Poll Update -- Tracking Your Recovery & COVID-19's Ongoing Impact

Thanks for taking last week’s poll! Here’s what we learned from you and thousands of other business owners last week about re-opening, customers coming back, and your financial situation. 

Your top 3 stats of the week: 

• Open: 68% of business reported being open to some extent. Only 40% were “fully open”
• Customers: Only 50% of local customers have returned
• Employees: 48% of pre-COVID 19 employees are back on payroll

Top 3 quotes from our members this week:

“We are a small business that relies on events and some online business. We have not seen online traffic and none of our events are able to happen until they completely lift restrictions. We may not see that happen for a while. Hard to watch your business crumble. And I really feel for everyone else in the same situation.”
Lisa – Clothing Store Owner in Temecula, CA  5/23/20

“We are thrilled that we are open again.  We've had to reduce our open hours so that we can do cleaning, but we are ready and excited to have customers come and enjoy our beautiful gallery.”
Jane – Gallery Owner in Morro Bay, CA 5/23/2020

“As a 6 month old re-opened business in a new location, I was forced to shut down, as my business is solely made up of kid's birthday parties. I spent my life’s savings to open and build out the business, which was showing growth each month since opening. I was not allowed to open my doors since March while being forced to pay rent the whole time.

"I was a one man show so I didn’t receive any pay check protection for employees. I didn’t receive unemployment or a stimulus check. My main job as a tennis professional was also shut down completely and received zero help once again. I’ve worked 20 years and seven days a week to have everything basically taken from me by the government with zero aid as they promised the public.

"I as many business owners feel that this is one hundred percent disgusting that a governor who has a net worth of 5 million and not a care in the world can say he’s saving lives, when taking the resources which are essential to survival meaning having food on the table, and the means to put it there were simply taken from us with zero regards to the constitutional rights given to us many years ago.”
Anonymous – 5/23/2020

Back in Business, But Six Feet Apart: Top Concerns

In general there is optimism about finally re-opening for business. But there are still major concerns about the road ahead.

13,760 members answered questions about their biggest concerns:

• 26% worried about their financial resources running out
• 25% are concerned that customers will be afraid to return
• 17% worry about the threat of re-closure if there’s an increase in Coronavirus cases

The prolonged and unpredictable nature of the Coronavirus impact clearly factors into how business owners will recover. Having sufficient financial reserves to get through this crisis is their greatest concern and something they have visibility into on a daily basis.

Their next two concerns were more out of their control: How, when and to what extent customers will feel safe returning to their businesses and whether or not the Coronavirus cases will spike causing state and local governments to close businesses once again. 

Related content: It Doesn't Cost Much to Stay Safe: Practical Tips from a Healthcare Expert

At the onset of the outbreak in mid-March, our poll of small business owners highlighted the dire cash reserve situation felt by the majority of business owners.

At that time, 37% of small business owners reported having less than a month of cash on hand, while another 31% said they had only one to three months of cash available. 

Now almost 3 months into the impact that puts over 65% of businesses at financial risk. 

Here’s what business owners in a variety of industries had to say about their recovery concerns:

“The biggest challenge will be our customers getting over the fear of going out to eat. There is too much fear in the media about how many have died because of this virus and not enough of how many have recovered.”
—Phillip, Restaurant Owner in Sierra Vista, AZ

“My profession, bodywork/massage therapist, has been affected drastically and will continue until there is an effective treatment. The availability of the proper PPE supplies, and all the extra steps required to work with clients is daunting. Clients will be wary of making appointments.” 
—Gwenn, Massage Therapist in Bloomington, IN

“I cannot publish my next coupon magazine until small businesses are open again and some time has gone by to rebuild their revenues. I will be polling my customers in the next couple of weeks to get their thoughts on when they will feel comfortable spending money on advertising again. They will be the drivers as to when I get back to work.”
—Chuck, Publisher in Wenatchee, WA

The Biggest Question: (When) Will Customers Come Back?

• 56% report less than 50% of customers have returned
• June outlook same regardless of full or partial status

Over 7,000 business owners responded to the poll on the percent of pre-Covid19 customers who’ve returned in May. Only 16% experienced a return to pre-Covid levels while 56% have seen less than 50% return. 

We asked how many customers they anticipated for June and if this would differ should they be able to return to fully opened status in both scenarios they didn’t see any improvement from May. 

“The wedding industry is almost non-existent. People are too afraid to celebrate.”
—Maxine, Bridal & Event Coordinator, Houston, TX

Related content: How to Adapt Your Event and Wedding Business to the Coronavirus World

“All lodging in my town is supposed to be closed. Maybe 90% are. We are closed and hoping to open in July.”
—Judie, B&B Owner, Crestone, CO

“Even though my business would significantly benefit from some assistance due to the increase in operating cost associated with PPE and extended time per patient for additional safety protocols, my business does not qualify at all for any government assistance. I was in the process of a purchase of the business for the past year and the purchase finalized during the pandemic.

"As a result, since I did not have any employees on my payroll in February, I cannot get payroll assistance. The former owner of the business did qualify and received a loan for payroll protection but it is non-transferable. As a result, I have personally not taken a paycheck in over 5 weeks in order to ensure my employees are paid.”
—Julie, Veterinary Hospital, Sanford, NC

“You might think we’re lucky to stay open during this episode of virus propagation however, we are bleeding slowly with increased operating costs (20%) PPE & FOOD), salaries (20%) hiring more staff, decrease of income (15%). All this to say that we will not be able to hold much longer unless we can accept new clients sooner than later. Of course, it can only be done safely.”
—Albert, Senior Living Center, Rockland ON

So Where’s Overall Impact At After 3 Months? 

We’re definitely over the worst of it. 

In May, business owners reported an 11% decline in overall impact on their businesses. While encouraging, 67% of business owners reported still experiencing significant business impact. A lot depends on your industry. If it relies on things like events, travel etc. the impact is still significant. 

It’s clear that the impact business owners were feeling dipped a bit last week but seems to be rising again this week so we are not in the clear. Here’s the state and province data for US & Canada.

Hang Tough. Help Each Other. Drive The Recovery.

If we all make every effort to join forces through this recovery, exchanging key learnings and tips, as well as success stories that we can all benefit from, we will likely lessen the overall impact of COVID-19 in the weeks and months ahead. And we'll be on our way toward generating more revenue.

While some fears exist and an economic recovery can take longer than we would all like, that doesn't mean we shouldn't do everything in our power to push past COVID-19, into a much stronger economy as soon as humanly possible.  

If this is like other recoveries, we will all come through this wiser and stronger together, driving significant growth through smart pivots and innovation. 

Please continue to update us on your progress through future polls, and be sure to read the many helpful articles on our Coronavirus Resource and Recovery Center. 

Finally, feel free to share your views on these polls and the recovery in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

#MyMoneyStaysHere #SmallBusinessStrong

ABOUT THE ALIGNABLE RESEARCH CENTER

Alignable is the largest online referral network for small businesses with over 5.5 million members across North America. 

We established our research center in early March 2020, to track and report the impact of the Coronavirus on small businesses, and to monitor recovery efforts, informing the media, policymakers, and our members. 

For more details about any of these findings, including the methodology behind our polls, please contact Chuck Casto at press@alignable.com.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVID-RELATED POLLS & INSIGHTS FROM ALIGNABLE: 

Visit Alignable's Research Center Home Page

Visit Alignable's COVID Resource Center