Small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners remain generally optimistic despite concerns about how the Trump administration’s policies may affect their businesses, according to a recent survey by InsuranceBee, a small-business insurance specialist.
More than half (55%) of SMB owners think that some measures and policies of the administration present a risk to their business, InsuranceBee found. Tax reform (31%), healthcare reform (30%) and impact on trade (12%) were all cited as major concerns.
Tax reform was a worry for almost a third of survey respondents, with SMB owners saying that the current administration had focused too much on tax cuts for corporations without doing enough to help small businesses, the survey said.
Twenty-seven per cent (27%) of SMB owners said that the Trump administration wasn’t doing enough to help their businesses grow. They cited economic uncertainty, taxes, a lack of access to funding, healthcare reform, regulatory changes, and tariffs as barriers to growth for their businesses, InsuranceBee reported.
However, many SMB owners were still optimistic, with nearly a quarter saying that they were intending to hire new employees in the next 24 months. Millennial business owners were the most optimistic, with 32% of 25- to 34-year-old business owners saying they would increase headcount.
“Given that the political climate in the US has divided opinion, we weren’t surprised that most SMB owners had strong opinions on how the current administration would impact their business,” said Maureen Brogie, senior advisor for InsuranceBee. “The economy has stayed strong and unemployment is at an all-time low, so there are plenty of reasons to be upbeat.”
