Digital Tools Help U.S. SMBs Rebound From Pandemic, But Much Damage Has Been Done

Facebook teamed up with the Small Business Roundtable on a survey of small and midsized businesses in the U.S. last April to gauge the effects of Covid-19, and the two parties reupped their efforts last December as the pandemic continued to take its toll. In the introduction to the report, Small Business Roundtable chair Karen Kerrigan, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Small Business Roundtable co-executive director John Stanford wrote, “When we first surveyed small businesses last April, we saw a snapshot of an economy reeling from the early shock of the pandemic. It was clear then that restrictions on business that were essential for public health were also creating major challenges for many businesses. We have continued to listen to small businesses across the country throughout the pandemic to find out how they are coping and what they need.” The social network and the coalition surveyed 11.203 online business leaders, 8,066 employees and 6,666 consumers across the U.S. for their latest effort. When the initial survey was conducted last April, 66% of respondents believed their businesses would reopen within six months, but confidence was understandably down last December, with just 37% saying they expected to reopen within six months. Closure rates were down slightly, to 25% last December from 31% last April. And the number of employees who said they were out of work due to coronavirus-related closures was down to 15% last December from 44% last April. SMBs in minority communities have been hit harder, with 70% reporting lower sales, compared with 41% in non-minority communities, and 36% saying they were closed, versus 22%. Women were also more likely to feel the pandemic’s effects than men, as the percentage of women leading SMBs who said it was difficult to pay their usual household expenses shot up from 34% last April to 55% last December, while that percentage actually dropped slightly for men. And 87% of women leading businesses said domestic responsibilities were impacting their work, compared with 72% of men. Despite rising unemployment rates across the country, 34% of SMB owners and managers who responded to the survey said finding adequately skilled employees was challenging. Digital tools have continued to help SMBs stay afloat, with 34% of respondents increasing their use of online or digital tools since the pandemic began, while businesses making no sales via digital channels dropped from 35% last April to 13% last December. Sandberg said in a Newsroom post, “The survey also paints a picture of resilience and creativity among American businesses. Many that closed earlier in the pandemic have been able to adapt and reopen, helping to reduce the number of employees out of work. And many have relied on the internet to do this, with more than one-third of small businesses saying they have increased their use of digital tools during the pandemic.”

Life in Quarantine

Digital Tools Help U.S. SMBs Rebound From Pandemic, But Much Damage Has Been Done

Minority communities and women-owned businesses have been hit disproportionately harder

David Cohen

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David Cohen