Three out of four (75 percent) small-business owners in the U.S. are confident about the future of their businesses, a new economic report shows. This is the highest level of small-business optimism in this country in the past three years and a jump from 64 percent of owners giving future prospects a thumbs-up just three months ago.
Revenue growth was also at its highest point in three years, with 46 percent of small businesses reporting increases, up from 39 percent six months ago, according to the 2011 year-end economic report released by the National Small Business Association (NSBA), the nation’s first small-business advocacy organization. The number of companies reporting decreases in revenues declined as well, from 37 percent to 31 percent.
While job growth didn’t experience the same kind of bounce—it remained unchanged, with just 22 percent reporting increases—only 23 percent of small businesses reported employment decreases, the lowest level in three years.
Photo by Kevin Dooley