Canadian small business owners are optimistic about 2018, year-end research with members of the Angus Reid Business Forum (by Maru/Matchbox) reveals

TORONTO, Dec. 22, 2017 -- 2018 is expected to be a “good year,” according to 84% of small business owners surveyed. This number is even a little higher than a similar study conducted at the end of 2016, in which 77% expected 2017 to be a good year.

Last year’s forecast was remarkably accurate, as 74% reported that 2017 was a “good year” for their business.

Half of these small business owners are expecting 2018 to bring increased net revenue (52%), and profitability (45%), and one in three (35%) expect to reduce their business debt in 2018.

The biggest challenges in 2017 were “hiring the right people” (59%), “government paperwork and regulations” (55%), and finding “work-life balance” (48%), as well as “profitability” (41%) and “cash flow” (36%).  

Asked what they would do differently if they could do 2017 over, a number made comments like “allocate more time and effort to increasing sales” or “more investment in marketing efforts, specifically social media.” 

Another common theme was personnel decisions. One small business owner echoed the comments of many when she said what she’d do differently is to “hire for vacant positions earlier to maximize training time.” Another wished they’d been “more diligent at hiring better quality people, focus more on in-house training and nurture quality people so I can delegate more.”  On the flip side, some wished they had moved faster on problems with staff. “Remove under-performing persons sooner” and “confront staff issues more quickly” some suggested.

A total of 480 owners of small businesses from across Canada were contacted through the Angus Reid Business Forum, a community of business leaders whose role and business type have been pre-identified. The survey was completed online between December 18 and 21, 2017.

About the Angus Reid Business Forum

The Angus Reid Business Forum is Canada’s premiere online business research community, giving Canadian business leaders the opportunity to voice their opinions since 2008. Organizations use the Angus Reid Business Forum to help them better understand the business-to-business community on a variety of topics including buying behaviour, business outlook, government policies, the economy, and taxation. Members are prescreened on the number of employees, type of industry, role in the business and many other attributes. This makes it possible to quickly and efficiently reach the type of business leaders that are important for making sound business decisions.

About Maru/Matchbox

Maru/Matchbox has been pushing the boundaries of the customer market insights space for over a decade. We combine deep sector expertise with cloud-based customer insights communities and take a results-focused, consultative approach to helping clients better understand what motivates their customers and influences their markets, so they can act decisively and win.

Media Inquiries: [email protected]