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With food and fuel costs rising, debt mounting and savings shrinking, people are having a hard time seeing overall economic growth reflected in their bank accounts. Our recent investigation with CNBC showed that the “vibecession” has a grip on many people, and now those feelings seem to be resonating with small business owners, too.
The latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey small business survey for Q2 2024 finds that small business owners are barely feeling the impact of stock market highs and fear being left behind by policymakers who are more interested in what's happening on Wall Street than what's happening on Main Street.
Inflation has been a top concern for small business owners since the pandemic began. In the first quarter of 2024, small business owners showed cautious signs of optimism that inflation is finally easing. Confidence in the Federal Reserve's ability to keep inflation under control was at a two-year high of 35%. But with the government's latest inflation data showing prices rising again more than expected, small business confidence in the Fed has returned to the previous low of 31% from our quarterly survey in 2023.
The 2024 stock market rally has been very good for investors, who benefited from gains in chip stocks like Nvidia, whose valuation briefly exceeded $2 trillion, and AMD, whose value topped $300 billion for the first time. Even the IPO market slowdown of recent years has begun to recover, with the successful IPOs of Reddit and Rubrik providing signs of growing optimism. However, our research has found that small business owners have not been among those benefiting from recent market gains.
The majority of small business owners surveyed (64%) said they have not benefited from the performance of the stock market this year. In fact, few believe that Wall Street has had a positive (17%) or negative (15%) impact on their business. It's not that Wall Street is hurting small businesses. It's just not present in their day-to-day lives.
This CNBC/SurveyMonkey online survey was conducted April 8-12, 2024, among a nationwide sample of 2,130 self-identified small business owners ages 18 and older.
Where Democratic and Republican small business owners agree
Overall, small business owners express little confidence in current economic policies and policies. Nearly three-quarters (73%) believe that these policies favor large businesses rather than small businesses. Small business owners of both political stripes largely agree on this point: 79% of Republican and 71% of Democratic and independent small business owners agree that economic policies favor large businesses over small businesses.
When it comes to shaping corporate policy, most small business owners (86%) agree that they have little say. This opinion also cuts across party lines: 91% of Republican business owners are concerned about not having a say in shaping corporate policy, as are 82% of Democrats and 88% of self-employed people. And this despite the fact that 99% of all businesses in the United States are small businesses.
In today's politically polarized environment, it's rare that small business owners from opposing parties agree on anything. In our study, Republican and Democratic small business owners agreed on very few issues. For example, 64% of Democratic small business owners say the economy is “good or excellent,” while 60% of Republican small business owners say it's “poor.”
That these polarized groups are raising the same concerns underscores the seriousness of the problem. Their lack of voice in policymaking is not just a partisan concern. Small business owners are the bedrock of the economy, and it is critical for politicians and leaders to understand their priorities and concerns in order to make well-informed, data-driven decisions that meet the needs of their constituents.
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