In the past month or so, Shenzhen has been hit by the epidemic, and the city has experienced a "war against the epidemic." So far, the epidemic prevention and control has achieved a phased victory. However, during this wave of epidemic, the production and operation activities of many small and medium-sized enterprises in Shenzhen have been greatly troubled. In order to further understand the impact of the epidemic on the operations of small and medium-sized enterprises and the difficulties and demands faced by enterprises, the Securities Times and the Shenzhen Venture Capital Association conducted a survey on the survival and development of small and medium-sized enterprises under the epidemic in 2022. Through the survey of the companies invested by venture capital institutions, A group survey was conducted to gain a glimpse of the current operating status of small and medium-sized enterprises under the current epidemic situation.
There are 97 companies that accepted the survey and successfully returned the questionnaire. About 43% are technology companies, 29% are manufacturing companies, and about 23% are in the consumer, Internet and medical health industries. enterprise. In terms of enterprise size, 48% of enterprises have 100 to 500 employees, and another 26% have more than 500 employees. From the perspective of business model, 55% of the companies surveyed have a purely offline business model, and 38% have an "online + offline" business model.
The survey results show that as many as 93% of the companies surveyed said that the epidemic has had varying degrees of adverse effects on their production and operation activities, which is mainly reflected in the suspension of operations and delays in production progress, and the inability to keep up with the supply of raw materials and other supply chains. , Order execution is delayed, etc. In addition to the questionnaire survey, Securities Times reporters also conducted interviews with industries such as medical care, consumption, technology, high-end manufacturing, and quality education and training institutions.
Companies interviewed by reporters mainly focus on three aspects when talking about the current problems they are facing: first, the suspension of work and production has brought varying degrees of losses; second, market demand has shrunk to a certain extent; third, There is a need for funds but it is difficult to obtain financing. Enterprises call on the government to increase tax and fee reduction measures for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially small and medium-sized scientific and technological enterprises, so as to alleviate the pressure on enterprises in scientific research investment. In addition, it is recommended to further promote pure credit loans of banks to small and medium-sized enterprises to alleviate the pressure of small and medium-sized enterprises. Financing difficulties faced by enterprises in their development stages.
It is worth mentioning that recently, governments in many places, including Shenzhen, have introduced measures to rescue small and medium-sized enterprises, which have effectively maintained and stabilized the order of economic and social development and boosted the development confidence of market entities.
The shutdown has dragged down production progress
“The epidemic has had the most direct impact on us. All offline classes have been suspended, and the course content is not suitable for online teaching, so the entire operation has completely come to a standstill. UBTV anchor He Yi, founder of Qianhai & Houhai campus in Shenzhen, told reporters that there are currently about 300 students in the institution. According to rough statistics, the loss of about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan after a week of suspension of classes, and about 300,000 yuan for a month of suspension of classes. .
Affected by the new round of epidemic in Shenzhen before and after the New Year, He Yi’s training institution has not opened its doors this year. She said that if the situation does not improve in March, she will have to continue to rest. In accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law, all employees' wages during the rest period will be paid in full in the first month, and basic wages will be paid in accordance with Shenzhen's basic wage standards from the second month on. "I have communicated with the landlord. If classes cannot be held in March, he may reduce the rent appropriately."
He Yi said that as an enterprise, he will definitely actively cooperate in the fight against the epidemic, but he also hopes that the government can be more precise. Local epidemic prevention and control will be gradually and orderly relaxed to ensure that enterprises can operate normally. "We can't stop work for too long, a month or two at most, otherwise it will be very troublesome to mobilize a lot of things later. This is the key point."
Ms. Lu is a foreign trade business owner in Shiyan, Shenzhen After the Spring Festival, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in Shenzhen Shiyan District, her factory was suspended for more than ten days, resulting in direct economic losses of hundreds of thousands. Putting aside labor and rent, during the shutdown, what she was most worried about was the impact on the goods. The delivery date of foreign trade orders is completely in accordance with the contract, and there is no room for maneuver. If it is overdue, compensation will be paid or even the order will be cancelled. Therefore, after Shi Yan could resume work in mid-February, she quickly brought all her employees with her, hired temporary workers from a labor agency, worked day and night on production, and finally delivered the goods, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Ms. Lu holds the same attitude as He Yi. Her main demand for epidemic prevention and control is to be "quick". Problems can be put out as soon as possible. If the time is prolonged, the company cannot afford it. She also heard that some peers with weak foundations were in a very difficult situation after the shutdown of work and production. "Due to the impact of the epidemic, I have to always consider the benefits of risk management in daily operations in the past few years, and pay attention to cash flow management. I am not as radical as before." .
