Launch of new Building Up Business programme
Small businesses are delaying or missing opportunities...
Posted April 3, 2025
- Three in ten (29%) of business owners looking to grow their business being held back by worries about finances
- A third (33%) of small business owners regularly losing sleep worrying about their business finances
- In last two years, a third (33%) have used personal finances to keep their business afloat.
Small businesses are delaying or missing opportunities to grow because of worries about their finances, new research by Business Debtline (run by the charity Money Advice Trust) has found.
Half (50%) of small business owners surveyed wanted to grow their business in the next 12 months. However, three in ten (29%) said that either a lack of skills and confidence managing their business finances, or difficulties in their financial situation was a key barrier to them doing so.
The research reveals the challenges and impact that navigating often complex business finances can have. Among small business owners who were not confident managing their business finances:
- 18% had delayed growth or investment opportunities
- One in five (21%) had fallen into debt
- 14% had missed a tax deadline.
Personal impact on small business owners
After a challenging few years for small businesses, hit firstly by the Covid-19 pandemic and then the high cost of living, many small business owners have felt the personal strain.
- A third (33%) said they were regularly losing sleep worrying about their business finances
- A third (33%) had used personal finances to keep their business afloat in the past two years
Graham found himself falling into debt during the pandemic as his photocopier support business faltered.
“I found myself struggling to pay my mortgage, credit cards and other expenses as I tried to prop up my business. After a while, unsure of what to do, I contacted Business Debtline. They helped me put together a budget and a repayment plan that worked for me. This level of support really took away a lot of stress for me and my wife and reassured us that there are always steps you can take to alleviate your debt.
“My business is now doing well but I wish I’d known more about different elements of business finances at the outset. You make decisions based on what you think you know, but if there was more support to understand different things, like trading statuses, I would have understood all my options. When I was starting out, I didn’t know what I didn’t know and that made it harder to cope with the impact of the pandemic until I reached out to Business Debtline.”
Need for improved support
Business Debtline say the findings highlight the need for improved support to build small business owners’ finance skills and confidence. Only half (51%) of small business owners said they knew where to go if they needed support with their business finances and more than a quarter (28%) don’t think there is good support available for them.
In response, Business Debtline has launched a free, online learning platform for small businesses. The Building Up Business programme offers bitesize videos on key elements of business finances, including taxes, trading statuses, cash-flow and understanding finance agreements – all designed to help small business owners better navigate their finances and help more businesses to thrive.
Business Debtline is calling on the Government to use their promised small business strategy to develop new approaches to delivering tailored finance skills support to small business owners, including exploring the use of AI to enable small business owners to get tailored support with specific business finance queries. Currently, less than a third (31%) of small business owners surveyed thought the government had done a good job in providing support to navigate business finances.
The charity is also calling for:
- Continued investment by HMRC in tools to help small business owners understand their tax obligations, with a quarter (25%) saying it is difficult to get a quick response to tax queries.
- Banks, business energy suppliers and other creditors to maximise opportunities to refer small businesses for support.
Steve Vaid, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, the charity that runs Business Debtline, said:
“Small businesses are at the heart of our economy and a key part of delivering sustainable growth. However, too many are being held back by financial concerns, as well as the challenges and complexities that business finances can often present.
“Through our research, we’ve heard from many people running small businesses who tell us they struggled to find suitable support, both in helping them build their business finance knowledge and in dealing with specific issues they have faced. Without this type of support, problems can quickly escalate and create a higher risk of financial difficulty.
“Our Building Up Business programme aims to address this by offering new, free resources to small business owners, grounded in our decades of expertise running Business Debtline.
“But we know we cannot solve this problem alone. The Government now has a crucial opportunity to work with small businesses to develop new approaches to support, including exploring the use of AI and investing in suitable HMRC capacity to ensure small business owners get the help they need when dealing with tax issues.”
