Report: More Than Half Of Minority-Owned Small Businesses Could Not Pay Their April Rent

Things aren’t looking good for minority-owned small businesses — yet.

According to a new report released by Alignable, 53 percent of all minority-owned small businesses couldn’t afford to pay their April 2021 rent.

The poll was conducted by Alignable, and surveyed 8,943 small businesses from March 27 to April 5. What they revealed, was that covering the rent remains a major obstacle for nearly one-third (31 percent) of all small business owners in the United States. But for minorities, that percentage is much higher: 53 percent of minority-owned SMBs could not afford to pay their full rent on time.

Last month, 67 percent of all minority-owned small businesses couldn’t afford to pay their rent on time. So, while the number has certainly improved, it hasn’t done so by much, and once again, Black business owners are getting the short end of the proverbial stick.

The fact that more than half of minority-owned businesses can’t pay their rent also indicates that the PPP (Payment Protection Program) is not fulfilling its early promises to focus on helping minorities, at least so far. Much more needs to be done for minority-owned small businesses to help them to rebound from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it gets worse: there’s a state-to-state disparity amongst business owners who can, and can’t, pay their rent as well.

In Vermont — which, it should be noted, less than 2 percent of the population identifies as Black — less than 5 percent of the businesses couldn’t pay their April rent.  But in New York — where 26 percent of the population identifies as Black — 36 percent of businesses couldn’t pay their April rent. Oklahoma — where almost 8 percent of the population identifies as Black — a staggering 42 percent of all minority-owned small businesses couldn’t afford to pay their April rent.

Despite the best efforts of everyone, it proves that once again, minority-owned small businesses will continue to struggle without appropriate intervention. It’s important, more than ever, to support Black-owned businesses.