Inflation remains the biggest concern facing the country’s small businesses, says a survey sponsored in part by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The survey is particularly revealing in that in late 2021 respondents to an earlier Chamber survey pointed to a lack of revenue as their greatest concern. That 2021 survey also pointed to supply chain issues as a prominent small business concern.
But beginning in the spring of 2022, inflation has become the number one small business concern with, at first, around 35% of respondents so asserting. By the end of 2022, that figure far outdistanced other concerns, with nearly 55% of respondents seeing it as their primary concern.
Notes Thaddeus Swanek, strategic communications official with the Chamber: “It doesn’t matter what size your small business is or where it’s located—inflation is the top concern for small businesses regardless of location, number of employees, or sector.”
The Chamber survey, done in a partnership with the insurance company Met Life, also noted that as of the end of 2022, nearly “7 in 10 small businesses owners said they raised prices to cope with rising inflation.”
At the same time, the Federal Reserve’s decision to up interest rates in an attempt to cool inflation, has caused additional small business anxiety. The increase in interest rates has significantly increased the cost of doing business for “small business owners who often relay on credit and loans to finance their business operations.”
Concerns about supply chain issues, meanwhile, have somewhat decreased as the supply chain itself has become more fluid in recent months. The survey notes that in the spring of 2022 nearly 30% of small business owners saw supply chain challenges as a primary concern. That figure is now down to 20%.
By Garry Boulard
