Small businesses continue to face significant challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including weak demand, heightened expenses, and limited credit availability. Nearly one-third of firms say they’re unlikely to survive without additional government aid until sales recover.
Counties with the highest density of COVID-19 cases are also areas with the highest concentration of Black businesses and networks. Our analysis shows stark PPP coverage gaps in these hardest hit communities.
We examine how firms are likely to weather the impacts of COVID-19 by unpacking small firms’ financial resiliency. Most firms would need to take significant cost-cutting measures or borrow if faced with sustained revenue loss.
Fielded in Q3 and Q4 of 2019, the SBCS offers baseline data on the financing and credit positions of small firms before the onset of the crisis.
Many minority-owned small businesses faced financial challenges and lagged in key performance indicators for profitability, revenue growth, and employee growth.
Despite being a key income source for their owners, nonemployer firms face acute profitability and financing challenges.