What are the main challenges facing business owners in 2025?

Running a small business in 2024 wasn’t easy. Rising costs, hiring struggles, and a squeeze on consumer spending made trading tough for business owners across the UK. All sorts of measures were taken to stay afloat, from price hikes to cutting costs wherever possible, while some small business owners even dipped into their personal savings.

But what does 2025 have in store? We surveyed 500 small business owners across the UK to understand some of their biggest struggles in 2024 and find out what challenges they expect to face across the coming months.

Some important stats: 

• 29% of the business owners said the rising cost of energy was their biggest financial challenge in 2024  
• 20% of small business owners think they might have to shut down and cease trading in the next year 
• Over half of small business owners have struggled with late invoices or overdue payments in the past year 
• 81% of business owners felt some level of exhaustion in the past year and half are burnt out. 
• More than half of business owners (54%) say they’ve slightly deprioritised green practices 
• 82% of business owners struggled with hiring and retention in 2024 
• 74% of business owners are planning to introduce AI-driven processes in 2025 
• More than half of businesses (53%) have increased their cybersecurity spending in 2024  

What are the biggest challenges facing small businesses in 2025? 

We’ve pulled together all the main talking points and put them into this easy-to-read infographic. But the real details are in our full report. To download the PDF, simply give us your email address and we’ll deliver it straight to you. 

Now, about those challenges – do any of the issues below resonate with you and any struggles you might have as a small business owner? 

What other challenges are business owners facing in 2025?

Download the full PDF report to find out what other challenges business owners face in 2025.  

We found that the new government’s first Budget announcement back in autumn 2024 is causing some business owners a great deal of concern. This is largely down to how some measures will increase their outgoings. 

We also find out which industries are least confident about carrying on throughout 2025 and beyond, and how there seems to be a lot of confusion over cyber security. 

The report also includes commentary from the Bionic team on why these issues are a cause for concern and some steps that can be taken to help lessen their impact. 

To get the full report, simply leave us your email address in the box at the top of this guide and we’ll get it delivered straight to your inbox. 

How Bionic can ease some of the admin burden 

Business owners are facing an increasing number of headwinds, with little choice but to increase prices or find ways to cut costs to deal with higher overheads. But if you want to lower your business bills without affecting the quality of your products or services or increasing costs for customers, switching utility suppliers is a good place to start.

And Bionic can help lighten the load. Our tech-enabled team can take care of all of your business essentials to save you time and money on business energy, business insurance, and more. Get in touch now to see how we can help.