According to a Straits Times story, 131 small businesses in Singapore closed down last year – an increase of almost 25 percent over 2007, with almost 40 percent of these shutting down from September to December. A check conducted by the paper with 47 businesses found that nearly a third of them had either closed or are planning to.
This is hardly surprising. The global recession that toppled huge financial institutions and the economies of some countries will find small, fledgling businesses easy prey. High rents and poor sales continue to plague local small businesses, especially in the retail and F&B industries.
Even worse, there seems to be no respite from exceedingly high rentals from landlords, and no support nor sympathy from the public sector either.
Just before US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson river after hitting a flock of geese that took out both its engines, pilot Captain Chesley Sullenburger warned his passengers over the intercom to “brace for impact”.
This warning would be appropriate to small businesses during this economic turmoil as well.
