2020 was a year like no other, as markets and industries around the world faced disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies of all sizes suffered shifts in customer demand, supply-chain availability, funding options, or all three, but the challenges were largest for small businesses. While many multinational organizations were able to survive the pandemic (if not thrive) through their broad diversification of market exposures, many of the small to midsize companies in their supply chains were vulnerable to local, pandemic-driven challenges that arose.

Some of these challenges revolved around staffing shortages when employees were sick or quarantined. Others involved logistics issues when shipments were delayed or even prohibited for a time. The pandemic fueled many supplier problems for which even the largest, most stable customers had no solution.