BOSTON–Nearly half of all minority-owned small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) will not be able to pay their rent in January, according to a new poll.
Alignable's January Rent Poll found rent payments are still a struggle for one-third (33%) of all small business owners. Minority-owned businesses and restaurants/bars, yoga studios, and retail establishments are suffering the most, based on survey responses from 10,325 business owners last week, Alignable reported.
For the second month in a row, 49% of minority-owned businesses were unable to pay their full rent on time, compared to 35% of women-owned businesses, and 31% of nonminority-owned businesses.
“And the news is even more alarming when focusing on different industries,” Alignable said in its analysis. “More categories than ever are showing the lasting effects of dwindling customer counts, reclosures due to escalating COVID cases, cash flow crises, decreasing revenue, and related issues. In fact, more than 40% of the small business owners in ten different industries couldn't earn enough to pay their rent in January.”
The list of the most devastated industries has expanded this month to include: restaurants/bars (57%), yoga studios (46%), retailers (44%), massage therapists (43%), beauty salons (42%), printers (42%), interior designers (42%), wedding planners (41%), manufacturers (41%), and transportation providers (41%), according to Alignable.
First-Time ‘Devastation’
This marks the first time since COVID began that so many different categories reflected such devastation, according to the organization.
In comparison, Alignable's December 2020 Rent Poll showed that only six industries had numbers 40% or higher: restaurants/bars (61%), beauty salons (46%), travel/hospitality (43%), gyms (41%), consumer retailers (40%), and massage therapists (40%).
And one month previously, only two industries -- beauty salons (46%) and restaurants/bars (42%) -- were in the 40%-plus range based on results from Alignable's November Rent Poll.
The State Level
When looking at the rates of small businesses unable to pay their rent by state, Alignable's January Rent Poll shows quite a range. On the high end, 41% of small business owners in Georgia, Maryland, and New Jersey couldn't make rent this month. Other states where more than a quarter of SMB owners said they couldn’t pay the rent included Illinois, California, North Carolina, Florida, New York, Minnesota, Washington, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Colorado, Connecticut and Wisconsin.