Good Year Ahead for US Small Businesses

Business Week Small Biz recently published a 2007 outlook for US small businesses. Most small businesses, 55%, plan to hire one or more workers. They also expect higher sales in the new year.

Here are some other points from the article that California small business owners are particularly interested in: health insurance and mergers.

RISING PREMIUMS

"Overall, premiums are going up. Small firms pay about the same as large firms for health insurance, but they get less, with policies that have higher deductibles and less coverage.

In 2007, insurers will be offering more consumer-driven plans to small employers. Brokers will talk about plans that are connected to health savings accounts, and some companies will go this way because there is the promise of lower costs."—Gary Claxton, Vice-president and director, Marketplace Project Kaiser Foundation

THE URGE TO MERGE

"Next year, I look for 10% growth in volume. Bigger companies have a lot of cash and will want to use it to acquire smaller businesses. Initial public offerings are out of reach for many small businesses.... It is almost a merger or acquisition or nothing. The good news is that this is a very liquid market for profitable, stable small businesses."—Peter Falvey, Co-founder, Revolution Partners, a mergers-and-acquisitions advisory group in Boston

Posted on January 2, 2007  |   Email This Blog Post   |   Print This Blog Post