Nearly one in three (30.5%) business owners report feeling extremely worried about inflation and rank it as a top business concern and another 62.5% say they are generally concerned about inflation and are keeping an eye on rising prices, according to new survey data from SCORE, mentors to America's small businesses and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SCORE's Spring 2022 Megaphone of Mainstreet: Inflation & the Economy report surveyed more than 1,000 small business owners on how they felt about the current economy and inflation. Only 7% of small businesses are not troubled about inflation impacting their company; meaning there is a general consensus of concern regarding the cost of rising goods and services. 

While finding customers remains a serious problem for small business owners (51.8%), cash flow (35.9%), inflation (33.9%) and supply chain disruptions (30%) are all rapidly growing issues as the economy remains tumultuous.

Small business owners are feeling the impact of these top concerns:
SCORE East Central Iowa client Aaron Mulherin, owner of AM Glass Repair, says that he is slammed with 12-15% price increases on materials every four to six weeks. "Due to these price increases, AM Glass Repair is forced to purchase materials more than six months ahead of time to lock in lower prices, which causes cash flow issues," Mulherin explains.

Dennis Ittenbach, owner of H.O.P.E. Life, Lymphedema and Rehab Center, says prices for services and supplies have gone up at a surprising rate, even though the reimbursement from third party payers in the medical field have gone down. "Because I am a health care provider and 80% of my patients are Medicare or Medicare alternative plan patients, I'm not able to adjust my prices," says Ittenbach. "In fact, over the last year we've had a reduction in our reimbursement which significantly affected our profit and is proving unsustainable."