Top Challenges Faced by Entrepreneurs in 2026
Key result from the May 2026 NFIB small-business owner survey
This page ranks the problems selected by U.S. NFIB small-business owner-members as their single most important business issue in May 2026. It should be read as a U.S. small-business survey snapshot, not as a global ranking of all entrepreneurs, startups, founders, industries or countries.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Taxes lead the May 2026 NFIB problem table at 19%, followed by inflation at 18%. The metric is the share of respondents who chose one issue as the main problem facing their business, so it does not measure every challenge a firm may experience at the same time.
The source table has nine named business problems plus “Other,” a residual response category. “Other” is included to keep the source response set complete, but it is not treated as a named entrepreneur challenge.
Taxes ranked first among NFIB respondents in May 2026.
Inflation was one percentage point behind taxes.
The source table lists nine named problems plus a residual “Other” row.
Percent of responding U.S. NFIB small-business owner-members.
Quick answer: the top issue was taxes, followed closely by inflation
Taxes ranked first in the May 2026 NFIB small-business problem survey.
19% of respondents selected taxes as their single most important business problem.
Period: May 2026. Source: NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Monthly Report.
The ranking reflects NFIB owner-member responses in the United States, not all entrepreneurs worldwide.
The survey question asks owners to choose one main issue. A lower percentage does not mean the issue is unimportant; it means fewer respondents selected it as the top problem in this specific month.
What the NFIB problem metric means
What this metric means
Each value is the percent of responding U.S. NFIB small-business owner-members who selected one category as the single most important problem facing their business.
How to read the ranking
Higher values mean more respondents chose that issue as their top concern. The values should be compared within this survey and month, not treated as absolute business risk scores.
Limitations
The ranking does not measure severity, dollar impact, regional differences, startup-stage differences, or every problem a business may face at once.
Why challenges differ
A retailer, contractor, manufacturer, software founder and local service firm can face different pressures because cost structure, hiring needs, financing exposure and regulation vary by business type.
The safest reading is comparative: taxes and inflation were the most commonly selected top problems in this U.S. NFIB owner-member survey, while labor costs and labor quality formed the next tier. The table is useful for understanding small-business sentiment, but it is not a universal checklist for every entrepreneur.
Main ranking: problems selected by U.S. small-business owners
The table shows the full NFIB May 2026 response set: nine named business problems and one residual “Other” row. Use the controls to search by issue, filter by category or status, and sort the values.
NFIB May 2026: share selecting each issue as the single most important problem
| Rank | Problem | Value | Short note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taxes | 19% | Cost pressure and compliance burden. |
| 2 | Inflation | 18% | Input prices and operating costs. |
| 3 | Cost of Labor | 14% | Wage and staffing affordability. |
| 4 | Quality of Labor | 13% | Difficulty finding suitable workers. |
| 5 | Government Regulation | 10% | Rules, paperwork and compliance. |
| 6 | Cost/Availability of Insurance | 8% | Premiums, access and coverage pressure. |
| 7 | Poor Sales | 7% | Demand and revenue weakness. |
| 8 | Competition from Large Businesses | 6% | Pressure from larger competitors. |
| 9 | Finance and Interest Rates | 2% | Borrowing and credit conditions. |
| 10 | Other | 1% | Residual response, not a named problem. |
Source: NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Monthly Report, May 2026. The values are the current-month survey percentages from the “Selected Single Most Important Problem” table.
Chart: survey share by selected business problem
The chart uses the same values as the table. Taxes and inflation form the top tier, labor costs and labor quality form the next tier, and the remaining issues fall below 10%.
Methodology and survey limits
The ranking uses the “Current” May 2026 column in the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends table titled “Selected Single Most Important Problem.” Rows are sorted by the share of respondents selecting each issue, from highest to lowest.
Metric and unit
Metric: selected single most important problem. Unit: percent of responding U.S. NFIB small-business owner-members. Values are displayed as whole percentages.
Survey base
The May 2026 NFIB report states that the survey drew a sample of 5,000 owner-members and received 504 usable responses, a 10.1% response rate.
Coverage
The table includes the response categories shown by NFIB for this question. It does not add issues that were not listed as separate rows in the source table.
Single-source design
The page uses one source for all row values so the ranking stays consistent. Other business surveys may produce a different order because they use different wording, timing or respondent groups.
The survey wording matters. Owners were asked to identify the single most important problem, not to list every issue affecting their business. That is why a category can rank low even when it is highly important for some firms.
“Other” is retained as a residual response category because it appears in the NFIB table, but it should not be read as a specific named business challenge. The named problems are taxes, inflation, cost of labor, quality of labor, government regulation, cost or availability of insurance, poor sales, competition from large businesses, and finance or interest rates.
This ranking does not estimate future conditions. It describes the May 2026 survey snapshot only, using the values published in the NFIB monthly report.
Insights from the May 2026 small-business problem ranking
Cost pressure led the survey
Taxes, inflation and insurance all appear in the response set. Together, they show that many owners were focused on costs they cannot fully control through day-to-day management.
Labor was a two-part problem
Labor costs ranked third, while labor quality ranked fourth. This separates the price of staffing from the difficulty of finding workers with the right fit or skills.
Regulation remained a major concern
Government regulation ranked fifth at 10%, putting compliance and administrative burden just below the cost and labor categories.
Low rank does not mean low risk
Finance and interest rates ranked ninth at 2%, but borrowing costs can still be decisive for firms that rely on credit, refinancing, equipment purchases or expansion capital.
The ranking is most useful as a sentiment indicator for U.S. small-business owners in a specific month. It should not replace industry analysis, local market research or company-level financial review.
FAQ
What was the biggest small-business problem in the May 2026 NFIB survey?
Taxes ranked first, with 19% of responding U.S. NFIB small-business owner-members selecting taxes as their single most important business problem.
Is this a ranking of all entrepreneur challenges worldwide?
No. It is a U.S. NFIB small-business owner-member survey snapshot for May 2026. It should not be treated as a global entrepreneurship ranking.
Why does the page say “single most important problem”?
The survey asks respondents to choose one main problem. The values do not show every challenge a business faces, only the issue selected as most important by each respondent.
Why are taxes and inflation ranked so high?
They were the two most frequently selected top problems in the May 2026 NFIB table: taxes at 19% and inflation at 18%.
Why are labor costs and labor quality separate?
NFIB reports them as separate response categories. Labor cost reflects affordability, while labor quality reflects the difficulty of finding suitable workers.
Why is “Other” included in the table?
“Other” appears in the NFIB response set, but it is a residual category rather than a named challenge. It is included for completeness and clearly labeled as residual.
Does this page include forecasts?
No. The page describes the May 2026 survey snapshot and does not estimate future values.
Sources
NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Monthly Report — May 2026
Primary numeric source for the row values, survey period, respondent-base note and response categories used in this ranking.
