BOSTON—Small business owners are expressing some optimism about their futures.
According to Alignable’s January 2023 Road To Recovery Report, after a “rough 2022 for many small business owners,” 61% feel that 2023 should be a good year for them, despite high inflation, rising interest rates, fears of recession, increasing rents, and other financial obstacles, the company said.
“And of that group, 26% said 2023 could be ‘great,’ helping them expand and thrive,” Alignable added.
The latest report is based on responses from 5,703 randomly selected small business owners polled from Dec. 31, 2022-Jan. 19, 2023, along with past data gathered from 690,000 other SMB owners since March 2020.
Additional Data Points
Other key data points in the new report include:
Here are a few other key statistics:
- 56% say they’re more optimistic about their business success now than in Jan. 2022.
- While small business owners say inflation’s still their No. 1 concern, the percentage of those worried about it has declined from 32% to 30% in the past month. And those saying they don’t have any major financial concerns jumped to 20% in January., up five percentage points from just 15% in December, according to Alignable.
- The cost of supplies also has declined. In December, 40% of SMB owners told us supplies were 25% or higher compared to pre-COVID prices. But that percentage dropped to 34% this month.
- The news is not all good. While 45% said customer counts are up for them, only 38% said they’re generating as much revenue monthly as they did prior to COVID.
- SMB owners estimate it will take at least until Q1 2024 for most small businesses to fully recover to pre-COVID revenue levels.
- 56% also say they fear a recession could hit this year, which would bring more economic trouble.
To see the full report, go here.
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