October 2013 Small Business Optimism Survey – Notable Aspects

The October NFIB Small Business Optimism report was released today, October 8.  The headline of the Press Release is “Small Businesses Skeptical About Future; Optimism Dips.”  The subtitle is “Too early to measure impact of the ‘shut-down’ but economic outlook is depressed.”

The Index of Small Business Optimism decreased .2 points in September to 93.9.

Here are some excerpts from the Press Release that I find particularly notable (but don’t necessarily agree with) :

Twenty-four (24) percent of owners surveyed in September reported cited regulations and red tape as their No. 1 business problem, 18 percent cited taxes, and 17 percent cited “poor sales”. Only 2 percent reported that financing was their top business problem.

also:

Good Time to Expand. In September, only 8 percent characterized the current period as a good time to expand (up 2 points). The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions in six months was a net negative 10 percent, 8 points worse than August’s reading.

also:

Inflation. Fourteen (14) percent of the NFIB owners surveyed reported reducing their average selling prices in the past three months (down 2 points), and 14 percent reported price increases (down 3 points). The net percent of owners raising average selling prices was 1 percent, down 1 point. As for prospective price increases, 21 percent plan on raising average prices in the next few months (up 1 point), and 2 percent plan reductions (down 1 point). A net 19 percent plan price hikes, up 1 point.

Here is a chart of the NFIB Small Business Optimism chart, as seen in Doug Short’s October 8 post titled “Small Business Sentiment ‘Basically Unchanged’” :

(click on chart to enlarge image)

Dshort 10-8-13 NFIB-optimism-index

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Further details regarding small business conditions can be seen in the Small Business Economic Trends document as well as the October 2013 NFIB Small Business Economic Trends report (pdf).

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Please Note – The above is excerpted from the EconomicGreenfield.com (published by StratX, LLC) post of October 8, 2013, titled “NFIB Small Business Optimism –  October 2013”

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StratX, LLC offers the above commentary for informational purposes only, and does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by these outside parties.

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StratX, LLC is a management consulting firm and strategic advisory that focuses on the analysis of current and future weak(ening) economic conditions, and offers businesses and other entities advice, strategies, and actionable methods on how to optimally adapt to such challenging, complex conditions.