According to the latest report, micro and small enterprises are currently most afraid of rising operating costs – 37.9%. They are also concerned about rising contributions to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and unreliable contractors – 30.1% and 28.3% respectively. In Q4 of last year, the above-mentioned issues ranked in just the same places but had slightly fewer indications. Currently, the TOP5 worries also include fears of loss of financial liquidity – 21.2%, as well as raising taxes or imposing additional taxes – 17.9%. It can be seen that, generally, every tenth entrepreneur is concerned about a lack of the right employees, the control of the tax office or the Social Insurance Institution, reporting bureaucracy, a lack of orders and customers, and the risk of making wrong decisions. The least concerns relate to political instability, contacts with banks or leasers, or a possible war in Poland – respectively 0.9%, 3.1% and 4.4%.
Entrepreneurs who employ up to 50 workers and whose turnover or total annual balance did not exceed 10 million EUR in the previous year are currently most fearful of generally increasing business operating costs – 37.9% (in the fourth quarter of the previous year – 36.7% and also the first place). This represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the end of last year. This is according to the regular report, “Current Worries and Fears of Micro and Small Enterprises in Poland”, authored by UCE RESEARCH and the restructuring law firm ProPrawni. Respondents could indicate a maximum of 5 major fears associated with running their own business.
The rise, compared to the previous quarter, may indicate a deterioration in economic conditions. It’s dangerous because, in the long term, many entrepreneurs may question the further sense of running a business, not tolerating a long period of unprofitability. This is a strong alarm signal. If it is ignored, it will cause an increased number of bankruptcies and will indirectly affect the decrease in the country’s GDP, says Grzegorz Kostrzewa, co-author of the report from the ProPrawni law firm.
Increasing contributions to the social insurance, claiming the second place (same as in the fourth quarter of 2024), concerns 30.1% (previously – 29.5%). Compared to the previous edition of the report, we can see an increase of 0.6 percentage points. Adrian Parol, a legal adviser and restructuring consultant who is a substantive consultant for the report, comments that social contributions have been a burden on businesses for many years, especially the smallest ones, so this result should not be surprising.
It is a regular and unavoidable expense that affects all businesses, regardless of whether they generate profit. Entrepreneurs are afraid that further growth of this type of public levy may negatively affect not only their financial liquidity, but primarily – the profitability of their activities. The changes in health contribution calculation announced by politicians have still not been implemented, and new ideas for its modification are causing increasing concerns, Grzegorz Kostrzewa notices.
The fear of unreliable contractors comes in third place (also as before) – 28.3% (previously – 27.2%). There is an increase of 1.1% compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The authors of the report point out that small companies usually have a few key customers. Unreliability of any of them can result in a drop in revenues by several or even dozens of percent. The current business conditions are causing more and more entrepreneurs to worry about falling into financial trouble due to the problems of other entities, Grzegorz Kostrzewa adds.
Coming in at fourth is the concern of loss of financial liquidity – 21.2% (previously – 20.5%), which is an increase of 0.7% compared to Q4 2024. Economists argue that a financial cushion equal to 6 times the monthly operating costs should help survive tougher times. But in practice, only a few percent of companies in Poland have it. In addition, small and the smallest entities rarely gain access to capital reserves and sources of financing. Loss of liquidity often leads to the immediate threat of further operation for them. Even non-payment of a single invoice or due tax can result in enforcement actions. In a slightly less drastic case, it leads to the decrease in the vendor rating or creditworthiness, the co-author of the report explains.
The TOP 5 list is rounded out by fears of tax increases or imposition of additional taxes – 17.9% (previously – 18.1%). Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, there was a decrease by 0.2%. Issues of this type are, of course, important for entrepreneurs because they generate additional – often considerable – costs. Therefore, they always raise concerns, especially among those who run small or even the smallest businesses, Adrian Parol says.
Entrepreneurs express their worries about a lack of the right employees – 10.7% (in the fourth quarter – 12.8%, a decrease by 2.1% p.p.) and the fear of making wrong business decisions – 10.4% (11.2%, a decrease by 0.8% p.p.). They are somewhat less worried about tax office control – 10.2% (previously – 12.9%, down by 2.7 p.p.), and the Social Insurance Institution control – 8.7% (previously – 10.3% and a decrease by 1.6 p.p.). The substantive consultant of the study comments, here, we can see only decreases but that doesn’t surprise me. Small companies are particularly threatened by debtors and new duties. However, audits have always been and will be there, but maybe because they occupy lower positions in the ranking, it means that there aren’t as many of them, so entrepreneurs worry less about them.
Further down the ranking, entrepreneurs express worries about such matters as the bureaucracy of reporting – 10.1% (previously – 9.3%), and a lack of orders and customers – 10.1% (10.5%). Then there are the actions of competitors – 9.2% (11.9%), as well as changes in regulations – 9.3% (12.7%). The respondents seem rather relaxed about orders and customers. As for changes in regulations, it may be a result of new authorities trying to stabilize this process, Adrian Parol analyses.
Issues such as a war on the territory of Poland – 4.4% (previously – 4.9%), contacts with banks or lessors – 3.1% (3.9%), and political instability – 0.9% (1.2%) raise the least concern. Additionally, 3,7% of concerns and fears (previously – 4.1%) are about something unspecified by the authors of the report. Only 1.8% of entrepreneurs (previously – 2.5%) are not afraid of anything. On the other hand, 1.2% of the respondents (previously – 2.3%) could not provide a definitive answer to the question posed by the authors of the report.
*** Description of the research method
The report entitled “Current Fears and Concerns of Micro and Small Enterprises in Poland. The first quarter of 2025” was created on the basis of a special study conducted by the analytical-research platform UCE RESEARCH with the substantive participation of the restructuring law firm ProPrawni. The research activities were conducted from the first to the third week of January 2025. The analysis covered only micro-companies and small enterprises, which on the day of the study employed no more than 50 people. Moreover, their turnover or total annual balance in the previous year did not exceed 10 million EUR. The survey was completed by 677 entities. The answers were obtained using computer-assisted telephone interviews. The company data was obtained from publicly available registry sources.
The respondents were supposed to indicate five things that they are currently most afraid of while running their own business. Additionally, they were asked a number of lead-in questions, including the exact profile of the activity, the place of its conduct, the number of employees, and the balance of annual turnover.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/mikrofirmy-i-male-przedsiebiorstwa-coraz-bardziej-boja-sie-rosnacych-kosztow-50749
