Posted by Kevin Ackhurst Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Google For Work

Starting a business requires passion, dedication, and a clear vision—and powerful tools that help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. In September, we shared the results of a new Deloitte report that showed that companies using an above-average number of cloud services grow 26% faster and drive 21% more profit than those that use no cloud tools.

Now we’ve teamed up with international research agency GfK to study cloud adoption among new SMBs—those established up to three years ago—in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Like their peers on the other side of the globe, these businesses are using the cloud as a tool for growth. Here are a few of the key insights we uncovered:

Most new SMBs are cloud users. 77% of companies that participated in the study have adopted cloud services. Cloud technology tends to be easy to set up and manage, so new business owners can let their IT run itself and instead focus their time on the work that matters .

New SMBs that take advantage of the cloud envision a brighter future. 70% of companies that use cloud services expect revenue to increase over the next 12 months, compared to 48% of businesses that don’t. Like the Deloitte study, these results point to a correlation between cloud adoption and fast growth.

Cloud services can help new SMBs build their brand. 72% of companies that adopted a custom email, like name@yourcomany.com, saw an increase in engagement and 74% saw an uplift in sales. Small businesses rely on the use of cloud services to get up and running quickly, and professional email addresses for domains are a common first step.

Getting a new business off the ground is always challenging, and building momentum in the early years can be even harder. Our latest research suggests that cloud services can help young companies build further engagement with customers, drive sales and set the business up for growth.

Posted by Rich Rao, Director of Global SMB Sales, Google Enterprise

Editor's note: Did you know 60% of young business owners saw an increase in customer engagement after getting a professional email address? Or that 81% of young business owners said that online file sharing is critical to their businesses? That’s just a snapshot of what we learned from the Young Business Success report and infographic we released to kick off National Small Business Week. To further recognize all the contributions small businesses make, we'll also be highlighting a few customers throughout the week to hear how they got their businesses off the ground.

Twenty five years ago, Yong Kim, the father of a Googler, decided to open a dry cleaning business in the New Jersey suburbs. His first move as a brand new business owner? Give it a name starting with the letter A, so it would show up first in the dry cleaners section of the local Yellow Pages.

Those ubiquitous Yellow Pages may still be around, but starting a business today is a different ballgame. With the arrival and explosion of the Internet, new companies rely less on the resources of yesterday and more on tools built in the cloud to help turn their ideas into living, breathing, successful businesses.

This shift in resources has changed the way business owners can start and run their companies. No more carrying around floppy disks — with cloud storage, you can access important documents from your office, at home or at the 6th grade soccer game. No more worrying about missing an important call if you step away momentarily from the work landline — with video conferences, you can run your business from your computer, tablet or smartphone, even if you’re at the airport or rushing out to get your business cards at the printer. No more relying on an expensive storefront to show you’re in business -- with work email and websites, you can kickstart the company with a far smaller financial investment and without leaving your computer.

To celebrate National Small Business Week, we’re releasing a Young Business Success report that shows how new companies across the U.S. use cloud productivity technology to help them succeed. The research shows how resources like professional email services, online file sharing, collaboration tools and video meetings are an integral part of helping businesses at each step along the way. Here are a few highlights:

• Starting a business: After getting a professional email address, 60% of young business owners saw an increase in customer engagement after they got a professional email address, and 42% saw an increase in sales.
• Building a business: 81% of young business owners said that online file sharing is critical to their businesses. 73% said that accessing email and documents from a mobile device helps them to close more sales.
• Succeeding in business: 81% of young businesses said they expect their companies to grow in the next year, and of that group, 69% said part of the growth is due to their use of cloud productivity technology.

Small businesses have come a long way since the days of Yellow Pages marketing. And with a little help from cloud technology like Google Apps for Business, they’ll continue to grow — even faster than before.