Three in five small businesses are concerned about cybersecurity threats

Washington, DC, April 2, 2024 — The Q1 2024 MetLife/U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index reads at 62.3, similar to last quarter’s Index score of 61.3. While the core Index measures generally show stability from the end of 2024, small businesses are slightly more positive in their macroeconomic outlook this quarter. Similar to last quarter, half of small businesses report inflation as their biggest challenge. While revenue continues to trail inflationary pressures, moderately more small businesses now say it is their biggest challenge.

This quarter’s Small Business Index survey also explores small businesses’ perceptions of future threats and crisis planning. Cybersecurity is a top-of-mind threat: It not only tops the list of potential threats small businesses are concerned about but also is something many report having taken steps to guard against. While most say they feel prepared to deal with a range of threats against their business, small businesses’ overall level of confidence about preparedness is tepid. Significantly more small businesses say they feel somewhat prepared, rather than very prepared, to deal with a range of threats. 

 For more information about this study, please click here.

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 26^th to February 12^th, 2024. For this survey, a sample of 755 small business owners and operators age 18+ from the continental U.S. Alaska and Hawaii was interviewed online in English.

The sample was randomly drawn from partner online panel sources that specialize in B2B sample and does not rely on a population frame in the traditional sense. Ipsos uses fixed sample targets, unique to the study, in drawing sample. Small businesses are defined in this study as companies with 500 or fewer employees that are not sole proprietorships. This sample calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. small business population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2020 Statistics of U.S. Businesses dataset. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on firmographics. Post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on region, industry sector and size of business. Additional post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on the gender of the business’s owner and whether the business is minority-owned or not. The source of these two weight variables is the Small Business Administration’s 2022 Small Business Profiles.

Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online non-probability polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points for all respondents. Ipsos calculates a design effect (DEFF) for each study based on the variation of the weights, following the formula of Kish (1965). This study had a credibility interval adjusted for design effect of the following (n=755, DEFF=1.5, adjusted Confidence Interval=+/-5.9 percentage points).

Starting with the March 2020 survey, small business decision makers are reached via an online survey, in place of the typical phone-based approach. This methodological shift is in response to lower anticipated response rates in dialing owners at their businesses as a result of mandated closures related to the COVID-19 outbreak. While significant changes in data points can largely be attributed to the recent economic environment, switching from a phone to online approach may have also generated a mode effect.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Mallory Newall

Vice President, US

Public Affairs

+1 202 374 2613

[email protected]

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