More than three in four small business owners in London take their business worries home with them at the end of the working day. New research from Novuna Business Finance reveals that 79% say worries about everyday business issues keep them awake at night, as concerns over the impact of economic volatility and geo-political uncertainty reach a high (50%).

Beyond concerns over unprecedented market uncertainty, London-based small business owners said they worried at night about the prospect of further tax and interest rate hikes (37%) – a worry that has been more prevalent among small business owners since the National Insurance hike for businesses that took effect last April.

These worries come at a time when, last month, Novuna Business Finance reported a six month high for the percentage of London small businesses that predicted growth for the first three months of 2026 (40% – and above the national average of 27%). But growing a business in a challenging climate can be stressful for business owners – as this month 31% of London business owners said they had broken sleep at night, worrying about retaining existing business. Managing cashflow (23%) was also a worry, as were business rates (20%).

Hiring skilled staff was also a worry for London business owners – 17% mentioning employee shortages (17%) and 11% worrying about recruitment.

At a time when the UK Government is considering an EU reset, forging closer ties with Brussels, the research also indicates that around one in seven small business owners in London still feel the impact of Brexit on their business, with 19% saying worries over legacy impact of Brexit to their business still keeps them awake at night.

The findings are part of the Business Barometer study from Novuna Business Finance. With small business owners grappling with challenges on a daily basis, Novuna Business Finance asked 1,000 business owners which worries kept them awake at night – as a measure of the business concerns that were taken most seriously, issues that business owners could not switch-off from. The research dismisses assumptions that it is businesses in trouble that worry the most. In fact, the opposite is true; small businesses that are growing are most likely to report stresses and strains. Small business owners predicting significant expansion in the first quarter of 2026 were most likely to say business worries kept them awake at night (85%, up from 75% two years ago). In contrast, small business owners that did not forecast growth were less likely to report broken sleep at night (73%).

Joanna Morris, Head of Insight at Novuna Business Finance Comments: “At the start of 2026 we saw a rise in London small business growth outlook. That said, our latest data suggests that this comes at a human cost for many business owners, many of whom take their business worries home with them and struggle to switch-off. When business owners are kept awake at night working through enterprise issues, we gain a sense of the intensity of some of these concerns for entrepreneurs. Further, our research suggests that sleepless nights are not just confined to businesses that are struggling to grow. Managing fast-paced or significant growth can also be stressful for established businesses. Among those enterprises surveyed that predicted significant expansion this quarter, there was a significant rise in the percentage of business owners that said business worries kept them awake at night.”