Top 3 Small-Business Challenges (Infographic) Business owners are optimistic about the U.S. economy improving and want to grow their business, but they face significant hurdles in doing so, a new report shows.
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If small-business owners were given three wishes from a genie, they would likely request improved access to capital, help growing sales and a tax code that is a whole lot simpler.
That's according to the results of a small-business trends study released today by OnDeck Capital, a New York-based small-business lending company that uses software to streamline the loan application process. Even among significant frustration, 73 percent of the survey respondents report being optimistic about the economy and having a desire to grow their businesses. "Despite strong demand for financing, small businesses are struggling to secure the capital they require to grow," says Noah Breslow, chief executive officer of OnDeck, in a statement. Of the businesses which did apply for capital, 64 percent could not get financing of any sort and 82 percent were stonewalled by their banks.
For the report, OnDeck combined data from a survey of 500 business owners and loan applications from 10,000 entrepreneurs across 700 industries. The infographic below summarizes the results.
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