BUSINESS
Survey: LGBTQ Businesses Expect to Recover by 2022
LGBTQ entrepreneurs say they lost 50 percent of their business during the pandemic
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
LGBTQ-owned businesses
hit especially hard by the
pandemic are on track to
make an economic return
by 2022, according to the LGBTQ
Small Business Owner Financial
Health Survey.
Findings from the survey, published
on June 7, note that by next
year nearly 80 percent of LGBTQ
business owners are expected to
make a “full recovery” from the
economic disruption caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly onethird
of queer and trans entrepreneurs
reported losing 50 percent of
their business during the pandemic,
according to the survey, which
featured 2,361 adults between May
12 and May 21. The survey included
1,600 certifi ed LGBTQ business
enterprises and other queer business
owners.
Some LGBTQ businesses hit hard by COVID-19 are expected to make a full recovery by 2022.
Thirty-three percent of the respondents
said they endured drops
in revenue. Seventeen percent of
respondents said they had to decrease
REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS
wages to deal with this fi -
nancial strain, 19 percent reduced
their budget, and 10 percent temporarily
closed down. Less than
one percent permanently closed,
however.
The survey was conducted by
CNBC and Acorns, an investment
fi rm, in collaboration with the
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce
(NGLCC). Justin Nelson and
Chance Mitchell, the co-founders of
NGLCC, said this report shows the
resilience of LGBTQ businesses.
“The LGBT business community
is thriving, despite both the economic
impacts of the pandemic and the
forces of inequality and discrimination
that are still far too prevalent in
America,” Nelson and Mitchell said
in a written statement.
Among other fi ndings, LGBTQ
business owners said they have
been struggling to retain workers..
Plus, 40 percent of LGBTQ entrepreneurs
said aanother round
of stimulus checks could help
them build a successful business
in the future.
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