Q1 2024 Key Findings
1. Optimism and Growth. A large majority of small businesses continue to feel optimistic about business growth opportunities over the next 12 months, with 93% expecting moderate or significant growth, a slight uptick (1%) from Q4 2023.
2 Performance. Consistent with seasonal trends, revenue has decreased from its peak in Q4 2023, offset by decreasing expenses, resulting in a slightly higher revenue-to-expense ratio. Businesses continue to invest in employees, resulting in the payroll-to-revenue ratio increasing slightly to 19.5% in Q1 2024.
3 Cash Flow Management. Businesses are managing cash flows through a variety of approaches, most commonly using a business line of credit (56.2% of businesses), while many also report delaying payment to themselves and family members until other bills have been paid (43.1%).
4 Access to Credit. Banks appear to be limiting their lending, with nearly 40% of small businesses that have been in operation for over 20 years reporting they were denied a loan from a big bank. The percentage of transactions moving through payment apps instead of traditional payment methods continues to increase, with 26% of businesses reporting inflows from Venmo, Zelle or CashApp, which is an all-time high for this report.