Future of Small Business Report

The third segment of the "Intuit Future of Small Business Report" was released this week (originally due Q4 2007). Titled "The New Entrepreneurial Economy" this segment reveals trends helping small businesses thrive in the coming 10 years.

The report is sponsored by Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) and authored by the Institute for the Future. Like the first two segments of the report, it's a great read. This portion focuses on three issues beneficial to small business:

• Brain Meets Brawn to Create Opportunities for Small Business - The emergence of barbell-like economic structures [a few giant corporations on one end, a relatively small number of mid-sized firms in the middle, and a large group of small businesses balancing the other end] will drive new business collaborations, creating greater opportunity and profitability for small business.
• Barriers Down, Small Business Opportunities Up - Access to big business infrastructure will expand, making their sophisticated technologies available to small and personal businesses, at lower risk, with a variable cost structure.
• The Next Wave of Globalization Will be Driven by Small Business - Muted trade barriers, improved technology, and professional and social networks across borders will facilitate small business access to new markets.

If you recall, the first installment of the report revealed the changing face of small business. The second installment examined technology trends and their impact on small business formation and operation.