#SmallBusinessEveryDay dashboard points to long, slow recovery, half say it will take at least six months to get back to profitability

Customer support remains critical to small businesses’ survival

Toronto, July 7, 2020 – Three key indicators of small business recovery have not moved much since last week after showing slight improvement the week before, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s small business recovery dashboard, which launched as part of #SmallBusinessEveryDay. Just over half (57 per cent) are fully open (58 per cent last week), 34 per cent are back to normal staffing levels (34 per cent last week) and 24 per cent are making normal sales for this time of year (23 per cent last week). 

Additional survey data shows around half of business owners (53 per cent) think it will take more than six months to get back to normal profitability, with almost one in three (30 per cent) saying it will take more than a year. Five per cent are concerned they will never get back to normal profits.

“Small business recovery is going to be a long, tough road. Governments can and should do more, but ultimately businesses need sales to transition off subsidies and survive. Collectively, individual actions like trying a local business for the first time, giving your hairdresser a bigger tip or buying a new swimsuit from a local store can make a big difference,” said Laura Jones, Executive Vice-President at CFIB.

CFIB launched its #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign last week and is currently profiling 23 different initiatives to support small businesses. Nearly 10,000 Canadians have accepted the challenge to put meaningful effort towards supporting small business. 

“The number of campaigns to support small businesses is growing by the day, including #WelcomeBack, #StandWithOwners, #TakeOutDay, and #TheBigSpend. We’re profiling them all at www.smallbusinesseveryday.ca to make it easy for consumers and businesses to find how they can be part of the community helping Canada’s small businesses survive. Everyone can play their part in Canada’s economic recovery,” concluded Jones.  

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca 

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca. 

About #SmallBusinessEveryDay
The #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign is an extension of CFIB’s annual Small Business Saturday. The campaign encourages local shopping, promotes initiatives to support small business and provides posters and other tools for businesses to use. It is supported by Scotiabank, Chase Merchant Services, eBay Canada, Intuit Canada and Interac Corp. To find out more about being a media sponsor please contact marketing@cfib.ca.