Most small business leaders, like the rest of us, didn’t see the COVID-19 pandemic coming, so they haven't had adequate time to prepare. The full effects of illness and business closures have only begun to appear.
On March 13, the National Federation of Independent Business Research Center reported that only about one-quarter of small business owners said they'd been hurt by the pandemic, though nearly all were worried about future disruptions in their workforces, supply chains, and sales pipelines during an escalating crisis.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks and those disruptions have increased, as confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have mounted and states have imposed mandatory business shutdowns. A survey from Goldman Sachs released March 19 found that more than half said they couldn't continue operating for longer than another fiscal quarter if conditions don’t improve.
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