A picture of the challenges facing some small business owners in the province is becoming clearer.
A new survey from Merchant Growth, a B.C.-based alternative financing company, provides a snapshot — and it’s grim.
It shows 86 per cent of B.C. business owners are making personal sacrifices to keep their business running, including reducing or eliminating their own salaries, delaying retirement, or selling off assets.
Others are said to be returning to a full-time job while running their business on the side.
Dave Gens, founder of Merchant Growth, tells 1130 NewsRadio the state of the economy plays a big role.
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Amid rising costs, the U.S. trade war, inflation, job insecurity and lower-than-usual revenues, he says consumer spending habits are changing as people try to stretch every dollar.
“The current environment is causing stress for a lot of small businesses,” said Gens.
“The overall stats from our survey show about 22 per cent… say their performance has worsened in 2025. That’s a big number and concerning. That’s our B.C. number; the nationwide number was 29 per cent.”
Inflation was also listed as a major hurdle.
“Eighty-two per cent of B.C. businesses that we surveyed cite inflation as their top challenge. So that’s a massive number. Clearly, that’s affecting a variety of different sectors. Input costs are up for a lot of small businesses. That causes prices to go up for consumers, and prices are still cited as the largest barrier to spending more money locally for Canadians.”
“Eighty-two per cent of B.C. businesses that we surveyed cite inflation as their top challenge.”
Gens says the provincial government could subsidize or offer funding to small businesses — though that may be a tall order, given Finance Minister Brenda Bailey forecast a record-high deficit of almost $11.6 billion for the first quarter of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Gens says some small business owners are scaling back their hours and operations and cutting staff to make ends meet.
“Austerity has been a part of it, at the same time as trying to figure out how to grow revenue. There’s no single ‘silver bullet,’ and it really depends on what kind of business you’re in and what it is you need to do to survive and thrive.”
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Gens points out that some owners are feeling resilient and hopeful that things will improve in the future.
“I think there is a general agreement amongst society, really, that having a lot of small businesses is the type of world we want to live in, as opposed to an economy that’s dominated by a few big companies.”
There is hope that small businesses may get some relief, at least in the short term, as people gear up for holiday shopping, but Gens says that will only make a difference if people shop locally.