A survey of 550 small-business leaders in April found they remained confident despite concerns of a looming recession. While more than four in five respondents (83%) were concerned there would be a US economic recession soon, 80% of businesses said they were confident they could withstand it.
Kabbage from American Express published the sixth installment of its Small Business Recovery Report on Thursday, which tracks the recovery trends and growth outlook of US small businesses.
Among the respondents who were confident they could survive a recession, the pandemic was cited as the top reason (31%) as why they felt that way. The pandemic helped them find a “greater sense of resilience and preparedness to be successful in the future despite economic turbulence.”
Nearly half (45%) of businesses said they were trying out new competitive strategies compared to before the pandemic. A combined 57% of medium and large and 29% of the smallest small businesses surveyed cited branding as their primary differentiator from competitors.
A combined 44% of medium and large small businesses reported that their business is now marketing through social media and digital channels that are different from their competitors.
Methodology: The online survey was conducted between April 1st – 18th, 2022, surveying 550 small business leaders, including 250 at the smallest small business (<10 employees), 200 at a medium small business (11-100 employees), and 100 at the largest small business (101-500 employees). Respondents represented industries across retail, marketing, healthcare, financial services, technology, food and beverage, construction, automotive, manufacturing, media, professional services, education, agriculture and more. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 4 percentage points.
You can find the full findings on the Kabbage website newsroom.
A survey found small businesses remain confident despite the looming threat of a recession, having found resilience surviving the pandemic, and they are using branding to differentiate themselves from competitors.
