Latest Aviva SME Pulse reveals one in four SME owners are considering returning to the workforce as an employee.
A third say they have lost the enthusiasm to run their own business.
Half say there has been a decline in the money drawn from their business for personal use over the past two years.
A significant proportion of small and medium-sized business owners are losing their entrepreneurial drive and thinking of returning to work with 50% saying it is too tough to be a business owner in the current climate, according to the latest bi-annual SME Pulse from Aviva1.
A quarter (26%) of SME owners admit they no longer enjoy running their business, with a third (32%) stating that they have lost the enthusiasm they had when they started their venture up. And as a result, the SME Pulse also reveals that one in four (25%) SME owners are considering returning to the workforce as an employee.
A reduction in the money they take out of their own businesses for personal use may be a contributing factor: half of those (50%) surveyed have reduced the money they draw, over the past 2 years, with restaurant owners suffering the biggest fall. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those with businesses in the catering sector have seen a marked decline in the amount they withdraw from their business – with almost a third (29%) reporting a drop of between 20-25% and 10% reporting a drop of up to 50%.
SMEs facing challenging economic times
Aviva’s SME Pulse continues to track economic sentiment among business owners and the survey reveals that SMEs experienced a tough end to 2011. Nearly half (43%) said 2011 was tougher than expected, an increase since June 2011 when over one third (37%) expressed this opinion. This sentiment was particularly prevalent among independent retailers and shop keepers with half of those questioned (50%) saying 2011 was tougher than expected; the highest of any other business type surveyed.
Looking to 2012, there appears to be little improvement in sentiment. More than one in three (35%) believes there is an increasing risk of an economic “double dip” recession, a further increase compared with 28% when we asked the same question in the last Aviva SME research in June 20112.
A quarter of businesses (26%) expect the first half of the year to be difficult as people curb their spending, with 24% of those surveyed expecting a decline in sales. Less than one in ten (7%) expect good sales in the first six months this year.
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