If you’ve never heard of Manta before, then allow me to bring you up to speed. Manta provides a site for small business owners to ‘claim’ their business listing online and establish a basic online presence for free. For business owners unable to produce or fund a full-fledged website, Manta provides an easy way to get online. It’s no fly-by-night operation either: according to comScore, Manta is the 3rd largest small business info site. An additional service, Manta Connect, allows business owners to network, and ask each other questions in an active forum of like-minded professionals. With almost half a million business owners already on Manta, the site is quickly making a name for itself as a destination for small business owners.
Because Manta has an active community of small business owners, they have a unique ability to be able to survey their users about trends within the industry. Their March survey, the results of which we recently released, asked 1,016 small business owners—892 of whom have fewer than 10 employees—about hiring trends and practices. The good news? Small businesses are hiring!
Not just some small businesses either. Manta’s numbers show that the majority, 57% of responders, are currently looking to fill a position. Despite this, small businesses face unique challenges, like difficulties recruiting top candidates or offering top pay.
As should be no surprise, candidates for small business positions are still being referred by family and networking/friends. And the most important factors businesses are looking for are experience (rather than education), and personality. Something to consider if you’re looking to get involved with a smaller organization. This is one place I find lacking, and I’m curious. Where do you find your employees? Have you had success with larger job boards, or more local sites like Craigslist? Is there a high-tech solution to finding the perfect employee yet?
One precaution from the data: business owners worry their employees are spending too much time talking on the phone. But maybe if you can convince your boss to get you a tablet computer instead, you can stay mobile and productive.
You can check out the full details of their survey below, and click through to their press release as well.
