A report from Discover Financial Services that surveyed the economic
confidence among small business owners in the United States rose to its
highest level in 14 months in April as more midmarket companies see the
broader economy and the conditions for their own businesses improving.
The number of small business owners who say the economy is getting
better nearly doubled to 31 percent, up from 16 percent in March and
the highest level in category in two years.
The survey also measured the impact the Web and social networking sites
are having on small to medium-size businesses (SMBs). When asked if
they were a member of any online social networking community such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace or Twitter, 38 percent of SMBs said yes,
which is up from 22 percent who answered a similar question in October
2007.
When asked which networking opportunities they use most, 46 percent of
small business owners identified traditional methods such as
conferences, trade shows, local in-person groups or chambers of
commerce—preferring handshakes to hyperlinks, as Discover classed it.
Of the remaining respondents, 16 percent cited “other” networking
opportunities, eight percent cited online sites, seven percent said
e-mail, and 22 percent said they weren’t sure.
The Discover Small Business Watch, a monthly index of the economic
confidence of the nation's 22 million businesses with five or fewer
employees, found 62 percent of small business owners still do not have
Web sites for their businesses, although that is down from 65 percent
in November 2007. Of those who currently belong to an online social
network, only 45 percent use it to promote their businesses, though 40
percent of owners say they have used e-mail to promote their businesses.
In polling the amount of time SMBs are spending online at work, 42
percent say they spend three or more hours online each week related to
their businesses, 29 percent are online less than an hour, 21 percent
stay on for one to three hours, and five percent aren’t sure.
While the survey suggests many small business owners have not fully
embraced the opportunities the Web and social networking may hold for
their companies, SMBs are embracing the “glimmers of hope” sentiments
about the economy. Of those polled, 32 percent of SMB owners see
economic conditions for their businesses improving, up from 24 percent
in March; while 40 percent see conditions getting worse, down seven
percent from the previous month; 22 percent say the economy is staying
the same. Six percent were not sure.
Discover’s Small Business Watch report also noted the monthly economic
confidence index increased more than 10 points, rising to 88.5, up from
78.2 in March and the highest since the report reached 90.8 in February
2008. April’s mark represents the third consecutive monthly increase in
economic confidence among small business owners.
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Midmarket News & Reviews 
