With the rate of inflation rising month after month and touching 8.5% for the 12-month period that ended in March, small business owners in the United States lament that they are finding themselves working longer hours, earning less and paying more for labor and supplies. A survey released by NEXT Insurance on April 13, paints a rather pessimistic outlook for small businesses in the near future. While 29% of survey respondents said they feel optimistic about an economic recovery in the next 12 months, 35% said they were considering shutting down their business, with 8% of those saying they’ve “thought about it a lot.”
