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Small Business Watch
July 2010
Confidence Falls Again in July
Small business confidence fell for the second month in July as a higher percentage of small business owners rated the current economy as poor and see it only getting worse, according to the Discover Small Business Watch. The index dropped to 83 in July from 86.1 in June. It has been below 83 only once since the beginning of 2010.
July Confidence Indicators:
- 58 percent of small business owners rated the economy as poor, up from 51 percent in June, while 7 percent rated the economy as excellent or good, down from 12 percent in June.
- 57 percent of small business owners said the economy is getting worse, up from 51 percent in June; 27 percent think the economy is getting better; 14 percent think it is the same; and 3 percent are not sure.
- 45 percent of small business owners report economic conditions for their businesses were worse in July, up 2 percentage points from June; while 30 percent of respondents said conditions were better; 22 percent reported conditions were the same and 3 percent weren't sure.
- In July, temporary cash flow issues declined as 49 percent of small business owners reported that their businesses did not encounter any temporary cash flow issues that caused them to hold off on paying some bills in the past 90 days, up from 45 percent in June; 47 percent did encounter cash flow issues, down 4 percentage points from the prior month.
- 28 percent of small business owners reported they will increase spending on business development over the next six months, up from 25 percent in June and the most since September 2008.
