Small Business Impact of Government Shutdown a Question

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OvationMR surveyed 825 small business owners, partners and executives between January 18-21, 2019 to better understand how they are being impacted by the government shutdown. Impact of Government Shutdown Is Uneven Among Small Business Executives; They View Shutdown Through the Same Lens as Rest of Country. All respondents are employed full-time or self-employed at organizations with 50 or fewer employees and with less than $10 million in revenue. The sample was stratified by region.

Small business leaders may not break the logjam across Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Andrew Ribner, CRO at OvationMR. “They are divided like the rest of us across party lines and their attitudes toward the shutdown are further splintered based on whether or not their business is impacted by it.

With the government shutdown now over a month old and no resolution in sight, OvationMR examined how small businesses are affected by the government shutdown by surveying small business leaders nationwide. Our survey of 825 small business owners and executives of businesses with 50 or fewer employees and less than $10 million in revenue found:

  • A majority (55%) of small business leaders indicate their business is not impacted by the government shutdown, while only 14% say the shutdown is having a major impact on their business.
  • Much of the damage from the shutdown is indirect, only 19% of those leaders impacted by the shutdown work directly with the federal government.
  • Small business leaders are following the shutdown closely (51% heard a great deal about it and another 28% heard a fair amount), think it could have been prevented (87%), and estimate that it will last another month (53%, compared with 32% another week, and 15% longer).
  • 10% more small business leaders blame Trump and the Republicans (51%) than the Democrats in Congress (41%) for the shutdown.
  • Small business leaders who are impacted by the shutdown blame Trump and the Republicans over the Democrats in Congress by a 2 to 1 margin (62% to 31%), while those who are not impacted narrowly place the blame on the Democrats (50% to 43%).
  • More small business leaders characterized Trump’s most recent offer as political posturing (48%) rather than as a serious offer (36%).

“Small business leaders may not be in a position to break the logjam across Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Andrew Ribner, Chief Research Officer at OvationMR. “They are divided like the rest of the country across party lines and their attitudes toward the shutdown are further splintered based on whether or not their business is impacted by it.”

For detailed findings of this study you can find them here

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