For all the flack Donald Trump receives for his vague economic policy proposals, employers still view the Republican presidential front-runner as the ideal candidate for small businesses.

The Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management released a survey Friday indicating business owners prefer Trump over every remaining Republican and Democratic presidential candidate. Respondents chose Trump by a two-to-one margin, giving the real estate magnate a 34 percent favorability rating when it came to offering the best policies small businesses.

Democratic leader Hillary came in second with 18 percent, followed by Bernie Sanders at 12 percent; Ted Cruz at eight percent; and John Kasich with seven percent. Kasich won over 18 percent of mid-sized business owners, compared to Trump's 32 percent.

"Trump's popularity among small business owners is understandable since he is an independent business owner himself," said Dr. Craig R. Everett, assistant professor finance and director of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project, in a press release. Small business owners have felt in recent years that politicians have abandoned main street priorities in favor of the needs of the large multinational companies."

Everett added, "Trump's unapologetic pro-business attitude dampens the blowback from his more disturbing comments among a sizable number of America's private business owners."

Small Business Concerns

The biggest takeaway from Pepperdine's survey is that business owners are afraid to hire new workers. Balancing the U.S. budget and reforming the Affordable Care Act were the biggest concerns among the 2,469 respondents, the latter a sign that Obamacare may be stretching small businesses beyond their means.

Overall, 82 percent supported a balanced budget; 55 percent want significant ACA reform while another 48 percent want it repealed altogether.

About one in three people believe government regulation was the factor likely to influence the country's gross domestic product growth this year. Similarly, 23 percent are concerned politics, primarily the 2016 presidential race, will have an impact on the U.S. GDP.

Trump and the American Economy

Trump's tax reform plan centers around four goals: bringing tax relief to the middle class, simplifying the tax code, growing the economy by discouraging corporate inversions, and ensuring the trillion-dollar deficit doesn't grow.

One of his arguments is that countries like Mexico and China take of imbalanced trades with the U.S. Some economists believe his plan to levy high tariffs on these countries is sound, if anything because it would make them reconsider their trade practices.

Others, like AFL-CIO deputy chief of staff Thea Lee, warn that it could lead to another recession.

"His proposals aren't viable, they're not practical and they're hypocritical, to be honest, said Lee, in her appearance on CNBC's "Power Lunch" earlier this week. "There's no question that we have a terrible disadvantage right now because of our trade policies have failed, but obviously he's talking about policies that would be outside of all our current trade agreements and trade rules."