Millions of small business owners across the country likely fretted considerably during the economic downturn and even in the time since that period ended. However, the improvements in the local and national economies alike over the past two years in particular seems to have many entrepreneurs feeling better not only about the country as a whole, but their own companies’ bottom lines.
Today, 86 percent of small business owners in California specifically say that their companies are moving in the right direction these days, and slightly more believe that they’re going to see their businesses grow in the coming year, according to the latest annual California Bank and Trust Small Business Survey. Moreover, 65 percent of owners actually say that their growth is likely to exceed 5 percent or more in the coming year, and about the same number believe that improvement will be an increase on the steps forward made at the same time a year earlier.
“What our 2014 small business survey illustrates is that many California small businesses are in a unique position to capitalize on growth opportunities and weather larger macroeconomic changes,” said Tory Nixon, executive vice president of small business lending for California Bank and Trust. “Small businesses are shrugging off these regulatory changes and environmental concerns and are quite optimistic about the future growth of their business.”
What does this mean?
Nixon also noted that small business improvement is leading to an increase in demand for financial services such as lending, money management advice, international banking needs, and more, the report said. Many companies are also starting to rely more heavily on mobile and online banking, rather than traditional in-person transactions, indicating that many companies are modernizing, and may be looking to move money around, make deposits, and so on while on the go, because their hectic schedules don’t allow for time spent in line at a brick-and-mortar banking branch. In addition to that type of modernization, 60 percent of companies say they have a social media presence of some kind, and more than one in three are increasing their financial and time investments in this area.
Owners who are now a little more conscious about their bottom lines and chances to improve it might want to think about how they might be able to cut costs by finding more affordable small business insurance coverage. That might include shopping for reduced-cost consultant insurance policies, which can save significant amounts over the course of a year.
