#How small businesses are coping during coronavirus

Nearly half of small business owners said they’re looking to consumers to shop small in order to keep their businesses open while doors are closed due to COVID-19, according to new research.

A new survey of 1,000 small business owners and 2,000 consumers found many small business owners are concerned about the short- and long-term impacts from the changing landscape and 46 percent hope consumers make a concerted effort to support small businesses during this time.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of GoDaddy, aimed to discover how small business owners are traversing the pandemic and see how consumers’ attitudes line up with that struggle.

The survey found two-thirds of business owners were confident their small businesses will remain open throughout the pandemic.

Twenty-three percent of small business owners polled felt they’ll have to strengthen existing online presence with eCommerce to survive in a post-pandemic world — and services like curbside pickup will become the norm.

Another twenty-three percent said that they’ve created a website or updated their old one since lockdown began.

It may be for good reason — according to the poll of consumers, 57 percent have shopped online with a small business since the pandemic started and 47 percent of those said it was the first time they’ve ever done that.

With the closing of physical stores, many businesses have relied on their online stores, with one in five small business owners saying their online sales have been vital during this difficult time.

One in 10 small business owners polled said they’ve started selling online for the first time because of the pandemic.

“After I was laid off from my executive chef position at a popular Nashville restaurant, I transformed my love of the kitchen into a growing online business offering personalized, online cooking classes using the food you already have at home,” said Chef Zach Sass, a GoDaddy customer.

“Using GoDaddy tools and services, like Websites Marketing and their Care Guides, I was able to quickly bring my business online and host cooking classes in no time.”

Luckily for the small businesses, 78 percent of consumers surveyed say they plan on shopping with small businesses in their community once normal activity resumes.

Another three in four consumers said they would go out of their way to patronize a small business, with the average consumer already spending $43 a week in direct support of small businesses.

Nearly half (48 percent) even said they’d spend more money on the same items they could get cheaper at big chains just to support small businesses.

“More than 70 companies have joined our #OpenWeStand movement to help keep small businesses open even if their doors are closed,” said a spokesperson for GoDaddy.

“Companies large and small are showing their support for small businesses by offering resources, tools and insights to sustain their operations during this challenging time.”