Small Business Tariff Impact 2025: Early Warning Signs Every Owner Must Know

by Admin | Aug 28, 2025 | Business Strategy, Economic Insight, Profitability, SMB Leadership

The small businesses that pay tariffs directly to US Customs saw their costs jump 170% since January 2025, serving as an early warning system for the broader economy. These direct importers are essentially economic canaries in the coal mine. They feel policy changes...

Small Business Pricing Strategy: What 5.5 Years of Data Reveals About Profitability

by Admin | Aug 21, 2025 | Business Strategy, Economic Insight, Strategy Planning

NFIB data from 2020 through July 2025 reveals a pattern that challenges expectations that pricing increases lead to improved profitability. The Pricing-Profit Disconnect During this period, the net percentage of businesses raising prices and their reported net profit...

The Cautious Recovery: When Relief Doesn’t Equal Growth Confidence

by Admin | Aug 14, 2025 | Business Strategy, Economic Insight, SMB Leadership, Strategy Planning

When two major organizations independently report the same business trend, smart leaders pay attention. The latest US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index (Q2 2025) confirms what I analyzed last month in my post based on June 2025 NFIB data: small businesses are...

The Modern Management Shift: 40 Years of Women’s Growth in Leadership Roles

by Admin | Aug 7, 2025 | Business Strategy, Economic Insight, SMB Leadership

A July 2025 Pew Research report shows that in 1980, women held 29% of management roles in American businesses. By 2023, that figure had risen to 46%, a welcome 17-percentage-point increase over four decades. Women’s educational gains drove much of this shift,...

The SMB Credit Catch-22: When Markets Don’t Optimize for Growth

by Admin | Jul 31, 2025 | Becoming Bankable, Economic Insight, SMB Leadership

Recent Federal Reserve data reveals a troubling inefficiency in small business financing that should concern every business leader. The numbers don’t just show disparities—they expose a fundamental market failure. The Math Doesn’t Add Up Here’s what...

When Business Optimism Doesn’t Equal Investment: Another Small Business Paradox

by Admin | Jul 24, 2025 | Economic Insight, Profitability, Strategy Planning

Small businesses are caught in an unprecedented puzzle. From October 2024 to June 2025, NFIB data reveals how small businesses moved from pre-election caution to post-election optimism, only to return to hesitancy as evolving tariff-related policies created new...