Small Business Finance News
Discover Small Business Watch Reports SMB Confidence Down
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 11/30/2009
The Discover Small Business Watch index fell 12 points in November.
In recent news for small business owners, the Discover Small Business Watch index indicates that SMB owners' confidence dropped in the month of November. The Discover Small Business Watch index fell 12 points, from 88.5 in October to 76.5 in November.
Cash flow reports likely factored into the confidence drop; RTT News reports that 52 percent of SMB owners say that have experience cash flow issues in the past 90 days, up from 44 percent in October.
Moreover, 53 percent of SMB owners predict the conditions will get worse in the next six months, up from 43 percent in October.
"Fading confidence among small business owners could be tied to their low expectations for the upcoming holiday season," said Ryan Scully, director of Discover's business credit card.
But SMB owners may not want to start panicking; RTT News reports that the SMB confidence level has dropped consistently in the month of November - regardless of the economic climate - since 2007. November 2008 was the low point of the confidence index at 67.5 points, with this year showing mild improvement.
For SMB owners, now may be the time to increase marketing for holiday sales. Fifty-two percent of small businesses participating in Constant Contact's fifth annual Small Business Holiday Outlook Survey expect holiday sales to increase over last year because of their web marketing strategies.
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