What Are The Top 3 Concerns Of Small Business Owners?

According to Bank of America’s 2023 Small Business Owner Report, they are Inflation, Hiring Challenges, and their top concern is the potential of a looming recession.  In fact, three out of four owners indicated that a recession was a major concern, more than any other factor.

Yet at the same time, businesses are wrestling with the balance between raising prices in response to price increases they are experiencing themselves, continued concerns over supply chain shortages, and concerns over their own labor costs.  Interestingly, small business owners actually slightly increased their concern over finding and keeping talented employees.

Yet all is not gloom and doom.  In fact three out of four of the small business owners surveyed expressed confidence that their business can weather a downturn, and even more surprisingly, two out of three owners are forecasting revenue growth over the next 12 months.  Is this unbridled optimism?  Or, do small business owners which the majority focus on consumers versus business to business, reflect the better overall shape that consumers are in.  Only time will tell as consumer expenditures and debt are on the rise again, compared to covid when the savings rate temporarily grew at a historic pace.

You can read the details of the BoA report HERE.