How small businesses were affected by COVID
Ally Walby
Overall small owned restaurants have been affected negatively by the global pandemic, COVID-19. The economic impact of covid has caused small businesses across the country to close their doors. Many families within the past 9 months have decided at one point or another, to stay inside due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result of the virus, less people shop locally nowadays, leaving small and/or family owned places with little to no business. Small businesses are a major part of the U.S. economy yet nearly a quarter of them remain closed. There are numerous concerns for small business owners during this period of time. Some of those concerns include, cash flow shortages, increased stress and worry, decreased revenue, concerns of a second wave, and lastly customers being unaware of businesses that have reopened.
Spring shutdowns were detrimental to small business owners in the year of 2020. As you can see in the above graph, nearly 100,000 establishments that were temporarily closed during the pandemic, are now closed for good. Parts of the economy are starting to recover and thrive once more. While small businesses are struggling economically and reporting the need for stimulus and economic aid in order to survive.
All together many small businesses within the U.S. will need to make extreme changes to their daily operations in order to survive the pandemic. They’ll have to think about protecting not only their customers but employees as well, adjusting business models, attempting to appeal more to those who shop online for extra income, investing in new technological accounts, etc.. Unfortunately most of the small businesses in America with slim margins will be unable to, and/or have little money to invest new business models and technologies that they will need to survive.
Works Cited
“7 COVID-19 Struggles Small Businesses Are Facing and How to Overcome Them.” Due, 15 Nov. 2020, due.com/blog/small-businesses-struggle-in-pandemic/.
AliciaAdamczyk. “7 Months into the Pandemic, Small Business Owners Don't Know How Much Longer They Can Hold on: 'We Are in Survival Mode'.” CNBC, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/10/15/small-businesses-are-in-survival-mode-as-the-covid-pandemic-drags-on.html.
Arnsdorf, Isaac. “Thousands of Small Business Owners Have Not Gotten Disaster Loans the Government Promised Them.” ProPublica, www.propublica.org/article/thousands-of-small-business-owners-have-not-gotten-disaster-loans-the-government-promised-them.
Bartik, Alexander W., et al. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Outcomes and Expectations.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 28 July 2020, www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17656.
Dua, André et al. “US Small-Business Recovery after the COVID-19 Crisis.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 7 Aug. 2020, www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/us-small-business-recovery-after-the-covid-19-crisis#.
Fairlie, Robert W. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business Owners: The First Three Months after Social-Distancing Restrictions.” NBER, 6 July 2020, www.nber.org/papers/w27462.
Sraders, Anne, and Lance Lambert. “Nearly 100,000 Establishments That Temporarily Shutdown Are Now out of Business.” Fortune, Fortune, 28 Sept. 2020, fortune.com/2020/09/28/covid-buisnesses-shut-down-closed/.
I thought that it was important to note that small businesses have been struggling throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Small businesses are a huge part of the economy and COVID really impacted them because they do not have the ability to wait out the pandemic like a bigger company can. As a worker in a small business, in the writing it talked about how the spring shut downs were very important, and I noticed it as well. The spring shut downs were very hard for the owner where I work, and I know that without the government subsidizing some of these small businesses, many would go out of business thanks to the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people have forgotten about small businesses throughout the course of the year. I know in the spring it was very popular on social media to advocate for and advertise shopping small; however, I feel that with everyone’s lives continuing to move forward and everyone having concerns with new things, small businesses have once again become unpopular, looked over, and forgotten about. Right now, when a lot of people don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around and convenience is key, a lot of small businesses don’t make the cut.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. Small businesses need to be payed attention too by the government in order to survive in this new world Covid 19 has brought us. I have seen way too many small businesses such as cafes and other restaurants have to close because they can't make enough money anymore. Something has to be done before it's to late and the age of small businesses die off.
ReplyDeleteAs small business or family owned restaurants heavily rely on their locals for their income, I can see why they've been affected so negatively. I feel the government should have done more for these smaller businesses because, not only are there so many out there, but the owners and workers rely on this money for their housing and bills. It's a shame to see how those 100,000 businesses were shut down "temporarily" are not closed for good-- that's so sad to think of the people who needed that job and the owners who put so much time and effort into their business. I do like how you presenting the ideas that these smaller businesses expand their income beyond just shopping inside, like online shopping or curbside pick up options. These can protect the customers but also the employees while still racking in money.
ReplyDeleteI knew that there were going to be a good few businesses that shut down but I never thought it would be 100,000 and that's just insane to me. I know that it has been very very hard for these businesses to stay up and I think its on the government a little bit that they didn't help as much as they should have.
ReplyDeleteI had known of the fate of small business during the pandemic before but having 100K shut down is terrible. I especially feel bad to the businesses that started last year and were already in debt before the pandemic. I wonder if this will change the overall amount of small business or if it will discourage people from taking the risk of starting one, or maybe online small business will become more prevalent?
ReplyDeleteAs small businesses go bankrupt and close, the large businesses able to survive the pandemic take their place, becoming larger. It's pretty easy to see the positive feedback loop for the large businesses to become larger and have more control over the economy. If nothing is done to protect small businesses, we're likely to only have about 20 different companies we buy products from.
ReplyDeleteEven if some of us don't work, I think we all have felt the effects of COVID on small and large businesses alike. Although the government was on top of it at the start of this pandemic to initiate programs like unemployment and paycheck protection plans, I feel as if they have taken their foot off the gas and let individuals figure it out, despite unemployment only decreasing from the worst of this pandemic by about 0.2%. As most businesses suffer still, do you think there should be some sort of second rollout of money to these businesses, say similar to a second round of stimulus checks?
ReplyDeleteThe pandemic has completely upset the economy. While some businesses struggle and fail, others have adapted, and the ones that survive are interesting to look at. It may seem hard for restaurants to thrive during these times, but some of been able to adapt well, providing safer options. A lot of restaurants have offered take out or outdoor seating, and have been able to stay afloat through that. While it hasn't been easy for any business, some are still able to manage.
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