The group is now suffering from the effects of high inflation and cost increases and for this reason 57% are forced to increase prices for their customers
Despite the fact that more than two long years have passed since the outbreak of the pandemic and that all restrictions imposed by the health situation have already been lifted, the vast majority of the self-employed group has not yet recovered from this economic crisis that has hit their businesses hard. There are more than 2.1 million self-employed, two-thirds of the total, who claim they are still a long way from regaining their activity, according to one of the conclusions drawn from the survey by the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers’ Associations – ATA.
In addition, 30% of entrepreneurs who have not yet recovered do not rule out closing their business because they do not see the light at the end of this tunnel, and even 6.6% think their situation is so bad that they confirm that they will have to Close. The current economic situation does not help as the pandemic has already been overcome, but now they are suffering from the impact of the invasion of Ukraine, the continuous rise in prices, the shortage of raw materials and the rise in energy prices, factors that help them cope with the crisis. collective to recover all that was lost during the years of the pandemic. For this reason, only 7.2% are confident of returning to pre-Covid-19 levels this year, while half do not expect it to happen before 2023.
In fact, one million self-employed, 30.3%, show a pessimistic view of their business and fear that it will be far from better in the coming months, and even two in three think their turnover will fall by 30% or plus. However, more than half are confident that they will stay the same or even improve and 14% are optimistic that their activity will increase before the end of the year.
And it is that the rise in energy costs and the supply problems completely affect the self-employed. For them, their main concern is the increase in electricity, although what hurts them the most is the increase in raw materials, for 55% it has a fair to much impact on them, and then the increase in fuels, as revealed by this study.
As more than 80% of the group has suffered from inflation, 57% have therefore been forced to increase prices for their customers, while 37.8% have borne the costs themselves without applying any increase to the consumer. However, if this high inflation (8.4% in April) continues, two in three self-employed, 62.3%, expect to have to raise prices as the situation becomes untenable.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
