Main Street Monday – Two-Thirds of Business Owners Saw Revenue Declines Since 2019

March 7, 2022

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Main Street Monday – Two-Thirds of Business Owners Saw Revenue Declines Since 2019

“Many small businesses have not recovered to prepandemic levels, in terms of both revenue and employment, with the effects of the pandemic hitting disproportionately hard among firms in the leisure and hospitality sector, smaller firms, and firms owned by people of color,” reads the Small Business Credit Survey – 2022 Report on Employer Firms by Fed Small Business.

Here are the facts:

•77% of small businesses are being negatively impacted by the pandemic, and 8% have experienced positive effects from the pandemic.

•Half of all leisure and hospitality firms are experiencing a significant negative effect from the pandemic. This is followed by 35% of healthcare and education firms seeing a large negative impact from the pandemic.

•Since 2019, almost two-thirds of employer firms have seen their revenue decrease, and 43% of firms have had employment decreases.

•In 2021, small businesses began to feel more optimistic about revenue and employment growth compared to 2020, but their expectations have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

•59% of employer firms were in fair or poor financial condition at the time of the survey. Underserved markets and smaller firms were more likely to be in fair or poor financial condition.


•The top two operational challenges confronting small business owners were hiring and retaining qualified staff and supply chain issues.

Source:
Feds Small Business – SBCS 2022