A Freedom Economy Index report found that 49% of small business owners believe their businesses "will not survive another four years of the Biden presidency."

Small businesses are still waiting to see what direction the economy economy will go. This is the message from this month's survey by the Freedom Economy Index, a joint project of PublicSquare and RedBalloon (...) Most expect a new direction in November, with 49% saying their companies "definitely" or "probably" will not survive another four years with Biden as president.

Through a survey, the report indicated that 22.4% of companies "definitely" would not survive another Biden term while 26.2% "probably" would not survive.

If Biden is re-elected, many owners "would close their businesses"

The survey asked owners what changes they would make to their businesses to "prepare" for a possible second Biden term. Some responses were: "Close my business" and "Cross my finger? I don't even want to consider that." Among others:

- "Buckle down and hope he doesn't run us into the ground."

- "I would just shut the doors. We have already reduced cost as much as we possibly can to survive as is. We would have no choice."

- "There are none to make. Have had to borrow money and with the drop in business, there’s nothing more I can do. "My daughter and I work 14 hours a day."

- "I will most likely have to close."

- "No changes can be made without just closing the doors. We have already cut costs to the bare minimum."

- "There is nothing I can afford to do in addition to what I am already doing. If things don't change, I will be finished."

- "We want to sell now and not take that chance."

- "We are going to have to raise prices. The last thing we want to do but inflation is higher than reported."

Four out of ten homeowners delay bill payments

The delinquency rate among small business owners rose to 10%, according to the report. This was reflected in another survey question which revealed that four in ten homeowners said they had to delay bill payments this year. Likewise, the study highlighted:

On the other hand, more than six out of ten owners believe that the country is heading towards stagflation and the vast majority (71%) say they are "neither hiring nor reducing staff" (the highest figure over the last year). According to the report, this is "another sign of caution on the part of small business owners."

Freedom Economy Index Surve... by Veronica Silveri

The survey was conducted among 80,000 small business owners in the months of April and May 2024.