41% of SME owners more likely to consider selling, exiting or refinancing in 2025
By Tara SammonsSome 41% of SME owners are more likely to consider a sale, exit or refinancing in the 12 months ahead compared to the previous year, according to a recent survey.
New research from strategic advisory firm K3 Advantage claims that SME owners’ ambitions to divest or refinance their company may be seriously hampered by a lack of access to the data needed to support these critical milestones.
The survey of 250 SME founders and owners throughout the UK revealed that around one in 10 (11%) said they explored an exit in 2024, rising to 14% considering it in 2025.
However, the advisory firm’s research also found that businesses could have an inaccurate view of how they are actually performing before they approach a significant financial transaction.
While 63% agreed that data insights had become more important, 40% of those surveyed said their ‘gut feeling’ about how their business was performing could be contradicted by the data they had.
Sam Phillips, founding managing director at K3 Advantage, commented: “This research highlights a significant disconnect.
“Clearly, businesses feel their data is supportive of their day-to-day operations, but they are overlooking the true potential of understanding what the data is really telling them; having the ability to recognise growth potential, forecast risks and opportunities presents their business for a transaction with the strongest narrative to help them realise their ambitions.
“Businesses are leaving themselves open, eroding value in believing they have all the data they need when, in reality, they’re not even close.
“This is true even if business leaders aren’t considering a sale in the near term; improving data visibility and quality is integral to optimising business performance, and planning ahead can never start too early.”
According to the survey, almost three-quarters of SMEs (73%) admit that running a business now is harder than it has ever been.
Among the measures they are taking in response to economic volatility, two-fifths (40%) said they had explored reducing costs and operating budgets in the past 12 months.
K3 Advantage stated that an appetite to sell or embark on financial transactions didn’t indicate a mood of despondency or discouragement among UK SMEs.
Some three-quarters (75%) acknowledged the tough operating environment, but still felt confident about overcoming the challenges this presented.
Keywords: SME owners, SME research, business outlook, K3 Advantage, sale, exit, refinancing, data, 250 SME founders, performance, data insights, gut feeling