Small businesses remain optimistic despite high stress, report reveals

Despite one in four (25 per cent) small businesses reporting use of personal savings to stay afloat, close to one in two (45 per cent) of these businesses anticipate that customer demand will improve over the next year, research has shown.

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For its latest report, 2025 Small Business Perspectives, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) and Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) collected responses from a survey of 841 small business owners. This data revealed the pressures and opportunities that small businesses faced in July 2025.

More support needed

COSBOA chair Matthew Addison (pictured) said small businesses experienced rising costs, workforce shortages, regulatory complexity, and digital disruption – governing bodies must do more to assist small businesses through these challenges, Addison said.

“What we’re seeing is not a lack of resilience, but a system that needs to do more to support small businesses,” he said.

According to COSBOA and CBA data, 64 per cent of small businesses reported lower profits than last year (compared to 40 per cent in 2024), six in 10 (60 per cent) reported at least occasionally not being able to pay themselves, and one in four said they regularly had to dip into their personal savings.

The research also revealed that costs placed a heavy burden on small businesses – 72 per cent of SME owners said that rising business costs held their organisations back from expansion, while nearly three in four owners expected costs to rise again in the next 12 months.

In addition, the report found that many small business owners spent more than six hours every week on regulatory tasks, as most owners reported that compliance was one of their top five business expenses. These responsibilities contributed to the significant mental health impacts on these owners – 76 per cent reported experiencing stress or anxiety, and 57 per cent reported experiencing burnout.

A system stacked against owners

Based on the findings, nearly one in two (46 per cent) small business owners said that AI improved their business, 63 per cent of owners were content with their decision to start a business, motivated by purpose, independence, and community connection, and almost half (45 per cent) projected that consumer demand will rise over the next 12 months.

Addison said owners often felt like the system was “stacked against them”; however, with the right policy settings, including fairer taxes, targeted skills support, digital investment, and red tape reduction, small businesses could thrive, he said.

Rebecca Warren, executive general manager – small business at CBA, said despite an increasingly challenging and complicated operating environment, small business owners remained committed to their staff, customers and communities.

“Many are telling us they feel more confident about the year ahead,” Warren said.

 

 

 

 

 

Carlos Tse
30 October 2025
accountantsdaily.com.au