American Express: A dive into hiring, influx of new tech & market confidence
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
American Express has a long history of supporting small business in America, which may be perfectly embodied in the creation of the Small Business Saturday event where promotional efforts are felt across the nation as the dawn of winter commences every year.
This year, Small Business Saturday is slated for Saturday, Nov. 25.
Most recently, however, American Express completed its small business financial confidence survey reporting data of some 550 small business owners ranging from fewer than 10 to 500 employees.
“This report explores how economic obstacles and market trends influence small business owners’ financial decisions and confidence,” said Brett Sussman, VP of business blueprint & banking at American Express.
“The new research reveals that among those surveyed, approximately half of the small business owners feel confident when making financial growth decisions. By tracking the financial confidence level of small business owners, this report helps to uncover the trends we’re seeing behind key money-making decisions businesses owners must make, how the macroenvironment may impact those decisions, and what can help boost their confidence.”
However, small and large business owners together share common concerns around what economists have coined, ‘a shallow recession.’ Meanwhile, the seemingly out-of-nowhere influx of artificial intelligence into the workplace is raising eyebrows across the nation.
American Express: A dive into hiring, influx of new tech & market confidence
To better understand the findings of proprietor confidence report, the Arizona Digital Free Press reached out to Mr. Sussman at American Express. This is what he had to say:
What are the biggest challenges that small businesses face when it comes to hiring?
The report revealed that over half (51%) of the small businesses surveyed are hiring. There is still a strong level of competition in the labor market making the challenge to find the right employees at the right time linger due to factors such as work-life balance priorities and inflation. Cash flow struggles also have to be considered as a hiring obstacle with small business owners uncertain of the affordability of an increased payroll.
Another challenge facing small businesses is cash-flow management. It’s easy to overlook this issue when trying to run a business but ignoring it can quickly lead to financial difficulties – gaps in cash flow can be a big issue. However, it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, a recent internal American Express study showed that cash flow visibility is the #1 desired banking service among 67% of small businesses. The good news is you can create a workable system to track cash flow on a day-to-day basis.
What advice would you give to small businesses that are considering using AI?
Another part of our recently published Small Business Financial Confidence Report is that we found small businesses are AI-curious. Across all small businesses surveyed, 41% said that their business is currently prioritizing artificial intelligence to help make business decisions. Customer service (19%) and marketing (14%) are reported as the primary use cases for the small businesses who use AI. We’re eager to see how the technology continues to impact and benefit this sector.
AI tools provide small businesses with a wealth of opportunities to expedite operational needs and other areas of business including marketing and content creation, reducing the cost of staff usually needed to accomplish these tasks.
What are some of the ways that American Express is helping small businesses?
This year American Express launched Business Blueprint —- a digital one-stop shop for small business owners’ financial needs. It allows companies to link all their financial accounts — checking accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit — into a single dashboard. Access to the service is free to anyone with an American Express account, and users can link any of their financial accounts and services, even if they are from other providers. We really want to give SMBs visibility into the money coming into their business, and then also the money going out of their business, and to understand projections going forward, and having this all consolidated in one place.
We are keenly aware that it can take money to make money for a business. We are really excited about our working capital solutions such as our business line of credit to grow thriving businesses.
What are your thoughts on the future of small businesses?
A 2022 report from the Small Business Administration (SBA) said small businesses account for 99.9% of total businesses in the U.S. and have around 61.7 million employees, making up 46.6% of total U.S. employees.
The past couple years have seen a record number of new small business formations. That impetus for autonomy and making a difference is still very present. Understanding this historical growth, there’s no telling what 2023 has in store but we’re focused on backing them to help businesses thrive.
Small businesses are traditionally optimistic and are comfortable with pivoting. We at American Express want to give them the backing they need to not only survive economic obstacles but grow despite them. Cash flow is king, and it is only becoming more critical for small business owners to focus on. Our survey of small businesses showed that 60% use between 2-3 cash flow management products to run their business with 62% spending at least 5 hours a week on various platforms. This represents a tremendous opportunity to build solutions tailored to the digital financial needs of small business owners.
