Release Date: 06/ 01/ 2005
CONTACT: Michael Fields, (803) 254-1476 or Jim Brown, (615) 874-5288
12-point Business Conditions Slip But Still Good, Small Business Sees Improving Sales and Profits
SOUTH CAROLINA -- South Carolina's business environment is among the best in the nation, according to this quarter's South Carolina Small-Business ConditionsSM. The report's data, which was released today by the National Federation of Independent Business/South Carolina, provides an overview of small-business conditions within South Carolina and compares them with neighboring states.
"It's no accident South Carolina continues to be viewed by small-business owners as one of the best states in the country to do business," NFIB/South Carolina State Director Michael Fields said. "The data from NFIB/South Carolina's Small-Business Conditions clearly indicates our government and community leaders are perceived to be supportive of small business, which certainly contributes to the good business conditions we're experiencing."
A net 38 percent (positive percent minus negative percent) of respondents said South Carolina has a "supportive" business environment, a slight decline from last quarter's net 40 percent reading but still among the nation's best readings. A net 45 percent of the state's small employers believed business conditions in their market area are "good," below last quarter's net 55 percent reading but similar to readings from Georgia (net 45 percent) and North Carolina (net 44 percent). A net 69 percent said their outlook for business is "good" over the next three months – among the nation's best readings.
Of those surveyed in South Carolina, a net 49 percent indicated that sales were "good," a 6-percentage point increase from last quarter, and a net 34 percent characterized profits as "good," a 10-percentage point rise from last quarter.
Asked to rank their most important business problem, South Carolina small-business owners cited inflation and rising prices (16 percent), insurance (14 percent), big-business competition (13 percent) and taxes (13 percent). Asked which type of tax increase would have an adverse effect on their business, respondents cited payroll taxes (25 percent), personal income taxes (15 percent) and personal property taxes (14 percent).
Seventy-two percent of small-business owners said they are "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with South Carolina's direction.
For information about the Small-Business ConditionsSM project and other small-business research studies conducted by the NFIB Research Foundation, visit www.NFIB.com/research.
| South Carolina Small-Business ConditionsSM | ||||||
| This chart shows the results from South Carolina and its comparative standing among selected nearby states. | ||||||
| S.C. | Ga. | N.C. | ||||
| Business Climate | Survey Date | |||||
| Overall state business environment | ||||||
| Net % supportive of small business | 5/2005 | 38 | 36 | 42 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 40 | 37 | 36 | |||
| Business conditions in market area | ||||||
| Net % "good" | 5/2005 | 45 | 45 | 44 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 55 | 52 | 38 | |||
| Net % "improving" | 5/2005 | 22 | 26 | 25 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 26 | 30 | 27 | |||
| Outlook for business | ||||||
| Net % "good" in next three months | 5/2005 | 69 | 64 | 65 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 70 | 73 | 70 | |||
| Reason for optimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 5/2005 | 43 | 40 | 39 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 47 | 41 | 57 | |||
| % Lower costs | 5/2005 | 4 | 6 | 3 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 4 | 2 | 4 | |||
| % Price increases | 5/2005 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 4 | 6 | 2 | |||
| % Greater productivity | 5/2005 | 15 | 13 | 12 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 18 | 15 | 17 | |||
| % Government policy | 5/2005 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 4 | 5 | 2 | |||
| % Seasonal/Weather | 5/2005 | 16 | 8 | 12 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Reason for pessimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 5/2005 | IC* | IC | IC | ||
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | |||
| % Cost increases | 5/2005 | IC | IC | IC | ||
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | |||
| % Pressure on selling prices | 5/2005 | IC | IC | IC | ||
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | |||
| % Lower productivity | 5/2005 | IC | IC | IC | ||
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | |||
| % Government policy | 5/2005 | IC | IC | IC | ||
| Prior qtr. | IC | IC | IC | |||
| S.C. | Ga. | N.C. | ||||
| Sales and earnings (last quarter) | ||||||
| Sales | ||||||
| Net % sales "good" | 5/2005 | 49 | 42 | 45 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 43 | 43 | 39 | |||
| Profits | ||||||
| Net % profits "good" | 5/2005 | 34 | 28 | 32 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 24 | 26 | 24 | |||
| Employment | ||||||
