Did you know Bank of America recently released its 2024 Business Owner Report? Conducted in partnership with the Bank of America Institute, the survey explores the perspectives, aspirations and future outlooks of both small and mid-sized business owners across the country.
This year’s report found that business owners are cautiously optimistic, with 87% of mid-sized business owners and 65% of small business owners saying they expect their revenue to increase over the next 12 months. This positive momentum continued from last year, with most reporting their revenues were higher in 2023 than in 2022.
However, business owners know that success isn’t guaranteed. For many, triumphs often come with personal and professional sacrifices. Seventy percent of small business owners said they made tradeoffs to remain profitable, including increasing prices, working more hours or reducing their own salaries. When looking at breakdowns by gender, 75% of women small business owners made tradeoffs to remain profitable, compared to 66% of their male counterparts.
Despite the challenges, business owners remain committed to successfully managing, sustaining and expanding their business – often staying ahead of the curve to beat out competitors. For example, over the past 12 months, most business owners – 99% of mid-sized business owners and 71% of small business owners – have digitally optimized their business, whether that’s accepting cashless payments, doing their businesses’ banking online or other enhancements.
Want to learn more? The full survey explores a variety of key topics for business owners, including economic concerns, customer engagement tactics, sustainability initiatives and other growth and transformation tactics business owners are using to achieve success.