Survey: Small business owners are less confident about year-end profits Business owners are heading into the last quarter of 2025 — often the most crucial time of year for retail, e-commerce, restaurants, and hospitality — with less confidence in profit growth expectations than they had at this time last year, according to a recent NEXT Insurance survey. This year, just under half of business owners (49%) expect their profits to increase, down from 55% in 2024. That six‑point drop may reflect that small b ...