Facebook said a study of small businesses around the world shows they’re hurting as a result of COVID-19, and the social networking company vowed to help.
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced the availability of the Global State of Small Business Report on Tuesday, the first in an ongoing series of reports conducted in partnership with the OECD and the World Bank that were planned before the virus struck.
“We had anticipated this initial report would have painted a much brighter picture,” she said. “Instead, what we found from surveying more than 30,000 small business leaders across more than 50 countries is sobering.”
“Facebook is in the business of small business,” she added, calling them the heartbeat of Facebook’s community. “More than 160 million businesses use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp every month to reach customers, sell and grow.”
Nearly two-thirds of those in operation said sales were down from last year – in many cases significantly so. The report covers closure rate, the effects on sales and revenue; employment; and access to finance, among other topics.
One interesting factoid reported: “On average across firms in the countries surveyed, nearly a quarter (23%) of businesses reported receiving financial support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the time of the survey.”
“These are tough times for businesses all over the world, but Facebook is determined to do all we can to help them make it through,” Sandberg wrote.
You can find the announcement with a link to the report on the Facebook website.
Facebook is in the business of killing small businesses. I was making a ton of sales on FB from 2009 to about 2013. Around that time, FB started using restrictive algorithms to squelch posts from sellers who do not pay for exposure. My sales tanked. I tried paying for exposure but did not get the reach I was promised and it resulted in no sales. FB became a total waste of time unless you are willing to spend 10-20% of your gross sales (at a minimum) on promoted posts. Meanwhile, greedy Zuck laughs all the way to the bank while helping Trump get elected. F that and F him and F Facebook. I deleted my account and never looked back. I’d set an item on fire before trying to sell it on that crap venue.