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CNY Small Businesses Struggle Through Supply Chain Shortage Supply Chain Shortage Hurts Businesses

By James Kattato

According to business.org supply chain shortages have caused 89% of small businesses to increase their prices.

“Although it just looks like people are paying more for items, we also have to pay more for the item.”

With the holidays around the corner, what do small businesses like Syracuse Bicycle do? They want to counter inflation, but customers want sales. Zak Field is the store manager. he says they can finally think about having discounts again, but even that’s still not a hundred percent

“Any discount we had normally offered was entirely cancelled last year. This year might be a different story. We may be able to sufficiently provide enough product to mark it down.”

Field says if you want to get the wheels moving on getting a bike for this holiday season, then you might want to stop first because if you want something but you wait until the last minute, well you might miss out.

“You could be looking at a wait time anywhere from 7 days to at this point we have bicycles slated to come in early 2023. Waiting til the last minute is not going to be your friend.”

60% of small businesses are worried about maybe even going under. That’s why Melissa Davis, a senior advisor at the small business development center says consumers have to stay patient.

“We don’t want to see them go out. If you see them go out, jobs go.”

Davis used to own a small business herself.. Now she works with nearly 200 a year. to her, it’s about maintaining the integrity of the community.

“That lady who has the nice little store in town, she goes out of business well then she’s affected her supply people and then they lost revenue from her and it’s all intertwined. Then your nice cute little quaint town gets affected too.”

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  (NCC News) — Sales are the one thing that customers think about when stores open their doors for Black Friday shopping. Now, small businesses like Syracuse Bicycle have had to pivot to adjust to the times.

Store Manager, Zak Field, said sales were affected due to the lack of supply, but it forced them to work with what they have,

“We’ve had to adjust out business model in order to plan ahead and get bikes in on time,” Field said.

Now, after a year in the pandemic, Field said they work with customers and give them options based on their favorite color, and as close to what they’re looking for as possible. If not, they could wait anywhere from 7 days to the beginning of 2023 if they want a certain bike that’s not in stock.

Like Field, other businesses have had to adjust to the shortage. Senior Business Advisor, Melissa Davis, works at America’s Small Business Development Center at Onondaga Community College.

She said she works with a local restaurant in Madison County. They’ve been able to keep most of their staff  and not have to raise prices because they turned to the local side of getting produce.

“He found he went more local with his products and his food. Working locally with the farmers and having exclusives with them definitely helped,” Davis said.

Davis said that during this transition for businesses, customers need to stay patient and try to find alternatives like turning to locally sourced products, rather than outsourcing. She wants these businesses to stay open because they’re a main staple in the Syracuse community.

“That lady who has the nice little store in town, she goes out of business well then she’s affected her supply people and then they lost revenue from her and it’s all intertwined. Then your nice cute little quaint town gets affected too,” Davis said.

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