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More Than Half Plan to Expand Their Businesses, While Many Remain Worried About Inflation, Interest Rates, Supply Chains and Healthcare Costs
- Small and mid-sized business owners are cautiously optimistic about the coming year, with 74% expecting revenue increases and nearly 60% planning to expand their businesses, according to the 2025 Bank of America Business Owner Report, conducted in partnership with the Bank of America Institute. This corresponds with Bank of America Institute data which found small business profitability growth has remained resilient throughout 2025.
Approximately half of business owners surveyed believe that local (53%), national (48%) and global (45%) economies will improve over the next year. Many noted their confidence would improve with: stabilization of tariff policy (53%), cooling inflation (52%), lower interest rates (52%) and stronger supply chains (39%).
"Business owners are approaching the coming year with confidence and a clear focus on growth," said Sharon Miller, President of Business Banking at Bank of America, the nation's number one small business lender, according to the FDIC. "Many plan to retain their current staff and hire more, and anticipate that local, national and global economies will improve."
Key findings from the report include:
- Navigating a tight labor market – Roughly three in five business owners (61%) say they are currently being impacted by labor shortages. Those affected are personally working more hours due to staff shortages (50%) and raising wages to attract more competitive talent (40%). Because the labor market is tight, only 1% of business owners are planning to lay off employees in the next 12 months, with 43% planning to hire more.
- Adopting AI – AI has become essential to business owners, with 77% having integrated it into their operations in the past five years. Of those, they are using it for marketing (50%), content production (38%), customer service (37%) and inventory management (28%). According to Bank of America Institute, small business payments to tech services, including AI, were up nearly 8% year-over-year as of October.
- Optimizing supply chains – 75% of business owners surveyed say they are currently being impacted by supply chain issues. Of those impacted, 52% are raising the prices of goods and services and 32% are having difficulty sourcing products and services.
- Managing inflation – Most business owners (88%) say they are currently being impacted by inflation, consistent with last year. As a result, they are raising prices of goods and/or services (64%) and reevaluating cash flow and spending for the year ahead (39%).
Looking further into the future, business owners' focus on growth and innovation over the next five years signals cautious optimism.
- During the remainder of the decade, their priorities include expanding customer bases (47%), expanding products and services (39%) and exploring new marketing tactics (35%).
- Nearly all business owners (91%) plan to adopt more digital tools, including AI, over the next five years to further modernize, increase growth and improve employee efficiency. These business owners plan to:
- Accept more forms of digital payments (52%).
- Improve employee workflows to make daily tasks more efficient (47%).
- Implement more digital-first marketing strategies (45%).
- Increase cybersecurity measures (30%).
- Business owners are divided when it comes to succession planning, with the majority (70%) not focused on an exit strategy in the next five years. While 60% have a succession plan in place, 40% have yet to prepare for the future of their business.
- Among those with a succession plan in place, one-third (32%) plan to transition their business to a family member, while 38% plan to sell the business.
Bank of America 2025 Business Owner Report Methodology
Ipsos conducted the 2025 Bank of America Business Owner Report survey online between September 11 and September 23, 2025, using a pre-recruited online sample of business owners. Ipsos contacted a national sample of 819 small business owners in the United States with annual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing between two and 99 employees. Ipsos also interviewed a national sample of 253 medium-sized business owners in the United States with annual revenue between $5,000,000 and $49,999,999 and employing between two and 499 employees. The final results for the national small, medium-sized, and combined (small and medium-sized) business owner samples were weighted to their respective national benchmark standards for size, revenue and region.
Bank of America Institute
Bank of America Institute is dedicated to uncovering powerful insights that move business and society forward. Established in 2022, the Institute is a think tank that draws on data and analyses from across the bank and the world to provide timely and original perspectives on the economy, sustainability, and global transformation. The Institute leverages the depth and breadth of the bank's proprietary data, from nearly 70 million consumer and small business clients, 58 million verified digital users, $4.3 trillion in total payments in 2024 and $1.2 trillion in consumer and wealth management deposits. From this robust data set, the Institute provides a unique perspective on the health of the economy. It also elevates thought leadership from throughout the bank that addresses long-term trends and shares these findings with the general public.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving nearly 70 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,600 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 59 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Reporters may contact
Susan Atran, Bank of America
Phone: 1.646.743.0791
susan.atran@bofa.com
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SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
