Small Business Owners Cut Spending: Survey

More than one-third of small business owners believe that their personal financial situation is getting worse, and half say they have postponed a major purchase in the past three months, according to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey.

Many of the owners appear to be cutting back on the money they are putting into the bank, 44 percent saying they’ve reduced the amount of money put into a savings, checking or CD, and 31 percent reducing the amount stashed into a retirement account.

The owners are worried. Three-quarters are concerned about paying for gas, 51 percent believe they won’t have enough in the next 12 months to pay regular medical expenses, and 46 percent are concerned they won’t be able to cover any medical emergencies.

Wells Fargo and Gallup have surveyed small business owners for the last 20 quarters. This quarter, the partners conducted telephone interviews with 600 owners nationwide the weeks of April 2 to April 16.