There are also more and more entrepreneurial friends around me who are changing from seeking development to seeking survival. ”
The person in charge of an upstream company in the mobile phone industry chain in Shenzhen told reporters that if his factory of more than 100 people were to stop working for a week, it would lose 2 million yuan in performance and direct economic losses of more than 300,000 yuan (such as rent, Labor, etc.). Compared with economic losses, he is more worried about losing customers. Once he stops work, customers will transfer orders to other peers for production. When encountering this situation before, even if he does not make money or even loses money, he will immediately Orders are sent to other companies that have not stopped operations. “It is difficult to develop a customer, but it is easy to lose a customer. "The person in charge said.
However, the shutdown is abnormal after all. Most business owners believe that it will be another "sunny day" after getting over it. He Yi expects to only be able to complete the original planned operating income in the first quarter of this year. 30%, but she expressed optimism about the prospects, believing that entrepreneurship should take a long-term perspective. Demand and consumption have not decreased, but are only temporarily delayed. “The strong survive. Recently, I have learned that a small number of institutions have closed, which means that the institutions that can survive. Competitive pressure will be reduced. Moreover, during the epidemic, we have been having good communication with parents, and our trust and reputation have increased. ”
Shrinking demand hinders business expansion
Relative to the short-term impact of shutdowns, what worries business owners even more is the long-term shrinking of demand caused by the epidemic. In some industries , this phenomenon has already happened.
“Except for companies related to COVID-19 testing, the entire in vitro diagnostic industry has been affected by the epidemic, and the business of the entire industry should have shrunk by more than 40%. Liu Xiaolong, the founder of Canada Biotechnology, judged that this is an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) company established in 2017 and will start selling products in June 2021. Liu Xiaolong said that hospital services are limited under the epidemic, and some hospitals and departments are experiencing phased changes. Due to the suspension of clinics, the number of hospital patients has decreased significantly, and the hospital's demand for in vitro diagnostic medical equipment has also decreased accordingly.
According to the reporter's understanding, in addition to the current significant increase in demand for medical equipment and consumables related to the epidemic, the hospital's demand for medical equipment and consumables related to the epidemic has also decreased accordingly. The demand for other medical devices has indeed shrunk to varying degrees. Founded in 2017, SGS is mainly engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of minimally invasive medical devices. Founder Feng Gengchao told reporters that there are now many patients with non-emergency and serious illnesses. The city has postponed surgical plans, and the number of surgical operations has dropped, which has also reduced the hospital's demand for surgical consumables. "In the past, a hospital might have 100 inpatients, but now there are only 70 to 80. The demand has indeed shrunk. ”
In fact, in addition to the medical industry related to the epidemic, many industries have not yet fully recovered from the 2020 epidemic. “I used to change to the latest mobile phone every year, but now the mobile phone Have been using it for 3 years. "Mr. Zeng from Shenzhen is a downstream supplier in the consumer electronics industry chain. Orders in his industry have decreased, which has led to intensified competition and fierce price wars. At the same time, costs in production, service research and development, supply chain and other aspects have continued to rise. , causing profits to fall again and again.
Mr. Zeng told reporters that repeated outbreaks have had a lasting and profound impact on all walks of life, which in turn has affected people’s enthusiasm for consumption. Due to sluggish consumer demand, the entire industry has been affected. The entire industrial chain has been affected, profit margins have been squeezed, and liquidity has been tight. He recently received a three-month acceptance bill, which was an order for delivery in August last year, which means that he has not yet delivered the goods. It takes nine months to collect the payment, and the payment cycle is very long. In order to cope with the funding gap caused by the lengthened payment cycle, he has mortgaged all the commercial properties in his family's name. He told reporters: "There are still many loans. There is a certain capital requirement, but credit loans are too expensive and corporate profits are not enough to support it. Even operating mortgage loans of around 3.75% still account for the vast majority of corporate profits. ”
Mr. Zeng said that currently a large number of commercial bills are rampant, which has not improved social efficiency, but has caused serious damage to the liquidity of enterprises. Business operations require normal cash flow, and for many companies with stable operations, For enterprises, as long as the payment is collected in time every month, there is basically no need for bank credit support, let alone bailout.
“One of our product sales targets is the civil aviation industry, which is the biggest impact of the epidemic now. Civil aviation, this part of the business accounted for 30% to 40% last year. Now that we have made business adjustments, it currently only accounts for about 10%.
Liu Xiaotao, CEO of Super Node Innovation Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., told reporters that as the civil aviation business sector shrinks, the business volume of other sectors must be expanded to keep the overall business volume from declining