Small business owners optimistic about economy

Wisconsin small business owners feel more confident about the state’s economy than the national economy, according to results of the 2011 U.S. Bank Small Business Survey.
Almost 3,000 small business owners with annual revenue of less than $10 million were surveyed nationally between April and May 2011. Seventy-five percent of Wisconsin participants felt the U.S. economy was in a recession, as opposed to 86 percent of Wisconsinites in 2010.
Only 26 percent of Wisconsin small business owners felt their state was in a worse economic condition than the rest of the country. Nationally, 41 percent considered their state to have a poorer economic condition than the U.S. economy.
In addition, 39 percent of Wisconsinites surveyed reported higher revenues this year than in 2010, while only 26 percent reported the same result nationally.
However, a similar amount of Wisconsin and national business owners felt this is a tough time to start a business, at about 55 percent, and that economic uncertainty is the most significant challenge facing their business today, at about 30 percent.