Credit crunch: Utah small-business owners worried about accessing capital

Utah small-business owners — much like the U.S. government — are facing a credit crunch, with 82 percent of respondents reporting they are concerned about their ability to access capital, a stunning shift from one year ago when 77 percent said they were confident in their ability to access capital. This jarring turnaround is just one key takeaway from a new survey of small-business owners from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices, released recently.

Of respondents who have applied for a small-business loan in the past three months (23 percent), 60 percent have found it somewhat or very difficult to access affordable capital. Sixty percent also said rising interest rates are impacting their ability to service existing debt.

“Rising interest rates and tighter credit conditions have made it far more difficult to access affordable funding to support small-business growth,” said Keni Aikau, owner of Utah’s The Hungry Hawaiian. “These compounding challenges offer yet another reason why Congress should modernize the Small Business Administration, the agency charged with making certain small-business owners like me have abundant access to capital.”

Small-business owners also voiced concern about the debt ceiling fight in Washington, with 64 percent saying they would be negatively impacted if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling and 91 percent saying it is important for the federal government not to default on its debt. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said it is important for Congress to enact spending cuts in conjunction with raising the debt ceiling.

“No one knows the exact date when the federal government will no longer be able to pay its debt, but these survey results make clear that a default would have very negative ramifications for small-business owners,” said Joe Wall, national director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small-Businesses Voices. “Over the coming weeks, America’s small business owners will be looking to Washington for certainty and a sound resolution to the nation’s credit crunch.”

Other notable data points from the survey of Utah small- business owners include:

• Hiring and retaining workers continues to pose a challenge to Utah small-business owners, with 79 percent of those currently hiring finding it difficult to recruit qualified candidates.
• Seventy-five percent said inflationary pressures on their small business have increased over the past three months.
• Compared to three months ago, 50 percent said the business climate has gotten worse, with 33 percent saying it has stayed the same.
• Looking at their bottom-line post-pandemic, 50 percent say their profits are lower than before the pandemic.
• Small-business owners are keeping an eye on emerging technology, like artificial intelligence (AI). Sixty-five percent are watching news about AI closely, with 49 percent believing AI could have a positive impact on their business and 13 percent saying it will have a negative impact.

The data is based on a survey of 1,740 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses participants conducted by Babson College and David Binder Research from April 20-25.

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices is an initiative for program participants to organize and advocate for policies that matter to them. It builds on Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, which over the past decade has provided access to education, capital and support services to more than 10,000 small-business owners across all 50 states; Puerto Rico; and Washington D.C.