Rent pressure and insufficient consumer demand, how to help the self-employed survive?

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, more than 80 million individual industrial and commercial households in China have been under heavy operating pressure. Insufficient consumer demand, increased rental costs, tight cash flow and insufficient competitiveness have become the biggest challenges for self-employed households to survive.

How to do everything possible to make small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people survive? Have a series of policies and measures promulgated by the state had any actual effect? What are the breakfast stalls, small restaurants and canteens that ordinary people deal with every day? Recently, Economic Daily-China Economic Net reporter interviewed a number of individual merchants from Beijing, Wuhan, Chongqing, Tianjin, Wenzhou and other places by telephone and interview to see what help they need most and how to tide over the difficulties.

There are more than 80 million individual industrial and commercial households in China, and their return to work affects thousands of households. According to the "Investigation on the Operation of Individual and Private Enterprises" conducted by China Association of Individual Workers and Hongdun Big Data (Beijing) Co., Ltd., by the end of March, the repayment rate of individual industrial and commercial households and private enterprises was nearly 80%, of which the repayment rate of private enterprises was 79.2% and that of individual industrial and commercial households was 80. 1%.

Even so, the road to return to work for the self-employed is still very difficult. 90.5% of the individual industrial and commercial households and private enterprises that have resumed work said that their business performance has declined, and 64.8% of the respondents said that it has dropped significantly.

In view of the difficulties, the state and local governments have recently introduced many special policies to support self-employed individuals. Official website, the website of the China Municipal Government and the General Administration of Market Supervision, launched a questionnaire to collect the problems encountered by self-employed individuals in order to formulate more targeted policies.

The rent pressure needs to be eased.

"I finally received news today, informing me to reduce the rent for one month." On May 9, Xiao Luofa, the owner of Shuguang Supermarket on Textile Road in Hongshan District, Wuhan, told the reporter that this was the best news he had received since the outbreak.

From 2065438 to June 2009, Ronaldinho opened this small supermarket. Although it is not big, because it is close to the famous Wuhan Optical Valley and the entrance of the residential area, the flow of people coming in and out every day can reach 1000 to 2000, and the business in the store is not bad, with a daily flow of about 8000.

After more than two months of business suspension due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Ronaldinho found that only thirty or forty people passed by the supermarket every day, and the daily running water in the store plummeted from 8,000 yuan to 400 yuan. Because most of the residents in the community are tenants who work nearby, the enterprise has not fully resumed work and the tenants have not returned. The commercial street in the crowded residential area has become deserted.

"The landlord doesn't reduce rent, let alone rent-free. Some community tenants have no salary for several months, can't afford to rent, and have to leave. " Everyone who opened the shop together has left, and Ronaldinho is worried that his shop won't last long. "My store rents 20,000 yuan a month, and it has been signed for three years. After two years, the contract will increase by 8%." Ronaldinho calculated that with the current monthly income of 1000 yuan, plus the business losses in February and March, it is difficult for him to persist. The stock in the store is approaching the expiration date, so it can only be discounted or thrown away.

Obviously, rent is the biggest cost for individual industrial and commercial households. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have been paying close attention to the issue of rent reduction and exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed, and have made many arrangements. As early as the early outbreak of the epidemic, the Guiding Opinions on Increasing Support for Individual Industrial and Commercial Households to Respond to the Impact of the Epidemic issued by the General Administration of Market Supervision and other six departments proposed to encourage all localities to reduce the rents of individual industrial and commercial households in light of the actual situation.

However, for rent reduction and exemption, state-owned collective property is widely implemented everywhere. Most self-employed individuals and private enterprises rent private properties, so it is difficult to enjoy rent reduction or rent exemption, and it is impossible for local governments to force private properties to reduce rent or rent exemption. Therefore, they can only encourage private property rent reduction or rent-free through communication, indirect subsidies. The solution in many places is for private owners to reduce rents, so the property tax and land use tax of real estate will be reduced accordingly.

Also in Mingshun grocery store in Wuhan, it rents state-owned real estate. The proprietress Zhou told reporters that they received a notice of rent reduction two months ago. Ronaldinho rented private property, and the good news came later. In addition, some private properties in Wuhan have been reduced for three months.

On May 10, the National Development and Reform Commission and other eight ministries and commissions jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Further Helping Small and Micro Enterprises and Individual Industrial and Commercial Households in the Service Industry to Alleviate the Housing Rent Pressure in Response to the COVID-19 Epidemic. In addition to continuing to waive the housing rent for state-owned real estate in the first three months of this year, non-state-owned lessors are encouraged to reduce or postpone the collection of housing rent again. Moreover, it is clearly stated in the Guiding Opinions that lessors with rent reduction or exemption can reduce the property tax and urban land use tax in the current year according to the current regulations, and guide state-owned banking financial institutions to improve the preferential interest rate of small loans for small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households in the service industry during the year, which is specially used to pay housing rent. For lessors who actually reduce or exempt housing rent, state-owned banking financial institutions will be guided to give preferential interest rate pledge loan support based on housing rent income during the year as needed. It can be predicted that this will encourage more private property lessors to reduce or waive rents, thus overcoming difficulties.

Consumer confidence needs to be restored.

"After Beijing lowered the level of prevention and control, business improved." After the May Day holiday, Li, the proprietress of Sichuan Restaurant at No.46 Yonghegong Street, saw hope.

