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Small Business Watch
January 2010
Small Business Confidence Jumps in January
America's small business owners expressed higher economic hopes in January, largely due to increased expectations that conditions for their own businesses would improve in the next six months, according to the Discover Small Business Watch. The Watch index jumped to 85.5 from 77.0 in December.
January Confidence Indicators
- More small business owners are planning to increase business development spending over the next six months, with 25 percent noting they will spend more on activities such as advertising, inventories and capital expenditures. This number is up from 18 percent in December. Further, 28 percent plan to make no changes, while 45 percent will decrease spending, down from 51 percent in December.
- 29 percent of small business owners see conditions for their own businesses getting better in the next six months, an improvement from 22 percent in December and 19 percent in November; 43 percent see conditions getting worse, 23 percent expect things to stay the same, and 4 percent aren't sure.
- The number of small business owners who think the economy is getting better rose to 31 percent in January, up from 25 percent last month; 46 percent see the economy getting worse, down from 49 percent in December; 18 percent see the economy staying the same and 4 percent are not sure.
- 8 percent rate the economy as good or excellent, up from 4 percent in December; 34 percent rate the current economy as fair, and 58 percent rate it as poor.
- 51 percent of owners have experienced cash flow issues in the past 90 days, unchanged from December; 46 percent of owners have not experienced cash flow issues, and 3 percent are not sure.
