Business Outlook and Financing Alternatives of Finnish Entrepreneurs During the COVID-19 Crisis

This paper reports findings from a survey of 1,008 Finnish small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their business outlook and financing alternatives during the COVID-19 crisis as of June 2020. Sales have dropped by an average of 25%. The decline in revenues is generally uncorrelated with the number of coronavirus cases in a municipality, except in the hospitality industry and the arts, entertainment and recreation industry. 54% of respondents have applied for public subsidies, while only 16% have applied for a new loan from the bank. Across the cross-section of firms, firms reporting a larger loss of revenues and with a more precarious financial position at the end of 2019 (high debt and/or low cash) were more likely to apply for both direct grants as well as loans.