Small businesses are not backing off growth plans. They are simply getting more practical about how they run them.
That is the main takeaway from a new Small Business Cash Flow Trend Report released Thursday by OnDeck and Ocrolus and distributed by Enova International. The report says 93% of owners expect moderate to significant growth over the next year, a sign that Main Street is still more confident than the broader mood around the economy might suggest.
The more interesting part is what is happening underneath that optimism. AI adoption among surveyed small businesses rose to 61% in Q2 2026, up from 58% in Q1. And 91% of those users said AI has had a positive impact on their business.
That is not the story of a tool that is sitting on the shelf.
It is the story of a tool that is starting to move into routine work. The report does not frame AI as a grand transformation. It reads more like a description of operators trying to make daily work less messy. That is where small businesses tend to be most honest about technology. If it saves time, reduces admin, or helps a lean team keep up, it stays. If it creates another subscription and more cleanup, it goes away.
The report also makes clear that growth is still happening in a cost-sensitive environment. Inflation reclaimed the top spot as the leading concern for 34% of owners, while cash flow came in at 30%. Meanwhile, 75% of small businesses said they are bypassing traditional banks for working capital, which suggests many owners still prefer speed and flexibility over the slower path through a conventional lender.
Put those numbers together and the picture is pretty blunt: small businesses want to grow, but they are doing it with tighter operating discipline than ever. AI is being adopted for the same reason. It is not a status symbol. It is a way to squeeze more out of a small team.
That matters because a lot of the AI conversation still treats Main Street like a late adopter waiting to be convinced. This report says the opposite. Many owners are already using the tools. The real question is whether the tools are good enough, cheap enough, and simple enough to justify their place in the workflow.
The answer, at least in this quarter’s data, seems to be yes.
But there is an important caveat. AI is only valuable if it is tied to a concrete business task. A better answer to customer questions, faster invoice handling, cleaner cash flow visibility, or a quicker way to draft marketing copy are all defensible uses. "We use AI" by itself is not.
That is why the useful trend here is not just rising adoption. It is rising selectivity. Small business owners are not buying into every AI pitch. They are deciding, tool by tool, where the technology actually pays for itself.
If the last two years were about experimentation, this quarter looks more like a transition to operational habit. The winners will be the businesses that keep the upside and control the downside.
Sources: OnDeck Small Business Cash Flow Trend Report, Enova International release, PR Newswire distribution