Why Millions of People Started a Business During the Pandemic

©iStock/scyther5

One new small-business owner said, "When you're not sure what's going on, you make the best of it that you can."  That about sums things up.

During the pandemic, entrepreneurs opened their own businesses at more than twice the rate seen in pre-pandemic times, thanks to government support programs and improved remote technology that weren't available during other economic downturns such as the Great Recession.

Read on to discover how entrepreneurship becomes a power booster during economic uncertainty.

Shipping Delays and High Freight Rates Hurt All Businesses, Especially Global Small Businesses

©iStock/MattGush

An average of 30 container ships a day have been stuck outside the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach just waiting to deliver their goods. The backlog is part of a global supply-chain mess spurred by the pandemic that means consumers could see delivery delays for weeks.

The net result?  Everybody loses, especially global small businesses. 

Global Small Businesses Have Struggled to Survive

©iStock/chalyapruek2520

Earlier this year, Facebook began conducting monthly surveys of small and midsize businesses that have Facebook pages. The surveys, done in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, asked about business closures, workforce reductions, and government aid, as well as leaders' domestic responsibilities, their overall optimism, and other topics. More than 25,000 business leaders responded each month, totaling more than 150,000 respondents in more than 50 countries. 

The report findings state that these businesses were more likely than their larger peers to have suffered a 50 percent or greater drop in sales compared with 2019, and were more likely to have closed in a given month. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees were also less likely than larger firms to have received bank or government loans.

Read the global survey of small business owners here.  During the pandemic, global small businesses have struggled to survive.

Who Was the Aid (PPP) Intended For?

©iStock/Drazen Zigic

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was billed by the U.S. Treasury Department as a way for small businesses with generally fewer than 500 employees to cover overhead, retain employees, and rehire those who had been laid off as a result of the pandemic.

But data released earlier this month by the U.S. Small Business Administration shows large PPP loans were received by District-based companies that have global business interests, pay some of their employees six-figure salaries, and, in certain cases, appear to have other means of raising money. (Precise loan amounts weren’t specified in the data; the SBA reported loan ranges up to $10 million.)

Explore more about how big D.C. companies scooped up pandemic aid intended for small businesses.

Today in Global Small Business: Let's Fix This Because the Pandemic Hurts Working Mothers

©iStock/StockRocket

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The New York Times asked students, from kindergarten to 12th grade, what it’s like to learn from home. Here’s what they had to say, in their own words — and drawings.
• Women’s careers could take long-term hit from coronavirus pandemic.  
• Quote of the week:  "It's more pressure on women to - if they marry or partner with someone, to partner with the right person. Because you cannot have a full career and a full life at home with your children if you are also doing all of the housework and child care. – Sheryl Sandberg
• Even before pandemic, working parents struggled to achieve the 'Dreams Of The Overworked'.
• The pandemic is hurting Canada's working mothers.
• Guilt-ridden and exhausted, parents are wary of another home-front battle.

What We Can Learn from Wuhan

©iStock/dk_photos

The Chinese city Wuhan, at the center and beginning of the pandemic, has shown that normal might still be a long way off.

When Wuhan officials eased outgoing travel restrictions on April 8, effectively ending the city's 76-day lockdown, residents and local businesses soon learned that city's actual reopening would be painfully slow.

A quick assessment is that there might be a long way to go yet for Wuhan and the rest of the world before we can return to anything resembling normality.

Read on and brace yourself.