Getting Ready to Ride It Out

Small businesses are getting ready to hunker down.

Nearly 20 percent of small-business owners say they are at risk of going out of business, according to a new survey from American Express Open.

The survey is based on a nationally representative sample of 768 small-business owners and managers of firms with fewer than 100 employees.

Also

The number who expect their companies to grow during the next six months fell to 23 percent in October from 33 percent in August.

To shore up finances, more owners reported cutting back staff hours, salaries, capital expenditures and other costs.

(I don't know for sure, but a substantial number of small businesses are always ready to go out of business. So I don't know if 20% is a lot more than usual or not.)