Survey finds small businesses are feeling ‘surprisingly’ secure
by CM staff
The study was designed to give a pulse check of how confident Canadian small business owners, self-employed professionals, and entrepreneurs are feeling heading into the second half of 2023.
TORONTO — After weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, rising interest rates and a perceived recession, a national survey commissioned by Zensurance, conducted among small business owners who are members of the Angus Reid Forum has shown unexpected optimism.
The study was designed to give a pulse check of how confident Canadian small business owners, self-employed professionals, and entrepreneurs are feeling heading into the second half of 2023.
The survey found that 71 per cent of Canadian small business owners and self-employed professionals are confident their businesses will be successful in the second half of 2023.
Business owners without business insurance; 48 percent of business owners are so positive that ‘they don’t believe there is a potential for an expensive loss or damage to their business.’
While 22 per cent admit that they ‘would not know what to do’ if they had to pay for expensive damages or losses, 19 per cent say they have an adequate amount of money saved to cover expenses. While 11 per cent say they’d declare bankruptcy.
That confidence stands in contrast to 60 per cent of business owners who say the state of the economy has ‘had a negative impact on them’ in the first half of the year.
Moreover, 89 per cent of Canadian business owners identify inflation as their No. 1 concern, followed by rising interest rates (80 per cent),the need to increase their prices (80 per cent), and the cost of gasoline (78 per cent).
“Our latest survey results clearly show that Canadian small businesses are grappling with managing their costs in a challenging economy, but it also shows they are optimistic, resilient, forward-looking business owners,” said Danish Yusuf, Founder and CEO of Zensurance. “It’s critical to understand that the financial health and wellness of any business owner’s or self-employed professional’s business is contingent on safeguarding themselves against the myriad of liability risks they face.”
The survey can be found here.
