Pizza Caterer Dishes on Handling Turmoil

Leo Lopez, owner of La Fenice Pizza, offers this no-nonsense view of  the current conditions facing small businesses like his, and also his strategy for dealing with them:

“The economy is definitely uncertain right now, but as a small business owner, you learn to live with that,” said Lopez, whose San Jose, Calif.-based company caters events with mobile pizza ovens. “I’ve had to adjust, simplify and focus on what really works, and that’s helped me grow stronger. For me, resilience isn’t about being unaffected. It’s about finding a way to keep going, even when things get unpredictable. That’s how I’ve built my business, and I think a lot of us are doing the same.”

Lopez’s comments are contained in the latest GoDaddy Small Business Research Lab survey, which drew replies from 2100 U.S. small-business owners that revealed this dichotomy: while just under half of U.S. small and microbusiness owners expect the national economy to weaken in the coming months, most still believe their own businesses will grow. (Specifically, 66% of respondents have positive revenue expectations, and only 9% forecast a sales decline.)

“Small business owners are realistic about the economy, but they believe in themselves,” said GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani. “Our research shows they remain intent on pushing their small businesses forward.”

Such optimism aside, the survey also shows cost pressures are rising and showing up not just in what small businesses pay, but what they can charge. Over half (52%) of respondents cited limited cash flow as their biggest financial barrier, but existing expenses (34%) and pricing pressure on goods and services (33%) ranked highest among specific cost challenges.

Click here for more from the survey.