Small Businesses in a Big World

This is the first story that I wrote for my Principles of Journalism class. It is a story about small businesses and the struggles that many small businesses face on a daily. It is different than the normal stories that I write here, but I want the stories that I write for this class to be publicized. Enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small Businesses in a Big World

How easy is it to own a business?

        Investopedia states that “approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.”

The Office of Advocacy states there are around 33 million small businesses in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of new businesses being made each year. While buying from a small business can be as easy as clicking a button, it is much harder to start and maintain a business.

        Owning a small business has never been easy, especially not with big corporations like Amazon crowding the competition. However, it has gotten difficult for many entrepreneurs in the last few years to survive. With the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation, and the rise of technology and social media, many small businesses have to close their doors before they can put their name out there.

        According to the federal reserve, the Covid-19 pandemic caused many businesses to permanently close, “destroying nearly 1.2 million jobs in the second quarter of 2020.” On top of that, nearly 400,000 establishments had to temporarily close their doors during the early stages of the pandemic.

        One of the industries that were hit the hardest during the pandemic was Accommodation and Food Services. According to the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, 36 percent of total establishments within this industry experienced this permanent closure, leaving 5.7 million people without jobs.

        However, not every small business was negatively impacted by the pandemic. Many entrepreneurs started taking advantage of the internet, having most of their sales coming from online shoppers.

        Azeem Kareem, one of the owners of Samad Gardens, said that “It is so much easier to get a lot of attention online. Especially since everything is forced to be online.” 

        Online shopping has definitely increased during the pandemic, mainly due to many businesses having to shut their doors.

        According to the United States Census Bureau, “E-commerce sales increased by $244.2 billion or 43% in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, rising from $571.2 billion in 2019 to $815.4 billion in 2020.”

        With what seems like everything pitted against them, small businesses are not going anywhere. According to the United States Census Bureau, 5.4 million business applications were filed at the start of 2021.

        Though the percentage of failure in owning a small business can look intimidating, there are resources out there to help people maintain their businesses.

        Sarah Rose Kareem, another one of the owners of Samad Gardens,  advised new business owners to “Be on the lookout for free and low-cost resources to help you get your business started.”

        She recommended the SCORE program. This is a program dedicated to mentoring entrepreneurs and offers business training at low costs.