Most small business owners in two nationwide surveys released today by UPS are optimistic about their firms' financial futures.
TNS Media Intelligence, part of the London-based TNS Group, conducted the first "UPS Business Monitor United States" between September 19 and October 13 of last year. Of the 600 respondents in the survey, 91 percent expected their company finances to improve or remain stable in the following 12 months.
In the first survey, TNS spoke with three sets of 200 businesses each that employed between two and nine employees, 10 and 49 employees, and 50 and 250 employees.
TNS conducted another survey between December 15 and 19 that involved 25 percent of the original sample in each group.
Results from the second survey indicated about 86 percent of those small businesses expected their companies to be in the same or better financial shape a year later.
Small business owners surveyed do not project a speedy economic recovery, according to UPS. In the first survey, 47 percent of respondents said they believe the U.S. economy will start to improve in 2010 or later.
That number climbed to 67 percent in the December survey.
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