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Forbes
23-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Small Business Earnings Are Rising In 2025
stack of silver coins with trading chart in financial concepts and financial investment business ... More stock growth Despite the lingering threat of tariffs, interest rates that have not come down as expected, and higher structural costs, small business earnings continue to rise in 2025. According to Biz2Credit's monthly Small Business Earnings Report, average monthly earnings increased to $62,300 in June 2025, up markedly from May. This continues a positive run for earnings, nearly doubling since the beginning of the year. Key Findings for June 2025: Small businesses have faced strong headwinds in 2025, yet continue to produce growing earnings. In the first half of 2025, small business earnings have risen 75% as inflation remains tempered under 3% this year. Expenses ticked upward as small businesses continue to feel the brunt of tariffs on imports and various input goods, but significant price hikes for consumers haven't manifested yet. Reasons Why Small Business Earnings Continue to Climb in 2025 We have seen a downward trend of inflation in 2025, after several years of high inflation. Gasoline prices have dropped significantly in the past year. AAA reports that the current average price of gasoline is $3.14, compared to $3.50 a year ago. The price of eggs, famously a barometer for inflation in 2024 last year, has decreased 7.4% in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Early in the year, many economists warned that President Trump's tariff wars could kickstart inflation. That has not yet happened as the president has been using tariffs to renegotiate with trade partners and not yet begun collecting the steep levies he warned of when he first took office. Further, for the sectors in which tariffs have gone into effect, many businesses stocked up on inventory that they expected to be slapped with the import taxes. Technology not only reduces costs by reducing paperwork, costs of marketing, and the labor required for repetitive tasks, but it also drives revenue with digital tools that help expand markets. Out of necessity, small businesses upgraded their online sales capabilities during the pandemic, when consumers could not go out and shop. Business owners continued to increase their capabilities after the COVID lockdowns, resulting in expansion nationwide and even internationally. Small business owners remain cautiously hopeful for the remainder of the year as tax reform is complete. Taxes have remained a large pain point for small business operators, but now they should expect more stability and predictability after the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4. Consumer spending has remained strong, particularly for industries like arts & entertainment (Broadway had a record year), dining, and travel and tourism. Small businesses in these sectors are still benefiting from pent-up demand from the pandemic years. Spurred by SBA lending and the growth of fintech lenders that offer alternative lending products, investment capital is available to help business owners pursue their goals. They are taking advantage of the availability of shorter processing times for funding requests and ceasing growth opportunities when they arise. Interest rates are lower than they were a year ago, and there is also reason for optimism since the Federal Reserve has signaled the possibility of interest rate cuts in the second half of 2025. The easing of inflation has put more pressure on the Fed to lower rates for the first since 2024. Related: Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady, But Signals Cuts May Happen This Year Lowering the cost of capital helps firms that have variable rate small business loans. Businesses may take advantage of the opportunity to refinance existing debt. This is helpful for companies that are looking to invest in their long-term growth or simply lower cost pressures. Potential Causes of Concern for Small Business Earnings The economy is still relatively strong, but certain cost pressures remain and continue to hurt earnings growth. Despite the generally good news as the second half of the year is underway, there are still areas of concern. The labor market is still strong. Thus, it costs more to attract, hire and retain them in many sectors of the economy. Commercial rents have remained high this year and show no signs of declining. Natural disasters and other factors have put pressure on insurance companies, which are unlikely to lower their rates. Utility bills in many sections of the country have soared. These fixed costs, if they continue to rise, naturally will hurt the earnings of small businesses. For instance, The average rate of commercial space was $33.15 per sq. foot in May, increasing 4.8% year-over-year, according to Commercial Café. The rise in online retailing has spurred demand for warehouse space for storage and distribution of orders. This has driven up rental rates and construction of industrial facilities, reports IBISWorld, which provides industry research on thousands of industries, including commercial real estate. Rents remain elevated in urban corridors of top-tier markets like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, where commercial space on 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side can command $2,000 per sq. foot. Additionally, commercial rents in suburbs like New York, Boston, and Dallas have all seen more consistent rent growth due to population shifts, and the appeal of convenient, service-oriented retail space, according to CBRE. U.S. commercial insurance rates rose 3% on average in Q1 2025, up from the previous quarter, with umbrella/excess liability and auto coverages experiencing the highest rate increases, according to MarketScout's Market Barometer. Commercial insurance rates also rose dramatically in 2024. Utility bills are rising, particularly during this hot summer. In Q2 2025 alone, U.S. utilities requested or received approval for roughly $9 billion in electricity-rate increases—bringing the first-half total to $29 billion, more than double the same period in 2024, reports Related: Three Ways To Increase Earnings This Summer Despite cost pressures, small business earnings continue to grow this year. In fact, increases have been consistent because of the solid revenues and the overall reduction of inflation. All eyes will be on whether the Federal Reserve moves on interest rates during the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later this month on July 29-30.
