June 15, 2020—In early April, Ratchet+Wrench reached out to its readers to see how the coronavirus was impacting its business, with a whooping 88 percent saying it had a negative financial impact.
A few months later, with stay-at-home orders being lifted, we wanted to check-in again. In the beginning of June, Ratchet+Wrench sent a follow-up survey and 258 people responded. Here are the results.
When asked if business had picked up, 29 percent saw a significant improvement, 32 percent saw a modest improvement and 26 percent saw a decrease. The remaining respondents saw no change.
When it comes to financial assistance, do not feel bad about getting it. Seventy-seven percent of respondents to the survey said they received some type of outside financial assistance during COVID-19.
In positive news, since the pandemic started, the majority (77%) have not had to lay off employees and less than 8 percent saw a 50 percent or more decrease in business. Almost all respondents (93%) have a positive business outlook for the next five years. This is up from 76 percent when asked in April.
Overall, business seems to be picking up and it looks like the auto repair industry may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
