Encouraged by an improving national economy and brightened by future prospects, small business owner confidence improved in April, according to a sentiment index kept by the National Federation of Independent Business.
After the NFIB’s monitor of small business optimism dropped during March, April saw a rebound in spirit, as the index rose 2.6 points to 92.1 overall, slightly above the post-recession average of 90.7.
Four index components – plans to increase employment, plans to increase inventory, expectations for the economy to improve, and expectations for higher real sales – rose. Two components dropped: plans to make capital outlays and expected credit conditions.
Despite the rise in optimism, Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist, tempered the increase by noting the economy still has a long way to go.
“Small business confidence saw an uptick this last month, but it was a ho hum, yawn, at-least-it-didn’t-go-down reading,” Duneklberg said. “The sub-par recovery persists for the small business sector.”
As evidenced by the decrease in critical financial components, like the availability of credit, it’s likely many small business owners have encountered difficulty in finding the means to fund their enterprise. In that case, entrepreneurs can consult with National Funding on how a merchant cash advance or working capital loan can assist their operations.
