April 10, 2020 – Wave 3 of a national study indicates eighty percent of U.S. small businesses say they are likely to re-open by May 1, up from 63 percent who said they would re-open by mid-April in previous study results.
The study of small businesses by Thryv Inc. and America’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), a resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA), was conducted April 3 – 5, and was a follow-up to Waves 1 and 2 of the study conducted the prior weeks.
The week-over-week study also uncovered an increasing shift in those applying for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Forty-four percent of businesses (up from 33 percent in Wave 1) are now indicating they will apply and 25 percent of businesses (up from 5 percent in Wave 2) say they have already applied.
The latest wave of the study further found that 84 percent of small businesses continue to feel “extremely concerned” about the current business environment in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The interest in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, as well as the Paycheck Protection Program, are clear indicators SMBs continue to feel they are at risk,” said Gordon Henry, Chief Strategy Officer at Thryv®. “In light of the optimism to open by May 1, SMBs should go to AmericasSBDC.org to connect with their local SBDC center and gain guidance.”
Wave 3 of the study found that only 25 percent said they were likely to recover completely one year from now, a decrease from the 36 percent that indicated they expect a full recovery in Wave 2.
Additionally, there was an increase in those who do not think their company will survive.
Wave 3 found 10 percent of businesses do not think they will survive, increasing from 3 percent in Wave 2. This is driven by older businesses. Six percent of firms that have operated for less than 30 years say they will not survive, whereas 16 percent of small businesses that are more than 30 years old said they would not survive.
“SBDCs are here to help local business owners deal with these difficult times. We can provide business insight as well as explain the loan process,” said Charles “Tee” Rowe, president and CEO at America’s SBDC. “With 44 percent of SMBs interested in applying, we have resources they can count on to help them.”
These are just a few data points from the joint longitudinal study by Thryv, Inc. — a SaaS and marketing solutions company with over 350,000 small business clients nationwide — and America’s SBDC conducted among small businesses across the country this past weekend. The research supports the integral role small businesses play and the value they bring to the economy. Both America’s SBDC and Thryv Inc. have a long history of working with small businesses.
The study was conducted on April 3 through April 5 among small businesses, with a margin of error +/- 7.4 percent. Thryv and America’s SBDC will continue to gather data from SMBs over the next four to eight weeks.
For full study results, email [email protected].
About Thryv, Inc.
Thryv, Inc. builds and owns the simple, easy-to-use Thryv® software that helps small business owners with the daily demands of running a business; and allows them to take control and be more successful. Thryv provides modernized business functions allowing them to manage their time, communicate with clients, and get paid. These include building a digital customer list, communicating with customers via email and text, updating business listings across the internet, accepting appointments, sending notifications and reminders, managing ratings and reviews, generating estimates and invoices, processing payments, and issuing invoices and coupons.
Thryv delivers business services to more than 350,000 small businesses across America that enable them to compete and win in today’s economy.
Thryv also provides consumer services through our market-leading search, display and social products—and connects local businesses via The Real Yellow Pages® from the over 25 million monthly visitors of DexKnows.com®, Superpages.com® and yellowpages.com search portals; and local print directories. For more information about the company, visit thryv.com.
About America’s SBDC Program: America’s SBDC (Small Business Development Center) Network is a partnership uniting private enterprise, government, higher education and local nonprofit economic development organizations. It is the Small Business Administration’s largest partnership program, providing management and technical assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their own businesses. Learn more at www.americassbdc.org.
