A quarterly poll from data and analytics provider Dun & Bradstreet shows that businesses around the world continue to expect a challenging environment in the final quarter of 2025, with a dip in optimism across all five indices tracked by the firm’s “Global Business Optimism Insights” survey.
The study suggests that businesses are making a concerted effort to regain control after a year shaped by policy uncertainty, cost pressures, and uneven supply and demand. To reach that goal, they are making deliberate changes in their responses — focusing more on domestic markets, reducing exposure to unstable supply routes, and making their operations increasingly more flexible.
Those conclusions come from data collected from 10,000 businesses across 32 economies. The report spans five indices covering investment confidence, financial health, supply chain continuity, ESG priorities, and overall business sentiment.
Researchers found that large businesses are adapting more quickly than their small and medium-sized counterparts, thanks to more extensive supplier networks, stronger financial position, and better access to global markets. Those advantages allow more flexibility, and position them to leverage the now relatively stable trade policies, free trade agreements, and the benefits of “friendshoring,” Dun & Bradstreet said.
In contrast, medium-sized businesses seem to be just holding steady by spreading risk across markets and diversifying their sourcing. And small businesses remain distinctly under pressure.
The same pattern applies to making investment decisions. Large and medium-sized businesses are cautiously increasing capital spending and making better use of existing capacity. But small businesses are pulling back, with an increasing number of players now either delaying or scaling down investment plans due to tight cash flow and demand uncertainty.
Recommendations on how to proceed in that stormy environment include three points of advice from Dun & Bradstreet. First, businesses should recalibrate growth strategies with a sharper focus on cross-border diversification. Second, businesses should map their corporate footprint — subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, and customers — against macroeconomic conditions across regions to identify insulated growth opportunities or hidden vulnerabilities. Third, given the rise in trade frictions and geopolitical instability, businesses must urgently reassess supply chain risk, Dun & Bradstreet said. The threat of further disruption — especially from the Israel-Iran conflict and chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz — amplifies the case for multi-sourcing, reshoring, or nearshoring where feasible. So businesses should prioritize flexibility, not just cost efficiency, in their procurement and logistics decisions.
