Tayler Cusick Hollman | Founder, CMO (She/Her)
Survey data from 245 small business owners across 40 U.S. states and 13 industries—covering marketing effectiveness, burnout, consistency, and what actually separates the businesses that are winning.
See highlights from the findings below and...
These aren't impressions or industry guesses. They're cross-tabulated findings from real small business owners—the kind of people who are doing the marketing themselves, figuring it out as they go, and telling us exactly what it's costing them.
Less than a quarter of respondents said they had a documented marketing plan—but the gap in outcomes between those who do and those who don't is hard to overstate. Those with a written plan were three times more likely to report "always" or "usually" completing their planned marketing activities. The plan isn't just a strategy document. It's a follow-through mechanism. Having a roadmap makes it easier to start, easier to stay consistent, and easier to come back when life inevitably gets in the way.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
The same documented plan that drives consistency also drives results. Owners with a written marketing plan were three times more likely to describe their marketing as highly effective compared to those without one. This isn't correlation with a shrug—it's one of the strongest signals in the entire dataset. The plan is the thing. Not the hustle, not the budget, not the platform. The plan.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
Tracking your numbers matters but using them is what actually moves the needle. Small business owners who actively use their marketing data to inform decisions were 2.8 times more likely to rate their marketing as "very" or "extremely" effective. Even the act of just checking metrics regularly (at least once a month) correlated with a 1.5x lift in perceived effectiveness. You don't need a full analytics stack to benefit. You need a habit of paying attention.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
Only 20% of survey respondents rated their marketing as "very" or "extremely" effective. The remaining 80% small business owners landed at "somewhat," "not so," or "not at all" effective—despite the fact that most are actively investing time and energy into their marketing every week. Owners are showing up, but the problem is that showing up without a plan tends to produce a lot of activity and not a lot of results.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
Burnout isn't a starter-business problem. It's a small business problem, full stop. Four out of five owners reported experiencing at least some burnout in 2025—and that figure held consistent whether owners were earning under $25K or over $250K a year. Revenue growth, on its own, doesn't seem to relieve the overwhelm. What does? The data points toward structure: owners who consistently completed their marketing tasks were 58% less likely to report being fully burned out.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
51% of respondents said they don't outsource any marketing tasks, and 57% spend just one to five hours per week on marketing—often squeezed between client work, operations, and everything else it takes to keep a business running. This is the context behind every other finding in this report. These aren't people who aren't trying. They're people working with real constraints, doing the best they can with the time they have.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz2025, N=245
There's a clear sweet spot in the data: owners spending 6–10 focused hours per week on marketing were nearly six times more likely to describe it as "extremely" or "very" effective. But here's the important nuance—more hours beyond that range didn't continue to produce better results. The lift isn't about volume. It's about intention. Owners who have a documented plan tend to spend their marketing time with purpose, which means they get significantly more out of the same number of hours than someone winging it. One focused work day a week, with a clear plan behind it is what the data actually describes.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz2025, N=245
In an open-text question asking small business owners to name the one marketing thing they know they should be doing but aren't, just over 44% of responses mentioned "consistency" or a closely related phrase—"showing up regularly," "being consistent,""staying consistent." This is the knowing-doing gap in plain language. Small business owners aren't confused about what matters. They know. What they're missing is the structure that makes consistent execution possible—not more information, not more inspiration, and definitely not more pressure to just try harder.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245
What does the data from this report mean for small business owners? Enji founder Tayler Cusick Hollman was invited to discuss just that on the This Might Get Creative and the Engage Your Brand podcasts. Click to listen to the episodes!
Only 1 in 5 small business owners rate their marketing as "very" or "extremely" effective.
Source: Enji Co., State ofSmall Biz 2025, N=245.
Small business owners with a documented marketing plan are 3x more likely to complete planned marketing activities and 3x more rate their marketing as highly effective.
Source: Enji Co., State of Small Biz 2025, N=245.
We asked open-ended questions too. Here's what small business owners said in their own words.
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Every year, Enji surveys small business owners to put real numbers behind what it actually looks and feels like to run a business and do your own marketing. The State of Small Biz report is designed to be cited, shared, and used by journalists, bloggers, researchers, and the small business owners who want to know how they stack up.
You're welcome to cite, share, and reuse the statistics in this report. Data is made available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) — please credit Enji and link back to this report.
Press inquiries: contact@enji.co
Methodology: Respondents were recruited via Enji's social media channels, our email list, and through Enji users who shared the survey on their own networks. Participation was voluntary and uncompensated. The sample includes both Enji users and non-users. Survey conducted September 2025.
This is the 2025 edition. We'll be back with more at the end of 2026.
P.S. Enji is the only marketing project management tool built specifically for small business owners who do their own marketing. It brings your marketing plan into the same place you do it. Small business owners who use Enji are 1.7x more likely to rate their marketing as "very" or "extremely" effective compared to those who don't.
