Canadian Small Business Owners Growing More Cautious

Ask the average person to stay on a path that’s two feet wide, and he or she should have little problem striding along.  Put that path 50 feet in the air, though, and – at best – crawling will ensue.  Similarly, Canadian small business owners seem to be playing it safe with their money until the economy improves.

That comparison’s not to say Canadian small business owners are wrong; this writer would not at all enjoy participating in the elevated platform experiment.  American Express just determined through a study (conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion) that most owners are sitting tight.

American Express explained in a statement, "[W]illingness among Canadian small business to take ‘significant’ or ‘above average’ risks has fallen to 16 per cent from 25 per cent a year ago."

Later, the statement added, "More than a third said that their single most important priority right now is to maintain their current business, while just 28 per cent have made growth their main priority.  Being more innovative was the main priority for 14 per cent.  And less than a quarter (23%), have sought new or increased credit in the last six months, suggesting any ‘Dream Big’ plans are on hold."

That’s not too encouraging.  Still, there’s a bit of good news in that the majority of people participating in the survey weren’t experiencing an actual decline in fortune . . . they’re just being cautious.

The survey involved 568 randomly selected small business owners who were contacted between January 25th and February 2nd, by the way.