March 10, 2022 – LocalNewsOnly
The latest on the State of Small Business shows that only 29% of small businesses have fully recovered so far, down 1% from January and 14% from December. So, the majority of SMBs (71%) are unable to rebound yet, despite their tireless efforts. And they predict it could take until the second half of 2023 until everyone’s fully recovered.
Why? The quadruple whammy of skyrocketing inflation (including gas prices & rent), growing supply chain issues, declining revenues, and a revived labor shortage are causing higher hurdles among small businesses across many sectors.
Based on a poll of 6,216 randomly selected small business owners surveyed from 2/19/22 to 3/7/22, here are other highlights from Alignable’s March Road To Recovery Report, released right now:
- Revenues Decline: 42% of all SMBs earned half or less of their pre-COVID monthly revenues in Feb. (4% worse than January’s number: 38%). Revenues haven’t been this low since Nov.
- Supply Chain Challenges Grow: 91% of small businesses report that the cost of supplies is higher now, up 13% from Jan. And 39% said supply costs were more than 25% higher.
- Labor Shortage Intensifies: 65% of SMBs report they’re having a tough time finding employees (up 5% from Jan.).
- Rents Spike: 46% report they’re paying more rent now than they did 6 months ago. Rent increases contributed to the number of SMBs unable to pay rent in Feb. (up 2% from Jan.).
- Inflation Worries Climb: Inflation’s the No. 1 concern among 43% of SMBs (up 13%).
- 10% Fewer SMBs Are Open: Only 68% report being fully open, reflecting a downward spiral from 73% in Jan., and 78% in Dec.
- As noted above, 71% have yet to rebound, and most saw declines since Jan. Here’s how key industries are faring:
- Transportation companies’ recovery rate was at 46% in Dec., but rising gas prices brought that number down to 29% in Jan., and 22% in March.
- Construction started at 56% in Dec., but slipped to 37% in Jan., and 32% in March. Supply chain issues and elevated metal & lumber costs are to blame.
- Real Estate: 49% of realtors reported being fully recovered in Dec., 44% in Jan., and now it’s only 32%. Lack of inventory and fears of higher interest rates are fueling these changes.
- 41% of retailers said they were fully recovered in Dec. Those rates slipped to 28% in Jan. and 25% in March.
- Restaurants are still way down on the list, too. In Dec., 32% were fully recovered. In Jan., that number plummeted to 14%. And now in March, it bounced back a bit to 17%.
See the rest of Alignable’s March Road To Recovery Report here. I
