SMBs Fear That Delta Variant Will Hurt Them, Study Finds
- by Ray Schultz , August 6, 2021
Small businesses, including those that rely on email marketing, are nervous: 76% fear the Delta Variant will hurt their recovery, and 34% are very concerned, according to a study by Alignable.
Of the SMBs polled, 47% cite re-closures as their biggest worry.
In May and June, this was a distant second to fears about the cost of supplies going up. In July, both worries shot up, with concerns over re-closures in first place.
In addition, 83% of minorities running businesses are worried about the Delta variant, 44% highly so.
In contrast, only 66% of the women who own small businesses feel the same way, with 39% saying they are highly concerned.
In addition, 71% of men fear this, 30% very much so.
And, 55% of veterans are worried, only 29% in a major way.
The industry verticals (and fear of Delta) are as follows:
- Restaurants — 88%
- Travel/Lodging — 87%
- Event Planners — 86%
- Photographers — 83%
- Entertainment/Artists — 81%
- Retailers — 77%
- Gyms — 76%
- National Average — 76%
- Construction — 70%
- Real Estate — 68%
One survey respondent, who runs a children’s theater company, has already been hurt.
"At the beginning of the summer, my business was slowly starting to come back, although I only had 28% of the number of bookings from the pre-COVID era. However, 50% of my bookings cancelled, THIS WEEK, due to several POSITIVE cases of COVID IN YOUNG CHILDREN and schools having to SUDDENLY CLOSE.”
The owner concludes, “My business is currently is in a "wait and see" mode. I don't foresee that I will be operating again, until the Delta virus is under control."
New York SMBs are the most worried — 82% say they are. Massachusetts is second, with 78%.
Overall, the top three concerns are:
- Customer fears would escalate, preventing visits to their shops or offices
- Their clients’ businesses could be negatively impacted, resulting in lost revenue for them
- Employees, customers, and vendors could become ill
