Businesses here are concerned about revenue, cash flow, and employee well being, according to an ongoing survey conducted by the Greater Memphis Chamber.
The Chamber surveyed 600 businesses across the city to assess the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on business and their arising needs.
The results include responses from surveys given between March 19th and 23rd, and then again between April 22nd and 27th.
There are 20 industries represented in the surveys including manufacturing, real estate, restaurants, and entertainment. Of the 600 respondents, 55 percent indicated they were women-or-minority-owned businesses.
Nearly three quarters of respondents estimated that their business is down year over year for February through April compared to the same time period last year, while 25 percent indicated business was about the same during those months. For the majority of affected businesses, or 20 percent, business is down between 11 and 20 percent.
The survey showed that 30 percent of businesses haven’t laid any employees off due to the coronavirus. Of those that did lay off employees, close to 80 percent said they laid off less than 10 employees.
When asked about their most press concerns, 24 percent of respondents said revenue/cash flow, followed by 18.7 percent who indicated employee well-being, and 15.7 percent who answered payroll expenses.
Close to a quarter of respondents said short-term capital is the most-needed resource right now.
For 40 percent of the businesses, some aid is on the way, as they indicated they have been approved for either an Small Business Administration Economic Disaster Loan or the Payroll Protection Program.
Here are some of the other findings from the survey:
