Despite the crushing blow of extended shutdowns, employees relegated to work from home and many other issues dealt by the pandemic, a new survey shows that many of the small businesses of Michigan not only managed to make it through to the other side, but also maintain an optimistic outlook going forward. That’s the result of the survey conducted last week by the Small Business Association of Michigan. 
SBAM leaders say that the survey, conducted just last week, shows that nearly three quarters of the businesses responding are feeling optimistic about the survival of their business despite being hammered hard by the pandemic.
SBAM President Brian Calley says, “It’s encouraging to see optimism among small businesses despite all they have endured over the last 15 months of this pandemic,” and adds, “Now that restrictions are lifted, we must address barriers to recruiting and retaining employees so that our economy may fully recover.”
The survey, conducted from June 8th to the 18th involved more than 600 Michigan small businesses, and also revealed these facts:
- 47-percent of respondents say difficulty finding and keeping employees is the biggest problem facing their business.
- 50-percent of those surveyed expect to increase the size of their workforce over the next 6 months.
- 52-percent of small businesses have increased wages of their employees since the pandemic began.
- 78-percent of respondents said that COVID-19 had a negative impact on their business in 2020 and 63-percent say that COVID-19 is still negatively impacting their business.
- 63-percent of those surveyed reported a decline in sales in 2020 as compared to 2019, including 34-percent that reported a decline of revenues of more than 25-percent.
- 45-percent say the pandemic created permanent changes in the customers they serve.
- 91-percent of businesses received Paycheck Protection Program assistance during the pandemic, the largest source of relief by far.
- 33-percent of businesses reported staffing reductions due to the pandemic.
- 16-percent of businesses report struggling to pay bills as they come in.
The Small Business Association of Michigan focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community through advocacy, collaboration and buying power. Today they serve over 28,000 members in all 83 counties of Michigan. SBAM is located in Lansing, just one block from the Capitol building.
