Small businesses are optimistic about revenue boosts in 2025, when President-elect Donald Trump will kick off his second administration, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report obtained by Fox News Digital shows.
The latest Small Business Index report by MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released Monday morning found that seven in 10 small businesses, at 72%, reported they anticipate their revenues to increase next year. Last year, only 65% of businesses reported they anticipated revenue to increase, the data show.
“The growing optimism among small business owners since the beginning of the year is a positive sign as we move into 2025 and potentially points to increasing opportunities in the new year,” Bradd Chignoli, executive vice president and head of Regional Business & Workforce Engagement at MetLife, said in a press release provided to Fox Digital. “As more and more employers look to increase investment and staff size, it is important to take advantage of the resources available to them, such as voluntary benefits, which can help strengthen their company’s culture and help attract and retain new talent.”
The Small Business Index is a collaboration between MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that measures small business owners’ and leaders’ expectations. The survey released Monday was conducted between Oct. 7 – 21, before the election’s results, and included responses from 750 small business owners and operators.
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Then-former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Mint Hill, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The majority of business owners, at 70%, reported that holiday shopping is vital to their overall profit, which is slightly down from 2022’s Q4 report that found 79% of business owners reported the same.
The report found that inflation woes are small business owners’ top concern – as it has been for the last two years, according to the report. This year, however, an increase of business owners reported that both the U.S. economy and their local economies are healthier than they were this time last year.
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Thirty-two percent of business owners reported the U.S. economy is in better shape than 2023, up from 25% last year, and 38% reported their local economies are healthier than last year, when 30% reported the same.
The survey also found that the majority of small business owners, at 51%, reported that red tape – including licensing, certification, and permit requirements – makes it harder for them to grow their operations. While 47% of respondents reported that they spend too much time and energy on complying with regulatory requirements.
Thirty-eight percent of business owners say their local economies are healthier than last year. (iStock)
”Too many regulations cause big headaches for small businesses, even if they feel confident in their ability to comply or have the means to outsource compliance tasks,” said Tom Sullivan, Vice President of Small Business Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “This quarter’s survey shows these requirements are complex, time-consuming, and often prevent small business owners from focusing on running and growing their businesses.”
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About 39% of respondents reported that in the last six months alone, they have increased their time and resources on complying with regulations alone, which is up from 33% reporting the same in the last quarter. Compliance with taxes, bookkeeping, payroll and licensing ate up a “great deal or fair amount” of time for business owners, according to the report.
The overall index score for this quarter sits at 69.1, a slight dip from last quarter’s score of 71.2, which was attributed to business owners’ reporting an increase in time and resources on regulation compliance.
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Small businesses have been on edge in recent years as inflation spiraled and choked spenders’ pocketbooks. Amid the highly-anticipated election cycle this year, Trump campaigned, in part, on lowering costs for Americans at check-out lines. Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box last month, securing 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226.
Then-former President Donald Trump gestures while walking onstage for a campaign rally on Oct. 12, 2024 in Coachella, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“I am promising low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, secure borders, low, low crime and surging incomes for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” Trump said from the campaign trail in September. “My plan will rapidly defeat inflation, quickly bring down prices and reignite explosive economic growth.”
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“I took care of our economy like I would take care of my own company in every decision. I asked, will I create jobs here, or will I be sending jobs overseas? Will it make America richer and stronger, or will it make our country weaker and poorer?” Trump asked. “I always put America first every single time. And when our country was hit by the China virus, we saved the economy. We rescued tens of millions of jobs.”
