At Novuna Business Finance, we invest time tracking small business outlook and growth forecasts, to help us better understand how UK small businesses are reacting to market conditions – and the steps they are taking to power future growth. Their views on funding are a core part of this process.

 

Our data for early 2026 revealed that small business owners that use asset finance – financing the acquisition of machinery, vehicles or equipment by spreading cost over time rather than paying upfront – stand out clearly from every other group in our study when it comes to growth confidence.

 

Nationally, 47% of enterprises that use asset finance forecast growth for the early months of 2026, compared to a national average of 27%.

 

The logic of asset finance helps to explain this. When a SME acquires business equipment through asset finance, it preserves working capital that would be tied up in an outright purchase – cash that can instead be invested elsewhere. 

 

Businesses using asset finance appear more optimistic, more investment-active, and less likely to be in survival mode than any other group in our study. They are actively managing their finances, rather than being managed by them. The structural benefits of asset finance – spreading asset costs while protecting cash flow –  are reflected in how these businesses behave day-to-day.

 

This relative optimism stands out in the growth initiatives that asset finance enables. In terms of planning for growth later this year, small businesses who use asset finance are more likely than the national average to be planning for expansion, bucking the national trend of caution that is a general response to the geo-political and macro-economic uncertainty. 

 

Our research suggests that enterprises engaging with asset finance are significantly more likely to be investing in new production lines and machinery (25%) than the national average (6%). They are also more likely to be modernising their IT capabilities and equipment (20% vs 7%), planning to increase headcount (29% vs 12%) and even moving to a larger premises (18% vs 7%). Asset finance-powered businesses also say they more likely than small businesses generally to be planning moves into new markets and customer segments later this year (23% vs 6%). 

 

By contrast, businesses relying on personal savings or friends and family carry a heavier burden of anxiety and adopt more defensive strategies. Some of this may reflect the profile of businesses that reach for these options – younger, earlier-stage, or facing barriers to formal credit – rather than the funding route itself. 

 

Cash flow remains a live concern for all enterprises, including those that use asset finance – but the difference is that they are managing it, not just worried about it. Keeping fixed costs down matters too (64%), as does reassessing their existing finance commitments (26%). These are not defensive responses; they are the hallmarks of small business owners actively managing their financial position rather than reacting to it.

 

Over the last 12-months our tracking research suggests that, for UK small businesses in general, growth outlook is fragile. Many are working hard to find ways to grow, but less than one in five are looking beyond cost control and are actually reviewing their funding requirements. This comes at a time when, for most small businesses, funding is a challenge. At Novuna Business Finance, we encourage small business owners to focus on reviewing their funding structure. For example, reviewing smart and tailored ways to fund assets will, for many businesses, actually free up cash each month to deal with many of the day-to-day concerns – such as product development, paying suppliers, improving cash flow and funding marketing campaigns.

 

At Novuna Business Finance, our simple and flexible funding is designed to fit around the needs of small businesses, helping customers to buy or lease business assets. With an expert team and award-winning services, we provide access to the finance solutions established businesses need, and are committed to helping them to develop and grow with confidence.

 

Novuna Business Finance provides business finance to SMEs and bigger corporations across the UK. This includes asset finance, stocking, block discounting and sustainable project finance provided through brokers, vendor organisations, manufacturers and direct to the business community.