Recession Cost Small Bizs $2 Trillion

Inc.com reports that a new study shows that less than one in 10 small businesses believe the recession is over.

The Quarterly Economic Pulse Survey, conducted in July by financial services market research firm Barlow Research, reveals that 14 percent of small businesses are less than 50 percent confident they’ll still be in business by August 2011.

One in seven is estimating their chances of survival by the flip of a coin, and just one in three said their financial condition is improving — down from nearly one in two in the second quarter.

If the numbers are any indication, small businesses have reason to be gloomy: They’ve lost an estimated $2 trillion in profits since the recession began in December 2007.

That’s an average loss of $253,000 for each of the 8 million U.S. businesses with sales between $100,000 and $10 million. (Larger companies have been less affected and so are recovering faster, says the survey.)

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