2014 is shaping up to be a good year for small businesses! Sage recently surveyed small business owners in the United States and Canada on their outlook for the year and the results are encouraging.

American small businesses are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. Most expect the coming year to be better or about the same for their businesses. While a handful believe 2014 will be more challenging than 2013, perseverance continues to drive small businesses to success.

Most Canadian small businesses feel that the outlook for 2014 is better than last year. Although more Canadian businesses are optimistic than in the United States, about an equal number of Canadian and American small businesses expect no change in outlook compared to 2013. This is great considering that 68% of American small businesses and 62% of Canadian small businesses said their company performed “very good” or “good” in 2013.

As businesses anticipate doing well in 2014, they are planning to make some investments, with 33% of American and 23% of Canadian small businesses planning to invest more in sales and marketing and 20% of American and 24% of Canadian small businesses planning to invest more in new technology. Additionally, more than a quarter of American businesses and nearly one-third of Canadian businesses plan to launch new services or products this year. However, not all activity planned for the year involves spending: 33% of American and 29% of Canadian small businesses plan to cut expenses in 2014.

While the outlook for the year is mostly positive, small businesses still have their challenges. American small businesses identified government regulations as their biggest challenge with taxes, and getting new customers rounding out the top three. Canadian businesses cited getting new customers to be their top challenge this year with taxes and government regulations coming in second and third.

For more information on the Sage Small Business Outlook Survey, check out our infographics on the United States and Canadian results.