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Josie Krupens

Galactic Comics, a small business in Ocean Beach.

   Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the shutdown of nonessential businesses across the country, the debate of small versus big business has gained much traction. At first glance, it may seem that big businesses and small businesses are in the same predicament — but are they? During these times of crisis, as well as all the time, it is essential to support small businesses over big chains.

   Small businesses often don’t have the financial capabilities that big businesses do that would help them to stay functional during quarantine and are much more likely to go out of business altogether. According to The Street, “The average small service business has enough money on hand to survive just 19 days without any income […] Rent, debt, fixtures, taxes, payroll, service contracts, utilities, insurance and more all add up to a monthly overhead budget that is very difficult to scale back during difficult times” (thestreet.com). Small businesses require help during trying times in order to keep running. “Small businesses are in dire need of money, especially now during quarantine,” said Junior Abby Cosgrove.

   Meanwhile, big businesses have the advantage of a larger scale of customers and more resources in order to keep themselves afloat. “They also have access to better lending options than a local operation, making it easier and cheaper to get cash to pay their bills during the quarantine” (thestreet.com). Since big businesses have several advantages and safety nets to keep them afloat, it is more important to focus on patronizing the smaller, local businesses that may have no way to stay above the surface.

   Small businesses foster jobs for people in the surrounding area. According to Shopify, “As of 2015, US small businesses employed 57.9 million people, or 47.8 percent of the private workforce. A healthy presence of small businesses in communities also helps people learn on-the-job business skills, empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs” (shopify.com). If we help keep small businesses running, we can support these jobs. It is necessary to keep as many people employed as we can.

   However, if we let small businesses fail, there would be dire repercussions. “The economic fallout of killing millions of small businesses around the country will magnify what is already becoming the worst recession in living memory. Not only will this delete the 30 million jobs created by those small shops, restaurants and service providers, but it will also wipe out the downstream jobs that depend on them” (thestreet.com). Small businesses support many people’s jobs and therefore their lives, and losing that support would be catastrophic.

   Supporting small businesses allows for the opportunity to create and indirectly support even more local people. According to Shopify, “When you shop local, your dollars stay in the community and help local development. This is called the multiplier effect. For example, a restaurant buying ingredients from local producers uses a local insurance broker and hires a local design firm, building symbiotic relationships that help the whole business community prosper” (shopify.com). By using your money to support one local business, it spreads out to several others, and that way these critical groups of small and local businesses can be preserved.

   Additionally, small businesses give back to the local community. According to a blog about business finance, “92 percent of all small business owners personally donate to charities and non-profit organizations, over half encourage their employees to volunteer their time, and many support local causes” (communitybusinessfinance.com). Since small businesses help the community, the community should support them in their efforts and make sure their efforts are rewarded, especially in a time of need such as now.

   Big businesses do not need as much help as some may think. Small businesses, however, do not have the same opportunities and need more assistance. As they are the hearts of our communities, we must stand up for small businesses in the present time of crisis and choose them over big chains whenever possible.