By Brandon Spear, CEO of TreviPay
Digital platforms are reshaping expectations for how companies manage the transaction experience for customers of all sizes. The shift in business buying is changing both the speed of commerce and the scale of opportunity for providers. The B2B eCommerce market is barreling toward $3 trillion by 2027 according to Forrester research. While enterprise sales teams chase this growth for large corporate clients, they’resystematically overlooking their largest potential customer base: small businesses. SMBs represent 33 million companies and 99.9% of all US businesses, as reported by the U.S Small Business Association, yet they remain notably underserved in the B2B eCommerce transformation.
This is more than a missed opportunity. Enterprises are applying strategies designed for large corporations to a fundamentally different market segment, creating a strategic blind spot. Enterprises that recognize this and adapt their strategies can gain access to an underexplored market.
The Realities of Small Business Buying
The problem stems from enterprise assumptions about how businesses buy. Most B2B strategies assume buyers have substantial cash reserves, established credit histories and complex procurement processes involving multiple stakeholders. These assumptions work reasonably well for large corporate accounts, but they create friction when applied to small businesses operating under entirely different constraints.
Consider payment preferences. Research from TreviPay found 61% of B2B buyers prefer trade credit or flexible net terms, with this preference even more pronounced among small businesses. Cash flow management drives purchasing decisions in ways enterprise buyers, insulated by larger financial reserves and dedicated procurement departments, rarely experience. When a small business evaluates suppliers, the ability to pay on invoice with net terms of 30, 60, or 90 days often becomes the deciding factor.
This financial reality connects directly to how small businesses make purchasing decisions. The US Chamber of Commercereveals having strong relationships with suppliers helps small businesses save money and be more efficient. Building partnerships with a few key vendors is also more desirable tohiring. Small businesses don’t just prefer relationships over transactions because they’re more personal. They prefer them because strong supplier partnerships provide the operational efficiency and financial flexibility their resource constraints demand.
The organizational differences amplify these purchasing patterns. Small businesses typically have flatter structures enabling faster decision-making processes compared to the complex hierarchies characterized in enterprise purchasing. A small business owner can evaluate a new supplier and commit within days or weeks, while enterprise procurement cycles stretch across quarters and involve multiple stakeholders, committees and approval layers.
Barriers Built by Enterprise Approaches
These fundamental differences reveal why current B2B approaches often fail with small business buyers. Payment terms designed for established corporations assume buyers with substantial cash reserves. When enterprises require immediate payment or impose rigid credit requirements, they automatically exclude small businesses that need flexible terms to manage cash flow effectively.
The credit assessment problem runs deeper than payment preferences. Many small businesses have limited credit histories, making traditional credit assessment methods ineffective and requiring alternative approaches to evaluate creditworthiness. When enterprises rely on conventional credit scoring, they miss opportunities with viable small businesses.
Technology systems create additional barriers. Buyer relationship management platforms favored by large enterprises are optimized for managing fewer, larger transactions. They struggle with the volume coming from serving thousands of smaller accounts. Sales processes involving lengthy relationship-building periods with multiple stakeholders become mismatched, particularly when the decision-maker is often the business owner who needs straightforward, efficient interactions.
The result is most enterprises either avoid the small business market entirely or serve it poorly with enterprise-designed processes. They treat small business buyers as lower-priority versions of their enterprise accounts rather than recognizing them as a valuable market requiring a different approach.
Strategic Opportunities in Targeting Small Business Buyers
Companies adapting their strategies to better align with small businesses may find advantages that aren’t immediately obvious from an enterprise perspective. Market penetration in an underserved segment creates competitive advantages. Companies establishing positions in small business markets can build buyer relationships, operational expertise and market knowledge providing competitive differentiation.
Tech developments have made the operational challenges more manageable. Automated invoicing systems can handle thousands of smaller transactions. Data analytics can assess creditworthiness for companies with limited traditional credit histories. Buyer relationship management platforms can maintain personalized relationships at scale. These tools eliminate many of the barriers that previously made serving small businesses difficult.
While most B2B companies solely focus on enterprise accounts, there’s an opportunity to also meet the needs of the underserved small business market. By tailoring their strategies to the realities of small business buyers, enterprises can also serve small businesses to open even more profitable customer relationships.
With $3 trillion market growth, established enterprises face a strategic choice: adapt their approaches to serving small businesses effectively or continue focusing solely on an enterprise market where they face established competition. The numbers are compelling, the operational challenges are solvable,and the competitive window is open.
Author Bio: Brandon Spear leads TreviPay with expertise in managing large, diverse global teams. His strength is discerning and focusing on the most important challenges facing an organization at a particular point in time and unifying all stakeholders behind accomplishing a set of specific goals. Brandon has a unique ability to connect across all levels of an organization, motivate staff with diverse skill sets, while ensuring a common alignment and results.
