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Survey: Business Owners Optimistic for 2018

Entering 2018, more than two-thirds of U.S. small-business owners are optimistic about growth, but many have concerns regarding policies that favor large businesses, access to capital, finding qualified workers and potential changes to healthcare.

That’s all according to survey data from SCORE, a nationwide network of volunteer expert business mentors. The survey found that 69% of small-business owners are upbeat about their growth over the next six months. Younger business owners were especially buoyant. Some 82% of millennial generation business owners, defined as those under age 35, reported feeling very or somewhat optimistic about growth through the next half-year. 

Still, owners weren’t without worry. Overall, nearly half (48%) of surveyed entrepreneurs said they are concerned about policies that favor large businesses. Interestingly, this fear was less pronounced among millennial owners, of whom only about a quarter were concerned. Above any other issue, millennial business owners were most worried about their ability to find and keep qualified workers (41%), compared to 33% of all business owners.

Meanwhile, four in 10 of all surveyed owners said they’re concerned about access to capital, while more than a third (36%) harbored at least some anxiety about proposed changes to healthcare policy. ​