Small Business Trends 2024: Business Financing

Discover what 250+ small business owners have to say about the challenges they’ve faced in the past year, small business lending trends, and their economic outlook for 2025.

What are the small business trends in 2024?

The U.S. economy has beat expectations on many counts so far in 2024–inflation has decreased, consumer spending has largely been sustained, and GDP growth has slowed, but not as much as experts predicted. At the same time, uncertainty remains as the elections are coming up and households accrue debt.

To understand how this year has impacted small business, Credibly conducted a survey in June 2024 of over 250 small business owners. We sought to understand their successes and challenges in the past year, their ability to access capital, as well as their economic outlook on the next 12 months.

Enjoy some of our key findings below and dive into the full report to get all the insights from fellow business owners, industry experts, and Credibly’s leaders.

Insights from Credibly

Find out the key stats in the report

Sentiment on the economy has improved year over year.

39% of small business owners disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement “I am optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy right now”.

Though sentiment is low overall, this is an improvement from the 2023 survey where 48% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the same statement.

Access to capital is a top challenge.

46% reported access to capital as their top challenge in the year. Though the economy has beat expectations this year, interest rates remain high. Many are choosing not to apply for financing at all because they believe they will not be approved.

Businesses widened their search for financing

In 2023, business owners on average looked to two sources of financing. In the past year, the average has increased to three, with more business owners looking to take personal loans or dip into their personal funds to finance their business.

Owners are looking to expand next year.

Despite the challenges, business owners are forging ahead with plans to expand their reach through additional locations or efforts to grow their customer base.

In fact, 27% of business owners chose this as their top area for investment.