Invisible businesses don't survive

I look at hundreds of small business websites and pages for what I do, and I keep seeing the same pattern. The business is usually fine.. good product, decent service, owner clearly knows what they're doing. But nobody outside of existing customers even knows they exist. No search presence, dead social media, a website that hasn't been touched in years.

Genuinely curious what people here think. It feels like when a business struggles, everyone points at the economy, a slow season, rising costs, whatever. But so often the actual issue is way simpler than that: nobody outside of existing customers even knows the business exists. No search presence, dead social media, a website that hasn't been touched in years.

Is visibility actually the #1 killer for small businesses, more than people admit? Or does it just feel that way and it's really more about cash flow, hiring, pricing?

What's actually stuck for you right now, if you're being honest about it?