What the current evidence shows
NOS reports, based on SRA’s 2026 sector study, that Dutch SMEs are postponing investments amid rising costs and uncertainty. The original SRA publication analysed 7,061 financial statements for 2025: average revenue rose 6.4%, profit 3.4%, and half of the companies recorded lower profit.
Waiting is not risk-free. Delayed investment may weaken productivity, digital capability, knowledge and competitiveness.
Assess more than payback
- Initial and recurring expenditure.
- Expected gross-margin gain or cost saving.
- Working-capital effect and lowest cash position.
- Implementation time and management capacity.
- Dependence on policy, subsidies, staff or one customer.
- Residual value and the option to phase the project.
Use three decision scenarios
Model a base, downside and acceleration case. Agree in advance which thresholds trigger a go, phased implementation or stop. Postponement is rational when assumptions cannot be tested or liquidity becomes too thin, but define what evidence is needed to reconsider.
Building a simple decision framework
Rather than deciding case by case, it helps to set a small number of standing rules before costs rise further: a minimum cash buffer that stays untouched, a maximum share of available cash that can go into any single investment, and a required payback period or return threshold an investment must clear before it is approved. Applying the same framework consistently, rather than reacting emotionally to each new cost increase, keeps decisions defensible and easier to explain to partners, lenders or investors later.
Frequently asked: should you always cut costs first when margins tighten?
Not necessarily. Cutting costs is often the fastest lever, but cutting the wrong ones — reducing marketing that drives new revenue, or delaying maintenance that later causes larger repair bills — can do more damage than the original cost increase. The more resilient approach is to first separate costs that protect revenue and quality from costs that do not, and only then decide where to cut, invest, or hold steady.
Sources accessed 18 July 2026: NOS and SRA.
Make the decision smaller than the total investment
An investment often feels like one large yes-or-no choice. In practice, parts can be phased. Start with a pilot, one production line or a limited user group. This provides evidence about adoption, returns and implementation problems before the full amount is committed.
Agree in advance which signals justify continuing, adjusting or stopping. Examples include a minimum gross margin, realised time savings, additional capacity or the pace at which new revenue arrives. Without decision rules, optimism can easily outweigh evidence after work has started.
Include the cost of waiting
Doing nothing also has financial consequences. Old systems may create errors, rework and lost capacity. Employees may leave when processes remain unnecessarily difficult. Compare the proposed investment with the realistic cost of waiting another twelve months.
Founder of Impact Growth Partner, combining finance, M&A and private-equity experience with practical financial and strategic guidance for SMEs.
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