Pair of business pulse surveys: Worries are percolating

By Mark Gordon
| 8:45 a.m. June 5, 2023
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

Tampa small business owners, according to the Truist Small Business Pulse Survey, have three core worries: rising costs, inflation and economic uncertainty.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

A pair of national business climate surveys, including one with specific data on Tampa small business owners, shows that as spring gives way to summer, economic worries aren’t feeling too seasonal.

On one report, from the National Federation of Independent Business, labor quality is the top concern. Overall, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased by 1.1 points in April to 89, according to a statement. It’s the 16th straight month below the survey’s 49-year history of 98. Labor quality, the release adds, is the top business problem at 24%, with inflation No. 2 by one point at 23%.

“Small businesses are in a difficult position,” NFIB Florida Executive Director Bill Hertle says in the release. “Inflation continues to drive up prices across the board, and a lack of qualified job applicants is leaving many small businesses without enough workers to maintain the level of service and timeliness their customers expect.”

The other report, the Truist Small Business Pulse Survey, found that Tampa small business owners have prioritized their worries into three categories: rising costs, inflation and economic uncertainty. Nearly half of Tampa respondents in the Truist survey, 46%, cite rising costs as their No. 1 worry. That drops to 36% on inflation and 31% on economic uncertainty.

Even so, Tampa business owners, the Truist Bank survey found, are less stressed and more likely to increase wages and invest more in technology compared to other cities, such as Atlanta and Charlotte. For those counts, results include:

On feeling extremely/somewhat stressed about their business, 46% of small business owner respondents in Tampa checked yes compared to 54% nationwide
On increasing wages, 38% in Tampa say they plan to do so in an effort to attract/retain employees compared to 24% of small business owner respondents nationwide
On future investments, 32% of business owner respondents in Tampa seek to increase their use of technology compared to 26% of nationwide business owners; 29% in Charlotte; and 18% in Atlanta.

author

Mark Gordon

Mark Gordon is the managing editor of the Business Observer. He has worked for the Business Observer since 2005. He previously worked for newspapers and magazines in upstate New York, suburban Philadelphia and Jacksonville.