9 out of 10 Seoul Small Business Owners Say Second Half Sales Also Desperate

Source=Korea Federation of SMEs

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Nine out of ten small business owners in Seoul expect their sales in the second half of this year to be bleak as well.

On the 27th, the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, together with the Seoul Small Business and Small Merchant Association, conducted the ‘COVID-19 Crisis Response Small Business and Small Merchant Management Status Survey’ targeting 1,021 small business owners in Seoul. The results showed that nine out of ten small business owners experienced a decrease in sales in the first half of the year and expect a decline in the second half as well.

The survey found that compared to the first half of last year, 89.2% reported a decrease in sales in the first half of this year, while only 1.3% reported an increase.

The reasons for the sales decline in the first half were cited as ‘overall economic downturn impact’ (40.1%), ‘business items and management methods unsuitable for COVID-19’ (31.8%), and ‘consumers’ avoidance of face-to-face contact’ (17.6%), in that order.

Regarding sales outlook for the second half of this year compared to the second half of last year, 87.4% expected a ‘decrease’ while only 1.1% expected an ‘increase’.

Regarding experience using government and local government support programs to overcome COVID-19, 7 out of 10 (69.1%) responded that they had used such programs, while 30.9% said they had not.

The support programs utilized were ‘Seoul City Emergency Disaster Living Expenses Support’ (56.4%), ‘Self-Employed Survival Fund’ (48.8%), and ‘COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Subsidy’ (26.6%), in that order.

The reasons for not utilizing support programs were ‘applied but excluded from eligibility’ (52.4%), ‘aware of the support programs but did not use them’ (26.5%), and ‘unaware of the support programs’ (21.1%), respectively.

Among the support programs used, the most helpful were identified as ‘Self-Employed Survival Fund’ (33.1%), ‘Seoul City Emergency Disaster Living Expenses Support’ (26.6%), and ‘COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Subsidy’ (14.1%), in that order.

Regarding the areas where support is most needed to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, more than half (58.3%) chose ‘operating funds,’ followed by ‘tax reductions’ (22.1%) and ‘quarantine and hygiene safety’ (7.4%).

Yang Gapsu, head of the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, said, “Looking at the survey results, it is clear that the difficult business conditions of small business owners, who are unable to adapt to the structural and entrenched economic downturn as well as the rapid changes in the business environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have been revealed. Overall, small business owners with sales under 100 million won feel the impact more acutely, while their utilization of support programs is relatively low, indicating that social safety nets for micro small business owners remain crucial.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.