The future is looking a little brighter for small businesses, according to the latest "MetLife & US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index." In turn, data shows that both hiring plans and revenue expectations for the next year reached the highest level ever recorded in the Index—started in Q2 2017), which is driving the overall score higher.
The Index rose to 63.1 this quarter, a slight increase from last quarter (60.0) and near findings in Q4 2022 (62.1). Overall, small businesses continue to feel good about the day-to-day operations of their business, including business health and cash flow, despite continued macroeconomic mixed signals.
To note, most small business owners continue to see inflation as their biggest challenge by far. Fifty-four percent say inflation is their top challenge. This has remained consistent since Q3 2022 and represents a 35-percentage point increase since Q3 2021. This sentiment is widespread, and inflation is the top concern for small businesses regardless of their region, number of employees, or sector.
Small businesses say they are changing their behavior in response to interest rate hikes and have more concern about rising rates. Seventy-six percent of small businesses say rising interest rates are limiting their ability to raise capital or financing for their business, a 10-percentage point increase since last quarter and a 16-percentage point increase since first asked one year ago.
What’s more, 50% of small businesses report that they have delayed plans to grow their business in response to higher interest rates. Fully 74% of small businesses express concern about rising interest rates making it harder to pay back their current business loans, while 36% say they strongly feel rising rates will make it harder to pay them back).
Seventy-three percent say it is harder to borrow money from banks for their business because banks are tightening lines of credit.
Small business owners also indicate that they are turning to more sources for capital/financing for their business. A majority report relying on their personal savings (71%), credit cards (67%), and local banks or credit unions (59%) for funding. Forty-one percent of small businesses say they have turned to fixed rate loans while 26% say they have used variable rate loans.
The "MetLife and US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index" score for Q2 is 63.1. The Index score for Q1 was 60.0.
For a complete summary of the report, CLICK HERE.
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