A majority of small and mid-sized business owners expect their revenues to increase this year, and their worries over a recession have declined substantially, according to the 2024 Bank of America Business Owner Report, conducted in partnership with Bank of America Institute (NYSE: BAC).
While business owners remain mindful of the impacts of inflation and interest rates on their bottom lines, both concerns “have lessened since Spring 2023. And despite some lingering uncertainties over the broader economy, business owners plan to expand their businesses in the year ahead.”
Sharon Miller, President and Co-Head of Business Banking at Bank of America, said:
“Small business owners remain cautiously optimistic in 2024. With anticipated revenue increases, many are focused on engaging with customers and implementing new technologies that will help them differentiate their businesses.”
The 2024 Bank of America Business Owner Report includes input “from more than 1,400 small and mid-sized business owners (defined as businesses with $100,000 to $5 million and $5 million to $50 million in annual revenues, respectively).”
The report explores “the viewpoints, goals, concerns and outlooks of business owners nationwide.”
Raul Anaya, President and Co-Head of Business Banking at Bank of America, said:
“Our report finds that most mid-sized business owners are planning to expand their businesses and hire in the coming year. Most of these business owners are confident in their revenue growth as well as in the local, national and global economies.”
When looking at attitudes concerning “the national economy, business owners’ outlooks varied by the size of their business: 75% of mid-sized business owners expect the national economy to improve over the next 12 months, while just 33% of small business owners expect the same.”
Mid-sized business owners (MSBOs) maintain a positive business outlook:
- 87% believe their revenue will increase over the next 12 months.
- 80% plan to expand their businesses in the year ahead.
- 69% plan to hire over the next 12 months.
- 84% said their revenues were higher in 2023 than in 2022.
Among small business owners (SBOs):
- 65% expect their revenue to increase in the year ahead (holding steady since last spring).
- 39% plan to expand their business over the next year.
- 30% plan to hire more employees over the next 12 months.
- 55% reported higher business revenues in 2023 than in 2022.
Top economic concerns for MSBOs include “the U.S. political environment (68%), inflation (67%), supply chain (66%) and consumer spending (66%). SBOs share concern over the U.S. political environment (75%) and inflation (73%) but are also concerned about health care costs (69%) and interest rates (63%). 61% of MSBOs and 56% of SBOs noted concerns about recession, both down from 72% last spring. And while concerns over inflation have come down slightly since this time last year, 90% of MSBOs and 84% of SBOs still say that inflation is currently impacting their business.”
Funding plans have increased for MSBOs “in the year ahead, with 93% of MSBOs planning to obtain funding (90% in spring 2023). Financing plans have stayed steady with 54% planning to apply for a bank loan in the next 12 months.”
In contrast, funding and loan application plans “have decreased for SBOs – with 71% planning to obtain funding for their business, down from 82% last spring; and 16% of SBOs plan to apply for a bank loan or line of credit this year, down from 24% last spring.”
According to Bank of America Institute’s recent Small Business Checkpoint, small businesses have become “more reliant on credit cards, with balances up 18% since 2019, based on the bank’s aggregated small business credit card data.”
Ipsos conducted the 2024 Bank of America Business Owner Report survey online between March 4 and March 28, 2024 “using a pre-recruited online sample of small business owners.”
Ipsos contacted a national sample “of 1,038 small business owners in the United States with annual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing between two and 99 employees.”
In addition, approximately 250 small business owners “were surveyed in each of 10 target markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The final results for the national and designated market area segments were weighted to national benchmark standards for size, revenue and region.”
Ipsos also interviewed “a national sample of 377 medium-sized business owners in the United States with annual revenue between $5,000,000 and $49,999,999 and employing between two and 499 employees.”
The final results for this national segment and a combined sample of the small and medium-sized business owners were “weighted to national benchmark standards for size, revenue and region.”
