2015 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor Outlook of Small Business Owners by Sector

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "2015 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor Outlook of Small Business Owners by Sector"

Julian Dennis
6 years ago
Views:

2015 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor Outlook of Small Business Owners by Sector Services industry businesses have the most positive outlook compared to other industries; Construction

1 2015 American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor Outlook of Small Business Owners by Sector Services industry businesses have the most positive outlook compared to other industries; Construction industry businesses are most likely to plan to hire and to have capital investment plans compared to other industries; Retailers are most likely to have cash flow issues compared to other industries; and Manufacturers are most likely to pay themselves a salary and say they are on track saving for their retirement The American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, conducted since 2002, is based on a nationally representative sample of small business owners/managers of companies with fewer than 100 employees. Outlook Small Businesses Overall Manufacturing Retail Services Construction Have a Positive View 67% 66% 60% 74% 73% of the Economy Plan to Grow their 76% 86% 85% 68% 91% Business Confident they can 80% 89% 76% 86% 75% Access Capital they Need to Grow Have Capital 56% 54% 54% 53% 62% Investment Plans Have Cash Flow 45% 31% 56% 42% 47% Concerns Have Hiring Plans 34% 38% 37% 28% 47% Use Social Media for their Business Analyze Data for their Business Pay themselves a Salary 57% 35% 72% 61% 41% 45% 34% 45% 44% 41% 57% 62% 58% 54% 60% Retirement Small Businesses Overall Manufacturing Retail Services Construction On Track Saving for Retirement Worried About Ability to Save 54% 64% 45% 56% 63% 47% 30% 53% 46% 49%

2 Key Small Business Sector Highlights Services Business owners in the services sector are the most optimistic group of business owners this spring, nearly three quarters have a positive outlook (74%, up significantly from 58% last spring). More than two-thirds have plans to grow their businesses over the next six months (68%),on par with last spring (67%), but nearly four-in-ten (38%) say keeping/maintaining their current business and sources of revenue is their top priority. Over the last three years, services businesses on average report that they experienced thirteen percent revenue growth, the same percent growth experienced by business owners overall. The biggest challenge they face as they look to grow is finding the right staff (22%). More than one-quarter of services business owners have hiring plans (28%, down from 34% last spring). Among those planning to hire, 12% plan to hire only part-timers and 16% plan to hire either full-timers only or both full and part-time staff. More than half of all services business owners have capital investment plans (53%, on par with 57% last spring) and more than eight-in-ten (86%) say they are confident they can access the capital they need to grow their business, up significantly from last spring (68%). Forty-two percent of business owners in the services sector are likely to have experienced cash flow issues (on par with 43% last spring). Their biggest concern is the ability to pay bills on time (17%). Compared to last year, fewer services businesses say they analyze customer or other data for their business (44%, down significantly from 61% last spring). The biggest barrier to implementing data analytics is time (38%). More than six-in-ten services businesses (61%, on par with 62% last spring) use social media for their business. The greatest number are using Facebook (40%) followed by LinkedIn (20%), Google+ (14%), YouTube and Twitter (each, 13%), Instagram and blogs (each, 10%), Pinterest and daily deal sites (each, 5%), foursquare and MySpace (each, 4%). The top reason they use social media is to attract new customers (53%). More than half of business owners in the services sector (56%) say they are on track to save the funds they need for retirement and less than half (46%) are worried about their ability to save. On average, business owners believe they will need $1,210,000 to retire, a $60,000 increase over last year s figure. Construction Nearly three-quarters (73%) of business owners in the construction industry have a positive outlook. Over the last three years, construction businesses on average report eighteen percent revenue growth compared to thirteen percent growth reported by business owners overall. 2

