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May 19, 2020

Survey: Small-business owners fear having to close for good

IMAGE | Pixabay.com
By Michael C. Bingham

Even as the economic horizon begins to show glimmers of light following the ten-week darkness of the COVID pandemic, nearly two-thirds of small business owners surveyed in a national poll fear they may still have to close for good.

In addition, nearly a third of small-business people report having had to tap into personal or family savings to keep their doors open during the public-health emergency that shut down the economy of Connecticut and the nation in March.

According to a survey by the website Expertise.com released Monday (May 18), closings and bankruptcy were the two major concerns among respondents. Approximately 50 percent of small businesses have reduced staff hours due to the coronavirus outbreak and two out of three respondents said they are worried about permanent closings.

A lack of sufficient cash reserve is also a constraining factor for small businesses. One out of four respondents said they had only enough cash to keep them out of debt for one to three months.

“Statistics from the SBA show that small businesses employ over 58 million people in the U.S.,” says David Franklin, CEO of Expertise.com. “I believe it’s important for the business community to examine and address the challenges among small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In one finding from the survey, over 30% of the businesses surveyed have lost more than half of their revenue."

In the Northeast, more than half of small-business owners (51.1%) expressed fear that they would have to shut their doors at least temporarily. Nationwise 41.3% percent of respondents expressed the same fear.

Expertise.com partnered with the public-opinion survey firm YouGov to survey 512 small-business owners with fewer than 100 employees. Expertise specializes in providing proprietary research and expert reviews to help business owners and managers make informed decisions about their goals, projects and hiring choices. 

Expertise.com developed this survey to examine the challenges among small business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. To view the complete survey report, click HERE.

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