By Ed Avis
The reprographics industry is weathering the Covid crisis, but a survey last week shows that confidence is slipping a little. The survey, which was answered by 24 companies, was a follow-up to a survey sent about three weeks ago.
More Closures
The first question in both surveys was “Is Your Business Still Open?”
In the original survey, 15 (65 percent) replied that they are open and haven’t changed services or hours, while the remaining 8 (35 percent) said they are open but with limited services or hours. But no one had closed their shop yet. In last week’s survey, 11 (46 percent) replied that they are open with the same hours; 12 (50 percent) reported that they are open but with limited hours; and 1 shop reported that they are closed.
A question later in the survey asked whether the shop owners would reopen if the crisis caused them to close. In the original survey, 86 percent said they would and 14 percent said maybe. In the most recent survey, 77 percent said they would; 15 percent said maybe; and 8 percent said no.
Still Few Layoffs
Fortunately, layoffs have been rare in the reprographics industry. In the original survey, one respondent said their firm had laid off everyone; 44 percent said they had laid off some staff; and the remaining 52 percent have not laid off anybody.
In the latest survey, the numbers actually improved. No layoffs were reported at 58 percent of responding firms; 29 percent have laid of some staff; and 13 percent have laid off all staff, but the owner is still working.
Business Has Dropped
Business has dropped for nearly all respondents, and it has dropped slightly more in this latest survey than in the previous survey.
In the most recent survey, one company reported that business has increased since the same period in 2019, and one company said business is the same. Here are the other categories:
- Our business has dropped by 25 percent or less: 8%
- Our business has dropped by 26 percent to 50 percent: 33%
- Our business has dropped by 50 percent to 75 percent: 29%
- Our business has dropped by more than 75 percent: 21%
In the survey three weeks ago, no one reported an increase in sales, and the majority of respondents reported some level of decrease. Here is the breakdown:
- Our business is about the same as usual: 18%
- Our business has dropped by 25 percent or less: 5%
- Our business has dropped by 26 percent to 50 percent: 45%
- Our business has dropped by 50 percent to 75 percent: 18%
- Our business has dropped by more than 75 percent: 14%
Everyone Applied for Aid
A question that was not asked in the previous survey was “Have you applied for any government aid?”
The answer to that was an overwhelming yes. Ninety-one percent of respondents have applied for aid with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and 18 percent through the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (everyone who applied for the latter also applied for the PPP aid). One respondent is in Canada and has applied for aid from that government.
Of the 20 respondents who applied for PPP, 13 (65 percent) were approved. The remainder were still waiting to hear about approval when they took the survey. The respondent in Canada was approved for aid in that country.
Sick? Just a Few
Another question that was not asked in the first survey was “Have you or any of your employees become infected with coronavirus?”
Two respondents (9 percent) said yes.
Concerns
An open-ended question on both surveys asked what respondents are particularly worried about right now. As expected, most of the answers dealt with fears of uncollectible invoices, lost business, and employees getting sick.
However, some respondents worry about fundamental changes to the industry. For example, this respondent fears that what we’re seeing now will last:
“How long will it take to get back to how it was 3 months ago? Is it even possible to get back to where it was 3 months ago? Are we now in a lengthy recession? How will the AEC sector be affected in the next 12 months?”
Another respondent noted that the stay-at-home orders may be persuading more customers to shift to digital services:
“States are accelerating electronic submission standards and remote workers are finding ways to acclimate to electronic documents faster.”
And finally, one respondent is concerned about losing work to competitors who are not following the rules:
“Customers going to competitors who are not following the Stay Home order and are operating business as usual, even for non-essential services.”