Resiliency in the Face of Adversity: Latino Microbusinesses Show Promising Signs of Recovery, Although More Capital is Needed to Bolster Growth

The third quarterly Camino Financial U.S. Latino Small Business Survey offers insight on the resurgence of COVID-19 and the reclosures of the economy between June 2020 to August 2020. Our Q3’2020 survey shows that Latino Owned Businesses (LOBs) with pre-existing lender relationships had a higher chance of receiving a PPP loan, with 16.5% of borrowers obtaining PPP funding vs. 2.5% of non-borrowers surveyed receiving PPP funding. Evidently, this shows that LOBs with a pre-existing lender relationship had a 6.6x higher chance of obtaining PPP funding, demonstrating the importance of technical assistance, education, and constant communication from a lender.

Camino Financial is sharing its proprietary data on the LOB segment to provide a baseline and track the economic development of this key demographic. The report is based on 32,940 small business loan applications received directly by Camino Financial and a separate survey of 368 LOBs relating to the impact of COVID-19 on Latino small business owners. The pandemic forced the majority of LOBs to close temporarily in 2020, and 46% saw a revenue decline of more than 30%. The findings indicate that LOBs need further capital injections to bolster the rebirth of their businesses during unprecedented economic uncertainty.

Download and subscribe to the Survey here.

Other key insights from the survey include:

• LOBs are resilient. — 78% of LOBs have reopened and 44% have returned to pre-COVID revenue.
• LOBs are optimistic. — 70% of LOBs believe their business will be as good as or better than pre-pandemic levels.
• Further capital injections needed for rebirth — 60% of LOBs have less than four months of operating capital, including 21% with less than three weeks.

This survey will be followed by quarterly-issued U.S. Latino Small Business Surveys informed by Camino Financial’s loan application data. The report can be indicative of systemic macroeconomic trends within the larger U.S. Economy.