Merchants Still Concerned About Inflation, Recession, (and Bird Flu?)

June 12, 2024 | By: Sean Murray

Seventy-eight percent of businesses expressed that they are somewhat concerned or very concerned about the cost of goods/inflation right now. The exact same percentage said the same about a possible recession. That’s according to the latest State of Small Business Report compiled by IOU Financial. Interest rates were top of mind too, though not as much as in previous survey periods. For example, while 68% said that they were somewhat concerned or very concerned about interest rates right now, that figure was the lowest recorded since Spring 2022 (at 84%), the first time that survey question was asked. Respondents were right to be concerned at the time since that’s the precise period that rates began to rapidly rise from 0% to the >5% level that they’re currently at.

Of the respondents who answered the write-in portion, a little less than half cited access to proper funding as among the biggest challenge to running their business right now and as the reason they are being held back from growing their business. Concerns about being able to hire qualified staff was also cited on several occasions, an issue that has persisted since the bi-annual survey first started asking about it.

Notably, IOU has persistently asked respondents to weigh in on their concerns about public health as a business challenge despite the world largely having moved on from covid already. While it would come as no surprise then that the percentage of respondents that were somewhat concerned or very concerned about public health in Spring 2022 (63%) had dropped in half by Fall 2022 (30%), the percentage has slowly crept upwards ever since. Fifty-one percent of respondents said that they are currently somewhat concerned or very concerned about public health. Since no further questions were asked to elaborate on that selection, one wonders if they were referring to the recent headlines about Bird Flu.

Last modified: June 12, 2024