Capital One’s, quarterly poll called, Small Business Barometer, was conducted in July on around 2,000 businesses having less than $10 million annual revenue. The survey reports various findings regarding small businesses.
Among the various findings, the poll also surveyed on impact of oil spill in Gulf, on the nation’s SMBs. Only quarter of nation’s small businesses, say this incident will impact their business. Though, 11 percent of small firms say that their business dipped since the spill andthey also say that it will cast a long shadow on the business. Besides that, 25 percent say it will have a moderate to significant impact on their business, another 17 percent say that it’s too early to say anything about the impact. However, 8% say business has actually improved since the spill.
Other findings:
On being asked about their financial condition and their investment strategies, 20% (down form 36% in 2009 second quarter survey) small businesses say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago and 37 percent (up by 12%) were found to be performing better than a year ago. 60 percent of small businesses were not having any plans to change their business development and investment for the next six months, while 21 percent small businesses plan to increase investment spending and 16 percent plan to decrease spending.
Survey also reveals the small firms attitudes towards hiring. Only 26% (down by 6% from the last quarter) of small business owners surveyed are planning to hire additional employees the next six months, while 67 percent(62% in last quarter) are holding off the hiring plans.
Among the various findings, the survey also intended to find the financial availability for the small businesses. 73 percent of small businesses surveyed report having access to credit and financing and 19 percent say they do not have adequate access to the same. When asked about funding sources for financing, 50 percent say they will get financing from a bank or commercial lender while 35 percent say that they depend on personal savings.78 percent of small firms were successful in developing a strong relationship with their bank or banker, helping them to explore cash management and financing options.