Small businesses hopeful for 2014
More than 80 percent of small-business owners are optimistic about what lies ahead for them, just months after many of them came off a strong 2013, according to a survey from marketing firm Constant Contact of Waltham.
Almost 40 percent of small businesses surveyed said their revenue rose at least 10 percent last year over 2012, despite the fact that 65 percent have had to make concessions to economic pressures, such as reducing operating costs and marketing budgets and changing their offerings.
But an overwhelming majority - 81 percent - expect revenues to continue to rise in 2014.
In fact, about half – 51 percent – expect revenue to rise more than 10 percent, while 31 percent foresee an increase of less than 10 percent. Fifteen percent expect their revenue to remain flat, while only four percent expect revenue to decrease.
“It’s encouraging to see that small businesses expect their revenue growth to extend into 2014,” Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact, said in a statement.
But Goodman said the sanguine outlook isn’t leading to more hiring, The survey found that about half of small businesses – 49 percent – said they won’t hire over the next 12 months, while 27 percent plan to add jobs and the remaining 24 percent aren’t sure. But only 8 percent said they plan to lay off people.
Constant Contact said its survey, administered in March to more than 1,300 participants, was released to coincide with Small Business Week, which is being observed this week in the U.S.
WBJ Web Partners
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