Main Street Monday — 21% of Small Business Owners Anticipate Full Recovery in Less than a Year
November 16, 2020
Caity Roach
Contributing Editor
Main Street Monday — 21% of Small Business Owners Anticipate Full Recovery in Less than a Year
The inaugural release of American Express’s entrepreneurial spirit index, confirms the resiliency of small business owners during the pandemic. Here are some of the key findings from American Express’s survey of over 1,000 entrepreneurial small business owners:
- 75% of small business owners report being optimistic about their business’s ability to recover from the pandemic.
- 21% expect it to take less than a year for them to fully recover, while 46% say one to three years and 25% report expecting three or more years.
- 82% of small business owners say that they now feel better prepared to handle a future crisis.
- About three-quarters (76%) of business owners said they have pivoted or are in the process of pivoting their business model to maintain revenue. Among those that have already pivoted, (73%) expect to pivot again in the next year.
- In order to navigate these unprecedented times, 47% of small business owners have attended a virtual business conference and 44% have attended a virtual networking event.
- 86% say obtaining new customers is their highest priority, followed by maintaining and growing their current business and sources of revenue (84%) and managing cash flow issues (81%).
- Despite the ongoing pandemic, 81% of small business owner respondents still believe the benefits of owning their own business outweigh the challenges.
“2020 has been full of challenges, from a health crisis to a small business crisis and more, leaving businesses with more obstacles, questions and uncertainty than ever before,” says the EVP of Global B2B Marketing at American Express. “As they always do, many of these businesses found new ways to survive and even some thrive.”
Sources:
American Express Entrepreneurial Spirit Index
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