Small Business Owners Feeling Good About The Future

A majority of small business owners are optimistic (65%) that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is over and are “hopeful” (44%) and “comfortable” (31%) about the future of their business, according to a new study from the US Chamber of Commerce and MetLife. 

Small business owners said that easing Covid-19 restrictions and ramping up vaccinations are the two biggest keys to their success in the remainder of 2021.

“Small businesses are seeing real reasons for optimism this quarter and we’re seeing that reflected in the data,” said Tom Sullivan, vice president of small business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The easing of capacity restrictions due to increased vaccinations means more small businesses are welcoming more customers. Increased foot traffic equates to economic growth and that is moving our country’s recovery forward.”

Additional survey findings include:

• Business health consistent from last quarter. Small businesses view their own health as steady and see things improving in the future. Half (52 percent) of small businesses rate their overall business health as good, unchanged from Q1 2021.
• Revenue expectations jump. Over half (57 percent) of small businesses anticipate their revenue increasing this year, up 10 percentage points compared to last quarter, marking the most positive outlook of this metric during the pandemic.
• Hiring plans remain steady. Amid national worker shortages, most small businesses anticipate retaining the same staffing level (52 percent now, 49 percent in Q1 2021) this quarter. Thirty-two percent plan to increase staffing (same as Q1 2021).