Forbes
16-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Small Business Earnings Rebound, Yet Lag 2023 Levels: Biz2Credit
Small businesses see gains, per Biz2Credit — just don't check the rearview mirror. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Here's the good news. Small business earnings rose 75% since January 2025. The increase comes despite President Trump's tariffs, which threatened to raise business costs and dampen consumer spending. The data comes from Biz2Credit, a New York City-based online marketplace for small business financing that publishes a monthly Small Business Earnings Report. Biz2Credit analyzes key financial metrics, including annual revenue, operating expenses, business age, credit scores, approval rates, and funding rates. Its report draws on data from over 100,000 completed financing applications submitted between January 2022 and June 2025 through Biz2Credit's online funding platform. But here's the bad news. Monthly earnings remain significantly below levels seen in the previous two years. According to Biz2Credit, average monthly earnings topped out at about $250,000 in the summer of 2023. By June 2024, that figure had dropped to $128,900. This June, the average was just $62,300. Biz2Credit's data shows that small business earnings tend to be seasonal with summer being the most lucrative time of year. Factors such as holiday consumer spending, weather-dependent demand, and annual tax cycles often influence earnings patterns. This year, so far at least, has been no different. The takeaway: While earnings have improved since the start of the year, small businesses are still worse off than they were in each of the prior two years. Even so, the recent uptick isn't trivial. At a minimum, it signals that conditions aren't getting worse. For the moment at least. Though with on again, off again tariff negotiations, there's no guarantee of smooth sailing from here on out. The earnings rise isn't the only reason for growing optimism among small businesses (the National Federation of Independent Business Optimism Index fell by 0.2 in June, though at a 98.6 reading it remains higher than the gauge's 51-year average of 98). Biz2Credit points to President Trump's recently signed "Big Beautiful Bill," enacted on July 4, as a key confidence booster. Additionally, anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate cuts later this year are expected to support further improvement. Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora says taxes have been a significant concern for small business operators. But, he adds, small businesses can now expect greater stability and predictability following the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill. In part, that's because the Big Beautiful Bill made the small business tax cuts passed in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. And that predictability may help sustain the earnings momentum that started back in January. More from Forbes Forbes Trump Administration Tightens Citizenship Requirements For Small Businesses Seeking Loans By Brandon Kochkodin Forbes $183 Billion Is Up For Grabs, If Small Businesses Can Read The Fine Print By Brandon Kochkodin Forbes SBA Loan Limit May Double To $10 Million, But Not For Every Small Business By Brandon Kochkodin Forbes Why An MBA Is A Mistake For Most Small Biz Owners By Brandon Kochkodin
Business Standard
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Biz2X to Power KreditVenture's Digital Lending with its Next-Gen End-to-End AI-Enabled Platform
NewsVoir New Delhi [India], July 2: Biz2X, a global SaaS lending platform and subsidiary of Biz2Credit, has announced the onboarding of KreditVenture, a fast-growing new age NBFC in India to offer its AI-powered digital lending platform. With this development, Biz2X will equip the NBFC with an end-to-end digital lending product suite embedded with state-of-the-art and first of its kind AI capabilities for faster, consistent and intelligent credit distribution. With its aggressive growth plans, KreditVenture will deploy Biz2X's AI enabled solutions to scale up their LAP, Used Commercial Vehicle Finance, and Used Car Loans Finance. KreditVenture will benefit from Biz2X's groundbreaking AI-led solutions, including the Agentic AI Bot for automating credit underwriting and loan sanctions, thereby improving their turnaround time by over 50%. Biz2X's proprietary alternate scoring model - the Biz Analyzer, will offer KreditVenture a superior and more accurate assessment of applications where traditional underwriting is challenging due to lack of information. Biz2X's groundbreaking solution, the Digital Site Visit application will lead to significant reduction in operational and customer acquisition costs arising out of field, collateral, and site visits. More importantly, it will eliminate frauds related to site visit, the bottlenecks created due to delays in site visit and improve the turnaround time of processing loan applications. Mr. Saif Hasan, Founder and CEO of KreditVenture, said, "There is a Strategic Shift towards Secured Lending in India and digitisation will be the key differentiator. With ground breaking new age AI suite of Biz2X, we will leverage the technological edge in our high touch and high-tech model as we serve India's credit needs. Their AI-powered digital lending platform will enhance our underwriting capabilities, enable faster, data-led credit decisions, optimize costs, and scale with confidence as we remain committed to empowering Bharat with access to credit." Mr. Rohit Arora, Co-Founder and CEO of Biz2Credit and Biz2X, said, "KreditVenture's vision to adopt next-gen AI-enabled lending technology aligns seamlessly with our mission to revolutionize lending in India. As the digital lending landscape undergoes a paradigm shift with AI at its core, our advanced platform will empower KreditVenture to move beyond static financial data and adopt intelligent, scalable, and inclusive lending infrastructure that is built on end-to-end automation and real-time decisioning." The partnership is another step forward in strengthening Biz2X's growing footprint as a strategic technology partner in India, for digitizing and scaling lending operations for financial institutions and highlights the increasing demand for integrated, AI-powered digital lending solutions.
