popick. "The large difference in opinions between small
businesses of one to ten employees versus those with 11 to 100 employees
highlights that the current government must consider the diversity of the
small business community--and it's paramount they canvass opinions of small
business owners from various industries and company sizes as there's no one
solution for all."

The survey responses truly represent the heart of the small business
community, with over three-quarters of respondents having between 1 and 10
employees--this group was 76.5% or 632 of the total 831 respondents. This
category includes a number of sole proprietor businesses, indicating that
entrepreneurs continue to flourish despite the economic climate. The remainder
of the respondents included 19 percent who have between 11-100 employees.
VerticalResponse used its own survey tool, launched in April 2008, to deliver
multiple choice and free-form answers to a subset of its users, and the small
business community.

Methodology
Surveys were taken over a six-week period starting September 22, finishing on
October 29. They were entered in anonymously by VerticalResponse customers,
and also filled in at the Small Business Development Center "Online Marketing
Boot Camps" across California. The questions were focused on hot topics such
as proposed healthcare reforms, current and future marketing spend for
channels such as social media and email marketing, and attempts to gain
funding. The survey included a number of freeform options, which are included
in the individual summary reports.

In addition, the results have been split out into overall respondents; and
include a comparison of the differences between small businesses with 1-10
employees, versus those with 11-100 employees. The largest respondent groups
were retailers, which comprise 19 percent of respondents--and non-profits,
which make up 11.2 percent of respondents.

*For complete survey results, download the PDF at http://bit.ly/3M6b6e.
Alternatively contact Jo Large at jlarge@verticalresponse.com or
1.415.808.2457.

To find out more, please visit: www.verticalresponse.com.

About VerticalResponse
VerticalResponse, Inc. is a leading provider of self-service email marketing,
online surveys and direct mail services empowering small businesses to easily
create, manage and analyze their own direct marketing campaigns.
VerticalResponse's flagship product is the Small Business Stimulus Package,
which bundles email, online surveys and postcards to offer customers an
integrated Web-based direct marketing solution that's intuitive and
affordable. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
For additional information, please visit www.verticalresponse.com

(i) Obama remarks on small businesses and health insurance reform [Transcript
Courtesy of the White House], Thursday, October 29, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR2009103002838.html

(ii) Employment Situation Summary, the Labor Department October Job report,
November 6, 2009 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Janine Popick
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=92010

SOURCE VerticalResponse, Inc.

Jo Large, VerticalResponse, Inc., +1-415-808-2457, pr@verticalresponse.com