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Business Growth Stalling To A Skid?

Posted by Judy Mottl Friday, Sep 14, 2007, 07:44 AM ET

Things don’t look rosy in Kansas, or anywhere else for that matter, when it comes to business growth. And, surprisingly, that's according to people doing business.

Just a tad over 46 percent of business leaders polled don’t expect any growth in the next three months. The survey, conducted by Vizu Corp., focused on companies in North America and polled business people across a diverse range of industries from high-tech to law and financial services.

But not everyone is so down on expectations. Some respondents are clearly optimistic:

• 17% predicting 0 to 5% growth
• 19%+ predicting 5 to10% growth
• 8.5% predicting 10 to 20% growth

And, hold on to your seats, a whopping 10% is predicting growth over 20%.

What’s causing the depressed outlook? Apparently the challenges facing business are taking their toll and companies are clearly in need of strategic help, says Chuck Orabutt, president and CEO of Strategic Business Partners, a Chicago-based business consulting firm.

“It can be difficult enough to deal with normal problems like cash flow, inventory and productivity, but combined with today’s increasingly difficult regulatory and tax environment, global competition, onerous energy and insurance costs and weakening economy, the challenges can become too much for many entrepreneurs to effectively resolve on their own.”

So what are you expecting by year’s end? Or has growth expectations been met already so that anything that does happen in the next three months is just icing on the bottom-line cake?

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