Gray Skies ahead ☂ for SMBs

I think we all have a special place in our hearts for small businesses. If commerce were just a revolving door of big-box stores, we’d miss out on countless family recipes, handcrafted anything, and interactions with people genuinely following their passions. After the pandemic shuttered many neighborhood businesses, recovery brought in fresh ones, so it’s hard to hear that small businesses are feeling the squeeze again as the economy reels.

Grey Skies Ahead
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 57% of all small businesses report feeling that economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next year, up from 42% only a month ago, representing the greatest increase in pessimism since the pandemic began. Entrepreneurs feel that, yet again, circumstances out of their control are reducing their margins and making it more challenging to hire and retain employees. Inflation, supply chain issues, and rising wages for workers are all making the next few weeks and months a critical moment of survival for many companies.

The Big Picture
Small businesses make up 44% of economic activity in the United States. They’re also inventing at 16 times the rate of large businesses. Small business survival is also important to the technology and enterprise companies that rely on them. Small businesses spent an estimated $684BN on IT in 2021. They’re also responsible for employing 49% of the private sector’s workforce.

Deep pockets, short arms
Consumers are delaying making purchases of big ticket items, like cars and mattresses. The average age of vehicles on the road is 12.2 years, the oldest in the last 20 years on record. Maryland is tackling the issue, offering small businesses nearly $200MM in Federal funding. Moreover, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is advancing policy to embrace a Small Business Bill of Rights.

To learn about small businesses in your area, search the platform for companies with employees under 500 (or less) in your geographic region.