Report: a growing number of businesses struggle to pay rent

As 2020 wound down, a new report highlighted what could remain a glaring issue in 2021: the difficulties small businesses nationwide face in paying rent, stemming from the pandemic and COVID-19 related shutdowns.  

One of the more startling findings in the report, from small businesses data analytics  firm Alignable, is with restaurants, where 61% of survey respondents report not being able to pay rent in December. That’s up from 42% in November. Beauty salons, at 46%, and travel/hospitality businesses, at 43%, round out the top three most-affected businesses.