I still remember that on April 29th, when the reporter interviewed Li for the first time in the store, there was not a table of guests in the store at lunch time, and the sporadic meals were all takeaway brothers. The expenses of the small restaurant, such as rent, staff salaries, utilities, etc. , overwhelmed Li. Although she made up part of it through take-away promotion, it was far from enough to make up for the loss. "In the past, the daily income of canteen meals was 10000 yuan, but now it is only from 800 yuan to 1000 yuan. At 9 o'clock in the evening, employees from Hu Da and Jin Dingxuan in Guijie Street would come to the store for supper after work, and the room was full. Now they are not coming. " Li also found that the surrounding residents and old customers were afraid to come to the store to eat, and everyone was used to buying things and going home to cook.

Mr. Chen, the owner of Easy Life Convenience Store in Yubei District, Chongqing, is very close to the community and the station. Although the passenger flow has not dropped significantly, there are obviously fewer people buying things. It is estimated that the store's recent income has dropped by at least 50% compared with the same period.

Wenzhou Ruian Ankang convenience store is located on the road outside the community, surrounded by many small and medium-sized enterprises and many leisure and entertainment businesses. This is a good place to do business. The owner, Mr. Wang, told the reporter that during the epidemic, the business was relatively good, and the residents in the community could not get out. One day, there were more than 100 orders online. Now the epidemic has eased, online sales have dropped to only a dozen orders a day, and offline consumption has also recovered. It is understood that the enterprises around the store have not completely resumed work, the factories do not start work, the entertainment venues do not go to work, and the people who stay behind do not have much income and dare not spend.

In Aidit convenience store in Beichen District, Tianjin, the clerk is sorting out the goods. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

In the convenience store in Aidit, No.3 Ruijing West Road, Beichen District, Tianjin, Mr. Ma, the owner, also found that people flow has become a big problem. "I haven't fully returned to work, and my income has dropped by about 40%." Due to the closure of the gym next door, the flow of people in the store has also dropped sharply.

From a national perspective, rent pressure, insufficient consumer demand and tight cash flow are the three most serious difficulties faced by individual and private owners. 9 1.3% of the respondents said that there were some difficulties in operation. Among them, 48.7% of the respondents felt that the rent pressure was high, 43.3% of the respondents said that the epidemic had led to a decline in market demand, and 43% of the respondents had tight cash flow.

In a word, if the confidence of consumers is not restored, the business of merchants will be out of the question. With the reduction of prevention and control levels in various places, the epidemic situation has gradually improved and consumer confidence has gradually recovered.

"After Labor Day, the canteen food has recovered a little from the previous paragraph, and I can earn hundreds of dollars more every day." Li said, "As long as consumers dare to go out to spend, I am not afraid of not making money."

Dislocation competition on the transition line

Mr. Chen, the owner of convenience store, opened convenience store 10 years. He started online very early and took orders when he was hungry. "In the past, the store could only cover the community. Now it can sell things to customers two or three kilometers away, and the customer base is much larger than before." Mr. Chen calculated that before the outbreak, online orders could reach about 5,000 yuan per day, and online water flow was 6,543.8+0.7 million yuan to 200,000 yuan per month.

Mr. Chen attributed his small achievement to misplaced competition. "Small shops are no better than big supermarkets and big platforms. Their bargaining power is limited and they have no advantage in price. " Mr. Chen said that he has a better understanding of the needs of residents in the community, and things that big supermarkets can't buy can be bought here. At the same time, after-sales service is also the strength of the store. The consumer won't install the faucet after buying it, so Mr. Chen Can will call the door.

Nowadays, on the transition line, Mr. Chen thinks that there is still dislocation competition, but the account should be more refined. "The snacks sold in my store are all online celebrity brands, such as three squirrels and herbs. Every day, various discounts, discounts and promotions are designed. " Mr. Chen said that the platform has a lot of subsidies. If you want to participate in more platform activities, you may not make money from every order, but after the traffic is large, the platform will give support and provide better recommended positions.

"It takes a lot of thought to maintain this old shop for more than 20 years." Shirley Zhou also thinks that online games are different now. There is a profit of 15% to 30% offline, and only 10% to 12% online at most. So, she stared at several online platforms to take orders at the same time. Some platforms sell fruits and vegetables well, and some daily necessities sell well. She didn't give up any of them and pushed some goods in a targeted way.

In the catering industry, it is not as easy as expected to transform a small store into a takeaway. On the public comment, the take-out of Yu Wei Sichuan cuisine has launched a promotion activity of "30% off 13", and the store has to bear the reduction of 13 yuan. The reporter from Economic Daily-China Economic Net saw that the take-away food to be taken at the door was basically around 20 yuan or 30 yuan. The minimum order includes 4 yuan delivery fee of 2 1.5 yuan, and the store only receives 17.5 yuan, in which the commission of the US delegation and the rider's subsidy should be removed.

"How to determine the full reduction and how to price the dishes are all calculated by the US Mission, referring to the pricing and promotion range of similar restaurants around." Li told reporters that although the current price is low, at least we have found a balance point, which can maintain low profits and loss. She also hopes that Meituan can promote more large-scale activities and let more businesses participate together to form a joint force to attract consumers' consumption.

Shirley Zhou also hopes that the online platform can do more things, "for example, build a brand and upgrade these scattered Tmall stores into chain convenience stores like' Family',' Rosen' and' 7- 1 1', which will be promoted and drained together".

For Mr. Chen, this year is the most difficult year for opening a store 10 for many years. Although it is not easy to open a shop, his tone in the interview is still firm and powerful: "There is a mortgage and a car loan. This convenience store is all the hope of our family, and we must stick to it no matter how difficult it is. I believe that everything will be fine after the epidemic has passed. "