Small businesses are bracing themselves to raise prices and put off expansion plans. That’s according to a recent survey by Small Business for America’s Future, a national coalition that advocates for small business owners.
Almost three-quarters of those surveyed said the effects of the Trump administration’s constantly-changing tariff strategy feel like whiplash, citing heightened prices and volatile U.S. trade policy.
Gabe Hagen owns Brick Road Coffee in Tempe, which had begun construction on a second location before the presidential election. Now, he said his livelihood is on the line to keep the doors open.
“I'm a little worried I might be opening a location in what could be a recession,” said Hagen. “So, like, I don’t know what — that whiplash and that back and forth, I just don’t know what’s going on. And it’s making it really hard to make these decisions.”
With tea and coffee grown exclusively outside the U.S., he said his only option is to import.
But even though it’s hitting Hagen’s shop particularly hard, he said he’s far from the only one feeling a sense of economic whiplash.
“Those little changes, when we don’t have the big corporate buying power like these chains would, really do impact,” Hagen said. “When a box of cups goes from $80 a box to $120 a box, more than likely I’m cutting it out of my salary.”
Hagen said he can only make so many cuts before having to raise prices or close shop. Customers, he said, are starting to respond to the uncertainty.
“I have to forecast what I expect to spend on cups a year out so that way I can figure out, ‘What do I need to price my drinks at so I can actually make enough to cover payroll, to cover my staff, to keep people employed?’” Hagen said. “Small businesses like mine, we employ almost half of the U.S. economy.”
As a small business, Hagen added that he feels secure leaning on in the surrounding community to support Brick Road and other small businesses until the economy stabilizes.
