Faced with lasting economic pressure, VSE managers demonstrate remarkable financial discipline, often at the cost of their own remuneration.
When financial discipline becomes a condition of survival
THE very small businesses are advancing today on a ridge line. The results of the first barometer conducted by VistaPrint and the FTPE show a straightforward reality: 27% of business leaders consider themselves in survival mode, and 46% have already reduced their own remuneration to preserve their activity.
This figure says everything about the nature of entrepreneurial commitment in VSEs. Before adjusting structural costs, before reviewing investments, it is the manager himself who absorbs the shock. This deeply rooted logic reflects a strong individual responsibility, but also a form of solitude in the face of trade-offs.
In this context, the priority is clear: maintain activity. 46% of managers favor stability rather than investment, while 38% place cash at the top of their concerns. This financial discipline is not a renunciation. It is a rational response to an environment where each decision directly involves the sustainability of the company.
Invest less, but invest fairly
What is striking in this period is not a cessation of investments, but their transformation. TPEs do not cut blindly. They reorient.
When only one position must be preserved, 56% of entrepreneurs choose the ability to find or retain customers. The commercial relationship becomes the beating heart of the company. At the same time, 42% consider marketing and communication to be priorities, and 41% maintain their spending in this area, even if it means adapting them.
This choice is far from being anecdotal. It shows that leaders don’t just resist. They identify what directly fuels their turnover and focus their resources on these levers.
This strategic lucidity is accompanied by another awareness: 44% place well-being and mental health among their priorities. Behind this figure, a reality emerges: the economic performance of a small business is also based on the ability of its manager to hold up over the long term.
AI attracts, but appropriation remains to be built
In the technological field, the signals are more mixed. Artificial intelligence arouses real interest: 36% of business leaders see it as a lever for development and productivity. However, only 25.5% have already taken concrete actions or plan to do so in the short term.
Between curiosity and taking action, a gap persists. 28% of leaders say they don’t know how to use AI in their business. This gap reveals a major issue: access to technology is not enough. You still need to be able to integrate it simply, quickly, and in a useful way on a daily basis.
Conversely, certain risks remain underestimated. 43% of managers do not feel concerned by cybersecurityeven though 14% have already identified an attempted attack. This asymmetry between perception and reality weakens companies as their digitalization accelerates.
What these data say, ultimately, goes beyond the economic situation. TPEs are neither immobile nor outdated. They arbitrate, prioritize, adapt. They move forward with little margin, but with a very fine understanding of what really matters.
In this period, their challenge is not only to reduce. It is about choosing, precisely, what they decide to preserve. And, in these choices, the trajectory of their rebound is already taking shape.
