Do Small Businesses Work on Projects?

The answer is Yes…. Most of the time without realising it.

When I work with small and medium sized businesses, there’s a familiar pattern that shows up.
If I ask whether they run projects, the answer is usually no.
If I ask them to walk me through what they’re working on, suddenly the list gets longer.

A software upgrade.
A push into a new market.
A small rebrand.
A hiring plan.
A change in how they handle customer onboarding.
A new way of tracking their operations.

None of these are described as projects.
They’re described as things that need doing.

This mindset is common in SMEs. And it makes sense. When headcount is tight and pressure is constant, you don’t have the luxury of stepping back and labelling work. You’re trying to keep momentum. You’re trying to serve customers. You’re trying to avoid adding anything that feels like extra process.

But there’s a wider trend across the SME space that’s worth paying attention to.
Even without calling it project delivery, SMEs are dealing with more change than ever.

Digital adoption is accelerating, even for micro businesses.
Cloud migrations, new CRMs, better data tools, AI automations, security upgrades. These used to be things only larger organisations worried about. Now they’re hitting every corner of the market.

Customer expectations continue to rise.
People expect faster response times, more consistent service, and smoother journeys. Meeting those expectations often involves changing internal processes, building new capabilities, or changing how teams work.

Talent gaps are widening.
Many SME leaders now wear several hats. They are responsible for operations, strategy, delivery, and firefighting, and at some point they also end up responsible for change. Not because they asked for it, but because there’s no one else.

Put all that together, and you end up with SMEs carrying a heavy project load whether they choose to call it one or not.

Why the label matters

This isn’t about forcing terminology into a business that already feels stretched. It’s about giving a name to a type of work that behaves differently from the day to day.

Project work asks you to step out of routine.
It has a beginning and an end.
It requires different thinking and clearer decisions.
It often involves more people and crossovers than you expect.

When SMEs don’t recognise this shift, everything blends together in one stream of busy.
That’s where the pressure builds.
Not because the work is too difficult, but because the shape of the work is unclear.

What I see….

When I sit with teams across different sectors, the signs are the same:

• Work jumps straight to action without slowing down to define the goal

• Plans stay in people’s heads

• Tasks land on whoever happens to be free

• Issues get spotted late because no one had the full picture

• Leaders get dragged into details they expected someone else to handle

• Everyone feels busy, but the needle doesn’t move as much as it should

None of this is a lack of effort.
It’s simply the natural outcome of treating project work like everyday work.

The opportunity hiding in plain sight

Here’s where SMEs have a quiet advantage.
They don’t need complex frameworks to make this easier.
They don’t need a full project office or layers of oversight.
They don’t need a wall of templates.

What they need is a different lens.
A way of saying, this bit of work is not business as usual. It needs clearer thinking, better communication, and someone responsible for keeping the whole thing moving.

Once that realisation lands, delivery tends to improve quickly.
People slow down enough to set direction.
Teams talk about what success looks like.
Risks surface earlier.
Workload becomes more manageable because it isn’t all competing for the same brain space.

And crucially, the emotional load drops.
When change has structure, people feel steadier.
They know what they’re working towards.
They’re less reactive.
They collaborate better because the picture is clearer.

Back to the question…

So, do small businesses work with projects?
Yes.
Every week.
Often every day.

They’re building new products, improving systems, opening sites, changing suppliers, fixing long standing issues, and trying to grow in a market that gets more complex every year.

Recognising their work as project work isn’t a formality. It’s a shift that helps them protect time, protect energy, and give themselves a fair chance of delivering the changes they care about.

Most small businesses are better at projects than they think. They’re just overdue a language that reflects the reality of their work, and a way of approaching change that makes life a little easier on the people driving it.