Fashion Value Chain
02-07-2025
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Biz2X to Power KreditVenture's Digital Lending with its Next-Gen End-to-End AI-Enabled Platform
Biz2X, a global SaaS lending platform and subsidiary of Biz2Credit, has announced the onboarding of KreditVenture, a fast-growing new age NBFC in India to offer its AI-powered digital lending platform. With this development, Biz2X will equip the NBFC with an end-to-end digital lending product suite embedded with state-of-the-art and first of its kind AI capabilities for faster, consistent and intelligent credit distribution. L to R: Jaspreet Singh, Co-Founder of KreditVenture; Saif Hasan, Founder & CEO of KreditVenture; Pankaj Sharma, Chief Revenue Officer of Biz2X With its aggressive growth plans, KreditVenture will deploy Biz2X's AI enabled solutions to scale up their LAP, Used Commercial Vehicle Finance, and Used Car Loans Finance. KreditVenture will benefit from Biz2X's groundbreaking AI-led solutions, including the Agentic AI Bot for automating credit underwriting and loan sanctions, thereby improving their turnaround time by over 50%. Biz2X's proprietary alternate scoring model – the Biz Analyzer, will offer KreditVenture a superior and more accurate assessment of applications where traditional underwriting is challenging due to lack of information. Biz2X's groundbreaking solution, the Digital Site Visit application will lead to significant reduction in operational and customer acquisition costs arising out of field, collateral, and site visits. More importantly, it will eliminate frauds related to site visit, the bottlenecks created due to delays in site visit and improve the turnaround time of processing loan applications. Mr. Saif Hasan, Founder and CEO of KreditVenture, said, 'There is a Strategic Shift towards Secured Lending in India and digitisation will be the key differentiator. With ground breaking new age AI suite of Biz2X, we will leverage the technological edge in our high touch and high-tech model as we serve India's credit needs. Their AI-powered digital lending platform will enhance our underwriting capabilities, enable faster, data-led credit decisions, optimize costs, and scale with confidence as we remain committed to empowering Bharat with access to credit.' Mr. Rohit Arora, Co-Founder and CEO of Biz2Credit and Biz2X, said, 'KreditVenture's vision to adopt next-gen AI-enabled lending technology aligns seamlessly with our mission to revolutionize lending in India. As the digital lending landscape undergoes a paradigm shift with AI at its core, our advanced platform will empower KreditVenture to move beyond static financial data and adopt intelligent, scalable, and inclusive lending infrastructure that is built on end-to-end automation and real-time decisioning.' The partnership is another step forward in strengthening Biz2X's growing footprint as a strategic technology partner in India, for digitizing and scaling lending operations for financial institutions and highlights the increasing demand for integrated, AI-powered digital lending solutions.
