Updated September 2026
This article was originally published in November 2023. The original article referenced a statistic suggesting that 91% of businesses would not reach $1m in revenue. I’ve now updated the article using the latest UK government and ONS data.
The latest figures show that 88.5% of UK registered businesses had turnover of £1m or less in March 2025.
The number has changed slightly, but the question remains just as relevant: does not reaching £1m mean your business isn’t successful?
88.5% of UK registered businesses don’t have turnover above £1 million. So why does it sometimes feel like everyone online is running a seven-figure business?
There is something I have noticed more and more over my 2 decades in business, and certainly more prominent in the last 8 years.
Business owners are quietly making themselves feel like failures because their business hasn’t hit £1 million.
They see someone talking about a seven-figure launch.
Someone else is celebrating £2m in revenue.
Or a wedding business celebrates working on a £1m wedding
And suddenly your perfectly good £90k, £150k, £250k or £500k business doesn’t feel quite so impressive anymore.
But here’s the thing.
It is very easy to lose perspective when you spend too much time looking at other people’s highlight reels.
Because the reality of UK business looks very different.
With so many posts about businesses (normally business to business) making multiple millions being shared on social media it can sometimes feel this is the norm, and when you don’t achieve this, you begin to wonder is there something wrong with you or your business.
Let’s look at the latest UK business statistics
The latest Department for Business and Trade figures show that there were:
- 5.69 million private-sector businesses in the UK at the start of 2025.
- Of those, 5.64 million were small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
- And 38,435 were medium-sized businesses with 50–249 employees.
- There were just 8,335 businesses with 250 or more employees.
Overall, SMEs – businesses with fewer than 250 employees – account for 99.85% of the UK private-sector business population.
You don’t have to build a big team to build a successful business
Here’s something I think we sometimes forget when we’re bombarded with messages about “scaling”.
At the start of 2025, the UK had an estimated 4.27 million non-employing businesses (businesses with no employees). That’s around three-quarters of the entire UK private-sector business population.
Between 2024 and 2025, the number of non-employing businesses actually increased by 201,000 (4.9%), while employing businesses fell by 9,000 (0.7%).
And the number of these non-employing businesses has grown by more than 1 million since 2010 accounting for 84% of the growth in the UK business population over that period.
So let’s stop pretending that every successful business is supposed to become a 20-person company with a huge office, management team and multiple departments.
I touch on this in my article exploring the difference between downsizing, scaling and growing a business. When I work with clients we strategise what is right for them, not what societies pressure says is right.
A business can be successful because it supports one person brilliantly.
But what about the £1 million turnover target?
This is where things get really interesting.
According to the latest ONS data, 11.5% of UK registered businesses had turnover above £1 million in March 2025.
Which means:
88.5% did not.
And more than 65% had turnover below £250,000.
Read that again.
£1 million turnover is not the normal benchmark for a UK business.
It is a significant achievement.
It is absolutely something to celebrate if that’s your goal.
But it is not the baseline against which the rest of us should be judging whether our businesses are successful.
There’s a big difference between £100k and £1m
Lets be frank, there is a big jump from £100,000 to £1,000,000. No one seems to talk about getting from £100k to £200k or even £500k. Nope it’s predominately getting to £100k then ignoring the next £900k! It’s ludicrous if you think about it.
Cast your mind back to marketing messages, I bet you can remember campaigns talking about 6 and 7 figures turnover? And in recent years 8 figures?
But what all the hundreds of thousands in between?!
£100k.
£150k.
£200k.
£300k.
£400k.
£500k.
£750k.
You get the picture.
There are an awful lot of very successful businesses sitting in that space. Remember the stat above, 65% of all businesses had a turnover under £250k
When working with clients I also ask them to break goals down and this includes financial targets. So know what you want to bring into the business then think about how to make that happen. So in the case of a £100k or £1 million, below shows you what you need to bring in each month to reach that target.
£100k = £8,334 per month
£1mil = £83,334 per month
That’s not a small step up.
It’s a completely different level of business!
