YORK COUNTY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SUPPORTS NEW BUSINESSES WITH INNOVATIVE WEBSITE SERVICE TO REDUCE BUSINESS FAILURE RISK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Size Up / York County NE provides free market research to foster local entrepreneurship

York, NE: 11/18/2021 –  About 20 percent of small businesses fail within their first year. By the end of the second year, 30 percent of businesses will have failed, and by the end of the fifth year, about half of businesses will have failed. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics). 

Although some businesses “close” from statistical records for potentially good reasons like a company being purchased, unfortunately undesired business closing do happen. 

Research from Entrepreneur magazine and Investopia point out that one of the key reasons that new businesses fail is due to a lack of preparation. 

The business failure rate is insightful because it tells you when businesses tend to fail.

• 20% of businesses fail in the first year. An additional 30% fail in years 2, 3, 4, and 5. 
• 30%, divided by 4 years, equals an average of 7.5% of businesses failing each of these years. 
• If 7.5% is a predictable/natural rate of business death, then 12.5% of businesses (1 out of 8 of all businesses) are failing in the first year due to, what Entrepreneur magazine describes as, a lack of preparation.  

Investopia explains that lack of preparation is a key part of the four most common reasons that small businesses fail, which include 1. Financing challenges, 2. Poor management, 3. Inadequate business planning, and 4. Marketing mistakes. 

York County Development Corporation is helping new businesses to be better prepared through improved business planning and marketing through an innovative online service called SizeUp|York County NE. The service is available for free to all local entrepreneurs on the YCDC website at www.yorkdevco.com. 

Entrepreneurs can use the software to estimate the viability of their future or current business and test assumptions of their business plan. In addition, they can use the software to discover potential customers, find local suppliers, and optimize their marketing by targeting ideal customers.

SizeUp | York County NE provides powerful market research and business intelligence that is both industry specific and hyperlocal. It includes the same and similar data that is used by huge corporations, but which has been historically inaccessible to small businesses because of the cost and expertise required to analyze data. SizeUp | York County NE helps to level the business playing field by empowering our local entrepreneurs and small businesses with these data insights at no cost to them so that they can make data-driven decisions just like the biggest companies. 

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the economic foundation and engine of our local economy. We are committed to supporting them with the information they need to be more successful. We are helping to level the business playing field by providing our local businesses with market research and business insights that have typically only been available to well-funded and large corporations,” said Lisa Hurley, Executive Director YCDC. 

SizeUp helps York County businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs by providing them industry data analysis that empowers them to: 

• Discover potential customers and suppliers to grow their business. 
• Optimize advertising and marketing to ideal customers. 
• Analyze the characteristics and spending of consumers in the area. 
• Aspiring entrepreneurs can validate or reject their assumptions about the future business performance based on objective industry data. 
• Existing businesses can rank their industry performance across multiple measurements. 

“New businesses in our community create jobs and grow our local economy, but they are also at a higher risk of failure due because they are new. York County Development Corporation is committing to reducing the risk these new businesses experience by providing them powerful information so they can make data-driven decisions to make them more successful,” said Hurley. “Successful small businesses can turn into big businesses.” 

The software powering the SizeUp | York County NE won the 1st Place award from the United States Department of Commerce for a business app that helps American businesses be more competitive, improve their success, foster prosperity, and create more jobs. 

About York County Development Corporation

York County Development Corporation (YCDC) is a public-private not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote and encourage quality economic growth in York County, Nebraska. YCDC works confidentially and offers unbiased, detail and customized information to clients for no fee. YCDC is the lead economic development organization in York, County Nebraska and utilizes a team approach to ensure access to all agencies and programs that can be of assistance to your project. For more information on YCDC, please visit https://www.yorkdevco.com.

Contact: 

Lisa Hurley
Phone: 402-362-3333
Email: lhurley@yorkdevco.com 
Website: https://www.yorkdevco.com/