America’s more than 30 million small businesses are waiting for a new coronavirus relief package—financial assistance without which an estimated one in 20 will close, according to the International Franchisee Association. But those on our inaugural Forbes Small Business Awards list not only pivoted but capitalized on the “new Main Street,” one driven by digital storefronts as opposed to physical ones.
Here are the best of the best in the small business space from 2020.
We selected the Forbes Small Business Awards in consultation with Clayton Ruebensaal, executive vice president of global B2B marketing at American Express, one of the firm’s top executives leading AMEX’s SMB-focused initiatives like Business Class and 100 for 100.
Best Product: Zoom
Virtual experiences have been the name of the game in 2020—whether for the purpose of working remotely or driving e-commerce for small businesses with experiences like virtual cooking lessons or wine tastings via Zoom. “Based on these virtual tastings, we’ve made up a lot of revenue with a totally new business,” says Courtney Kingston, founder of Kingston Family Vineyards in Portola Valley, California.
Most Intriguing Newcomer: Ureeka
Ureeka, a small-business mentorship platform founded in 2018 that focuses on “next-wave entrepreneurs”—female and minority small and mid-sized business (SMB) owners—has disbursed more than $100 million in grants since May to 15,000 SMBs via partnerships with companies like Facebook and Salesforce.
Disruptive Innovator: Faire
A wholesale marketplace created to help mom-and-pop stores compete against Amazon, Faire has seen its business more than triple in the last 12 months and its customer base double.
Outstanding Firm: Tory Burch LLC
Amid the battle to keep her namesake brand operating in the pandemic, Burch leaned in to help save women-owned small businesses right when they needed it most. The Tory Burch Foundation has provided a million dollars in grants and more than $57 million in loans. Additionally, her foundation began offering free weekly webinars during the pandemic—more than 10,000 women have created their business plans on the foundation’s website, and digital online tools and education have been provided to more than 300,000 women.
Annus Horribilis: The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
The paycheck protection program was meant to help struggling small businesses hit by Covid-19. Instead, a lot of the money went to large restaurant chains like Ruth’s Chris steakhouse as well as those companies with the best relationships—not the neediest or most deserving.
Forbes Forecast: A brighter outlook in 2021
Amex’s Ruebensaal predicts 2021 will be a year of planning and preparing for re-emergence as small businesses navigate the road to recovery while hopefully taking advantage of pent-up demand in the second half of the year once a vaccine is widely distributed. “Small business owners’ resilience will continue—81% of business owners still believe the benefits of owning their own business outweigh the challenges,” says Ruebensaal.
The Forbes Small Business Persons Of The Year: Black women-owned business owners
“Prior to the pandemic, Black-women-owned businesses were growing at unprecedented rates yet still making less revenue than their counterparts,” says Ruebensaal. In fact, according to the 2019 American Express State of Women-Owned Business report, Black women entrepreneurs were founding 763 new businesses every day—making them the fastest-growing entrepreneur group in America. Still, a lot of Black businesses will not survive the pandemic without more help, Goldman Sachs Foundation president Asahi Pompey tells Forbes, saying, “That is the sobering truth.”
