5 Things Business Owners Should Be Concerned About in 2023

Recent studies show that business owners are feeling somewhat positive about their own businesses in 2023, although they do have specific economic concerns. Interestingly, business owners report being confident that heir own businesses can withstand a recession. However they don't expect any reversal of current economic challenges anytime soon.

In general, business owners surveyed reported having these specific outlooks for 2023:

• Business and economic conditions for their own company will continue to be positive.

• The weak US economy will continue to make operational profits difficult for businesses.

        • Business owners say that the full-time remote work situation of the COVID years is over. In 2023                                    employees will continue the shift toward in-person or hybrid roles. 

• Middle-market businesses will seek to hire more employees. They do have concerns over current workers                  “quiet quitting."

• Businesses will try to manage inflation in 2023. All input costs are rising -- workers pay, supplies, and cost                    of goods sold. 

        • Most business owners (72% of small business owners and 85% of middle-market business owners)                              believe economic conditions for their own lines of business are looking more positive for 2023. More than                  half of middle-market business owners (56%) and 37% of small business owners expect their own revenue                  to increase this year.

Though their projections for business are hopeful, most business owners are cautious of how economic conditions will continue to impact them. Roughly two in three small (68%) and mid-market (63%) business owners believe that inflation will have an even greater impact on their business in 2023 than it does currently.

The surveys also yielded insight on how negative economic factors, including inflation, is having a negative effect on the retirement plans of some business owners. 

        • 42% of middle-market business owners and 27% of small business owners indicate that they have pushed                  out the timing on their expected retirement date over the past two years.

• Middle-market business owners say that rising inflation (78%), negative stock market returns (73%),                              impact of the COVID pandemic (67%), and industry specific market conditions (67%) as the major factors                    weighing on their decisions to delay retirement.