Despite the wheels of recovery turning slowly, small business owners have begun 2010 with an optimistic outlook.
According to research commissioned by RSM Tenon, the national accountancy and advisory firm, 60% of UK small business owners are confident about their firm’s prospects across the next three months. When the same question was posed six months previously, only 46% of those surveyed reported such confidence.
There’s no hiding from the fact that the last 18 months have been challenging for most SMEs, but it looks like they’ve come out of the recession leaner, meaner and hungrier than ever
Marcus Markou, BusinessesForSale.com chairman
Additionally, 43% of SME bosses expect demand for their goods and services to rise over the course of 2010, while 40% plan to expand their business before the year is out.
Despite the recent figures for gross domestic product showing anaemic growth of just 0.1%, small business owners are increasingly eager to invest in their firms, with nearly 30% aiming to increase the number of staff they employ in the next three months, compared with just 18 percent six months ago.
On the prospects for small businesses in 2010, Marcus Markou, chairman of the web-based business opportunities site BusinessesForSale.com, says:
“In terms of gauging the UK’s fiscal confidence, small business owners are at the coalface, and their mood is therefore a key indicator. There’s no hiding from the fact that the last 18 months have been challenging for most SMEs, but it looks like they’ve come out of the recession leaner, meaner and hungrier than ever.”
He continues:
“Although it’s sensible to avoid being swept up in a tidal wave of false optimism – tight planning and cost control are still high on the agenda for most small business owners – 2010 looks like it will go down as a hospitable year for those running a small business or starting a new business.”
Meanwhile, Andy Raynor, chief executive at RSM Tenon, preferred to focus on the key contribution that business leaders are making to the financial recovery:
“'Business leaders have made a key contribution to the fragile recovery we have seen. Active investment into businesses is a key indicator of confidence and our barometer shows planned spending has been rising steadily over the past 12 months.”
