4/25/2020 Small Businesses in Crisis

My buddy Dale and I do a lot of fishing down here in Charlotte County, FL. And since Dale grew up here, he first moved here in 1960, he knows a lot about the area. And one of the more interesting things about our forays to fishing holes north, south, east and west, is sometimes Dale will give a running commentary on what used to be here, what used to be there, and how he and his childhood buddies caught snakes or fish or created mischief here, there, and everywhere. And in the course of that ongoing commentary, I can't tell you how many times he pointed to someplace and said, "Used to be a pet store over there, but after (Hurricane) Charlie they never opened back up." "Used to be a trailer park over there, but after Charlie, they never came back," etc., etc. Almost always, it was some small mom and pop kind of business. The hurricane's toll, and the cost of bringing the business back just weren't worth it.

I think there's a common misconception about small businesses. While many entrepreneurs are successful and become wealthy, most toil and labor at their life's love: a family business either inherited or started themselves, and barely make ends meet plus a little Christmas or vacation money. The businesses I'm writing about survive on the margin, making ends meet by working long hours, employing family, and cutting corners wherever and whenever they can. When the hurricane set them back, perhaps their insurance would cover much of the physical structure and maybe even some lost or damaged goods. That is, the ones who could afford 'good' insurance. But what insurance wouldn't cover, is revenues lost for months, or maybe even a year, because store or shop traffic would be down in the hurricane's aftermath. After assessing the cost and effort it would take to get it back to just the old 'getting by' standard, they decided it just wasn't worth it.

A lot of small businesses in the US today are in a similar situation. Except this time it's not Hurrican Charlie and Port Charlotte, FL that's a concern. It's the CCP Virus and every small business in our country that was operating on a razor thin profit margin before the shutdowns that is at risk. Every day, week, and month that the economy in their states and towns remain closed, the tally of businesses that will close will continuously rise. Small, vibrant mom and pop places in every corner of small town USA will close by the tens, hundreds, and thousands. I guarantee you it's happening already. There are businesses whose owners perhaps had been thinking of closing, but hadn't come all the way to that point, who've crossed that threshold already, and won't be back. The number will only grow, and the longer we stay 'closed', will grow exponentially.

I read this morning that the Virginia Governor said some of the restrictions could last two years. An untold multitude of small businesses won't make it through May, 2020, let alone to April, 2022. Yes, there is a cost to opening too soon because of the virus. But let there be no doubt, there is a cost to opening too late, too.