Two recently released surveys reveal the almost dizzying state of the small business economy. BizBuySell is just out with its Insight Report for the second quarter of 2025, and the news is not good.
Business-for-sale transactions slowed “modestly” in the second quarter and sale prices trended lower. BizBuySell, which tracks and analyzes U.S. business-for-sale transactions and sentiment from business owners, buyers, and brokers, reports that demand has shifted in favor of buyers.
Sales of businesses were down 4% from the second quarter of 2024, “when easing inflation, stronger-than-expected 2.8% GDP growth, and heightened buyer confidence pushed transactions to a multi-year high.”
The positive momentum shifted earlier this year when the Trump administration’s tariff announcements “triggered uncertainty and slowed deal activity.”
The Impact of Tariffs
BizBuySell reports that “small business owners are grappling with dual pressures of elevated inflation and newly imposed tariffs driving up costs, resulting in 46% of the survey business owners saying that tariffs have increased their costs. And 55% say inflation hasn’t eased yet. To combat this, 66% have raised prices—to mixed customer reaction.
This, says BizBuySell, has seemingly impacted deal size. “Q2’s completed deals generated $1.9 billion in total enterprise value, down 4% [from 2024] and 6% from Q1, driven in part by a shift toward smaller transactions. The median sale price fell 6% year-over-year to $352,000, while median cash flow declined 2.6%. Median revenue held steady.”
Most (68%) of the business owners report their customers are more “selective,” focusing on buying essentials and reducing their discretionary spending. These headwinds, says BizBuySell, are prompting some to delay hiring, scale back growth plans, or postpone expansion efforts.
Small Business Earnings Climb, But…
There’s a more positive outlook coming from Biz2Credit’s July Small Business Earning Report, which reports that average monthly earnings for June hit $62,300, up $13,000 from May. Average monthly revenue ($614,200) for June was up $66,600 from May.
But, likely due to increasing tariffs, business expenses also increased by $53,600 to $551,900 in June. And while June’s earnings made it the healthiest month of 2025, in fact, earnings were 52% down from June 2024, when the average small business earnings were $128,900.
Rohit Arora, the CEO of Biz2Credit, says, “Small business owners have been through an emotional roller coaster in the first half of 2025. In the early part of the year, inflation was subsiding, which provided a much-needed tailwind. However, with the changes in tariff policy and the rise in uncertainty, the second quarter was particularly challenging for many business owners to navigate.”
Arora is somewhat hopeful, however, saying that the resilience and optimism of small business owners will keep the sector strong. He believes the newly passed tax law “should have some positive effects for the business community and there is the potential for interest rate cuts in the second half of the year, which would obviously bring down borrowing costs.” However, he adds, “Business owners will still need to navigate an uncertain economy with renewed prospects for tariffs and a slight increase in inflation back in play.”
#StandwithSCORE
One organization that helps small business owners start and stay strong is SCORE. Since SCORE was launched nearly 61 years ago, the nonprofit organization has helped over 17 million small business owners.
And yet, not much has changed since I first posted about being “mad as hell” because funding for SCORE and the Women’s Business Centers was eliminated in the president’s budget for fiscal year 2026, and has not yet been reinstated by Congress.
SCORE needs that money so it can continue to support small business owners, whether they’re starting or scaling their companies.
Support SCORE
After more than 60 years of supporting small businesses, SCORE needs your support. To date, over 55,000 letters have been sent to Congress, asking them to fund SCORE. Please join those supporters—here’s how:
- Fill out this form (it takes less than 2 minutes), which will be sent to your congressional representative’s offices.
- Contact your congressional representative and senators via phone or social media. Tell them to save the people who save small businesses. Include @scorementors in your post. And the hashtag #StandwithSCORE.
- If possible, donate to SCORE.
- Tell everyone you know to #StandwithSCORE.
Photo courtesy Natalia Blauth for Unsplash+
Rieva Lesonsky is President of Small Business Currents, LLC, a content company focusing on small businesses and entrepreneurship. You can find her on Twitter @Rieva, Bluesky @Rieva.bsky.social, and LinkedIn. Or email her at Rieva@SmallBusinessCurrents.com.