Biggest bumps business owners face at the beginning

From working too many hours to being let down by a vendor and underestimating costs, a new survey reveals the biggest hurdles business owners faced when first starting out.

A survey of 1,000 small business owners (SBOs) and freelancers pinpointed the things they wish they'd known from the start.

Results showed financial missteps as one of the most common challenges SBOs faced – underestimating just how much things would cost and ensuring proper cash flow impacted over a third of SBOs (36%) early on.

Wishing they’d had more support or been able to do more marketing was the second-most mentioned area (29%), while being able to maintain a good work-life balance was something over one in four (27%) business owners and freelancers said they found difficult to manage.

While the struggle to attain work-life balance affected many new entrepreneurs, results showed a supportive community can really make the difference – eight in 10 SBOs attribute much of their success to their network of partners and vendors.

The survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of HP for its Instant Ink service found that while many SBOs faced early adversity, they built confidence in their leadership ability – the average SBO surveyed said it took just over two years to feel like a fully confident business owner.

That experience is hard-earned – the average SBO estimates they put in just over 50 hours a week to launch their business or establish themself as a freelancer in their field.

A quarter (27%) of owners said 60-hour weeks or longer were the norm, while one in six (16%) were clocking more than 70 hours.

“Having a trusted tech partner is essential for small business owners,” said Diana Sroka, SVP of consumer services product for HP. “With limited time and budget, it's important to find solutions that are smart, flexible and adaptable to the unique needs of each business.”    

Those long weeks show a small business owner must often wear many hats. In fact, the average owner estimates they did the equivalent of three full-time roles, with customer service, operations and sales being the most common areas SBOs said they had to manage themselves.

That places even more emphasis on the need for strong partnerships and a reliable network, yet many SBOs report being let down. Two in five (38%) said a vendor or partner had failed them in some way that significantly impacted their business.

It’s no surprise then that 79% claimed having a trusted network of partners and vendors is important to their success – they even ranked having good connections in business as more important than having sufficient cash flow when evaluating what contributed to performance (76% vs. 64%).

Interestingly, despite the hardships, 41% said they wouldn’t change anything at all in their entrepreneurial journey because they felt those experiences helped them grow more resilient and were an integral part of their learning.

And to go it alone, you need the vision – when asked what their most indispensable resource was as an entrepreneur, SBOs overwhelmingly cited “my own creativity.”

“In the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship, the importance of strong partnerships – especially with a reliable tech partner – cannot be overstated,” added Sroka. “Too many small business owners face setbacks due to broken trust, missed expectations and technology failures. Building a strong tech partnership is crucial to keeping business moving forward in a constantly evolving landscape.”

BIGGEST HURDLES FACED BY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

• Underestimating costs (36%)
• Not doing enough marketing (29%)
• Ignoring work-life balance (27%)
• Pricing products or services incorrectly (25%)
• Not doing enough research on the market (15%)
• Choosing the wrong vendors or partners (14%)
• Not investing enough in technology (10%)
• Not delegating (10%)
• Neglecting customer experience (7%)
• Not outsourcing (7%)
• Skimping on legal and administrative essentials (6%)

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 1,000 small business owners (SBOs) and freelancers (split 50/50); the survey was commissioned by HP and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between March 17 – March 26, 2025.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels – where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic – where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.