The recent survey, conducted among a diverse sample of small business owners across various industries, sought to understand their challenges and expectations for growth in the coming months.

Commenting on the survey findings, Ben Walter, CEO for Chase for Business, said, “It’s encouraging to see the resilience and optimism displayed by small business owners despite the challenges they’ve faced in recent times. I’m pleased that Chase for Business clients are particularly upbeat about the future, with a strong willingness to invest in their businesses.”

Chase regularly surveys small business owners and uses their input to design business solutions that can address some of their greatest pain points. For example, Chase for Business rolled out a series of innovative business solutions like invoicing, flexible payment options, and data-based insights to help support better business decisions.

Key findings from the latest survey include:

Optimism Continues: Business owners said they are poised for growth through product diversification, increased marketing efforts, and additional hiring. They cited improving economic conditions, increased consumer spending, and innovative business strategies as drivers of their positive outlook.

More than half (58%) of small businesses surveyed said they plan to expand in the next 12 months by introducing new products, increasing marketing efforts, or hiring more staff. This percentage is even higher among Chase clients with 69% saying they plan to expand, versus 47% for Chase prospects.

Investment Intentions: Despite ongoing challenges, such as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, a notable percentage of small business owners indicated plans to invest in their businesses in the near term. This includes investments in technology, data analytics, marketing, and employee training to enhance productivity and competitiveness.

The majority of small business owners surveyed indicated they are likely to rely more on data to make decisions, especially for competitor analysis, studying customer buying habits, or finding qualified candidates. The majority (89%) of Chase clients expressed a willingness to use data, versus 78% for Chase prospects.

Digital Transformation: The survey also highlighted the increased importance of digital transformation for small businesses, with a growing number of respondents saying they plan to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline decision making, strengthen their competitive position, reach new customers, and enhance the overall customer experience.

Chase for Business clients showed a higher inclination toward AI compared to prospects with customer support and operations emerging as primary areas of interest. A majority (61%) of Chase clients said they plan to use AI for customer service and support, compared to 45% for Chase prospects.
Small business owners are predominately in the exploration phase with AI, though close to half (47%) are in the planning and implementation stages. This is even higher for Chase for Business clients at 56% versus 40% for prospects.

Strong Preference for Electronic/Digital Payments: Small business owners put a high premium on digital platforms for both receiving and making payments and said they would strongly consider switching banks in order to receive same-day ACH payments

Electronic or digital payments are the most preferred method for receiving and making payments, although a notable portion still opt for paper checks. 78% of small business owners surveyed said they prefer to pay employees electronically and 90% said they prefer to receive payment from vendors electronically.

Speedy Invoicing Highly Desired: Small business owners expressed a strong preference for prompt invoicing with 86% of clients surveyed saying timely invoicing was either extremely important or very important to them. This was even higher for Chase for Business clients (92%) versus prospects (82%).

Businesses receiving paper checks said they experience a typical turnaround time of three of more days for paper checks. Chase for Business clients noted a quicker turnaround with 20% saying they received payment right away versus 40% for prospects.
Many small business owners (54%) said they would switch banks in order to receive faster ACH payments and one out of two (50%) small business owners said they would switch banks to receive digital invoicing online or through a mobile app at no additional cost.