Local statistics on small business are more trustworthy.

BY CLYTIE BUNYAN   

Published: January 29, 2012 by newsok.com, The Sunday Oklahoman

I’m going to sound like a nerd when I say I like to look at statistics and surveys. It’s just fun to read some of them and wonder how the heck they came up with some of those results. Some are more trustworthy than others.

That’s why when I need to get a handle on how small businesses are faring, I call Darcie Harris at EWF International. A poll of the company’s network of members and other women business owners is more likely to provide an accurate picture than some random survey from a national firm.

Recent government reports indicate the national economy is getting better. Locally, we already know that energy companies are hiring every day. And Boeing and others are on pace to hire hundreds.

But what about the group that makes up more than 97 percent of state employers?

Earlier this month, EWF International found that more than 67 percent of women business owners in the Oklahoma City area plan to hire new employees this year. Another poll of just EWF International members found that 79 percent saw an increase of revenues in 2011.

That’s incredible considering small business owners have been through a couple of rather challenging years, where banks got stingy on extending credit and many saw orders for their goods and services shrink.

But small businesses have learned to be more tactical.

The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, using the most recent data in its current profile for Oklahoma, says “the number of opening establishments was higher than closing establishments and the net employment change from this turnover was positive.” That, too, is great news. The problem with that data, though, is that it’s from 2010 — another reason I prefer local surveys.