Record number of small business owners awake at night over market worries
The percentage of small business owners that say workplace worries keep them awake at night has hit 10-year peak, according to new research from Novuna Business Finance. Nationally, eight in 10 (82%) business owners say they get broken sleep or lie awake at night worrying about pressing business issues – up from 75% this time last year.
The findings come at a time when the percentage of small businesses predicting growth this quarter has fallen to 33%. The new Novuna data quantifies the stresses that can be associated with running a small business, dealing with unexpected surprises and volatile market conditions. This annual poll on sleepless nights provides a measure of the real human impact for business owners – and the intensity of concerns that occupy their minds outside working hours.
Percentage of small business owners kept awake at night worrying about business issues
Q1 15 | Q1 16 | Q1 17 | Q1 18 | Q1 19 | Q1 20 | Q1 21 | Q1 22 | Q1 23 | Q1 24 | Q1 25 |
72% | 70% | N/A | 70% | 76% | 74% | 80% | 77% | 79% | 75% | 82% |
Sector findings
Coinciding with the launch of a new Novuna Business Finance report that reviews business outlook over time, the new Novuna research reveals significant sector findings, where the percentage of small business owners citing sleepless nights has risen sharply. Manufacturing, agriculture, legal services and transport/distribution are the sectors where the prevalence of sleepless nights for business owners have risen sharply over the last 12-months.
Industry sectors where more small business owners
are kept awake at night by business worries
| Sleepless nights Q1 2025 | Sleepless nights Q1 2024 |
Finance & accounting | 90% (+8) | 82% |
Agriculture | 89% (+14) | 75% |
Manufacturing | 88% (+16) | 72% |
Media & marketing | 84% (+12) | 72% |
Legal services | 83% (+19) | 62% |
Transport & distribution | 81% (+15) | 66% |
Medical services | 74% (+8) | 66% |
The issues business owners are most likely to be worrying about in the early hours include: Uncertainty of market outlook (47%), the impact of rising National Insurance and the prospect of future tax and interest rate rises (40%), strategies to retain business (28%), managing cash flow (28%) and the burden of red tape (26%). Nationally, 15% of small business owners say they are still feeling the adverse impacts from the long tail of Brexit on their business, an issue that still keeps some awake at night.
Joanna Morris, head of insight at Novuna Business Finance Comments: “Worrying about growth is an everyday part of the working week for most small businesses – but when business owners are kept awake at night working through issues, we gain a sense on the intensity of some of these concerns for entrepreneurs. Further, our research suggests that sleepless nights are not just confined to businesses that are struggling to grow – in sectors such as manufacturing and transport/distribution. Our data also suggests that managing fast-paced or significant growth can also be stressful for established businesses. Among those enterprises surveyed that predicted significant expansion this quarter, there was a significant rise in the percentage of business owners that said business worried kept them awake at night (84% up from 75% this time last year).”