NSBA: Small Firms Cautiously Optimistic About 2010
Jan 26th, 2010 | By Dawn Rivers Baker | Category: ResearchSixty-four percent of small business owners report decreased revenue over the last 12 months, according to a survey released last week by the National Small Business Association. On the other hand, a majority of survey respondents (52%) expect the economy to produce growth opportunities over the next 12 months. And here’s more good news: the percentage of survey respondents indicating positive expectations for their own businesses increased slightly, up from 58% in July 2009 to 61% in December 2009. That is the first increase in that measure in two years.
For those policy makers looking to small businesses to save their bacon by creating jobs, the 2009 picture is not good. Forty-four percent of small business owners report that they cut jobs in 2009, versus 12% that were hiring and another 44% that made no changes in the size of their workforce. In addition, 39% of small business owners say they remain unable to find “adequate financing” for their business needs. In the coming year, 18% of small business owners expect to cut jobs but 24% expect to be hiring, indicating net job growth. The NSBA does not separate out its survey results according to firm size class, so that there is no way of knowing what percentage of respondents were microbusinessesor whether, as a group, microbusiness respondents painted a different picture from that drawn by non-micro small businesses.
