Even in the face of tariff uncertainty and ongoing inflation, owners of small- to medium-sized businesses remain bullish about current conditions and optimistic about the future, reveals a new industry survey.
The Coral Gables, Florida-based tech and financial services company Revenued is reporting that an overwhelming 88% of small and medium business owners expressed confidence about prospects heading into 2026.
Moreover, says a press release attached to the survey responses, “this optimism is turning into action, with 68% planning to invest in business growth, and 58% intending to hire additional staff.”
The buoyant responses appear to be more remarkable given that 67% of the survey respondents said they had been negatively impacted by the new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, with that same percentage also pointing to the challenges of rising material costs.
Some 74% of companies in the manufacturing sector, which includes medical equipment, automotive, and furniture plants, said they were affected by the tariffs; while 68% of retail owners, which takes in consumer goods and apparel stores, also felt tariff pressure.
A lower 41% of serviced-based companies, including professional services and the giant healthcare industry, “reported indirect tariff impact through inflation-driven costs and vendor price hikes.”
In an ongoing complaint, 62% of the respondents said they were having trouble in finding quality workers; with a lower 15% indicating that their hiring challenges in the last quarter were “due to changes in US immigration policies.”
Challenges accessing credit were reported by 64% of respondents, who pointed to stricter lending standards and higher rates. Just under 50% said they had been denied a line of credit or a bank loan in the last two years.
Perhaps most troubling, a sizable 47% disclosed that they have “no emergency reserves to cover cash flow disruptions.”
For all of that, confidence and optimism appear to be endemic in the small- and medium-sized business community. The 68% saying they plan to invest in business growth indicated that those investments could come in the form of new equipment purchases, facility expansion, or in hiring.
On just the question of adding to their workforce, 58% said they intend to hire additional staff in the next year.
Notes the Revenued narrative: “Despite existing challenges, the outlook for the future remains largely positive.” The consistently positive responses not only reveal small- and medium-sized business confidence, but “a strong belief in favorable future developments.”
August 21, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
