Small businesses have more positive outlook than last year
According to a recent small business survey the mood across Canada is steadily getting more confident.
The quarterly American Express Small Business Index recently revealed that the attitude of small business owners is the best its been in more than a year. The index found that 35 percent of those in small business believed that economic climate is improving. In addition, only 37 percent reported that their business was currently experiencing a downturn - compared with 52 percent in March 2009.
"Since the depths of the recession, small business owners have been telling us that things are slowly improving," said Eric Nielsen, vice president & general manager, of Small Business Services for American Express Canada.
58 percent of respondents said that they believed their company's revenue would increase in the next 12 month. The survey, which was conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, also showed that of those respondents, 44 percent of small business owners expected their business to grow by 20 percent in the next year.
Many in the small business community are looking forward to the upcoming G-20 summits in Toronto. The National Post reports that the businesses will be the beneficiaries of all of the purchases by the conference's estimated 20,000 delegates and 3,000 journalists.
