Catapult Groups Survey Shows Business Leaders Still Upbeat for 2014

Business leaders remain optimistic about prospects for 2014, according to the results of the latest Catapult Groups Entrepreneurial Index (conducted in March 2014). The Q2 2014 Index measured 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.

Here’s what survey participants had to say about current and upcoming business conditions, in response to the survey questions:

• 98 percent expect revenues to expand
• 50 percent expect to hire more employees (while the other 50 percent expect to “stay the same”)
• 70 percent believe the overall business climate is improving (26 percent say it will stay the same, while 4 percent expect it to decline)
• 54 percent anticipate making capital investments in their company (46 percent say they do not)
• 76 percent say they will not finance their business through a loan from a commercial bank

What’s interesting about the Q2 2014 results is that nearly all of our respondents expect their revenues to expand, but only half plan to hire additional staff. The results indicate that business owners are feeling upbeat and, in the wake of the economic decline, are used to doing more with less.

These results also continue the upward trend reported by business leaders who responded to the Q1 2014 Entrepreneurial Index. Of those who took part in the December, 2012 survey, an overwhelming 86 percent of respondents indicated that they expected revenues to expand in the first quarter of 2014. The respondents also expected to hire in the first quarter, with 52 percent stating they will hire additional staff, while only 7 percent planned to downsize.

We invite you to participate in our Q3 2014 Entrepreneurial Index, coming soon. Your voice will help direct the future of our economy.

Learn how CEOs and business owners like you are overcoming strategic and operational challenges to grow their business. We invite you to download a free white paper, “Real-Time ROI: The Value of Participation in a Professionally Managed Peer Advisory Group.”