NEXT Insurance, the digital Insurtech transforming small business insurance, recently revealed the results of a survey of small business owners regarding their attitudes towards and “experiences with the current supply chain crisis.”
NEXT Insurance’s survey found retailers have been “hit hardest: 73% of retail small businesses are experiencing negative impacts to their business caused by supply chain issues, and more than a third of these retailers (35%) report significant negative impacts.”
The holiday season, which is quite often a considerable revenue driver for retailers, is proving to be “even more challenging this year due to supply shortages and delays.” And according to survey findings, only 16% of owners are “very optimistic about an economic recovery.”
NEXT Insurance, which offers insurance to small businesses including those in retail and e-commerce, as well as Amazon third-party sellers, surveyed 500+ small business owners of various ages, gender, industries and geographic locations to “hear how they’re faring amid recent supply chain disruptions where inventory deliveries are delayed, and products are unavailable.”
The survey found that:
A significant number of small business owners in the retail space “expect supply-chain issues to impact sales, revenue and cash flow: About three out of four (73%) retail businesses are at least moderately impacted by supply-chain issues, and 62 percent of owners expect supply-chain disruptions to impact sales or revenue.”
Another 62% of retail business owners said these disruptions “will have a moderate or high impact on cash flow.”
Retail business owners “aren’t so sure: Surveyed small business owners were fairly divided when it came to their optimism of having an economic recovery within the next year as the nation continues to grapple with COVID-19,” the update from NEXT Insurance noted.
About one third (30%) are either “not at all” or “not very” optimistic “about an economic recovery, while 71% are either “somewhat”, “very” or “extremely” optimistic,” the update noted while adding that this is “a notable drop from NEXT Insurance’s small business guide survey from July 2021, which documented that 84% of small business owners said they are somewhat, very or extremely optimistic about a recovery.”
As mentioned in the update, women are “weathering the supply chain storm better than men: While it’s clear the supply chain disruptions are impacting small retailers across the board, it seems male business owners are having a slightly tougher time: 53% of men said they experienced supply chain disruptions, while just 37% of women said the same.”
Suzanne DuFore, Head of Research at NEXT Insurance, stated:
“Small businesses have been hit with challenge after challenge the past two years, and it’s been a time of unprecedented struggle met with remarkable resilience. These findings make it abundantly clear that retailers need support from their communities now more than ever, whether in the form of customers or the right toolsets to make weathering these storms even a little bit easier.”
As covered, NEXT Insurance aims to transform small business insurance with “simple, digital and affordable coverage tailored to the self-employed.”
“Trusted” by 300K business owners, NEXT provides policies that are “easy to buy in 10 minutes or less and provides 24/7 access to Live Certificates of Insurance, Additional Insured, and more, with no extra fees.”
NEXT leverages AI and machine learning to “simplify the purchasing process and drive down costs by up to 30% compared to traditional policies.”
Established in 2016, the firm maintains head offices in Palo Alto, and has received a total of $881 million in venture capital funding.