Boston’s small business owners are less optimistic about the coming year than their counterparts around the country, according to Bank of America’s fall 2013 Small Business Owner Report released Friday.
The report analyzes small businesses that have between two and 99 employees and under $500 million in annual revenue, said Don Vecchiarello, small business communications manager at Bank of America.
“We interview [small business owners] to get their takes on perceptions about the small business environment, about their outlook on 2014, or a variety of different issues that impact small business owners throughout the country,” he said.
The report, a national study performed semi-annually based on the perspectives on small businesses, was conducted through a national representative sample of 1,000 small business owners around the United States. Additionally, 300 small business owners in nine target cities were surveyed.
The report asked small business owners about their plans for hiring in 2014, their expectations for revenue, and their trust in their local and national economies.
Only 30 percent of small business owners in Boston plan to hire in the next 12 months, compared to 45 percent nationally. Also, 45 percent of businesses in Boston are concerned about finding qualified employees.
Mark Gregor, CEO of Velir, a digital technology agency in Boston that was awarded 2013 Small Business of the Year by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said these numbers do not reflect Velir’s plans for the coming year.
“That’s actually really surprising and that’s a sad number, if that’s true,” he said. “We hired 29 people this year, and we’re planning on similar growth in 2014, so growth absolutely continues to be our story.”
Gregor said he struggles with hiring qualified employees for Velir and sees this challenge continuing over the next 12 months.
“One of our biggest challenges right now is sourcing, identifying and recruiting a new staff,” he said. “We’re really hungry on this front. We’re looking for a large number of people, and the type of people that we’re hiring are either highly technical or they’re significantly in demand in the space, either here or across the nation.”
Amy Staley, operations manager for Small Army, an advertising agency and Small Business of the Year Award honoree, said despite concerns from small business owners to find quality employees, she takes pride in the high quality of her employees.
“We work very closely together,” she said. “Everyone is committed and understands the focus and the strategy and where we’re trying to go as a company. They’re devoted to doing very good work for the clients.”
The report also asked small business owners how they predict their national and local economies will affect their business’s success in 2014.
Nationally, 28 percent of small business owners believe the national economy will improve in the next year, and 30 percent believe their local economies will improve — a 5 percent drop from last year’s report.
Staley said while these numbers are not only true for small businesses, a stagnant or weak national economy would affect all businesses alike.
“The same [would happen] for big and small companies,” she said. “If the economy falters, if the job market falls apart, if we have stock market issues or housing issues and we fall back into recession then that affects everybody and every position.”
Gregor said the declining confidence of small business owners is not a direct correlation to their success.
“I always worry about the future,” he said. “That doesn’t change. If you’re a business owner, you’re always concerned about what the long term looks like.”
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