We’ve spent the last few posts discussing the U.S. economy, how it’s affecting consumers and how the average American feels about where things are heading.
But what about small businesses and the people who run them?
For one thing – small business owners are a huge part of our loyal customer base at Check Advantage. Plus – everyone from economic experts to politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that spurring growth in the small business sector is key to an economic recovery.
So how do small business owners feel about their own situations and the current and future economic situation?
A number of studies surrounding the small business world paint the picture for us.
Scott Shane from Small Business Trends cites a survey by Challenger, Grey and Christmas that indicates less than 4% of people looking for a job decided to start their own small business in the second quarter of this year.
“So what,” you ask? Well, in the first quarter after the recession ended in the summer of 2009, nearly 12% of job seekers were working on starting their own company. So the number dipped by tw0-thirds!
A more recent study on the confidence small business owners have in the economy comes from a credit card company. Discover paints a somewhat pretty picture in a press release about it’s Small Business Watch study. The headline reads Optimism Increases For Small Business Owners.
That may be true, if you are comparing the findings to the previous month, but not when you compare the findings to a year ago, which makes this even more interesting.
Out of 750 small business owners questioned in October, 28% feel the economic conditions for their particular business will get better in the next six months. In September, only 20% felt that way. So it seems like the future is looking brighter.
But a year ago, in October of 2009, 29% of the small business owners surveyed thought the economic conditions were improving for them.
When asked if economic conditions in the U.S. in general were getting better or worse here’s how it stacked up.
U.S. Economy Getting Better
- October 2010 – 31%
- September 2010 – 26%
- October 2009 – 35%
U.S. Economy Getting Worse
- October 2010 – 48%
- September 2010 – 57%
- October 2009 – 44% (remainder answered “Staying the Same” or “Not Sure”)
Once again, small business owners seemed more optimistic a year ago than they were a month ago.
Perhaps there the swing towards optimism in such a short period of time stems from the fact that we were on the edge of midterm elections and many small business owners were hoping changes in government based on the vote would have a positive effect.
We woke up this morning to some big changes in Washington. Republicans have taken over control of the House of Representatives, and picked up a number of seats in the Senate. Will this shift in power make a difference? We’ll have to wait and see.
Either way – when you compare other numbers from the Discover Small Business Watch it is a similar pattern. A move towards optimism from September to October – but not much change, or even more pessimistic views were expressed compared to one year ago.
This is somewhat troubling when you consider the majority of new jobs and innovation in this country have historically come from small businesses.
If small business really is the key to economic recovery – more needs to be done to improve the situation for small business owners.
Small business owners like you are probably the most valuable customers we have at Check Advantage. We’ve been selling business checks online for nearly a decade now. We know they are a something every business needs to operate.
That’s why we’re proud to offer products like QuickBooks Checks and the hard to find 7-Ring Check Binder for your manual business checks – all at very affordable prices.
When you order cheap checks from Check Advantage, the lower price does not mean poor quality. The reason we can offer checks for up to 75% less than what your bank charges is because we print our own checks!
We are not an affiliate selling a major corporations products. But we aren’t some guy named Bob printing checks in his basement either.
We are a lot like you and your business…striving to create quality products and services despite tough times in America! The economy has provided some challenges for us just like it has for countless others.
So the next time you’re in need of business checks – keep Check Advantage in mind. We’re in this together!