Bad Year for Small Businesses in 2015? Not At All

GLENVIEW, IL--(Marketwired - November 23, 2015) - Suggesting positive news for the economy, it was at least a good year for most small businesses in 2015, according to the November 2015 SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard survey.

According to the survey:

• 38% had a good to great year.
• 12% had their best year ever.
• 36% had an average year.
• 11% had a below average year.
• 3% had a bad year.

Optimism among small business owners about the economy is up 3% from a year ago; 5% from two years ago, and 8% from three years ago.

Steady growth is a theme for small business owners at the moment, as 54% say they expect a certain percentage growth every year; compared to 28% who said they expect it to stay the same year to year; and just 18% said it's too hard to predict.

"I don't think we can say we're seeing any kind of a boom period, but definitely a positive trend, and our data is coming from a diverse set of businesses," said SurePayroll General Manager Andy Roe.

SurePayroll works with a wide swatch of clients that were included in their survey, which represented businesses ranging from financial planners and insurance agents to dental and legal practices to manufacturers to restaurants to real estate to child care.

"Their challenges and successes varied," said Roe. "Some faced stiff competition in their industry or tax increases, others are located in areas driven by the energy industry so you saw a challenge with low oil prices. Finding talented new hires also continues to be a challenge.

"On the flip side, many of the success stories we heard about had to do with having a great team, bringing in more skilled employees and being able to pay them more. Just like they do with bringing on and retaining new clients, a lot of small business owners take pride in the people they're able to hire and keep with the company."

Looking forward to 2016, small business owners talked about revenues growing while needing to manage expenses, and the implementation of new technology and equipment as possible themes.

An infographic with the full results of the Scorecard survey is available on the SurePayroll blog.

About SurePayroll

SurePayroll is the trusted provider of easy online payroll services to small businesses nationwide. Whether a business has 1, 10, or 100 employees, SurePayroll delivers peace of mind by combining innovative, industry-leading technology and personalized support from an award-winning, U.S.-based customer care team. SurePayroll also provides private-label and co-branded services for accountants and banking partners as well as offering efficient online solutions for managing 401(k) plans, health insurance, workers' compensation, employee screening and more. SurePayroll is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paychex. For more information, please visit www.SurePayroll.com. Follow us on Twitter - Circle us on Google+ - Connect with us on LinkedIn - Like us on Facebook.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, HR, retirement, and insurance services. By combining its innovative software-as-a-service technology and mobility platform with dedicated, personal service, Paychex empowers small- and medium-sized business owners to focus on the growth and management of their business. Backed by more than 40 years of industry expertise, Paychex serves approximately 590,000 payroll clients across 100 locations and pays one out of every 15 American private sector employees. Learn more about Paychex by visiting www.paychex.com, and stay connected on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Stefan Schumacher
[e-mail]
847-676-8420 x7173