OCTOBER 2023 INDUSTRY NEWS AND TRENDS
SURVEY: Small businesses are pessimistic about the economy. Are they right?
A survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business in October found that confidence among small businesses fell below levels that usually signal a recession. Nearly one in four business owners said that inflation was their top business challenge, and nearly half said that filling job openings was difficult.
But experts have a very different view about the potential for a recession in the months ahead, suggesting that the perception may be gloomier than the reality.
SURVEY: CFOs are focused on building resilience and revenues in the year ahead
A McKinsey survey of CFOs conducted this summer offers a window into what to expect at the top of Q4 2023. According to the results, CFOs placed managing credit, liquidity, and market risks far ahead of any other financial goal over the past 12 months, with 38% of survey respondents spending most of their time on this aspect of their role. Looking ahead to the future, 47% are planning to change their debt-equity mix.
Continued economic volatility, including higher capital costs, are affecting the way companies manage their finances and build both resilience against risk and capacity to take on new, revenue-generating activities.
Surging borrowing costs are changing the business and consumer landscape
This CNBC article looks at changes in the 10-year Treasury yield and what it means for consumer debt and business financing. The yield reached 4.88% on October 3, 2023, a high it hasn’t hit since the start of the 2008 financial crisis.
The result is a “rate shock” that has caught both consumers and businesses off-guard. And the yield could climb even higher, creating the potential for a debt crisis.
3 small business strategies for surviving economic instability
The current credit crunch is creating new challenges for small businesses, with more than three-quarters of business owners concerned about their ability to access capital. This article lays out three simple ways for businesses to protect their cash flow at a time when cash is an increasingly scarce resource.
