CRN Exclusive Research: Under President Trump, Majority of Solution Providers Expect To Add Jobs, Increase Sales

Call it the Trump Effect.

The majority of solution providers expect to add new jobs and drive significant revenue gains with Donald Trump taking the oath of office to become the 45th president of the United States.

Fifty-three percent of solution provider CEOs expect to add jobs and a whopping 77 percent expect to see revenue gains in 2017, according to a survey of 118 solution provider owners and CEOs polled on the economic impact of a Trump presidency.

Overall, 49 percent of those polled expect the Trump presidency to have a positive impact on their business – more than double the 23 percent that expect a negative impact.

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"There is a 'let's go get 'em and get it done' attitude among small business people right now," said Joe Balsarotti, owner and president of Software To Go, a top solution provider in the St. Louis metropolitan market. "There is a belief that now that Trump is in office it is going to be easier to be in business."

Balsarotti said he has seen first-hand the economic impact of the Trump presidency among his small business customers with sales in December up 20 percent. "I think that was directly attributable to the mood of customers in response to the election of Trump," he said. "I haven't seen that kind of jump in the last decade. Undoubtedly there were a lot of projects and expansions that were put on hold pending the election. All of a sudden, businesses were saying, 'Let's move forward.' It was a beautiful thing to behold."

Fifty-six percent of solution provider respondents said they expect to see sales increase by 10 percent or more under a Trump presidency with another 21 percent expecting to increase sales up to nine percent. Only 3.3 percent of respondents expect to see a decrease in jobs in 2017, according to the CRN survey.

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The anticipated sales gains are also bringing renewed optimism on job creation with 25 percent expecting to increase their ranks by 10 percent or more, and another 27 percent planning to increase their number of employees by up to nine percent, according to the CRN survey.

Michael Goldstein, CEO of LAN Infotech, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said there is a new sense of "optimism and hope" among solution provider CEOs with Trump taking office.

"We definitely expect to see a more positive climate for businesses," said Goldstein, who is planning to add staff this year with a planned double digit increase in sales. "All of us are hoping for easement of regulations and lower taxes. Everyone is anticipating change under Trump. I think it's going to be a good year for business."

As far as how often solution providers have discussed Trump’s election and his plans for the presidency with customers over the last six months, 83 percent of those polled said it has been a topic of conversation.

Balsarotti, for his part, says Trump has raised the awareness of how difficult it is to run a business. He is looking forward to see just how far Trump goes with plans to ease regulation and tax burdens.

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It's a big turnaround from the anti-business climate that partners expected to see under Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, said Balsarotti.

"That would have been disastrous for us," said Balsarotti. "Before Trump, there was a detachment of politicians and bureaucrats from the realities of running a business. It is the taxes that businesses kick in that make the government run. If you make it more expensive for businesses, one of three things happen: they hire less people or let people go, they make less profits and your tax revenue goes down or they say it's not worth it and close up shop."