78% of Entrepreneurs Now Prioritize Growth Despite Volatility, BDC Survey Finds

Seventy-eight percent of entrepreneurs now say they are focused on growing their business, according to BDC's Small Business Week survey, even as volatility continues to shape the economic backdrop.

That single figure carries the story. For roughly three years, small business owners have talked about uncertainty — inflation, rates, supply chains, demand. The BDC survey suggests the balance has tipped. Growth, not defense, now dominates the agenda for more than three-quarters of the entrepreneurs polled.

The Business Development Bank of Canada released the findings to mark Small Business Week, its annual spotlight on the country's small and mid-sized firms. The headline result: growth pushes uncertainty aside.

What does the 78% figure actually tell us?

Surveys measure sentiment, not output. But sentiment drives capital spending, hiring and borrowing decisions months before the statistics agencies record them.

When 78% of surveyed entrepreneurs say they are focused on growth, that signals intent to spend. Intent of that breadth tends to show up later as orders for equipment, job postings and credit applications.

The number also marks a psychological shift. A business owner planning for growth accepts risk voluntarily — new markets, new hires, new debt. A business owner managing through uncertainty cuts costs and waits. The BDC data says the first group now outnumbers the second by more than three to one.

Why does this matter now?

Small businesses account for the bulk of firms in any advanced economy. Their collective posture — expanding or retrenching — moves aggregate employment and investment.

Volatility has not disappeared from the picture. The survey's own framing, "despite volatility," concedes that the operating environment remains unsettled. Entrepreneurs are choosing to grow anyway.

That distinction matters for lenders, suppliers and policymakers:

• Lenders read broad growth intent as demand for credit.
• Suppliers read it as order-book strength.
• Policymakers read it as private-sector confidence.

How should readers weigh the finding?

One survey is one survey. BDC, as Canada's development bank, has a standing interest in business optimism, and Small Business Week releases are built to celebrate entrepreneurship.

Still, the direction of the result is hard to ignore. Confidence is a leading indicator. When it moves from caution to expansion, budgets follow.

The practical takeaway: banks, insurers and business-service providers should expect small firms to arrive with expansion plans, not just survival plans. Entrepreneurs who wait for perfect stability may find competitors already moving.

BDC fielded the survey for Small Business Week. If the next round shows the 78% holding or climbing, expect the shift from resilience rhetoric to expansion spending to become visible in the hard data.