Owners of Small Businesses See Less Rosy Future, Survey Finds

Small businesses, considered by many to be the engine driving America’s long economic expansion, are becoming less sanguine about the future as they struggle to find qualified workers.

Small-business owners are more pessimistic than they have been in six months, according to a recent survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group.

Of the 600 small-business owners surveyed in February, 17% said they expected the general economy to weaken over the next six months, while 15% predicted an improvement. Only 1 in 5 entrepreneurs said they believed their sales would grow, down from 1 in 3 in January, said William C. Dunkelberg, the federation’s chief economist.

Many cited the difficulty of finding qualified workers as the main reason for the more pessimistic outlook, with nearly a third noting that they had unfilled slots. “Labor-intensive firms can’t handle new sales without new people,” Dunkelberg said.

Despite their tempered optimism, entrepreneurs don’t expect a recession, Dunkelberg said, adding that the group surveys its membership every month.

In Orange County, small-business owners are also feeling a tad less ebullient these days, said Sandy Sutton, the SBA’s district director in Santa Ana.

“People are concerned about the recent interest-rate hikes and are wondering whether it’s the right time to expand their business,” she said. “Overall, though, I’d say people are still optimistic about their own businesses.”