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One in five small businesses say they won’t be able to stay open if economic conditions don’t improve over the next six months, and a similar number say they can only last one year.
Investigation by the National Federation of Independent Business, a small business trade group, found that while many businesses expected to stay afloat, the pandemic was hitting huge numbers of people devastatingly.
“The health crisis is not having an equal impact on small businesses,” said Holly Wade, director of research and policy analysis at the NFIB.
The pandemic, she said, was forcing small businesses to adapt to abrupt changes in consumer behavior, ever-changing health and safety information, and new rules and regulations from different levels of government.
But the simple fact of being able to cover your bills remains the central concern. About half of the companies surveyed have seen their sales fall by more than 25% since the start of the pandemic, and about a fifth have seen their sales fall by more than 50%.
“A lot of them still need extra financial help just to keep their doors open and the staff on the payroll,” Wade said.
Of the businesses that had taken a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program – the program providing emergency forgivable loans to help small businesses keep their employees on the books – 84 percent had already used the entire payroll. ready.
Almost half, 47%, said they would need more help in the coming year, and 44% said they would like to apply for a second PPP loan.
The program, however, expired at the end of July, and Congress failed to agree on a back-up plan that would extend the potential return loan program.
Another key controversy in the stalemate in negotiations is the level of unemployment insurance. Republicans want to cut the $ 600 in additional weekly benefits from April through July, arguing it makes returning to work less attractive.
Some 32% of survey respondents agreed, saying the perk made it more difficult to hire or rehire workers, although 9% said their clients had more money to spend as a result.
Just over half said they had moderate or serious concerns about lawsuits related to the pandemic. The GOP has made COVID-related liability a central demand in the negotiations.
The survey, which was conducted Aug. 17 and 18, included 561 responses and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
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