KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Small businesses have been hard hit to date: 8 in 10 small business owners surveyed reported negative effects from the pandemic, more than half of respondents have experienced revenue declines of more than 25%, and 37% are not operating at full capacity, with an average of almost 10% closed.

• It’s going to get worse for business owners and their employees: ~10% of small business respondents expect to close permanently in next 6 months. 44% of employer businesses that responded have already shed jobs and 45% expect more job losses to come.

• Small businesses need cash: As expected, most respondents want relief in the form of grants or another PPP loan. More than one-third of small businesses in the survey expect to borrow to address COVID-induced cash flow constraints, making it imperative to ensure liquidity in credit markets, especially for relatively small-dollar loans.

BACKGROUND

Due to limited data available on the experience of small businesses, specifically, Asian-, Black-, Hispanic- and Native-owned small businesses, Reimagine Main Street, we partnered with the Public Private Strategies, the US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), to conduct the largest survey to date of business owners of color on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses.

METHODOLOGY

The survey was conducted online from September 28, 2020 to November 30, 2020 among 8,328 business owners, including 893 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), 2,208 Black, 879 Hispanic, and 179 Native American business owners.