As civic leaders and policymakers look to strengthen economic opportunity for all Americans, new research from the Capital One Insights Center unpacks small business owner confidence and how they are unlocking efficiency and new levels of growth.

🇺🇲 The positive news: Driven by the pursuit of the American dream, 75% of U.S. small business owners say they are confident in their business's future. There is no shortage of optimism — 69% report that their business is actively primed for future growth, according to Capital One's new research.

• Combining the efficiency of integrated financial tools with the flexibility provided by stable access to credit is helping small businesses thrive, adapt and continue serving as the essential drivers of the American economy.

Why it's important: Small businesses play an important role in their local communities and employ 62.3 million Americans — nearly half of the U.S. workforce.

• "Our research sheds light on how external and internal pressures shape the way small businesses operate — a critical challenge given the role small businesses play in local economies, as they drive job creation and help keep wealth within the community," said Shena Ashley, president of the Capital One Insights Center.

🚧 The challenge: While the American dream feels in reach for many small businesses, there are still roadblocks to overcome.

• Fragmented financial systems — like tools that don't "communicate" with each other — impact the efficiency of small businesses, leaving owners with too much manual data entry and too little visibility into their overall financial health.

What you need to know: "All-in-one" financial tools and seamless access to credit help small business owners manage operational challenges, improve efficiency and aggressively pursue growth.

• Krissee and Mariano D'Aguiar, owners of Virginia-based River-Sea Chocolates, experienced this firsthand: "Using integrated financial tools to handle each part of our business and manufacturing process has completely freed us up as founders," they said. "It gave us back the time we needed to focus on the strategic, 'enterprise' aspects of entrepreneurship — like product ideation and marketing."

Here's how: One-stop financial solutions, like integrated accounting and bookkeeping platforms, help reduce operational friction and free up time to focus on future growth.

• 51% of small business owners report these tools directly fuel growth by freeing up critical time.

Plus: They also unlock other sought-after efficiencies like:

• Improved cash flow visibility (51%).
• Fewer accounting errors (50%).
• Improved inventory management (44%).

💳 Here's what else: Seamless access to credit also remains a key factor in the overall financial health of small businesses.

• The majority of credit card-holding owners rely on their business credit cards to manage day-to-day financial operations — with 66% of small business owners explicitly naming credit as a key driver of growth, and 77% identifying seamless access to credit as a key factor in achieving business resilience.

An example: Katie and Eric Roering, founders of Fontana Candle Co. in Lancaster, Pa., rely on credit card rewards to actively reinvest back into their business.

• "We use our Capital One Business Card for everything — using rewards to fund everything from marketing campaigns to travel for industry conferences. We recently redeemed our rewards to support our sponsorship of the local Make-A-Wish Mother's Day Truck Convoy," said the Roerings. "Every bit gets invested right back into our business."

📈 The landscape: The Roerings are part of a broader trend. Reward programs routinely help small business owners pivot from simply managing daily expenses to actively investing in their future. Specifically, owners strategically leverage credit card rewards to:

• Cover basic expenses (51%).
• Pay for business travel (39%).
• Reward or incentivize employees (33%).
• Invest in new equipment or technology upgrades (31%).
• Manage unplanned expenses (28%).

Why now: More than half of the respondents said economic uncertainty is a critical or major challenge for business owners today.

• In this environment, small business owners warn that any disruption in their ability to access credit could carry immediate and significant consequences.
• 28% of small business owners say they would be forced to scrap their expansion plans entirely, a figure that rises to 32% in asset-heavy manufacturing and hospitality sectors.

💡 The outlook: Even amid economic uncertainty, the dream of starting, scaling and leaving a legacy of a thriving small business remains a powerful economic force in 2026.

• "The research clearly highlights opportunities to better support small business growth, efficiency and resilience," said Konrad Schwarz, executive vice president and head of Business Cards and Payments at Capital One. "We are focused on delivering solutions that seamlessly orchestrate payments and credit, so business owners can reinvest time and money in new growth opportunities."

Explore the research.