Drew Wilson
Two years into the pandemic, nearly nine out of 10 Florida businesses say they are up and running.
That’s according to the latest Global State of Small Business Report produced by Meta, the social media company behind platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
The report recaps the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including information on how businesses continue to adjust to uncertain conditions and how entrepreneurs are feeling about the future.
Among Florida businesses surveyed by Meta, 87% say they are operational or engaging in revenue-generating activities, which is 9% higher than the national average. Women-owned businesses in Florida are performing significantly better than most other states, with 92% reporting they are operational as of January.
Not all of the data was optimistic, however. About a quarter of Florida small businesses say they are facing cash flow challenges while 27% are expecting a lack of demand or difficulty attracting customers.
The near-term outlook is also mixed, with the percentage of Florida businesses that feel confident in their ability to stay open for the next 12 months falling to just over half, which represents a significant decrease since the summer.
On the bright side, more Florida businesses are finding success online, with 53% reporting at least a quarter of their sales come from their digital presence, a 13% increase since last summer.
Over the past two years, Meta has launched several initiatives aimed at supporting small businesses and helping them navigate economic uncertainty, including providing grants to business owners, developing new tools and products, and hosting digital tool training events.
The Global State of Small Business Report is based on a survey of nearly 24,000 small and medium-sized business leaders across 30 countries and territories. It was conducted in January, when many parts of the world were seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.
