Nearly Half of Business Owners Think the Changes They've Made During the Crisis Will Be Permanent (Infographic) Here's how 2,000 business owners said their lives have changed since March of this year.

By Jessica Thomas Edited by Frances Dodds

andresr | Getty Images

A few months ago, it was easy to think that this would all be temporary — that after a few weeks, students would go back to school, parents would return to work and restaurants, bars and public spaces would be able to reopen. Of course, more than five months into widespread stay-at-home orders, business owners (and the rest of us) have come to terms with this new reality.

In a survey of more than 2,000 small business owners conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Zapier, 44 percent of respondents said they believe the changes they've made to their businesses in the past few months are here to stay.

Related: According to His Tweets, Bill Gates Is Way More Stressed Out Than Elon Musk (Infographic)

For many small business owners, that means they're trying to learn new technologies, taking on more administrative tasks and trying to bring in new revenue, which is the number one worry among business owners surveyed. Twenty-four percent of business owners say they're spending more time on administrative tasks than they ever have before.

"Small business owners are focused on ways to stay afloat right now, while also navigating the challenge of an ever-expanding to-do list," Zapier spokesperson Carly Moulton said in a statement accompanying the report. "As tedious but necessary admin work piles up, it leaves less time to focus on strategies that meet revenue challenges head on. It's no surprise a quarter of SBOs theorized they'd be less stressed if they didn't have to sweat small, repetitive tasks."

For more insights on how small business owners are feeling right now, read through the below infographic.

Related: How the Behavior of Job-Seekers Has Changed Since February (Infographic)

Jessica Thomas

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Digital Content Director

Jessica Thomas is the senior digital content director at Entrepreneur. Prior to this role, she spent nearly five years on staff at Worth magazine and was a staff writer for Bustle. 

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