New York City Small Business Owners Adapt to Survive

Planting the seed of an idea for a company and watching it grow into a thriving small business in New York City is no minor feat. It is a task made even more daunting by the way technology has rooted itself into people’s everyday lives, forcing companies to either adjust to the shift or wither away.

At City & State’s “On Small Business” event Tuesday at New York University, three successful small business owners shared how they have been able to make their respective companies flourish in the city’s current business environment.

Gil Cygler, CEO of All Car Rent-a-Car, touted the benefits of utilizing social media to expand his business’ consumer base, calling it an increasingly important tool, but one that needs to be wielded efficiently to have the greatest possible impact.

“We definitely find it helps communication from our customers,” Cygler said. “We find very often that customers, in the past, may not have expressed some positive or negative feedback and [now] they’ll either post it on their Facebook page or tweet a message directly to us. … So it enables us to have much more real-time information and communication with our customers.”

As important as the tool may be, the customer brandishing it is equally vital, and Dr. Anderson Torres, the CEO of Regional Aid for Interim Needs, Inc. (RAIN), noted from his personal experience that there are plenty of people who are not well-versed in the social media world.

One of RAIN’s challenges in the technological age is completely revamping their digital presence because in the organization's 50-year history of serving senior citizens, tabulating “likes” and “follows” was not part of its business plan. Now the company is striving to bridge the social media generational gap to maximize profits.

Eric Campione, a project manager at PAC Plumbing in Staten Island, added that he uses social media to engage consumers in creative ways, holding contests on social media platforms as a way to expand his company’s reach.

Data show, however, that many small business owners are not sold on social media as a tool for growing their companies. The results of a Small Business Intelligencer Index compiled by the "On Small Business" event's co-sponsor CAN Capital, a company that helps small businesses obtain capital, revealed that roughly 29 percent of the 727 small business owners surveyed for the index felt that social media marketing was “not at all important” to their growth strategy.

Additionally, many small businesses have not taken basic steps such as optimizing their websites for mobile devices, or even having a website to begin with. The CAN Capital survey revealed that 41 percent of businesses do not have mobile-optimized websites despite 44 percent of them saying that mobile and online reviews are the consumer trend that will have the biggest impact on their business.

Campione stressed the importance of businesses having an optimized website. “50 to 60 percent of the people calling me, reaching out to us from the Internet are from mobile devices. It’s very crucial that we have a mobile website and mobile-friendly way of connecting,” Campione said.

Still, despite the obstacles small businesses have to navigate, with technological advancements and rising costs posing the biggest threats, the CAN Capital survey reflected optimism from business owners that they can adapt to an ever-changing landscape. 61 percent of the owners surveyed believed their company would see growth in the following 12 months.