(The Center Square) A survey conducted by Red Balloon and Public Square found that nearly half of the 80,000 small businesses surveyed said they would not be able to survive under the current economic climate, ongoing inflation or the Biden Administration’s policies over the next four years.
May’s Free Economy Index found that small businesses “remain in survival mode”, with 40% delaying invoice payments to manage cash flow and 70% putting workforce plans on hold and not hiring or cutting staff, “the highest figures in the past year”, the report said.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said the U.S. is heading toward stagflation, a period of continued inflation and slowing economic growth.
Nearly half of the businesses surveyed said they would “definitely” (22.4%) or “probably” (26.2%) expect inflation to continue or that they “won’t be able to survive the remaining four years of President Biden’s term.”
With more than 12 million foreign nationals entering the U.S. illegally since President Joe Biden took office and violent crime on the rise, an overwhelming 90% of people said “border control” should be the top priority for a second Trump administration term, The Center Square exclusively reported.
The survey covered 80,000 small and medium-sized businesses nationwide with fewer than 500 employees, including those in the retail, hospitality, service and food and beverage industries.
“The last three years have been challenging for small American businesses,” Public Square CEO Michael Seifert said.
“While many of our politicians in Washington may feel like things are good, that’s not the case on the front lines of Main Street America, our small business economy.”
“Like families across the country, many small business owners are struggling to pay their bills right now,” said Red Balloon CEO Andrew Krapshetz.
“Government reports and optimistic talk coming out of Washington, D.C., don’t change the fact that Americans continue to struggle with inflation, and the majority of small business owners expect to experience stagflation.”
The survey includes “verbatim” responses from small business owners about the financial challenges they are facing.
When asked, “What changes (if any) would you consider making to your business plans in preparation for a second Biden term?” small business owners said they couldn’t make any changes.
“They would actively consider selling to a larger competitor,” one person said.
Another said: “Close the store.”
Yet another said: “Pray? I don’t even want to think about that.”
Some opinions included “cut staff and reduce costs” and “eliminate underperforming business divisions and reduce staff by 50%.”
And then there are the people who say, “I’m just going to close up shop. We’ve already cut costs as much as we can to survive as we are. We have no other choice.”
“I don’t have any money to earn anymore. I had to borrow money and business is down so I can’t do anything anymore. My daughter and I are working 14 hours a day.”
“We’ll probably have to close down.”
“I will be laying off all my employees and going self-employed.”
“We can’t make any changes without closing shop. We’ve already cut costs to a bare minimum.”
“There’s nothing I can do on top of what I’m doing now. If things don’t change, I’m finished.”
“We want to sell now and don’t want to take that risk.”
“Frozen all new installations, banned new hiring, reduced hours for all employees.”
“We’re going to close about half of our stores.”
“Unfortunately, I’ll probably have to close my business.”
“We have to either lay off employees or close down to survive.”
“Let’s keep our heads up and hope he doesn’t destroy us.”
“Unfortunately, we will probably have to close the shop.”
Nearly half of those surveyed, 49%, have been in business for more than 10 years, and about 28% have been in business for between three and 10 years.
