There was a little less gloom among small business owners in December, with fewer seeing the economy getting worse and more forecasting improvements in their own businesses in the coming year, according to Discover Financial Services’ latest index.
The number of small business owners who think the economy is getting worse decreased to 49 percent, from 53 percent in November; while 24 percent see the economy staying the same, up from 16 percent last month. Twenty-five percent see the economy getting better, down from 28 percent in November; and 2 percent are not sure.
In terms of their own businesses, 22 percent see conditions getting better in the next six months, an improvement from 19 percent in November. However, 52 percent still see conditions getting worse, while 24 percent see things staying the same, and 3 percent aren’t sure.
“Small business owners are entering 2010 on a cautious note,” said Ryan Scully, director of Discover’s business credit card. “They’re still looking for more encouraging signs in the overall economy, but on a positive note, the number of them who see conditions for their own businesses getting better in the next six months increased for the first time since August.”
There was little change in the number of small business owners who said they had cash-flow issues in the past 90 days – 51 percent in December, down 1 percentage point from last month; while 45 percent of owners have not experienced cash flow issues, and 4 percent aren’t sure.
Discover’s Small Business Watch is a monthly index that gauges economic confidence of U.S. small business owners who have less than five employees, a segment that consists of 22 million businesses producing more than a trillion dollars in annual receipts.
Results are based on a national random survey of 750 small business owners.
See today’s Featured Credit Card Offers
