Denver, Colorado (PRWEB) January 30, 2014 -- A staggering 92% of small business owners believe the health of their local economies are the same or better than last year, according to a new survey by The Alternative Board (TAB). A full 67% of owners said their local economies have noticeably improved, while only 8% claimed their economies had gotten worse. By most accounts, confidence and profits are growing -- in fact, 81% anticipate increased sales revenue in 2014.
“We take a detailed survey of entrepreneurs every year,” says Dave Scarola, Vice President of TAB. “Over the years, our annual reports have shown us that the majority of small business owners are succeeding, growing and confident that their success will continue. This outlook is no longer surprising to us. What really surprised us this year was the steep increase in how confident owners are in their local economies.”
This year, 67% of owners surveyed said their local economies are improving, a substantial increase from 53% in 2012. Despite their economic optimism, business owners did share a number of issues they feel are holding their businesses back. Views on this topic seemed to change depending on the actual size of the company -- 31% of owners in the U.S. listed healthcare costs as one of their top three challenges. These owners tended to manage larger companies than those who included “sluggish demand and consumer confidence” in their top three (55%).
“The ‘little fish’ entrepreneur is most frustrated with something that is seemingly out of their control. The ‘big fish’ is most frustrated with something that was seemingly in their control, but taken away,” says Scarola.
How are entrepreneurs planning to overcome the challenges they’ll face in 2014? They listed a variety of tools, placing a reliable peer review board at the top of their list. Among respondents who cite "marketing effectiveness" as their top business concern, 75% consider a peer board most valuable to their business, compared to 60% overall.
“We’re happy to see that the services we provide are so important to company owners,” says Scarola, “And we’re even happier to see these businesses improve and grow every year. If our survey results are any indication, 2014 will definitely be an exciting and rewarding year for business.”
These statistics are only a small sampling of the findings available from this year’s survey. The Alternative Board is the world’s largest franchise system offering peer advisory boards, business training and executive coaching services to its network of over 3,000 members.
To read the full report and survey methodology visit this link: http://www.thealternativeboard.com/Portals/0/PDFs/TAB%20Small%20Business%20Pulse%20Dec%202013.pdf. For more information including the full infographic of the survey results, or to schedule an interview with David Scarola, contact Jason Myers at jason(at)contentfac(dot)com.
Jason Myers, The Alternative Board (TAB), http://www.thealternativeboard.com, +1 (412) 580-1812, [email protected]
SOURCE The Alternative Board (TAB)
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