In October, small- and mid-sized businesses actually shrank their headcounts, according to payroll processor ADP. That downsizing, said one business owner in Virginia, was due to the “devastating” tariffs.

For Todd Adams of Sanitube U.S., and Katie Lazar of Cain Vineyard & Winery, tariffs have created new obstacles to business.

“In the last six months, the tariff rate on products like we make in Cambodia coming into the U.S. has gone from 0% to 49% to 10% to 36% to 19%,” said Ben Knepler of True Places.

A little over a year ago, Rita Magalde moved her previously home-based bakery to a commercial kitchen. This year, she’s adding a mall location.

“Some of the products we move that go into making plastic materials or paint, those businesses are really off right now,” said Austin Golding.

As the genre grows, a bookstore selling used horror books opened in Casper, Wyoming this year.

Business owners are nervous about an uncertain economy, so they’re trying to figure out how to manage their own staffing.

Pitmasters are contending with high prices – while cattle producers are performing above their peers in the agricultural sector.

When Riley Brown and Kassidy Curtis-Lugo moved to an island in Lake Superior, they built a sauna to stary warm through the winters. Now they rent and build custom saunas.

Aaron Steele and his family began raising goats in 2012 when his three sons needed summer chores. Now, those goats aren’t just another chore — in fact, they’re the world’s best employees.