A new study by Newtek Business Services, The Small Business Authority, found that 69 percent of independent business owners do not plan on hiring any new employees within the next year — or even two years.
The SB Authority Market Sentiment Survey provides a monthly window into the concerns of independent business owners. It is based on a poll of approximately 1,100 respondents.
In addition to the lack of optimism about hiring, business owners have a generally pesimistic outlook about the future of their businesses. In fact, several business owners during the last 12 months have raised their prices or maintained them to fight off the effects of inflationary pressures eroding their margins. In an economy described as stagnant, business owners need to improve their cash flows and bottom lines while continuing to look towards the only segment of their business where the market enables them to improve their cash flows.
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Barry Sloane, president and CEO of The Small Business Authority said, "Technology utilization needs to be embraced by small to medium sized business owners over the next several years. It is the only area where internal costs to run one's business can be reduced as well as produce efficiencies in performance and production of one's labor pool. There is no denying the trend of utilizing the cloud environment for computing and operating one's business is far superior in costs, security and efficiency than what business owners are typically using today."
Yet when asked if they used cloud computing in their businesses, only 28 percent said they planned to do so in the next 12 to 24 months.
Additional survey findings include:
- Exactly half (50 percent) of business owners are pessimistic about the business environment going forward. About 17 percent are neutral, and only a third (32.5 percent) are optimistic.
- During the last 12 months, 30 percent of business owners have raised prices for their products or services, while 53 percent have maintained prices. Only 17 percent have lowered prices.
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