Their circumstances may vary, but many small business owners who responded to a recent survey by Raleigh-based First Citizens Bank were optimistic about the future of business and planned to expand their operations in the upcoming year.

Results of the survey, which polled 250 small business owners of varying ages in North and South Carolina, Florida and California in September, were published in the 2015 First Citizens Bank Small Business Forecast.

Regardless of their age, the small business owners had a “thriving and growing” entrepreneurial spirit, the survey found – noting that the spirit was particularly high among female and millennial populations. More than 40 percent of female respondents, for example, said starting their own business gave them an opportunity to realize a dream.

In the survey, 73 percent of the owners said they planned to grow their business in the next six to 12 months.

Jim Bryan, the bank’s Eastern North Carolina regional executive, said the survey results ring true in the Wilmington market.

“I hear it over and over. I’m inquisitive, being a banker. Whether I am eating in their restaurant or visiting their business, I get into a conversation [with the owner]. It’s fascinating to me. This survey reflects what I see when I talk with them,” Bryan said. “They are working towards a goal that is consistent with their values.

“I ask them where they are from, and often it’s from the Northeast or Chicago – not from here,” he continued, adding that many of these people have moved to Wilmington to start a business, often with a spouse or other family member. They may “work night and day,” but they are doing it on their own terms, Bryan said.

“In a corporation, you go where they tell you and when they tell you, and you work the hours they tell you,” he said. “But this [small business] is their choice. And that is important to millenials too.”