According to a new survey released last Friday by TD Bank, nearly half of small businesses expect their financial health to improve in 2013 and are confident that sales will increase over 2012. In addition to these findings, nearly one-third of the survey’s respondents say that they plan to hire at least one employee in the coming year. The survey included 500 small businesses from Maine to Florida. Of these businesses:
- 49% say that they are either somewhat or very confident that their small business will be in better financial shape than it was in 2012. Only 25% were found to be not confident.
- 47% are somewhat or very confident that they’ll exceed their sales performance from 2012, 31% are unsure, and 22% think sales will worsen.
- 59% intend to keep their staffing levels the same, but 32% plan to hire at least one new employee. Only 9% of those surveyed plan to downsize their team in the year ahead.
Jay DesMarteau, Head of Small Business and Government Banking Distributions of TD Bank, says that to stay on top of their financial health, small business owners should review their business plan at least every six months, and make adjustments whenever significant business decisions are made.
According to the survey results, the frequency with which small business owners do review and update their business plan varies. Of those polled, 36% review and update it once a year, 30% every quarter, and 20% do so each month. The remaining 13% only do so when they are applying for new financing.
Reference:
PRNewswire “Small Business Owners Plan for Better Financial Health in 2013: TD Bank Survey” 2/15/13
