A brand new survey from GoDaddy Inc. reveals that whereas almost half of U.S. microbusiness house owners anticipate a weakening nationwide financial system within the coming months, most nonetheless keep confidence within the progress prospects of their very own enterprises.
In line with information launched Could 5, 2025, by the GoDaddy Small Enterprise Analysis Lab, 49% of the two,100 surveyed enterprise house owners count on the nationwide financial system to say no within the subsequent six months, a 17-point enhance from 2024. Regardless of this shift in sentiment, 66% of respondents expressed optimistic income expectations, with solely 9% forecasting a decline in gross sales.
“Small enterprise house owners are reasonable in regards to the financial system, however they imagine in themselves,” stated GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani. “GoDaddy’s analysis reveals they continue to be intent on pushing their small companies ahead.”
The survey findings, compiled by the GoDaddy Small Enterprise Analysis Lab—previously often known as Enterprise Ahead—point out a gradual pattern of softening optimism. In 2023, 73% of microbusiness house owners anticipated income progress within the first half of the yr. That determine has declined to 66% in 2025.
The analysis additionally reveals a shift in long-term enterprise objectives. Forty % of respondents now say they plan to stay solo entrepreneurs, up from 36% the earlier yr. This means a rising desire for lifestyle-aligned enterprise fashions fairly than scaling to mid-size or bigger enterprises.
Value Pressures and Monetary Stress Enhance
Whereas optimism stays, small companies proceed to face mounting monetary challenges. Greater than half of these surveyed (52%) recognized restricted money circulate as their biggest monetary impediment. Particular considerations embrace current bills (34%) and pricing pressures on items and providers (33%).
These pressures are notably pronounced in sure sectors, with 40% of respondents in Building & House Trades and 36% in Inventive-Media reporting pricing considerations. Smaller companies—particularly solo operations and people with restricted employees—report struggling most with routine working bills.
Amongst corporations with 5–9 staff, wages have grow to be the highest monetary problem, cited by 45% of these surveyed. GoDaddy notes this displays a shift towards labor-related bills turning into extra vital as companies broaden.
Monetary pressure was additionally named the first stressor by 33% of respondents, rating increased than considerations about know-how adoption, vendor administration, or buyer acquisition and retention.
Entry to Capital Bettering
One probably optimistic pattern is the development in entry to capital. Solely 8% of homeowners surveyed cited it as their main problem, down from 10% within the prior yr.
Victor W. Hwang, founder and CEO of Proper to Begin, a nonprofit targeted on small enterprise progress, commented on the survey’s findings: “The outcomes of this GoDaddy survey display quantitatively the drive and resilience of entrepreneurs all throughout the US. Their dedication to their enterprises is relentless and modern. America’s entrepreneurs are a unprecedented useful resource for strengthening the U.S. financial system and rising new companies and jobs nationwide.”
Leo Lopez, proprietor of San Jose-based La Fenice Pizza, added: “The financial system is unquestionably unsure proper now, however as a small enterprise proprietor, you study to dwell with that. I’ve needed to alter, simplify, and deal with what actually works, and that’s helped me develop stronger. For me, resilience isn’t about being unaffected. It’s about discovering a solution to preserve going, even when issues get unpredictable. That’s how I’ve constructed my enterprise, and I believe loads of us are doing the identical.”
“Entrepreneurs are planning for what’s forward,” Bhutani stated. “They’re navigating these occasions by staying targeted and decided. At GoDaddy, our job is to verify they’ve the instruments they should succeed.”
