Most Americans Give Small Business the Thumbs Up : topic ...

As politicians vie for the title of who is the biggest friend to small business, the rest of America is just as enamored with the little guy, says a new poll.

Some 90 percent of adults have a good opinion of small business, says a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for the Public Affairs Council, a nonprofit group for public affairs officials. The telephone poll of 1,750 weighed attitudes toward business and government.?

A Sharp Contrast With Big Box Companies

The 88 percent who have a favorable opinion of small business is a sharp contrast to those 67 percent who have a similar view of major companies and the 41 percent who give the federal government a thumbs up.

More than half of those surveyed (53 percent) said they had a ?very favorable? view of small business, compared to just 16 percent who said the same of major companies.

Small business also ruled when it came to public perceptions of honesty and ethics. More than half of those surveyed (52 percent) said small business owners have high ethical standards, compared with just eight percent who say the same about CEOs of major companies.

Standing Out in Customer Service

The survey also reports a rise in consumers? preference for dealing with small local companies over large national or multinational ones. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of those surveyed said they?d rather deal with the local company ?that may charge somewhat higher prices.? Just 29 percent preferred the large company. The number favoring small business is up from 62 percent in 2011.

Other Findings

Nearly a quarter of Americans are sympathetic to the challenges a small business owner faces, with 22 percent saying they?re concerned that large companies could use unfair tactics to make it tough for small firms to compete. This was part of a larger question about the power and influence of big business, with Americans' top concern (35 percent listed this) being that large companies might have too much influence on elections and public policy. The small business challenge was third, after fears that major companies would outsource jobs overseas (26 percent).

Americans also finger small business as the key to the economic well-being of the middle class for the past 50 years ? and they expect it to continue in that role for the next 50. Says the report: ?Small business is seen as more important than government, big business and unions in keeping the middle class economically healthy.?

Just over half of Americans (51 percent) say small business should get the credit for supporting the middle class for the past five decades. That?s well ahead of labor unions (19 percent), major companies (17 percent) and the government (11 percent).

Looking at the next 50 years, Americans again think small business will play a title role, with 49 percent of Americans predicting small business will be the most important. Nineteen percent thought major companies would do the heavy lifting, 18 percent said the government, and just 11 percent named labor unions.

Photo credit: Thinkstock?

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/most-americans-give-small-business-the-thumbs-up

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