Editorial: Why Business Travel Is Still the Quiet Growth Engine for Small Firms
New research from American Express Global Business Travel, based on a survey of 500 small business leaders in the U.S. and U.K., shows astonishing 98 percent of U.S. respondents say they sent employees on business trips between October 2024 and October 2025, up from 91 percent who reported travel in the prior year. This is happening against a backdrop of trade tensions, shifting import tariffs, and economic uncertainty.
Whatʼs driving that decision? In part, product momentum. Nearly nine in 10 small businesses report launching new products or services over the past year. For 82 percent of U.S. owners, in-person meetings are still seen as crucial for explaining whatʼs new, hearing feedback, and winning buy-in from existing and prospective customers. Email campaigns and Zoom calls can support that work, but they donʼt fully replace the value of being in the room.
Optimism is another factor. Eighty-one percent of U.S. respondents say theyʼre hopeful about their business prospects going into 2026, only slightly down from 86 percent at the start of the year. That confidence shows up in the numbers: earlier Amex GBT research estimates small firms in the U.S. and U.K. spent around $800 billion on business travel in 2024 alone, with spending likely higher in 2025 and still climbing into 2026.
At the same time, the survey highlights persistent worries close to home. About 35 percent of U.S. leaders fear theyʼre not fully capitalizing on AI and could lose ground to more tech-savvy competitors. Another 32 percent are most concerned about attracting the skilled talent their growth plans require. Around 30 percent specifically worry about rivals pulling ahead through greater innovation. In that context, travel becomes a way to stay plugged into customers, partners, and industry signals while those internal challenges are being worked on.
For founders and operators, the takeaway is that business trips should be treated as a deliberate growth investment. That means planning itineraries around key customers and prospects, attaching clear goals to each trip (new deals, deeper relationships, on-the-ground learning), and pairing travel with systems that capture and act on what teams learn. The competitive edge will go to companies that combine this on-the-road intensity with smart adoption of tools like AI and strong hiring, turning miles traveled into better strategies and stronger pipelines rather than just expenses.
Case Study: Turn Renewals Into Your Most Predictable Growth Channel
Customer acquisition costs have shot up in the last decade, and many teams are sprinting just to stand still. 73% of chief sales officers say growth from existing customers is their top priority for 2025, and renewal sales are emerging as one of the most reliable ways to scale without burning out your team or your budget.
Loyalty is something you earn repeatedly and the renewal moment is where that gets tested. The businesses that win here are the ones that treat renewals as a strategic motion.
Hereʼs the condensed playbook:
Start retention the day the contract is signed
Renewal doesnʼt begin 90 days before expiry; it starts at onboarding. Set clear success metrics up front, review them regularly, and make sure the customer can see progress against the outcomes you promised. Every touchpoint either builds the renewal case or erodes it.
Stay ahead of change inside the customerʼs world
Markets shift, budgets get squeezed, champions leave. If your only “check-inˮ is a renewal email, youʼll discover those changes when itʼs too late. Build a simple cadence of conversations that asks, “Whatʼs changed since we last
spoke?ˮ so you can keep your solution aligned with their current priorities.
Make renewal conversations about value, not price
When customers hesitate, itʼs often because theyʼve lost sight of the results. Use renewal discussions to recap measurable impact like efficiency gains,
revenue lift, and risk reduction. Concrete before/after stories make price a smaller part of the decision.
Measure, target, and celebrate retention
Track renewal and retention rates the same way you track pipeline and MRR. Set internal goals, review them in leadership meetings, and celebrate wins when customers choose to stay. That reinforces the idea that keeping great clients is as valuable as landing new ones.
Play of the Week: Boomers Are Bingeing Influencers
New data from Ampere Analysis shows that social media isnʼt just a young personʼs game anymore. More than half of users ages 55–64 now watch influencer content every week, up 10 percentage points since 2020. TikTok and YouTube are leading that shift, turning Boomers from passive Facebook scrollers into active viewers of creator-led content on big screens in the living room.
Treat 55 - 64 as a real creator audience: Weekly influencer viewing among this age group has jumped sharply in both the U.S. and U.K., so any “social
strategyˮ that assumes Boomers arenʼt watching creators is now out of date. Build audience profiles that explicitly include older viewers on TikTok and YouTube.
Design for the TV, not just the phone: Smart TV ownership among 55–64- year-old internet users in the U.S. and U.K. has climbed from 59% to 79% since the pandemic, and nearly 3 in 10 now use a smart TV monthly to watch YouTube. That means longer-form, lean-back content, clear visuals, and
sound that works in a living-room setting.
Look beyond Facebook for Boomer reach: The growth in TikTok and YouTube use among older adults shows their social footprint is diversifying. If your Boomer-facing campaigns live only on Facebook, youʼre likely missing a fast- growing slice of attention on video-first platforms.
Explore “granfluencerˮ partnerships: Only about 15% of older consumers
globally feel represented in the ads they see, even though older creators are a rapidly growing demographic online. Partnering with authentic older
influencers can close that representation gap and make campaigns feel less gimmicky.
Align creative with real-life concerns: This cohort is engaging with content about health, finance, family, and lifestyle. Campaigns that speak to those themes with respect and nuance will land better than youth-centric formats simply reskinned for an older audience.
As the lines between “socialˮ and “TVˮ continue to blur, Boomers are quietly becoming one of the most interesting segments in influencer marketing. The brands that move early, building serious strategies around older viewers and granfluencers are likely to own this next wave of attention.
Metric Benchmark
Closing Note
Growth is shifting from chasing more to deepening what already works. Business travel is rising because founders know proximity beats theory. Renewals are climbing because the cheapest customer to acquire is the one you already have.
And even in consumer attention markets, the biggest unlock isnʼt the newest platform, itʼs noticing which overlooked audiences are suddenly leaning in.
For builders, the lesson is to stay close to reality. Whether that means showing up in person, investing in relationships youʼve already earned, or rethinking who your content is truly for, the edge belongs to operators who pair curiosity with consistency.
See you next week.
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