With a month till the election, an important segment of the US is on the block for Trump. A nationwide poll conducted from Sept. 26 to 28 showed that small business owners are veering towards Trump. It was conducted by Manta, a social network for small business. With a sample of 834 owners of small businesses, the poll was done to coincide with the first Presidential debate which was held on Sept. 26. The survey showed that according to small business owners, the debate was won by the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Small businesses are a significant part of the US economy. There are more than 28 million small business owners in the country. According to the Small Business Administration, they account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales and have provided 55 percent of all jobs for more than 40 years. This is a significant sector of the US economy.
According to one small business attorney in San Francisco:
“The survey showed that the respondents deemed Trump winning the debate with 58.7%. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had the support of the remaining 41.3% of those polled. Other details of the survey showed that 53.7 percent of the women business owners had Clinton winning largely due to her stand on issues which impact on small businesses.”
Explaining the importance of the survey results, the Manta CEO John Swanciger said, “small business owners are highly invested in this election— and for good reason. This year alone, we’ve seen updates to the minimum wage, overtime regulations, and continuing healthcare policy changes.”
He further said that “with such important issues on the line, we’ll likely see more small business owners tuning into the debates and showing up to polls come Nov. 8.”
As a social media website for small businesses, Manta publishes content which can help an entrepreneur to get ahead of the competition. Another key area where Manta helps its users is in creating an online brand, as well as creating a social media presence. It also publishes research and conducts webinars for its members.
Although the results are heavily in favor of Trump, it also shows that there is a dichotomy of voting along gender lines. This is to be expected where both candidates have created an image very distinct from the other. It is also worth noting that the survey did not show the percentage of women who responded.
The results only showed the reaction immediately after the first debate. Events after the debate did not reflect on the results of the polls. The second Presidential debate will be on Sunday, October 9. It is expected to show more of the personalities involved during this year’s election.
Small business has unique concerns which the candidates have to address. These include healthcare costs, overtime pay, and minimum wage. Small businesses are more directly affected by the regulations regarding these issues, as they usually do not have a large cash flow. In addition, most employees of small businesses are paid closer to the minimum wage, compared to employees of large companies and multinationals. Small businesses also usually do not have any union employees. As an economic indicator, small businesses usually are the first to fail before large companies layoff personnel.
