Small business confidence dropped by 12 per cent amongst early-stage small businesses in the first quarter of the year, according to the Enterprise Nation Small Business Barometer.
But despite the challenges of higher energy bills, inflation, war in Ukraine, nearly two-thirds (62%) of founders were still confident their business would grow in 2022 - down from 74 per cent in the final quarter of 2021. Another 28 per cent felt their business would stay at the same level.
However, one in ten (12%) went as far as to say they would ‘make a loss’ or the crisis could ‘make their business unviable’.
