Despite positive economic indicators and a thriving stock market, small business owners in the United States continue to grapple with uncertainties and concerns. A recent survey conducted by CNBC and SurveyMonkey reveals that a significant majority of these entrepreneurs feel disconnected from the overall economic growth and are concerned about their ability to keep pace with larger companies.
Inflation has emerged as a major concern for small businesses since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While they expressed cautious optimism in the first quarter of 2024 regarding the potential easing of inflation, recent data showing persistent price increases has eroded their confidence. Notably, their faith in the Federal Reserve’s ability to control inflation has fallen back to the low levels observed in previous quarterly surveys in 2023.
The recent stock market rally has brought significant gains to investors, particularly in the technology sector. However, our research indicates that small business owners have not significantly benefited from these gains. A large proportion of those surveyed (64%) reported no positive impact on their businesses from the stock market’s performance. In fact, only a small number believe that Wall Street has had a positive (17%) or negative (15%) influence on their operations.
The CNBC/SurveyMonkey poll was conducted among 2,130 small business owners across the country from April 8-12, 2024. The findings suggest that small businesses lack trust in current business policies and believe that these policies favor large corporations over their smaller counterparts. This concern is shared across party lines, with a large majority of Republican (79%), Democrat (71%), and independent (71%) small business owners expressing agreement on this issue.
Furthermore, most small business owners (86%) feel they have little influence over business policy-making. Again, this sentiment is prevalent among all political affiliations: 91% of Republican, 82% of Democrat, and 88% of independent business owners share this concern. It is noteworthy that small businesses account for approximately 99% of all businesses in the United States, highlighting the need for their perspectives to be considered in policy decisions.
The alignment between Republican and Democrat small business owners on key concerns, despite their political differences, underscores the severity of these issues. This consensus suggests that policymakers and leaders must prioritize addressing the concerns of small businesses to ensure their well-being and foster a healthy and inclusive economic ecosystem.
