Loan officers who serve business-owning homebuyers could see an increase in transactions this year.
The 2024 Bank of America Business Owner Report indicates that the majority of small- and mid-sized business owners expect their revenues to increase this year, and concerns about an impending recession have diminished.
"Small business owners remain cautiously optimistic in 2024," Bank of America President and Co-Head of Business Banking Sharon Miller said in a statement. "With anticipated revenue increases, many are focused on engaging with customers and implementing new technologies that will help them differentiate their businesses.”
The report was compiled using input from more than 1,400 small- and mid-sized business owners (defined as businesses with $100,000 to $5 million and $5 million to $50 million in annual revenues, respectively).
"Our report finds that most mid-sized business owners are planning to expand their businesses and hire in the coming year," commented President and Co-Head of Business Banking Raul Anaya. "Most of these business owners are confident in their revenue growth as well as in the local, national and global economies."
Business owners’ outlooks on the state of the U.S. economy as it relates to their enterprises varied by the size of their businesses.
Small business owners (SBOs) were the least optimistic, with just 33% expecting the economy to improve in the next 12 months. This is compared to the 75% of mid-sized business owners (MSBOs) sharing this sentiment.
Among MSBOs, 87% believe their revenue will increase over the next 12 months, 80% plan to expand their businesses in the year ahead, and 69% plan to hire over the next 12 months.
Among SBOs, 65% expect their revenue to increase in the year ahead, 39% plan to expand their business over the next year, and 30% plan to hire more employees over the next 12 months.
While concerns over inflation have come down slightly since this time last year, 90% of MSBOs and 84% of SBOs still say that inflation is currently impacting their business.
