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Back to Business Holiday Report, Initiatives to Help Small Businesses Bounce Back

Small businesses have experienced unexpected challenges as a result of the pandemic. Sponsored by Visa

Small businesses have experienced unexpected challenges as a result of the pandemic. While the COVID crisis remains the biggest challenge for small businesses in 2020, a new study finds some hopeful news heading into the fourth quarter. Visa’s Kevin Phalen joins our Laura Cavanaugh to share the important findings from a new Back to Business report about the upcoming holiday shopping season.

More than half of Americans work for or own a small business. Small businesses account for 44 percent of the nation’s economic activity.

“Small businesses are critically important to our local communities and our overall economy. So it’s really important that we’re continuing to support them as they now start to think about the holiday season,” said Phalen.

This week marks a National Small Business Week like no other. As businesses continue to pivot amid the pandemic, since March, Visa has seen an increase of $107 billion spent online. Visa’s Back to Business report also reveals some hopeful news. It finds 68 percent of small businesses expect the holiday season to remain a significant sales opportunity.  Americans are craving a sense of normalcy. Of those surveyed, 52 percent say they will shop online.

“Consumers have safety at the top of their list when they’re thinking about where to shop and what organizations to frequent,” noted Phalen.

“So it’s really important for those small businesses to pivot their business. And they must adapt to survive and thrive. They should look at what are all of the resources available to them through the Small Business Week Convention and also through Visa and help to break down some of the infrastructure barriers that they might have to bring their business online.”

Visa has been stepping up to help businesses bounce back. They’ve sent out Visa street teams, visiting 185,000 businesses in 66 U.S. cities, giving them educational resources. They’ve also launched a digital workshop series to help businesses with digital marketing and to help grow their business online.

For more findings from this report and to access small business resources, visit visa.com/smallbusinesshub.

This segment is sponsored by Visa

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