3 Construction businesses are the most likely among industries to plan to grow (91%) however their top priority is keeping/maintaining their current business and sources of revenue (39%). Construction businesses are among the most likely industries to plan to make capital investments (62%, on par with 60% a year ago). However, they are among the least likely (75%) to say they are confident they can access the capital they need to grow their business. Less than half of businesses in the construction industry are likely to experience cash flow issues (47%, down dramatically from 67% last spring). The biggest issue is accounts receivable and the ability to pay bills on time (each, 14%). More than four-in-ten construction businesses say they analyze customer or other data for their business (41%, down significantly from 61% last spring). Forty-one percent of all entrepreneurs in the construction industry are using social media for their business (down from 50% last spring). The greatest number are using Facebook (28%) followed by Google+ (9%), LinkedIn (8%), MySpace (6%), YouTube and Instagram (each, 4%) blogs and Twitter (each, 1%). More business owners in the construction industry say they are on track to save the funds they need for retirement (63%) compared to last year (55%) and fewer (49% down dramatically from 77% last year) are worried about their ability to save. On average business owners believe they will need $1,170,000 to retire, $60,000 less than last year s estimate. Sixty percent of construction industry entrepreneurs pay themselves a salary. Manufacturing Manufacturers have an optimistic outlook this spring. Two-thirds (66%) of manufacturers have a positive outlook, up significantly from (48%) last spring. Over the last three years, manufacturers on average report twelve percent revenue growth compared to thirteen percent growth experienced by business owners overall. Manufacturers say their top priority is keeping/maintaining their current business and sources of revenue (46%), however more than eight-in-ten say they plan to grow their businesses over the next six months (86%, on par with 87% last spring). Compared to last spring, manufacturers are more likely to plan to hire; over the next six months thirty-eight percent have hiring plans ( up significantly from 23% last spring). Among those planning to hire, 16% plan to hire both full and part-time staff, another 15% plan to hire full-timers only and 7% plan to hire part-timers only. Manufacturers are less likely compared to last year to plan to make capital investments (54%, down dramatically from 71% last spring) but nearly nine-in-ten (89%) say they are confident they can access the capital they need to grow their business. 3

4 Less than one-third of manufacturers experience cash flow issues (31%, down dramatically from 58% last spring). The biggest issue is the ability to pay bills on time (10%). Manufacturers are among the least likely to say they analyze customer or other data for their business (34%, down dramatically from 74% last spring). Fewer manufacturers are using social media for their business this year (35%, down from 49% last spring). The greatest number of manufacturers are using Facebook (21%) followed by LinkedIn (10%), Pinterest (8%), Twitter (6%), YouTube (5%), Instagram (4%) and Google+ (3%). Manufacturers are among the most likely to say they are on track to save the funds they need for retirement (64%, up significantly from 47% last spring) and less than one-third (30%, down dramatically from 75% a year ago) are worried about their ability to save. On average business owners believe they will need $1,010,000 to retire, down $180,000 from last year s estimate. Manufacturers are most likely among industries to pay themselves a salary (62%). Retail Retailers are among the least optimistic in terms of their outlook on business prospects, but they are more positive than they were a year ago (60%, up from 50% last spring). Over the last three years, retailers on average report they have experienced ten percent revenue growth compared to thirteen percent growth experienced by business owners overall. Eighty-five percent have plans to grow their businesses over the next six months, on par with last spring (82%) but thirty-seven percent say keeping/maintaining their current business and sources of revenue is their top priority. The biggest challenge to growth is the rising costs of doing business (36%). Retailers are more likely to have hiring plans compared to last year (37%, up from 31% last spring). Among those planning to hire: 18% plan to hire only part-timers, 11% plan to hire both full and part-timers and 8% plan to hire only full timers. Fifty-four percent of retailers have capital investment plans compared to last year (up from 45% last spring). More than three-quarters (76%) say they are confident they can access the capital they need to grow their business. Retailers are among the most likely to have cash flow issues (56%, on par with 52% last spring), their top concern is the ability to pay bills on time (23%). Retailers are the most likely to use social media for their business. More than seven-inten (72%, on par with 68% last spring) retailers use social media. The greatest number are using Facebook (60%) followed by Twitter (22%), Google+ (17%), LinkedIn and Instagram (each, 14%), YouTube (10%), Pinterest (8%), foursquare (6%), daily deal sites 4

5 and blogs (each, 3%) and MySpace (2%). The top reason they are using social media for their business is to attract new customers (62%). Less than half of retailers say they are on track to save the funds they need for retirement (45%) and more than half (53%) are worried about their ability to save. On average, they believe they will need $1,200,000 to retire, a $50,000 increase over last year s estimate. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) retailers pay themselves a salary. On average they pay themselves $61,130 annually. Survey Methodology American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, conducted since 2002, is based on a nationally representative sample of 742 U.S. small business owners/managers of companies with fewer than 100 employees. The anonymous survey was conducted via telephone by Ebiquity February 17-March 3, The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.6% at the 95% level of confidence. # # # 5

Phoenix Management Services Lending Climate in America Survey

Phoenix Management Services Lending Climate in America Survey 3 rd Quarter 2013 Summary, Trends and Implications PHOENIX LENDING CLIMATE IN AMERICA QUARTERLY SURVEY 3 rd Quarter 2013 SUMMARY, TRENDS AND