Small Business Believes New Congress Means Business Will Improve

Manta Survey Reveals Overwhelming Majority Feels Obama Administration Has Hurt Small Business

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Members of the small business community are primed for a big upshot as a result of Tuesday’s Congressional elections, with 62% believing the new Republican controlled House will have a favorable impact on small businesses overall. According to a survey by Manta, the Web’s largest free source of information on and for small businesses, 58% believe their own businesses will improve because of the election results.

“Our survey is truly the voice of small businesses and provides a clear view of their concerns and their new optimism”

In the company’s most recent “Pulse of Small Business” user survey conducted Wednesday of 1,189 small business owners and employees (the majority of them owners), 69 percent–the largest majority registered in the survey–said the Obama Administration has hurt small business. Moreover, 58% of the respondents said they are more confident now that they will be able to grow their business than they were two years ago when the Democrats and President Barack Obama triumphed in the elections.

As small businesses look ahead to 2011, the majority of those surveyed said their greatest concern is the nation’s economic outlook (22%), while 21% said taxes were their biggest worry. Seventeen percent (17%) of the respondents said the economic outlook in their own community was their top concern, while 15% indicated healthcare gives them the most angst. Labor costs, a conventional concern for small business owners, was the least of their worries and cited by only 2% of the respondents as their greatest concern.

“Our survey is truly the voice of small businesses and provides a clear view of their concerns and their new optimism,” said Pamela Springer, president and CEO of Manta Media Inc. “The majority of our respondents–70%–are involved in small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, while 20% are involved with businesses that have between 10 and 50 employees. These are the small businesses that run our country and their voice resonated at the polls.”

About Manta
Manta is the largest free source of information on small companies, with profiles of nearly 64 million businesses and organizations. Business owners and sales professionals use Manta’s vast database and custom search capabilities to quickly find companies, easily connect with prospective customers and promote their own services. Manta ranks 49^th on the Web as tracked by Quantcast with more than 20 million visitors in September 2010, and is ranked No. 3 by comScore in the business and finance category. Manta.com, founded in 2005, is based in Columbus, Ohio.