A tidy majority of small business owners, bullish after a profitable first-half of the year, are betting that profits continue to roll in for the remainder of 2014. Another small group of entrepreneurs shared the optimism for the second half of the year, telling pollsters they think profitability is just around the corner.

The optimism regarding the climate for small business profits rampant on Main Street is evidenced in the results of a survey conducted by SurePayroll, Inc., and posted June 23 at the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch.com.

The June 2014 SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard shows that 77 percent of small business owners expect to be profitable in the last six months of the year. Some 62 percent of the business owners who responded to the survey of business optimism reported being profitable in the first half of the year.

Andy Roe, general manager of the online payroll service behind the survey, said in a press release that he saw no signs of business optimism waning.

“With several factors pointing to a high level of optimism, it suggests small business owners believe the economy is getting better, and will continue to do so as the year goes on,” Roe said.

Among the factors backing bullish outlook: 70 percent of respondents reported being on track to equal or surpass revenues from 2013, and half of that 70 percent said they would beat last year’s revenues by 10 percent or more.

Additionally, 66 percent of small business owners said they were optimistic about the state of the economy. That small business hiring was flat in June was seen as a positive sign. It marked the first month this year that hiring did not decline.

Regionally, the South saw a 0.2 percent gain in employment in June, while the West had no change. Midwest and Northeast hiring declined 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Other survey findings included:

  • 24 percent of small business owners forecasting struggling local economies
  • 23 percent citing slow nationwide economic growth as a major concern
  • 17 percent foreseeing problems maintaining the cash flow necessary to hire or expand their businesses
  • 13 percent expressing concern about finding an adequate number of qualified candidates to employ
  • 11 percent citing worries about the effects of health care reform on their businesses

SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard. MarketWatch. June 23, 2014.