Small businesses have grown to employ just less than half of the American workforce and over 43% of US GDP (Gross Domestic Product), according to the US Chamber of Commerce. More importantly, small business owners are increasingly optimistic as American consumers continue to spend despite inflation still lingering just in reach of their wallets.

Chase Business Banking CEO Ben Walter sits down with Brad Smith on Yahoo Finance's Wealth! to talk small business owners' cheery outlook on growth as they adopt new strategies and technology to "cycle-proof" their businesses from economic conditions.

"Most of them [small businesses] are thinking much more long-term than that, and that's great. That's what we want to see. we want to see small businesses looking into the outer years, planning for whatever economic cycle may come. That's what we advise our clients to do, we advise them to be prepared for robust demand or weak demand," Walter explains. "We advise them to be prepared for inflationary environments or less inflationary environments. And that continues to be the case."

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This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.