Small Business Challenges Of The Future
by Ankita Tripathy Blog 26 August 2025
A lot has changed in the business world over the past few decades. Businesses shifted from analog to digital, and it has made doing business easier for owners regardless of size.
However, this has not solved all the problems businesses face. In the future, there may be more issues for businesses to fix if they want to survive the competitive environment.
Small Business Challenges
Some of the most notable challenges predicted for the future include:
Rising costs
Many businesses deal with importing goods from other countries and selling them in their local areas. This naturally means they need to pay shipping costs and other logistics. These costs are rising by the day, and since 2021, they have risen by around 20%.
Bigger companies may be able to shoulder the costs, considering they earn more profit. But for smaller businesses, this could be the nail that locks the coffin up for good.
Unpredictable rates
Beyond the rising costs, businesses also have to deal with unpredictable rates. Predicting the overall cost of shipping and making products available to customers allows businesses to set prices without hassle. They don’t have to change prices every now and then and confuse their customer base.
When the rates of shipping and running the business are unpredictable, it can also affect the business’s profits in the end. What is a business without profit? Well, that could well be its end. Some businesses are already using tools like https://seadex.ai/en to reduce the impact on their operations.
Disruptions to the supply chain
Another challenge that is beating the digital era is disruptions to the supply chain of businesses. In business, it is normal to expect disruptions every now and then. However, when they become the norm, it is more than a problem.
A good example of this situation is geopolitical tensions. They could cause shipping routes to be closed or delay the entire process. While larger companies may be able to handle such issues, for small businesses, there are few to no resources to fix them.
Tariffs
As mentioned earlier, geopolitical tensions will always be a problem, no matter how advanced technology gets. One effect of such tensions is tariffs. The current political climate is an excellent example.
The United States imposed tariffs on different countries, and those countries have reciprocated. At the end of the day, the ones who suffer the most are the small businesses and consumers who have to pay more for the same products.
On the other side of the world, some countries are being sanctioned for their actions, and this is affecting the cost of goods, which would have been cheaper.
Returns management
Another aspect that barely gets talked about is how returns management can be a huge challenge for small businesses. In many countries, banks do not even wait for the product to be returned to process a refund and issue a chargeback.
For larger businesses, processing returns is much easier. Sometimes, if the value of the product is low, the company can forfeit the product and the payment just to make customers happy and reduce losses.
Small businesses cannot compete in this manner. They do not have the resources to handle the logistics or give up the money and product.
Running at a loss in this way can be the beginning of the end for small businesses.
Reality and expectations
Customers today are used to having overnight free shipping from big brands. When they order a product, they expect it to magically appear in their living room by noon, or they panic. This mode of business works for big brands that have storage options and 24/7 operations.
For a small business, it is literally impossible. One of the hardest things to manage in business is customer expectations. Competing with established companies is also not feasible.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a touchy subject today with the growing concerns over global warming. Various countries have environmental compliance policies in place for businesses to follow. For larger businesses, it is possible to hire experts to ensure that the business stays compliant.
Smaller businesses have a harder time complying with the policies. One trend that is expected to change the business sphere in the future is carbon tracking. Authorities are already implementing rules for carbon tracking. Now you may wonder how this affects small businesses.
For one, the businesses have to spend more on shipping because of the compliance costs. What of the complexity that comes with managing the entire process? It’s another serious challenge, especially for small businesses.
Conclusion
While the future is promising for businesses in general, small businesses still have their share of problems. They need to address these problems to prepare for them by using artificial intelligence and investing in shipping technology, among other things. In other cases, they just have to weather the storm until it clears up.
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