Small business owner confidence slips in April

5/11/2011

Small business owners have grown slightly less confident for the second month in a row, according to the National Federation of Independent Business's index.

The NFIB's index dropped 0.7 points from 91.9 in March to 91.2 last month. However, it's important to note that the drop was only marginal compared to the 2.6 point month-over-month decline in March, indicating more of a stagnation in optimism rather than an outright dip.

"Owners simply find no reason to be optimistic about the future and therefore they find no reason to pick up the pace of spending and hiring," said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist.

"It’s difficult to know exactly why the outlook for small firms is in decline; but it’s a safe bet that political and economic uncertainty - about the deficit, the threat of inflation, rising energy and healthcare costs - are at top of the mind for most small business owners."

Despite the decline in confidence, entrepreneurs are gaining access to more support resources, such as SCORE's recently launched website. The new tool provides guides for everything from acquiring commercial loans to managing a company.