Is it any wonder creatives are suffering with their mindset and imposter syndrome when they see these numbers? There is a big difference between bringing in £8.3k per month vs £83k! Can it be done, yes absolutely. But it might mean changing your business model, launching a new business and exploring passive income streams. Again I talk about this in my article on scaling or growing a business.
The fact is – business success for everyone is different and thus I feel strongly strategies should be crafted to achieve the goals and dreams of the business owner. And not what any online hype is promoting. Take a moment to think about what financial target you want revenue and profit wise. Work on a revenue goal that will bring joy and freedom to your life, and not a target dictated by others.
Analyse your current services or products, what would you need to sell to make this happen? Reaching any financial goal doesn’t happen by just wishing for it, you need a strategy in place. What knowledge do you need to gain ? Is it time to upgrade systems? Is it necessary to hire a business coach or mentor to help you?
If you are one of the 5.68 million SMEs making up 99.85% of all businesses. Know that you are keeping this country ticking over. You may be a SME. But together you make up a pretty amazing collective of businesses.
Revenue isn’t the same as profit
This is another one I really want you to remember.
£1 million turnover does not mean £1 million in your pocket.
A business can have impressive revenue and still have very little profit.
Imagine two businesses:
Business A
£1 million turnover
£850,000 expenses
£150,000 profit
Business B
£300,000 turnover
£120,000 expenses
£180,000 profit
Which business is more successful?
There isn’t enough information to answer that question.
But it certainly isn’t automatically Business A.
This is why I encourage my clients to stop obsessing over turnover.
We need to look at:
- revenue
- profit
- margins
- working hours
- stress levels
- lifestyle
- team
- capacity
- sustainability
- and what the owner actually wants from the business.
Because a bigger business isn’t automatically a better business. In fact many of my clients choose to sit under the vat threshold, why? Because they value freedom of time more and choose to work just a small number of weddings per year to create more time with family.
What does business success actually mean to you?
Perhaps you want £100k revenue and working four days a week.
Perhaps you want £250k and a small team.
Perhaps you want £500k and the freedom to take three months off every year.
Perhaps you genuinely want a £1m+ business.
Perhaps you want to stay a brilliant one-person business because you love what you do and don’t want employees.
All of those can be successful businesses.
Your business doesn’t have to become bigger just because somebody on Instagram told you it should. If you want to stay a company of one I can highly recommend this book by Paul Jarvis
Your business success doesn’t need to look like somebody else’s
I work primarily with wedding and creative business owners, and one of the things I see repeatedly is comparison and imposter syndrome.
Someone sees another business owner doing £500k. Or working on a £1m wedding. Launching new premises. Hiring more staff. Delivering more weddings.
And they immediately assume they should be doing the same.
But I don’t know your business model.
I don’t know your prices.
I don’t know your capacity.
I don’t know your personal circumstances.
And neither does the person shouting “more!” at you on Instagram.
Your version of success needs to fit your business and your life.
That’s why when I work with clients, we don’t start with somebody else’s revenue target.
We start with what they actually want.
Then we work backwards.
What does the business need to sell?
At what price?
At what margin?
How many clients can you realistically serve?
What needs to change?
What needs to stop?
What needs to be systemised?
And, importantly, what is the point at which growth stops making your life better? When does it stop being joyful?
Because life is way too short to be doing something we no longer love.
You don’t need a seven-figure turnover to have a successful business.
You don’t need a team of 20.
You don’t need a huge office.
And you certainly don’t need to apologise for the size of your business.
Build the business that works for you.
And if that happens to be a £1m business, fantastic. If it’s £100k, £250k or £500k, fantastic too.
Success isn’t a number someone else gets to choose for you. Not even me.
Getting Support
If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed or unsure what your next move should be, the best place to begin is with a free clarity call. My strengths are analysing your business and advising bespoke strategies to match.
We’ll talk through where you are now, what you want to change and what kind of support would genuinely help. You’ll leave with more clarity about your next steps – whether we work together or not.
Sources
Further Reading
