Survey Reveals Half of U.S. Small Businesses Unhappy with Government Support, but 71 Percent Optimistic about Revenue Growth in 2016
Plano, Texas (PRWEB) January 26, 2016 -- U.S. small businesses aren’t happy with government support, and they favor a Republican presidential win in 2016.
According to the 2016 State of Small Business Report, released Tuesday by Wasp Barcode Technologies, 50 percent of them said the government does not do enough to support small businesses, and only 24 percent of them were favorable about government backing.
Despite their overall federal pessimism, they are slightly optimistic about the November presidential election - 39 percent of them believe a Republican win would have a positive impact on their business’ growth, while 34 percent said the same about a Democratic win.
Thirty percent believe a Democratic win would have a negative impact, while only 22 percent said the same about a Republican win.
The State of Small Business Report examined more than just small business’ views on government. It surveyed more than 1,100 small business owners and senior executives about their views on the economy, growth, hiring, marketing practices and information technology.
Hope for growth tempered by business challenges
While most small businesses (71 percent) anticipate revenue growth, the bulk of them (32 percent) expect that growth to be modest at 1 to 4 percent. Their optimism is tempered by major challenges for 2016; the top three being hiring (50 percent), profit (45 percent) and employee healthcare (43 percent). For small businesses with more than 100 employees, hiring and employee healthcare costs tied as their number one challenge.
Hiring has been a long-time challenge for small businesses. As noted in the November 2015 NFIB Small Business Jobs Report, “85 percent of those hiring or trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.”
The challenge of employee healthcare costs began to hit home in 2015 when the Affordable Care Act mandated that employers with more than 100 full-time employees offer approved coverage or face financial penalties. In 2016, the ACA requires the same of employers with 50 or more employees. Small businesses are facing this compliance issue at the same time they’re being hit by dramatic rate and premium increases passed on by private insurance companies.
Other key report findings
• Confidence in economy has dropped. Small businesses have less confidence in the economy than they did in 2015. (Twenty-five percent say their confidence is worse for 2016 –compared to 21 percent in 2015 – and 44 percent say their confidence is better for 2016 – compared to 47 percent in 2015.)
• Small businesses want to hire in 2016. Fifty percent of U.S. small businesses plan to hire new employees in 2016, up from 38 percent that planned to hire in 2015.
• Small businesses need to outsource some jobs. Graphic design and website design are the services outsourced the most by small businesses. Fifty-four percent of them rely on contractors or outsource firms for this service.
• Social media use is not universal. One in five small businesses does not use social media.
About Wasp Barcode Technologies
Wasp Barcode Technologies is a leading provider of small business productivity systems such as inventory control, time and attendance, point of sale, and the supporting mobile computers, barcode scanners and barcode printers used to automate operations. The company is based in Plano, Texas. Learn more at http://www.waspbarcode.com.
About the 2016 State of Small Business Report
The 2016 State of Small Business Report research is based on a random online sample of 1,102 U.S. small business owners/managers with companies with five to 499 employees. The anonymous survey was conducted via the Internet from December 9-14, 2015. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.87 at the 95% level of confidence. Sikora Associates provided statistical analysis.
For more information about the 2016 survey or to access last year’s results, please go to http://www.waspbarcode.com/small-business-report.
If you require more details, other data points or would like to interview someone from Wasp Barcode Technologies, please contact Media Relations at anna(at)BLASTmedia(dot)com.
Contacts
BLASTmedia for Wasp Barcode Technologies
Anna Julow Roolf, 317-806-1900 Ext. 134
Anna(at)BLASTmedia(dot)com
Anna Julow Roolf, Wasp Barcode Technologies, http://www.waspbarcode.com, +1 (317) 806-1900 Ext: 134, [email protected]
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