Citi Survey Says Double-Dip

Small business owners are worried about another dip into recession. But they’re ready to face the worst.

Those are the results of a quarterly survey of 521 business owners conducted for Citibank. And as you might expect with those kinds of results, small business owners aren’t in a hiring mood.

The survey shows a whopping 86 percent of small business owners are worried that the U.S. could fall into a double-dip recession—an understandable concern given that Gross Domestic Product numbers for the second quarter showed growth of just 1.6 percent.

But on the brighter side, 75 percent say they’re ready for another downturn. Sixty-four percent say they have permanently changed the way they do business as a result of the past couple of years.

And that means that to grow their own businesses, 61 percent are willing to work longer hours.

"Small businesses continue to feel the effects of today's uncertain business environment," said Raj Seshadri, the head of Small Business Banking at Citibank. "Yet we are encouraged to see businesses adjusting to the economic environment and preparing for additional challenges -- so they are ready to expand and grow when conditions improve."

But don’t look to small business to lead hiring, at least in the near term. Eighty-three percent plan to either keep the same number of employees, or cut employment. That mirrors other surveys of small businesses.