Survey Claims Only 8% of Small Businesses Owners Received Money From CARES Act

A survey conducted by Alignable, a four million-member strong small business referral network, claims that only 8% of small business owners have seen any money from the CARES Act relief programs. Another 14% of respondents said they were approved for it, but aren’t sure when or if it’s coming.

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Beyond that, 72% of small business owners who applied for the loans haven’t been approved yet, leaving them in a state of limbo.

“There’s no excuse for banks keeping 72% of business owners in the dark for weeks on end. According to senior SBA officials, the approval process is instantaneous upon submission of a completed application. So, why aren’t banks coming clean with their customers? It’s a question we’re going to dive deeper into in the weeks to come.”

 

Alignable’s Co-Founder and CEO Eric Groves

Survey – Only 44% of Business Owners Applied

While 44% of business owners have applied for the loans, among those who didn’t, some 22% said they wanted to apply, but didn’t make it under the wire before the $349 Billion ran out. And another 5% said their banks weren’t ready to process their applications.

“The need for this funding is great and becoming more pronounced as the days and weeks go by,” added Venkat Krishnamurthy, Alignable’s Co-Founder and President. “More than 45% of the businesses we polled have been forced to shut their doors already.”

This survey was conducted via email with a random sample of Alignable’s membership database of 4.5 million+ small business owners.

It includes results from April 17-20, 2020 — 38,500 responses from small businesses throughout the U.S. with 1-50 employees. The CARES Act allowed companies up to 500 employees to apply for financial relief.

The Alignable survey concludes, the impact of the quarantines is staggering with 98% of small businesses reporting that revenues have dropped by at least 25%, and 47% have already lost half of their revenue.

READ MORE: Law Firm Files Class Action Lawsuits Against Biggest Banks for Alleged PPP Loan Deception

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