It's an election year and that doesn't always bode well for small business confidence, as Americans tend to be passionate about which presidential candidate will help their cause (whatever that looks like for them) more than the other.
Even so, Manta's newest Wellness Index indicates that only 12 percent of the survey's participants expect that the uncertain political landscape will taint their business outlook for this year. Twelve percent doesn't seem like much for an election that is playing out pretty aggressively over social media and is expected to continue to do so. This is, however, good news for the economy (e.g. jobs, local spending, etc.) because 83 percent of small business owners (SBOs) are optimistic about business prospects in 2016 likely due to a strong ending last year. Sixty-nine percent of the SBOs surveyed by Manta indicated a successful second half in 2015.
Of course even with optimistic views, small business owners are concerned about the global economy, quality of partnerships/vendors and healthcare costs. For more survey results, check out this infographic: