Small Businesses Have Momentum. Here’s How to Make It Last.

At this year's CO—100 Small Business Forum, small business owners expressed confidence but were clear-eyed. As Josh Cellars founder Joseph Carr told the forum, sustaining a business takes more than a good idea—"it's courage, it's conviction, it's energy, and it's love." 

Christa Pitts, co-founder of The Lumistella Company—the company behind Elf on the Shelf—offered a similar lesson in staying grounded: "Don't underestimate your community. You don't have to take over the whole world." Their advice set the tone for a forum built around a central question: how do small businesses hold onto that confidence while staying resilient?

The annual CO—100 Small Business Forum brings together owners, founders, and leaders from leading companies to explore the opportunities and challenges facing small businesses. This year’s CO—100 program was supported by ADP, American Express, Google, Oracle/NetSuite, Oscar, T-Mobile for Business, and Walmart Business.

The State of the Economy and Small Business

The numbers back up the optimism in the room. Americans filed a record 5.62 million new business applications in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, and 2026 is on pace to match that volume. Justworks Senior Vice President David Feinberg connected that surge directly to the mood on stage: "We're in the golden age of entrepreneurship and business formation."

Still, the broader economy is more mixed. U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President Neil Bradley said, "We're going to probably end the year somewhere around 2% growth. It's not a recession, but it's not where we want to be." He continued, "Where we want to be is an economy that is 3% plus growth, because that's what really raises incomes for people."

Feinberg noted that inflation remains small businesses' top worry, but owners feel confident managing their own cash flow. Bradley put it plainly: "Business is good, business is solid. There's lots of opportunities." Still, rising input prices and uncertainty about whether customers will sustain today's spending levels are risks small businesses have to plan around.

Labor also remains a challenge. "We have more job openings in the United States today than we have people looking for work," Bradley said. The gap spans agriculture, hospitality, and high-tech sectors alike. He argues legal immigration reform is central to solving the labor shortage: "We are in desperate need of legal immigration reform."

Practical Tips for Small Business Owners

Beyond the macro picture, forum speakers offered advice owners can put to use right away. Carr, reflecting on building Josh Cellars, said he leaned on humility as much as ambition: "I didn't understand finance, but I always surrounded myself with people that were a lot smarter than me, and I asked questions and listened." His broader advice to owners is to stay adaptable as circumstances shift: "You've got to be ready to pivot and change direction."

Gideon Stone, CEO of Trade Design Build, the CO—100 Top Business 2026, emphasized setting expectations early. Being upfront with customers about costs and timelines builds trust that pays off after a project ends. "Our approach from the beginning has been to be brutally honest with [customers]," he said. Stone also credited long-range planning for the company's growth: his team set a 25-year goal first, then worked backward to 10-, five-, and three-year plans, a structure that clarified which decisions, like hiring, actually served the bigger picture.

Visibility matters too, especially as AI tools increasingly match customers to businesses. Google Vice President Cris Turner cautioned against vague online listings: "If all you put on the internet is 'I sell pots,' you aren't getting discovered." American Express's Walter Jackson described a case where a fence-staining business won him over simply because it listed "stain" rather than the broader category of "painting.” Specificity, not just presence, is what gets noticed.

And there's time to be reclaimed in the back office. Walmart Business's Cui Arroyo found that new business owners spend four to seven hours a week on routine purchasing—up to a month of productivity a year. Planning ahead instead of reordering only when stock runs out can free up real time for growth.

Looking Ahead

The throughline from this year's forum was adaptability paired with discipline. Pitts' advice to "start close to home" before chasing scale, paired with Carr's reminder to stay ready to pivot, sums up where small business owners stand today: plan deliberately, stay nimble, and the opportunities ahead are real.

About the author

Sean Hackbarth

Sean writes about public policies affecting businesses including energy, health care, and regulations. When not battling those making it harder for free enterprise to succeed, he raves about all things Wisconsin (his home state) and religiously follows the Green Bay Packers.

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