Coronavirus Insights Poll: Week 8

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May 7th, 2020

Week In Review:

  • 364K small business owners have shared their status. Thanks for making this poll the most accurate source reflecting what's really happening in small business life now.
  • Mixed signals. Overall impact remains the same: 85%. But 75% tell us the effects are intense, while 6% (up 2%) say they're on the decline. 
  • Big swings. Montana was No. 3 last week & now is No. 51 (including DC). New York is now No. 1 & was No. 13. Prince Edward Island is usually among Canada's least-impacted provinces, but now is No.1.
  • CARES ACT UPDATE: On the rise, but not fast enough.
    • 32% applied, but haven't heard back
    • 18% tried, but their banks wouldn't submit applications
    • 6% were denied
    • 16% were approved, but haven't received funds
    • Only 28% have CARES cash now (up from 17% from last week)
  • Wall Of Shame Recipient Chase Bank has more company this week on "the wall," as Bank Of America & Wells Fargo have been called out for shunning small businesses, too. Meanwhile, local banks & online lenders emerge as heroes, see why.
  • Start Mapping Your Recovery: See this video with Steph Roy McCallum, who shares key tips.
  • Coronavirus Impact & Drive Toward Recovery: Peruse this report from Co-Founder Eric Groves with an upbeat projection: 53% of small business owners expect to bounce back in a month or less.
  • The Media Tells Your Story Again: See The Wall Street Journal.
  • Our CTO Pascal Rettig has created an enlightening, interactive map for the U.S. to show how the COVID-19 impact has changed each week in each state since 3/13.  Check it out. 
  • Finally, you'll want to read these feel-good stories of community support during this crisis. Small business owners are coming together to survive -- and thrive again.  #SmallBusinessStrong.

TIP OF THE WEEK: PLAN YOUR REOPENING

As federal and local officials slowly allow some businesses & communities to reopen -- with restrictions, how will you respond when it's your turn?

What safety measures will you need to implement to make sure customers & your staff feel comfortable returning?

This Week's Pulse Poll Update

Flat Curve, But 75% Report Being Really Impacted

Major Shifts In State Impacts: Up, Down & All-Around


Some states in the Heartland and Plains saw some significant decreases in impact, from Oklahoma to Montana and several places in between. 

But just look at how the state rankings have changed from last week, reflecting increased volatility in some places and an easing of pressure in others. 

This is how last week's Top 25 looked:


Washington, DC, North Dakota, Montana, Kentucky & Vermont led the pack of the most-impacted areas. But now, they've been replaced by others who were in the Top 10 a few weeks ago, with the exception of Maine which catapulted from No. 45 to No. 6 this week. 

Alaska, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts & Delaware saw significant decreases in impact last week, but they top the chart this week. The only states that remained in the Top 10 from last week were New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Hawaii.

Expect even more turbulence next week, but if more federal money comes in and more businesses can start to reopen, maybe we'll see more declines in impact.

    In Canada, Prince Edward Island Is A New Hot Spot

    • So, Canada’s Top 3 Most-Impacted Provinces this week are:
        • Prince Edward Island (94%)
        • Nova Scotia (93%)
        • Quebec (87%)
    • Prince Edward Island, which usually didn't show as much impact as most provinces, displaced Alberta, which saw a decline of 3% to land at 84%.
    • Ontario held steady at 86% this week again placing it right after Quebec.
    • New Brunswick (81%), Saskatchewan (76%), and Manitoba (74%) are all on the lower end of the spectrum with ongoing declines. 

    Big Topics For NEXT WEEK:


    Reopening, Planning For Recovery -- Who's Ready, Who's Not & What Are You Most Worried About? 

    Be sure to let us know how you feel about all of these issues & what you're experiencing -- the good and the bad. We want to keep tapping our vast network, as well as influencers and the media, to help them bring your struggles to light & find solutions together.

    Stay healthy & stay strong. #SmallBusinessStrong

    1.2k Comments 630k Views

    Comments (1-10)

    This whole thing is just the latest scam by the power elites to steal whatever money all us little people have. The coronavirus was just the excuse. They claim they care but they have never cared, will never care and are not even capable of caring but they will stand there for Holy Pictures and proclaim just how much they care while they do noting but line their pocket.

    Outdoors venues, like parks, should never be closed to the taxpayers who pay for them!  Science was was not the driver in closing them; panic was.

    The lockdown has caused incalculable damages and the effects will be seen in the next months but make no mistake: 2020 is a write-off. For retirement funds, salaries, stock market, and many industries (entertainment, hospitality, events) this year is a total, unrecoverable loss. 

    What we need is now decisive action from business associations to make sure that this will never repeat. Nevermore we will have lockdowns. Unless we make a commitment to keep the economy running, no matter what, the markets will not bounce back. 

    Yes, it's time to reopen. We will do it conscientiously, with all the precautions possible, but it's time to restart because we have suffered enough ruin for a whole generation. 

    Small businesses with less than 5 employees (for example) should be allowed to reopen sooner and not be in the same category as general retail businesses .... we can easily control guidelines in the shop... talking about the small  “mom & pop” type stores....we feel the impact greatly and often do not qualify for help but are greatly suffering.

    The stimulus is a joke, most haven’t received it yet. 1200 doesn’t do anything for people in the 75-80 range salary. It doesn’t even make an average mortgage payment. If you’re going to shut everything down, shut EVERYTHING down. Payments to Landlords, Mortgage, Credit Cards, Car Payments, etc,. Open up small business we know the risk we’re not 5 year olds.

    With the knowledge we've ascertained about  Covid19 over the past 8 weeks, I would have expected a faster "opening" of the economy.  

    Given the statistics, our Society's Panic level brought to you by the News Media, shouldn't be as high as it is.

    There is greater harm perpetrated on our way of life than what the corona virus' risks are to the society as I see it.

    Great care and caution needs to continue around those demographics affected, but we need to get on with living and working!  One man's opinion.


    In Lancaster County, PA almost 80% of the deaths were from nursing homes. Let’s stop putting time and energy into crashing the economy and controlling the healthy, and put energy into protecting the vulnerable. If we would have kept the economy rolling and instead worked on real solutions, we would be much further ahead!

    I chose to stay home as New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo requested due to the daily contact I had with many New Yorkers. Thank goodness many New Yorkers in the 5 boroughs (Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and The Bronx) are taking our Governor seriously and we did not want to risk of spreading the CoronaVirus to someone or possibly bringing it home to our close love ones. 
    I fully agree with Governor Andrew Cuomo. It is too soon to reopen. Our Governor also said we needed two weeks of declining numbers to reopen. The numbers are indeed declining slowly but surely. But keep in mind, we all have to think about our small children and fragile elderly. If we open our businesses too soon and if anything horrible happens to our love ones, we will definitely never forgive ourselves. We all have a choice, money or lives and safety. Our Governor, Andrew Cuomo, choose lives and safety.

    I am an artist quarantined with 8 family members including 2 children.  2 of these people are doctors. the other adults are working from home. 2 are salaried and one owns a small business.  The one who owns a small business is considering closing it altogether since it is plain that she will not be able to open it for at least a year as it requires close contact with others for an extended period of time and she is paying rent on 4 spaces.  the doctors are being careful but we are all exposed to them. 

    I watch the news closely and am pretty sure that we will need to be quarantined until there is a vaccine.  No amount of testing or tracking will contain this as businesses open and they will.  We are in for many more deaths.  Opening nonessential businesses is fool hardy.  The economy will have to wait until we can be assured that business will not collapse because business owners are dead.  There is really no way around the truth in spite of what our blundering fools in Washington say.