A survey by QuickBridge, a privately-held, leading financial services firm offering small business loans to businesses nationwide, showed that 83% of business owners expect their business sales to increase over the next year. The Q4 survey data assessed small business owners’ expectations for business growth and the U.S. economy in 2019.

Highlights from the survey include:

• Optimism is high: 83% of respondents are confident in an increase in sales, with 15% predicting they’ll remain flat, and 2% down.
• New tax laws received mixed reviews: 49% of respondents expect no impact, with 35% predicting their tax burden will be reduced, and 16% expect their taxes to increase.
• Challenges remain: 33% of respondents believe that securing capital will be their biggest challenge, with growth, increasing profits, and hiring employees averaging 20% each.
• Praise for online lenders: 54% of respondents think online lenders make it fairly easy to secure funding when compared to traditional lenders, with 22% stating very easy, and 24% difficult.
• Expansion cited as main reason for seeking financing: 28% of respondents plan to use funding for expansion, with equipment acquisition and consolidating/paying off bills each coming in at approximately 21%.

In response to the small business optimism indicated in the survey, QuickBridge is providing business owners with a free resource for 2019 strategic planning. The “5 Essential Tips for Small Businesses Heading into a New Year” white paper offers advice on how small business owners can use end-of-year planning to anticipate future challenges and opportunities.

“We’re pleased to see small business owners optimistic about the future. We surpassed our 2018 growth projections and hope for repeated success in 2019,” said QuickBridge President Ben Gold. “We are very supportive of our client’s expansion efforts and encourage business owners to download our white paper for ways to strategically plan and prepare for the new year.”