WEBVTT - Sandberg on State of Small Business

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Well, a survey done in April

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<v Speaker 1>of eighty six thousand business owners and employees by Facebook.

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<v Speaker 1>It was done with the Small Business Roundtable. Well, it

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<v Speaker 1>found that one third of US small businesses have stopped operating,

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<v Speaker 1>while another eleven percent expect to fail in the next

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<v Speaker 1>three months if COVID nineteen conditions persist. These are devastating statistics.

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<v Speaker 1>We want to talk about it about the survey with

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook Chief operating Officer Cheryl Sandberg. She joins us on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone from Menlo Park, California, and also with us

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<v Speaker 1>a small business owner, in fact, the owner of Echo.

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<v Speaker 1>And forgive me, I didn't hear the name Um, and

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<v Speaker 1>I just want to check with see me at a bajo.

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<v Speaker 1>She is the owner of Echo and she doesn't sewn

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<v Speaker 1>the phone in San Francisco. My apologies. I just want

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure I had it clearly. Cheryl, let's start

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<v Speaker 1>with you tell us a little bit about this survey.

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<v Speaker 1>So you're right that this survey is quite devastating. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>we started working on this actually before were coronavirus. With

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<v Speaker 1>the Small Business Round people, and we thought we'd put

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<v Speaker 1>a survey out, you know, the state of small business

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<v Speaker 1>and it would be very very positive, right, unemployment historically

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<v Speaker 1>low levels, entrepreneurship driving, and then coronavirus hit and the

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<v Speaker 1>picture we got back was sobering. But I think even

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<v Speaker 1>more important, more than a third of small businesses have

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<v Speaker 1>stopped operating entirely expects to fail if things don't change

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<v Speaker 1>within the next few months. And the stat that really

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<v Speaker 1>hit me was more than half of small business owners

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<v Speaker 1>don't think they're going to be able to rehire their employees.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, absolutely, so, see me, you had this exact experience,

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<v Speaker 1>so help us understand exactly what happened. I mean, your

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<v Speaker 1>story has something of a happy ending, But that devastation

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<v Speaker 1>that that Cheryl talked about, I mean you experienced it

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<v Speaker 1>firsthand right off the bat. Um. Yeah, so I experienced

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<v Speaker 1>the first time because one this whole thing hit, I

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<v Speaker 1>had to let both my whole team and shut down

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<v Speaker 1>my business for the first three to four weeks. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's not just me, I guess all restaurant owners

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<v Speaker 1>and small businesses in San Francisco, especially because of the

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<v Speaker 1>overhead that comes with being a business in the city. UM,

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<v Speaker 1>once you have one week two weeks without customers or

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<v Speaker 1>your usual stream of revenue, you are hemorrhaging funds. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>And I saw very quickly. My restaurant is located in

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<v Speaker 1>the so my neighborhood. UM. Once my business closed, I

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<v Speaker 1>started to see all the other restaurants and corner stores

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<v Speaker 1>around starting to take the same lead. UM. Fortunately for me,

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<v Speaker 1>I connected to an organization that's a nonprofit that's feeding

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<v Speaker 1>the homeless and the elderly and generally vulnerable populations in

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<v Speaker 1>the city right now. So I was able to within

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<v Speaker 1>the past two weeks rehire my cord team. UM. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, that's a positive story. But UM, that's not

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<v Speaker 1>going to be the case for many small businesses UM,

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<v Speaker 1>who are just not going to be able to rehire

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<v Speaker 1>their course stop another issue, or maybe it's not an issue,

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<v Speaker 1>but UM. One main problem that small business owners are

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<v Speaker 1>having getting their teams back lies within the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>the employees are sometimes making more unemployment than they would

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<v Speaker 1>be making coming to work, especially now, which California is

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<v Speaker 1>a different all six entertainment UM, there's really no incentive

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<v Speaker 1>for them to go back to work. So it's a

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<v Speaker 1>tough time all around. The small businesses right now. So, Cheryl,

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<v Speaker 1>when you see the results of the Facebook survey, and

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<v Speaker 1>we've been talking often a lot about, you know, what

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<v Speaker 1>needs to be done, especially for small business We just

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<v Speaker 1>came off a conversation you know about you know, our

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<v Speaker 1>backbone is small businesses and it's going to be tough

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<v Speaker 1>for them to resist going back. So what do you

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<v Speaker 1>see as kind of the necessary components to protecting our

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<v Speaker 1>small business community, making them safe so that they can

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<v Speaker 1>come back safely when the environment changes. So look, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>part of it is bridging until we get there. So

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<v Speaker 1>obviously the government loans matter. We put a hundred million

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<v Speaker 1>dollars to work and just gramps to small businesses all

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<v Speaker 1>around the world. We hearmarked forty million of that for

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and half of that for women, minority

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<v Speaker 1>and veteran owned businesses. Because we all know that when

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<v Speaker 1>crisis hits, the most vulnerable get hit the hardest, and

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<v Speaker 1>so we all need to do everything we can to bridge.

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<v Speaker 1>We're working on more products that helps small businesses go

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<v Speaker 1>online if they weren't online before to the extent they can.

