Small business growth has always been challenging, it’s even tougher these past few months. The state of small business owners outside of the USA is often even bleaker as most developing countries can’t offer the support for their smallest companies that we have in the USA or in most developed countries.
The Future of Business Survey is an ongoing collaboration between Facebook, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The surveyed small and medium businesses in more than 50 countries and regions in May 2020, to understand their experiences and need for support.
The imposition of lockdowns to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has forced many businesses to cease in-person operations. The survey found that between January and May 2020, 26% of SMBs closed — in some countries, more than 50%.
Many SMBs that have remained open have experienced sales declines. Of SMBs that were operational at the time of the survey, 62% had lower sales in the previous 30 days relative to the same period in 2019. Among these, 57% reported a decline in sales of 50% or more. These drops often led to workforce reductions: one in three SMBs in operation reported that they had reduced staff as a result of the pandemic.
Much of this I’m sure you know already. So what can we do about it.
It’s important to REINVENT your business and part of that is thinking differently and re-engineering your business.
Part of this is also, not being afraid to learn a new skill and start over, especially for freelancers, as the White House spoke about yesterday.
Watch Ramon’s talk on Thinking Bigger here.
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