How confident are you feeling?

According to a survey of small business owners, which was reported in the press this week, business confidence is down by nine percentage points compared with the start of the year.

Uncertainty brought about by Brexit is the biggest challenge facing the Government, according to the latest SME Confidence Tracker, a quarterly survey of more than 1,000 small and medium enterprises from funding provider Bibby Financial Services.

Fifty-nine per cent of respondents said that uncertainty caused by Brexit is damaging to the Government's ambition for a more productive and prosperous economy.

Discussing the confidence issue, The Times said this week, "Confidence among both large and small businesses has collapsed amid mounting concerns over the domestic political backdrop and fresh evidence that households, the engine of recent economic growth, are tightening their belts. A series of business and household surveys have raised concerns that the UK may be performing as poorly as it was at the start of the year, when the economy grew by only 0.2 per cent in three months."

The Guardian meanwhile, discussed how household spending was down, saying "Household spending has fallen at the fastest rate in almost four years as rising prices have made consumers less willing to splash out on furniture, clothing and trips out. Spending fell by 0.3% between April and June compared with the same period a year earlier, the biggest drop since the third quarter of 2013, according to Visa’s consumer spending index."

Oh dear me. That all sounds pretty doomy and gloomy. But how does our readership feel?

This time last year, a month or so after the Brexit decision was taken, we conducted a survey to ascertain our readers' business confidence levels. And at that time, they were pretty bullish.

At that point those describing themselves as Confident or Very Confident was a reasonably healthy 57%. I wonder will that have changed a year on? We would be most grateful if you could a spend a few moments to take our survey today, to let us know.

We'd be very interested to hear if dealers in our sector are feeling this uncertainty which is being reported nationally. Is it affecting any plans you may have had to expand? Have you taken on any new franchises during the past 12 months? Or are you planning on doing so during the forthcoming year? When we asked last year only 16% of respondents were thinking of taking on additional ranges of products. Will that have changed?

Might it be affecting any thoughts of expanding or updating your premises, or adding another branch? Or indeed are market conditions forcing you to consider downsizing?

And in these times of uncertainty, what steps are you taking to attract new customers? What methods work best for you?

Please let us know your thoughts. And as ever there's space for you to have your say, letting us know just what you think about this whole issue of business confidence. We will publish a selection of your opinions in the next issue of Service Dealer. Sign up here if you don't receive a regular copy.

Thank you in advance for your help. You can TAKE OUR SURVEY here.