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This article is part of the America's Favorite Mom & Pop Shops series. Read more stories
Key Takeaways Small businesses are optimizing for survival and flexibility, not rapid growth.
Rising costs and selective lending are reshaping how entrepreneurs define success.
Resilience has become a strategy, not a phase, for small businesses.
In 2025, small businesses continued to form the backbone of economic activity. This was through their widespread market presence rather than rapid expansion. Alongside accounting for the majority of operating firms, they supported more than half of the global workforce. Despite this, their operating conditions have become increasingly constrained.
Many small businesses are now adapting to tighter financing access and sustained cost pressures rather than prioritizing growth. These new challenges are reshaping how businesses plan, invest and view success.
When consolidating insights from multiple data sources, we see a business landscape centered around resilience rather than speed or scale.
Cost pressure is the primary constraint
Rising operating costs and inflation remained the most frequently cited business challenges in 2025 among small businesses. In Guidant’s Small Business Trends Infographic, 22% of business owners identified rising costs as their primary concern. Lack of capital or cash flow follows closely at 18%, reinforcing the compounding effect that financial pressure can have on small businesses.
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