Small Biz Owners Believe “The Worst is Over”

I love small business owners! Despite the awful economic news of the last few months, and the beating they took over the worst holiday season in many years, they believe the economy has bottomed out and is on the way up.

The source of this news? An American Express OPEN-sponsored poll of small business owners. Here are the changes in attitude by small business owners that they found from last August and October to January:

The negative trends seem to be reversing in several key areas:
Fewer businesses have been affected by the tightening of credit (50% in August 08, 63% in October 08 and 56% in January 09)

Fewer businesses are accepting lower profit margins (56% in August 08, 58% in October 08 and 46% in January 09)

Fewer business owners are stressed out over the state of the economy (55% in February 08, 71% in August 08 and 66% in January 09)ss

But some of the negatives remain:
It is taking longer for small business owners to get paid (27% in February 08 versus 36% in January 09), and Small business owners are more averse to risk now than they were twelve to 18 months ago (75% indicated this was true)

And,
Two-thirds of small business owners (68%) agree with the statement, “The independence and control I was seeking when I started my own business is threatened by economic forces out of my control”

Small business owners remain optimistic and want to stay the course:
Four in five small business owners agree with the statement, “Even in these turbulent economic times, the rewards and opportunities of running my own business outweigh the risks and challenges”

See why I love small business owners? They are literally the backbone of our economic progress.

Image source: StockXpert