A new survey conducted by data firm Dun & Bradstreet shows that over three-fourths of small businesses in the country have shown an adverse impact on their health during the COVID-19 pandemic, with those in the manufacturing sector reporting more troubles, according to a survey.
The survey has shown 82 percent of businesses have experienced a negative impact during the pandemic year. The survey was conducted among over 250 companies, evenly split between the manufacturing and services industries, having a turnover of Rs 100-250 crore yearly.
Over two-thirds of those surveyed, or 70 percent, said it will take them nearly a year to recover demand levels prior to COVID-19.
Over the past year, India has emerged to be one of the worst-affected nations globally by the COVID-19 pandemic. The resultant lockdowns, which are springing up again across the country with rise in cases, have an impact on the economic front as demand disappears along with dip in income generation.
Around 60 percent of the companies surveyed expect more measures and support, including government initiatives, the survey focused on companies in seven metro cities, said.
The top-three challenges earmarked by the surveyed companies, which might hinder small businesses to scale up their businesses, include market access (flagged by 42 percent), improving the overall productivity (37 percent) and having access to more finance (34 percent).
The company said its commercial disruption tracker indicated that around 95 percent of firms were impacted in April 2020 when the national lockdown was imposed, and 70 percent remained disrupted as of August even with progressive unlocking, which came down to 40 percent by end of February 2021.
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