Small Business Finance News
SMBs Remain Optimistic About The Future
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 11/17/2009
MerchantCircle's latest survey reveals SMB owners expect to survive the recession.
Small business may be worried about the upcoming holidays, but a recent survey reveals they are not necessarily worried about the upcoming years. The latest results of MerchantCircle's Merchant Confidence Index may be good news for small business owners.
In a survey of more than 12,000 small business owners, MerchantCircle found that 73.9 percent of merchants believe their businesses will survive the recession. Even as 23 percent of SMB owners say they believe that the worst of the recession is behind us, only 5.7 percent expect their businesses to fail.
Darren Waddell, vice president of MerchantCircle, was not surprised at the optimism of the merchants. "Although recent events on Wall Street have taken an economic toll on Main Street, small business owners are a resilient group," he said.
Still, SMBs seem to hold less hope for upcoming holiday sales. Six in 10 merchants say they do not expect an increase in sales revenues over the next 90 days. Moreover, 68.3 percent of respondents expect holiday sales to decline or remain relatively the same in 2009 versus 2008 - one of the grimmest holiday shopping seasons ever.
Regardless of sales in the coming season, SMB owners may be wise to maintain employee morale. A recent report by the Guardian Life Index suggests motivated employees are key in small businesses' ability to draw consumer spending.
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