When asked if they are expecting a downturn in the economy, 67% of businesses responded “yes.” While down 6% from last quarter, this is clearly still a major concern that Main Street is preparing for. At the same time, general business confidence remains the same as Q2, with 49% of businesses feeling “confident” or “very confident.”
Further, 65% of businesses felt moderately to very confident that they have the cash flow sufficient to continue operations in the event of a down market or other market disruption. While this may seem positive, it still means that 35% have anywhere from “wavering to no confidence” that they’ll have sufficient cash flow; that would equate to a lot of struggling SMBs.