Smartphones are stressing Greater Washington small business owners, Bank of America survey finds

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Smart phones: Can't work without them, but they cause stress.

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Mark Holan

Staff Reporter- Washington Business Journal

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Smartphones are handy business tools, but they are also irritating stress bombs.

Thirty-five percent of small business owners in Greater Washington say their mobile device makes them feel more stressed than five years ago, 9 percentage points higher than their counterparts in eight other major metros.

Moreover, 18 percent of small business owners here say the accessibility of mobile tech forces them to work more often, compared with 8 percent of their peers in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The findings appear in a Bank of America survey of small business owners with annual revenue of $100,000 to $5 million, and employing two to 99 workers.

D.C.-area small business owners gave themselves and their organizations a 62 percent rating for tech savviness, well below Atlanta's top 76 percent rating and not much better than the 58 percent in Dallas, which ranked last.

Four of five small business owners across the nine markets said they've incorporated some type of digital technology in their businesses, including social media, digital security software or online services.

In a look at generational differences regarding technology, the survey found that 85 percent of millennials (age 18-34) graded themselves an A or B on tech savviness, compared with 74 percent of Generation Xers (35-49) and 58 percent of baby boomers (50-68).

About one in five millennials said they could "indefinitely" run their business without a smartphone or tablet, compared with three in five Boomers.

Mark Holan covers the economy and money — banking, finance, private equity, corporate accountability and professional services.