Small businesses becoming more pessimistic, U.S. Chamber says

October 4, 2012

The Business Journals

Kent Hoover

Forget four years ago: Is your business better off now than it was two years ago, after the financial crisis had ended?

Sixty percent of small business owners/executives say the climate for their companies has gotten worse over the past two years, according to a quarterly survey conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That's up from 55 percent who said that back in July.

Nearly half of small business owners aren't sure if their businesses' best days are ahead of them. Only 15 percent believe the economy will improve over the next two years, and only 17 percent expect to hire more workers next year.

This growing pessimism may be due to the fact that the fiscal cliff is drawing closer without any signs of resolution. Unless Congress acts, taxes will go up in January for everyone and steep across-the-board cuts will be made in federal spending. More than 60 percent of small business owners think the fiscal cliff will have a significant impact on their businesses.

This leads to what small business owners want the most from Washington: certainty, not more government assistance. This group of small business owners, for example, view health care reform as a problem, not a solution. More than 75 percent say health care reform makes it harder to hire additional employees.

The chamber's survey of 1,391 small business owners and executives was conducted online Sept. 20-27 by Harris Interactive. All of the survey participants run companies that have fewer than 500 employees and annual revenue of less than $25 million.

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