What are the credit needs and opportunities for today’s small-business owners? This article explores results from Pathward’s new survey. 

There’s no doubt that the past few years have been tough on owners of small businesses. Between lockdowns, worker shortages, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions and natural disasters, the task of predicting demand for products and services is more difficult than ever.

And while much of that uncertainty remains, small-business owners are eager to pursue growth. Indeed, that is one of the key findings from Pathward®, N.A.’s new “Small Business Credit Needs and Habits” survey that includes responses from owners and senior executives of 1,000 companies with between 10 and 200 employees across multiple industries.

The online survey, which was fielded in March and had a 95% confidence level, sought to identify the credit needs and credit habits of small-business owners.

One of the big takeaways from the research is that small businesses looking to grow often aren’t aware of the array of available financing options. Furthermore, many business owners have misperceptions about those options.

A Desire to Grow Despite Tight Cash Flow

The results aren’t really surprising to us. Our deep relationships with clients give us a window into their growth aspirations and their credit needs. Indeed, 70% of respondents said that their company is in growth mode. Another 28% said their company is holding a steady course, with just 2% reporting that their company is struggling.

While those findings reflect optimism, the day-to-day financial realities are less so. Slightly more than one-third of companies said that they had just enough cash on hand to remain operational during a period of six to 12 months in the last year. 

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