By Nathalie Voit
Inflation continues to take its toll on small business owners, said the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) in its latest survey.
When NFIB polled 540 small business owners about the impact of inflation on their business, the results revealed ongoing frustration among employers continuing to grapple with rising input costs.
Nearly 7 in 10 small business owners (68%) plan to raise prices in the next three months to compensate for those price pressures. A whopping 86% have already done so, according to the survey.supply chain
Four in ten (40%) said they would increase prices by 10% or more to offset their rising expenses. Nearly half (47%) reported planned price hikes between 4 and 9%. Just 2% of those surveyed said they would raise prices by less than 2%.
Additionally, about one-third of business owners (31%) reported assessing their price management strategy weekly. Nearly 3 in 4 (72%) said they evaluated their selling prices to account for market conditions more than twice a year.
Inflation is “dominating business decisions for small employers across the country,” executive director of the NFIB’s Research Center Holly Wade said.
Small business owners blamed supply-chain disruptions, labor shortages, and rising fuel costs on price pressures. Ninety-nine percent of owners noted a negative impact from higher gas or fuel prices, according to the survey.
Overall, more than 6 in 10 small business owners (62%) said inflation posed a substantial impact on their business. About one in three (31%) reported a moderate impact. None of the survey respondents (0%) reported no impact.
The survey was conducted between April 14 and 17, NFIB said.
