Why are so many small business owners smiling?

Let’s go to the EO Global Entrepreneur Indicator and find out!

Every year EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization) conducts a survey of all 10,000+ members around the world in 47 countries. As part of that survey, we ask our members to complete the Global Entrepreneur Indicator to gauge the near-term economic outlook and share data on job creation, profit outlook and access to capital, among other key metrics. The results are in and it’s a revealing look at how small business owners around the world, and here in South Florida, perceive their business prospects.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the results from the global survey with  5,868 responses:

• Every respondent is the founder of a business with at least US$1 million in annual revenues
• Average annual revenue of respondent company: US$52.3 million
• Average number of employees at respondent company: 240
• Average respondent age: 42

What’s my take?

As an owner of a digital marketing agency, we are often described as a “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to the economy. Our industry tends to be the tip of the spear indicator for many companies when it comes to their cash investment choices. When the economy is feeling tight, so goes the marketing budgets. Now a few smart companies actually increase their spending in a down economy but we can talk about that another time. Right now we are seeing a big jump in our own growth and that’s fueling our own optimism. So let’s just rejoice in the outlook shared by real job creating business owners from around the world and here in South Florida.

So is it Sunny in South Florida also?

Here are some of the specific results that were reported for the South Florida area. It was notable to me that the local outlook shared by my peers here in South Florida was generally more positive that the global outlook overall.

• 75% of polled small businesses in South Florida said they’ll hire more full-time workers in next 6 months, and 66% said they had already increased their staff in the past 6 months.
• 92% of EO South Florida respondents reported a willingness to start a business in their current economic environment.
• 87% of respondents are predicting an increase of both revenue and profit in the next 6 months

For more information and coverage of this survey, take a look at this local and national coverage:

• TheStreet.com video interview with EO Global Chairman, Blair Assaly
• Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel and Palm Beach Post
• EO Global Entrepreneurship Indicator

So how does the economy feel to you? Share   a comment…