The jury is still deliberating on the impact of President Trump’s inaugural State of the Union address this past week. Millions of Americans tuned in to hear the administration’s take on a wide range of topics. At FranNet, we’d like to break down the portions that spoke to small business, entrepreneurship and—by extension—franchising. There is plenty to talk about and we’ll include direct quotes from the speech in this review.
First, let’s look at the hard numbers that were mentioned. There isn’t much doubt that the economy continues to be humming along, despite a tumultuous political climate. The stock market has reached several record highs in the last year, unemployment numbers remain low and, of course, there’s the big tax cut legislation that was passed to help spur further growth. Keep in mind that the administration is aiming to hit growth rates upwards of four percent annually, a welcome change from the sluggish recovery since the great recession.
Trump is quoted, “Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone. After years of wage stagnation, we are finally seeing rising wages.” In addition, several Fortune 500 companies seem to be jumping on the bandwagon, offering their employees one-time bonus check amounts and crediting the tax cut legislation as the catalyst.
But the news gets even better with this direct quote on the small business engine of the country: “Small business confidence is at an all-time high. The stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value. That is great news for Americans’ 401k, retirement, pension, and college savings accounts.” A few moments later, he added, “Small businesses have also received a massive tax cut, and can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.” Without a doubt, this is a beneficial nod to the franchise industry, which as a trade group has widely supported President Trump’s plan for small business growth and prosperity.
Trump’s State of the Union claims on the confidence of small businesses is backed up by the nonprofit National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), which bills itself as the voice of small business. It produces an analytical look at what it calls the small business optimism index. According to Politifact.com, which verifies such claims, “On an annual basis, the index averaged 104.8 in 2017. That just beat out the previous record of 104.6, set in 2004.”
According to the signs the business community is seeing on the ground, the economic climate for small businesses, including franchising, remains a strong environment for growth. When compared to five and ten years ago, we’ve made light years in progress to get to this point. If you’re a budding entrepreneur seriously considering investigating a franchise concept for a business of your own, it’s clear that the timing is now in your favor.
If you or someone you know would like to get an introduction to investigating franchise concepts, make a no-cost, no obligation appointment with one of our qualified franchise representatives. Because we might just be seeing what Trump called a “new American moment.”
In perhaps his most poignant statement, he concluded: ‘There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream. So to every citizen watching at home tonight — no matter where you have been, or where you’ve come from — this is your time. If you work hard, if you believe in yourself, if you believe in America, then you can dream anything, you can be anything, and together, we can achieve absolutely anything.’
We couldn’t agree more.
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