Small Business Concerns, Ranked:

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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report – U.S. Small Businesses are Reeling as a Result of COVID-19

Small Business Concerns, Ranked:

1. The top concern for small businesses, cited by 49% of respondents, is customer retention. 
2. Second to customer retention, 48% of small businesses are concerned about cash flow.
3. 47% of small businesses are concerned about employee retention; another 47% are concerned about fraud and security.
4. Other notable concerns (41%-45%) include customer/employee acquisition, access to financing, and government regulation.
5. ‘Strategic planning’ has also been put on the back burner for small businesses; only 40% report it as a concern.
6. ‘Back office simplification’ was the least of small business owners’ reported concerns, at 38%.

About Report

Mercator Advisory Group’s new Insight Summary Report, 2020 Small Business PaymentsInsights, COVID-19 and B2B Payments & Cards – The Result of the Pandemic, reveals that U.S. small businesses have a much less positive view of the future than in previous years. The report is the first of three from Mercator’s annual Small Business PaymentsInsights Survey Series, a part of Mercator’s Primary Data Service. It is based on findings from Mercator Advisory Group’s online survey of 2,000 U.S. small businesses fielded in March and April 2020.

The report details the ways COVID-19 has changed small businesses and their outlook on the near-term future of their businesses. The report also provides insight into how small businesses bank and pay for goods and services, their banking relationships, how they view technology and their top business concerns.

“Small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic. In many ways, more than their larger counterparts. Organizations that service small business have an opportunity to help these firms as they try to come out of the COVID crisis,” states the author of the report, Pete Reville, Director of Primary Data Services including Small Business PaymentsInsights Survey Series at Mercator Advisory Group.