Margaux & Max has been able to stay afloat with Facebook’s live streams and Dinges ’creative marketing, even while the retail store remains closed for in-person shopping.
Photo: The Donna Dinges
Small business owners have faced a bit of a whiplash over the past year as Covid-19 ravaged the nation, with restrictions leading to closures, reopening and limited operations in markets across the country at will. of state and local leaders.
New data for the first quarter of 2021 CNBC SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey reveals that the experiences of Main Street entrepreneurs reflect this period of unpredictability.
Although just over half of small business owners say they have been able to stay open throughout the pandemic, 20% of small business owners say their businesses are temporarily closed as a result of the pandemic and then ‘have reopened, but only with limited capacity. In addition, 10% of small business owners say they have closed and have not reopened yet. Another 4% claim to have closed, reopened and then closed again.
The round trip has weighed on the sentiment of small business owners and led the Main Street community to express strong support for President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid aid plan, according to the poll , which was conducted among 2,111 small business owners across the country from January 25 to January. 31 using the SurveyMonkey platform.
Je Donna Dinges relaunched its clothing and accessories store, Margaux & Max, in a new, larger location in early March 2020. Within days, Covid cases began to rise across the country and the store based in Ferndale, Michigan, closed.
Je Donna Dinges opened a new and larger location with her boutique, Margaux & Max, just as Covid began to spread across the United States In a few days it had to close in March 2020.
Jo Donna Dinges
He has not yet reopened his retail store for face-to-face businesses, a conscious option for Dinges, as he has an autoimmune disease and wants to limit his exposure. But the employer is not deterred. To stay in the fleet, she does live fashion shows that she hosts from her store on Friday nights on Facebook, with her stylish mannequins of all sizes with clothes and accessories. Their customers tune in, Dinges said, and then they went shopping and picked up their purchases during the week.
“I’m very concerned about my own health … and I’m also very concerned about my clientele,” Dinges said. “I made the decision to stay locked up, but not to stop working.”
Overall, small business sentiment declined to a new low during the first quarter, according to the CNBC survey. Confidence fell from 48 to 43 quarter-on-quarter, the lowest since CNBC and SurveyMonkey began tracking Main Street confidence in 2017. In addition, the number of small business owners claiming they can continue operating for more than a year fell from 67% in the fourth quarter to 55%.
Confidence levels varied depending on the race of employers. CNBC poll reveals fears of permanent closure are high among black small business owners, with 37% saying they can survive more than a year in current conditions, compared to 59% of white small business owners and 55% of Hispanic small business owners.
Black-owned businesses that have not yet reopened after being temporarily halted due to the pandemic (25%) are compared to 8% of small white-owned businesses.
Despite the challenges, the small business confidence index of the survey found that black small business owners remain optimistic with a higher overall small business sentiment score than their peers.
The Wage Protection Program has been a lifeline for some, but changes have been made to the program following calls from some companies and they argued last year that the PPP did not cater to smaller, minority borrowers. In January, when the $ 284 billion program was relaunched, first access to the portal was given to community financial institutions that typically serve smaller businesses or may be mission-based.
To date, more than $ 103 billion has been approved for more than 1.4 million small business loans, according to the Small Business Administration. The SBA says 82% of all loans went to companies applying for less than $ 100,000, indicating that smaller companies applied for help. In addition, almost a third of the loans went to companies in rural communities. Approval times have been extended with anti-fraud measures in place, as loans have no longer been approved on the same day as last year.
Small businesses poorly cared for
Administration officials have said they believe the money for the PPP will not run out as it did in April 2020, when the program was first launched, and lawmakers continue to push for transparency around profiles. demographics of the companies that take out loans. President Biden has pledged to include aid for underserved small businesses in his $ 1.9 trillion pandemic package, both in the form of grants and funding, as the small business community will likely need lines of action. continued life when the PPP closes in March.
“If the administration actually gets subsidies directly for companies and business owners, this will actually help the capital and working capital of those companies instead of acting effectively as a transaction to their employees, which, for of course, it was the PPP’s intention. It’s invaluable in its own way, “said Brian Blake, director of public policy for the Community Development Bankers Association.
Dinges said he struggled to access PPP funding last year, and eventually turned to Kabbage for a small business loan after previous rejections. He is considering applying for a loan for the second draw this year and is optimistic about the future, despite ongoing challenges. Its sales have fallen nearly 40%, but it could be much worse considering all that Main Street has endured over the past year.
“I definitely feel hopeful. As I drove through my community, I look at empty shop windows, which is sad. But I’m looking at the empty shop windows of major retailers, “Dinges said.” And it just struck me that these big retailers were folding and I’m still standing … the loyalty I have of my customers really moves me. ”