The Nevada Small Business Development Center (Nevada SBDC), housed within the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno, has opened the 2025 Small Business Challenges Survey, inviting entrepreneurs and small business owners across the state to share their most pressing challenges.

“When we understand what challenges Nevada’s business owners are facing, we can respond with purpose,” said Greg Mosier, dean of the College of Business. “That insight helps us strengthen our partnerships, refine our programs and ultimately support economic growth and vitality.”

Running from July 14 through August 31, 2025, the statewide survey seeks to gather anonymous input from business owners, startups, and solo entrepreneurs who represent over 98% of all Nevada businesses. Insights gathered will help inform local, regional, and statewide business support programs, including technical assistance, access to capital and entrepreneurial training.

Since 2022, the Nevada SBDC has conducted this annual survey to identify trends and provide data-backed insights to partners and policymakers. The 2024 survey revealed that existing business owners faced growing concerns around finding new customers (47%), adapting to inflation (35%), managing growth (31%), and access to funding (25%). For startup entrepreneurs, funding remained the top challenge (70%), followed by regulatory compliance (28%), marketing strategy (27%), navigating licensing requirements (23%), and business feasibility (22%).

“Last year’s data showed a shift in concern toward customer acquisition, even as inflation remained a core issue,” said Winnie Dowling, state director of the Nevada SBDC. “Now in our fourth year, we’ll be able to track how these challenges trend over time and which obstacles remain persistent across Nevada’s business landscape.”

The survey data continues to support statewide initiatives, such as State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a technical assistance program designed to help small businesses access capital.

“The Nevada Small Business Challenge Survey continues to be an invaluable tool in shaping the data-driven foundation of Nevada’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Technical Assistance component.

In September 2024, Nevada was one of only 12 states awarded $4.2 million through the Small Business Opportunity (SBOP) grant, further strengthening the state’s SSBCI Technical Assistance services,” said Karsten Heise, senior director of Strategic Programs & Innovation at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). “For this successful application, GOED again partnered with the Nevada SBDC, our sole sub-grantee for operating the SSBCI Technical Assistance program.”

The 2025 Small Business Challenges Survey is now available in English or Spanish.