| Current job openings (one or more) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 21 | 18 | 19 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 20 | 20 | 20 | |||
| Per employee payroll cost | ||||||
| Net % "risen" | 5/2005 | 12 | 12 | 12 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 10 | 18 | 16 | |||
| Employee cost pressures (greater) | ||||||
| % Wages | 5/2005 | 60 | 60 | 57 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 61 | 57 | 57 | |||
| % Benefits | 5/2005 | 21 | 21 | 24 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 23 | 27 | 24 | |||
| S.C. | Ga. | N.C. | ||||
| Productivity | ||||||
| Upgraded technology/processes (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 42 | 43 | 34 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 41 | 43 | 41 | |||
| Made capital expenditure(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 39 | 36 | 42 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 42 | 39 | 47 | |||
| Made expenditure to train employee(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 35 | 40 | 41 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 41 | 43 | 48 | |||
| Capacity utilization - can increase sales 10% without new inputs | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 50 | 49 | 49 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 58 | 58 | 58 | |||
| Credit availability (last three months) | ||||||
| % All credit needs satisfied | 5/2005 | 40 | 43 | 39 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 41 | 35 | 40 | |||
| % All credit needs not satisfied | 5/2005 | 5 | 7 | 7 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 7 | 7 | 6 | |||
| % No credit needs | 5/2005 | 50 | 42 | 48 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 48 | 53 | 51 | |||
| S.C. | Ga. | N.C. | ||||
| Prices | ||||||
| Purchasing prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 5/2005 | 51 | 49 | 51 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 49 | 48 | 54 | |||
| Selling prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 5/2005 | 21 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 16 | 12 | 17 | |||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||
| Involvement in start of another business | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 5/2005 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 13 | 13 | 17 | |||
| Single most important business problem | ||||||
| % Weak sales | 5/2005 | 9 | 13 | 10 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 10 | 10 | 11 | |||
| % Taxes | 5/2005 | 13 | 13 | 10 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 11 | 11 | 9 | |||
| % Employee quality/costs | 5/2005 | 9 | 12 | 8 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 11 | 9 | 11 | |||
| % Insurance | 5/2005 | 14 | 11 | 17 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 19 | 21 | 15 | |||
| % Big-business competition | 5/2005 | 13 | 11 | 14 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 13 | 11 | 15 | |||
| % Inflation/Rising prices | 5/2005 | 16 | 16 | 16 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 12 | 11 | 16 | |||
| % Credit availability/Interest rates | 5/2005 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 3 | 4 | 4 | |||
| % Regulations/Red tape | 5/2005 | 8 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Prior qtr. | 7 | 6 | 5 | |||
* Insufficient cases
| South Carolina Quarterly Spotlight | |
| In general, how satisfied are you with the direction that South Carolina is headed? | |
| Very satisfied | 14% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 58% |
| Not too satisfied | 15% |
| Not at all satisfied | 8% |
| Don't know/Refused | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
| Which type of tax increase would have the most adverse effect on your business? | |
| Payroll taxes | 25% |
| Corporate income or franchise taxes | 10% |
| Real property taxes | 10% |
| Sales taxes | 11% |
| Personal income taxes | 15% |
| Personal property, including inventory taxes | 14% |
| Other | 1% |
| All/Any | 1% |
| Don't know/Refused | 13% |
| Total | 100% |
The Poll
NFIB’s South Carolina Small-Business ConditionsSM is a telephone survey of a random sample of South Carolina small employers regarding business conditions within the state. “Small employer” is defined here as employing between one and 250 people (not including the owner(s)) in a for-profit business. Each edition of the survey has a minimum of 350 respondents. The sampling error is ± 5 percentage points. Data are collected quarterly in the months of February, May, August and November, beginning in February 2005. The MRCGroup of Las Vegas conducts the survey for the NFIB Research Foundation.
The Sponsor
The NFIB Research Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization that provides policy-makers, media, educators, small-business owners and other interested parties empirically based information on small business and small-business owners. The Foundation is affiliated with the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small- and independent-business advocacy organization, and is located in Washington, D.C.
