RALEIGH – Driven by an expected drop in an increase of sales, Triangle entrepreneurs are the least optimistic about the economic state of their companies in nearly three years.
According to the Quarterly Outlook of Triangle Entrepreneurs from NCSU’s Entrepreneurship Clinic, its index dropped to 108.89 for the third quarter of this year. That’s the lowest since a 108.47 index total for expectations in the fourth quarter of 2016, which was 108.47.
The latest score also is the lowest for the third quarter since 2016. In 2015, the index was 107.50.
Quarter over quarter, the index dropped slightly from 112.97 in Q2.
The high point of the survey came in Q2 2019 at 123.20. The low occurred in Q2 2016 at 103.80.
Driving down the index was an expectation by 76.7 percent of those surveyed that they anticipate an increase in sales over the next six months. That’s down from 90.7 percent in the previous quarter.
However, more entrepreneurs (56.7 percent) are expecting to increase capital spending than the 55.6 percent in Q2.
And expectations about additional hiring increased to 67.1 percent from 59.3 percent the previous quarter.
Overall, a decrease in third quarter expectations didn’t surprise Lewis Sheats, associate professor of practice in entrepreneurship in the North Carolina State University Poole College of Management and executive director of the NC State Entrepreneurship Clinic.
“We’re seeing a trend emerge here, where there is a drop in most years (all except one year over the time we’ve been tracking it) in the overall index from Q2 to Q3. This time, the slight drop is driven by a decrease in optimism about anticipated sales,” Sheats said.
“Heading into Q3, it will be interesting to see how this trend plays out and if optimism in capital spending and employment growth continue to rise while sales expectations decrease.”
More information about the findings is available online at http://entrepreneurshipclinic.ncsu.edu/clinic-research/
