Are you wondering why your favorite restaurant went from being open 7 days a week to only 3? Or why is it taking abnormally long for you to get a table at a restaurant and the waiter to bring out your food? You’re not the only one. Ordering french fries went from $3 to $5 and certain dishes have been taken off the menu altogether.                

Ever since lockdowns and “stay-at-home” campaigns forced some restaurants to close and workers to lose their jobs, the restaurant industry hasn’t been the same. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, restaurants lost more than 5 million jobs from March to April last year, and not everyone has returned to work. Unemployment checks are looking a lot more attractive than going back to washing dishes, and might give workers more money than they were earning in the first place. Mobile ordering and food delivery services like Doordash and UberEats make ordering and receiving food possible without you even having to leave your house; there’s no need to go out to a restaurant. 

Not only that, but there has been an extreme shortage in supplies. Something that you might’ve ordered back in August may be sitting off the coast of the Pacific Ocean in LA because there is no one working at the ports to unload cargo. 

This time of short-staffed restaurants and supply shortenings has left the economy scrambling. Entrepreneurship and small businesses can turn things around. Your ideas as an entrepreneur matter for the future of our country. Your ideas and creations bring growth and innovation into the community where the business is established. In 2018, the Small Business Administration estimated that small businesses are employing a total of 58.9 million workers. Businesses that are already well-established would also benefit from help and new workers who are willing to be employed and stimulate the economy.