John Lynch, Associate Professor of Managerial Studies and Associate Dean Featured at Small Business Event
Introduction
Chicago’s small businesses are feeling pretty optimistic about their future — it’s the city’s economy they’re less confident about. That’s just one of the notable takeaways of the 2024 Chicagoland Small Business Outlook, a survey put together by Professor Lynch in partnership with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Leaders from these organizations, as well as executives from TikTok, Wintrust, and other entities, discussed the study at a release event at mHUB innovation center in the West Loop on Thursday, Sept. 26 2024.
Jack Lavin, President and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber, kicked off the event by emphasizing the importance of small businesses. Professor Lynch presented the main results of the survey and highlighted some key findings — notably the discrepancy between business owners’ optimism about their own future as compared to the city’s. For instance, 71% of the businesses indicate that they were optimistic that their businesses will go well over the next 12 months. However, a smaller percentage, 57%, of them expect the Chicago economy to stay the same.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as pessimistic, but the difference though is pretty striking in terms of many of these small businesses see their own outlook as very, very positive, as opposed to the overall economy — less so,” Lynch said.
The event also featured Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing at TikTok who shared insights on how small businesses can leverage the platform.
Adrienne McFarland, Center Director for the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, praised the participants of this year’s survey: “Small businesses sharing their challenges through surveys like this help the Chamber and SBDC bring the right resources to support them more effectively.”
Read the full survey report HERE.