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<v Speaker 1>They need to do more online, were reaching customers online,

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<v Speaker 1>were providing services online and then once they come back

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<v Speaker 1>to work, how do we do that safely? We see

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<v Speaker 1>curb side checkouts, we see people doing art classes online.

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<v Speaker 1>There's an amazing story of a bookstore that um located

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<v Speaker 1>in University City, Missouri. They're called I See Me and

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<v Speaker 1>they're really for black children to discu over role models

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<v Speaker 1>and learn about African American history. But it's very much

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<v Speaker 1>a community based thing where everyone went there in person.

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<v Speaker 1>They're now doing those same storylines online. Local businesses are

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<v Speaker 1>going to have to be able to morph to do

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<v Speaker 1>more things online, and that's what we're seeing. So, Cheryl,

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<v Speaker 1>I wonder what you make Especially given your background you

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<v Speaker 1>worked at the Triasury Department. You understand the inner workings

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<v Speaker 1>of government really well, the balance between the public and

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<v Speaker 1>the private. What does the government need to do in

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<v Speaker 1>the short and mid term to ensure that private efforts

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<v Speaker 1>like the one that you just described can be successful

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<v Speaker 1>in the long term. What do we need from the

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<v Speaker 1>government at this point? Well, when you ask that question,

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like it's really all hands on, Jack. When

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<v Speaker 1>you lead local government, state government, national government to be

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<v Speaker 1>helping bridge for companies, which they are, but also helping

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<v Speaker 1>us keep safe. You know, as we open up, how

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<v Speaker 1>do we do it to protect everyone, Make sure our

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<v Speaker 1>hospitals don't don't get overrun, make sure that information is

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<v Speaker 1>clear and flowing. I think, you know, we've been through

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<v Speaker 1>a lot, but there is a lot ahead of us,

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<v Speaker 1>and it has to again be everyone doing their part.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we just have time. I think for one

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<v Speaker 1>last question, and I do think about what's interesting. Is

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<v Speaker 1>this is a time, as you know, I feel like

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<v Speaker 1>the tech industry was largely on everyone's radar, a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of scrutinyous happening. Do you see this time, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you talk about the things that you guys are doing

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<v Speaker 1>to help bridge the gaps for small businesses? Is this

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<v Speaker 1>a time to kind of potentially, you know, improve your image.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, the government has been looking and and you know, politicians,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just curious how you see that. So we've been

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<v Speaker 1>trying to do the right thing all along, and when

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<v Speaker 1>we've made mistakes, were hard to correct them and prevent

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<v Speaker 1>them next time. You know, right now, we're just rolling

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<v Speaker 1>up our sleeves and doing everything we can to help

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<v Speaker 1>small businesses get through it. Roll up products that can

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<v Speaker 1>help them, you know, things like fundraisers for small business

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we have fundraisers for nonprofits. We had fundraisers

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<v Speaker 1>for you know people, but we never would have rolled

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<v Speaker 1>up fundraisers for small business until this crisis. We are

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<v Speaker 1>just focused on putting our efforts to what can help,

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<v Speaker 1>and we believe that we do the right thing. People

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<v Speaker 1>will figure that out and believe that we are over time.

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<v Speaker 1>Share all signs of hope there in the Bay Area.

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<v Speaker 1>At this point, you guys been locked down for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. What's it like right now? I mean, I

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<v Speaker 1>haven't left my house like a lot of people, but

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<v Speaker 1>so I don't know. But I know that I'm lucky, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm lucky that I can do my job from home.

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<v Speaker 1>My siblings, both my brother and my sister, and my

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<v Speaker 1>sister in law, and my fiance's brother and his and

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<v Speaker 1>his wife. They're all frontline health workers. They're all doctors

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<v Speaker 1>and frontline health workers. Right. I've been fortunate I could

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<v Speaker 1>stay home, and I've had a responsibility to do that

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<v Speaker 1>to make it safe for for others. You know, if

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<v Speaker 1>we look at this report, which isn't just the local

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<v Speaker 1>area of California, but more nationally, fifty of small businesses

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<v Speaker 1>say they're still optimistic about the future of their business,

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<v Speaker 1>even in the face of all of this, people people

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<v Speaker 1>with PAM and I think I think that is something

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<v Speaker 1>that we can feel really good about. Yeah. Absolutely, it

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<v Speaker 1>is nice to see that optimism considering all that certainly

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<v Speaker 1>small businesses have had to endure. Caryl, thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>much for your time. We really appreciate it. Facebook Chief

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<v Speaker 1>operating Officer Cheryl Sandberg on the phone from Menlo Park, California,

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<v Speaker 1>along with Simi Ada Bajo, owner of Ico. She joined

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<v Speaker 1>us on the phone from San Francisco. A small business owner,

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<v Speaker 1>as she said, with a partnership and being able to

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<v Speaker 1>bring back workers. That's a big deal, right, well, a

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<v Speaker 1>big deal. And also, as we talked about at the top,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean having gone through what so many have gone through,

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<v Speaker 1>which is just getting us effectively wiped out. Some really

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<v Speaker 1>interesting statistics there