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Three Ways To Increase Earnings This Summer
Despite Tariff and Tax Concerns, Small Business Were Able to Increase Earnings in May for Fifth Straight Month, and More Can Be Done WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President Donald Trump gestures while speaking during his "Liberation Day ... More announcement in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025. (Photo by) Small businesses grew earnings in May despite uptick in expenses, tariff uncertainty, and concerns about taxes. Despite fears of small business owners following President Trump's 'Liberation Day' on April 2, when many expressed concern that the president's tariffs on foreign-made goods would send inflation soaring, it has yet to materialize at this point. While inflation is still above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%, many business owners are more profitable than they had predicted. However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned earlier in June that we may not have felt the full impact of higher tariffs yet, since goods sold in the early part of the year might have been imported into the country before the tariffs took effect. Related: Fed Holds Interest Rates Steady, But Signals Cuts May Happen This Year In general, as the weather has gotten hotter, the economy has also heated up, too. Biz2Credit's monthly Small Business Earnings Report, which tracks monthly revenues, expenses, and earnings, found that average earnings rose to $49,300 in May 2025, up slightly from April's number. This continues a positive run for earnings, rising 53% since January. Some key findings: With the summer months now upon us and inflation seemingly tempered, small businesses are seeing growth in top line revenue, expenses, and earnings. The positive marks for enterprise operators echo the sentiment in the U.S. Small Business Confidence Index, conducted by the NFIB. The confidence index rose for the first time since December 2024, and the net percentage of owners expecting better business conditions rose 10 points from April to 25%. Summer worker serving an ice cream to a customer at an ice cream shop. Ways Small Businesses Can Increase Their Earnings This Summer Entrepreneurs know that running a business involves a lot of juggling. Business owners have to worry about operations, fulfillment, customer service, accounting and finances, and marketing. Boosting revenues doesn't always require ramping up every aspect of your company at the same time. That can inevitably lead to burnout. Rather, it often means focusing on the activities that have the greatest potential to produce the best financial return. Here are three smart approaches to increase earnings this summer: For a majority of businesses, 80% of your income comes from just 20% of your customers. Not all customers contribute equally to a business' revenue, and high-value oness deserve the most attention. Research from Salesforce shows that when businesses segment and focus on their top clients, they can increase their success dramatically. The 80/20 is as relevant today as ever. The question is what to do about it? According the Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer can cost 5–25x more than retaining an existing one. Instead of chasing new buyers, leverage your existing customer base. already have. Nicole E. Beard of BigCommerce reports that techniques like upselling (pushing premium versions of successful offerings) and cross‑selling (putting emphasis on complementary items) can boost revenue by about 42%, while increasing a customer's lifetime value by 20–40%. Additionally, selling to existing customers has a 60–70% success rate, vs. only 5–20% with new prospects. Companies can also keep existing customers happy through the use of loyalty and referral programs. These programs don't just make customers feel appreciated—they boost revenue, too. According to a Bond Brand Loyalty study, 79% of consumers say loyalty programs make them more likely to recommend brands with 85% being more likely to continue purchasing from a brand. Meanwhile, Wharton Business School research shows referred customers are 16% more profitable, regardless of demographic or time of purchase. Adding more products or services doesn't always lead to more profit. In fact, the opposite can occur. Offering too many options can overwhelm customers, create decision fatigue, and dilute your core value proposition. If you have been steadily increasing your offerings but have not experienced a corresponding increase in earnings, consider eliminating low-performing or low-margin products to simplify operations. This streamlines inventory, improves marketing focus, and frees up time and resources to scale what's already working. Trimming even modest costs can produce a significant increase in margins. Many small businesses waste money on unused subscriptions and redundant/ineffective marketing. Eliminate unused subscriptions Typically, the largest expense for any business is labor. Employee wages, benefits, and taxes account for 70% of total business costs. Be sure to manage your staff properly, especially in the summer months. If need be, you can look to trim the hours of less productive workers or even cut them entirely, they don't seem to be contributing to your bottom line. At a time of labor shortages, you may not be able to cut hourly wages of those who are less productive, but you can trim the hours of those whom you find to be the least productive. Relateed: 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Increase Earnings With Spring Cleaning We all know that there are only 24 hours in a day, so it's best to maximize your time and the time of your staff as much as possible. Your time is just as valuable your money, and every hour spent on routine tasks like invoicing, social media posting, or scheduling is time not spent on strategic growth. Use technology to automate routine tasks. For instance, QuickBooks can automate administrative processes, such as invoicing and generating payments. Tools like Calendly can eliminate email back-and-forth when trying to schedule meetings. A study by McKinsey & Company found that businesses that are able to successfully implement automation and can experience a 20-35% increase in productivity by saving employees roughly 240 hours per year and employers roughly 360 hours per year, while increasing sales by 14.5%. Online banking, including automatic bill pay, helps make businesses more efficient. Setting up payments online in advance eliminates late payments that can result in fines and penalties, and cuts the cost of paper expenses, including checks, envelopes, and postage. A businessman using laptop for online banking, payments, shopping. and financial transactions. Digitization has revolutionized the way that small businesses secure capital. Gone are the days when owners had to walk into a bank during working hours, meet with a loan officer in person, fill out redundant paperwork and provide copies of bank statements and other financial documents. With the development of financial technology (fintech), small business borrowers can apply for small business loans at any time, including nights and weekends. Documents can be loaded onto a potential funder's platform, which increases the speed of the process. Additionally, advanced data analytics can help borrowers make better informed decisions while approving loan applications. Summer Has Great Potential to Increase Earnings Profitability isn't about pushing harder; it's about working strategically. From increasing retention and refining your offers to automating operations and leveraging your top customers, there are many ways to grow your bottom line without scaling your stress. Start small. Trim one expense, launch one referral bonus, automate one task. Then track your results. Over time, these smart, sustainable shifts can turn a modest operation into a highly profitable one. By following these tips, business owners can increase earnings can rise as summer temperatures hit their heights.
