Business Owners and Economic Recovery

Small and medium sized business owners are cautiously optimistic about economic recovery, according to a survey performed by PartnerUp. (PartnerUp is an online community aimed at helping small businesses and entrepreneurs.) The results of this survey were released on the 15th. Some of the interesting results from this survey include:

• 37% believe the the economy will improve moderately by the end of the year.
• 68% plan to hire new employees in the next six months.
• Only 10% plan to reduce workforce.
• 25% are reducing business travel and entertainment spending.

How small business feels about the economy is important. I received this in a press release from PartnerUp, which sums up the conditions for small business owners:

“Small businesses are a critical component of our nation’s economy, contributing to the creation of 70 percent of the economy’s new jobs,” said Steve Nielsen, CEO of PartnerUp. “These findings indicate that small business conditions are beginning to stabilize, but that small business owners still face significant challenges before the economy fully recovers.

While the results of the survey aren’t overly enthusiastic, it does show that business owners are beginning to feel as though improvement are coming. I find it especially encouraging that many small businesses plan to make new hires. And trimming the budget for travel and entertainment is a solid business move anyway. With today’s technology, many meetings and other business functions can be carried out remotely with Web cams and other online tools.