June Survey: Small Businesses Still Struggling

By: M. Scott Morris
Published: July 17th, 2024

Small business (SMB) owners continue to face economic headwinds, including rent delinquency and revenue loss and stress around high interest rates and spiking labor costs. That's according to Alignable's June Revenue & Rent Report. The report was based on 3,690 responses to a poll of randomly selected small business owners in June. It also drew information from past survey responses.

Here are key highlights:

Record rent delinquency

46% of SMB owners couldn't cover June rent, marking the third consecutive month of the highest delinquency rates since March 2021.
56% report rent spikes compared to six months ago.

Revenue loss

72% of SMBs are earning less now monthly than pre-Covid, a slight increase from May's 71%, breaking a 2024 record.
Post-pandemic businesses are also struggling with 72% earning less than last year.

Interest-rate burden

55% of SMB owners are hurt by high interest rates, up from 53% in May, marking yet another 2024 high.
47% believe interest rates need to drop at least three percentage points to achieve economic recovery.

Impact

Automotive, science/tech, manufacturing, real estate, & retail sectors are hit hardest.
States with the highest delinquency rates include Texas (58%) and Florida (54%). Those that saw improvement include Illinois and New York.

Additional concerns

Cumulative inflation—35% of SMB owners cite this as their top worry, up from 33% in May.
Rising labor costs—79% of SMB employers are paying more for labor, up nine percentage points from May.
Cash crisis—38% of SMBs have one month or less of cash on hand.

See the full report here.