Balboa Capital announced the results of its Q1 2019 small business owner survey, which was conducted to gauge economic confidence and gain a better understanding of capital investment and hiring plans for the next 12 months.

The responses of the small business owners surveyed during the first week of January 2019 show that overall, 84 percent think the United States economy had strong or moderate growth last year. In addition, 58 percent are planning to increase their capital investment budgets in 2019, and 55 percent are planning to hire more employees. Balboa Capital’s survey was sent to a sample of small business owners in a wide variety of industries.

“This private sector optimism is great news for the new year and our nation’s economy overall,” said Carla Freberg, Director of Sales, Vendor Services Group at Balboa Capital. “Hearing that small business owners have a favorable view of the current economic climate and are planning to invest in their companies are promising indicators of potential growth for small businesses in 2019.”

Key findings of the survey include:

• 38 percent of small business owners said they think the economy had strong growth in 2018, 46 percent think the economy had moderate growth and 12 percent think the economy was flat.
• 59 percent of small business owners reported increased revenues in 2018, 26 percent reported no change in revenues and 15 percent reported decreased revenues.
• 65 percent of small business owners said their companies are better off today than they were one year ago.
• 77 percent of small business owners think the U.S. economy will experience moderate to strong growth in 2019.
• 58 percent of small business owners expect to increase their capital investment spending in 2019.
• 55 percent of small business owners plan to hire more employees in 2019.
• 22 percent of small business owners who need growth capital in Q1 2019 will apply for a business line of credit, 19 percent will apply for a business loan and 17 percent will apply for an equipment lease.

Balboa Capital is a direct lender that specializes in small business loans and equipment leasing.