Small business owners across the city were already dealing with countless threats to their survival, and Hurricane Beryl just made things even worse. On top of issues like price increases and wage hikes, Beryl brings a whole new set of challenges.
Jonathan Horowitz with Houston Hospitality Alliance told KTRH, "Really it's the loss of power and the loss of income keeping customers away. There can also be a loss of inventory, which cannot be replaced."
Horowitz says that as a result, you might start seeing fewer small businesses around. He said, "The days of the true mom and pops kind of bootstrapping it just to get open and stay open probably isn't going to work into the future."
The good news? Horowitz says there will likely always be those who want to put in the hard work and start a small business, and he says they should continue to go for it.