Catapult Groups Releases Results of Q3 Entrepreneurial Index

Index Reveals that Optimism Persists Among Business Leaders

Las Vegas, NV, August 5, 2014 –Catapult Groups, a peer advisory firm for CEOs and business owners based in Las Vegas, today announced the results the third quarter Entrepreneurial Index. The Catapult Groups Entrepreneurial Index measures the perspective of business owners on anticipated revenue growth, job creation, capital investments and commercial financing, as well as their impression of the overall business climate. The Q3 2014 Index was conducted through online surveys between June 16 – July 7, 2014.

Participants in the Q3 Index include CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs representing small and mid-sized businesses ranging from $3 million to $45 million in annual growth. The types of firms range from digital media/IT/marketing to manufacturing, electrical wholesale and finance. Other participant industries include consulting, education, religious, print distribution and construction/engineering.

Revenues: 100 percent of survey respondents expect revenues to expand. This is remarkable insofar as concerns among most American businesses persist about potential minimum wage increases, nagging unemployment and other economic issues.

Hiring: 70 percent of survey participants plan to hire more employees in the coming quarter (30 percent say their employment levels will remain the same). This represents a striking increase of 20 percent from the Q2 2014 Entrepreneurial Index.

Business climate: 70 percent of respondents believe the overall business climate in the U.S. continues to improve. 25 percent say the climate will stay the same, while 5 percent expect it to decline. This shows a favorable increase of 16 percent responding to the same question in the Q2 2014 Index.

Capital investment: 70 percent of survey participants expect to make further capital investments in their companies (30 percent say they will not). In the Q2 2014 Index, 54 percent of those surveyed said they would make capital investments in their businesses.

Financing: 65 percent of those surveyed say they do not plan to finance their business through a loan from a commercial bank, a drop of 11 percent from the Q2 2014 Index.

The results of the survey suggest that CEOs, business owners and other entrepreneurs remain stubbornly optimistic about their businesses and that the American economy continues its slow rebound from the steep decline that began in 2008.

“Clearly we’re in a growth cycle and confidence is skewed in that direction,” said Brad Mishlove, CEO of Catapult Groups. “With that growth, we need growth capital and we’re seeing more lending coming into the marketplace.”