“For design consulting, things are still business as usual,” said one AV provider. “New project proposals are still going out the door. No existing projects have been put on hold. Clients are paying on time. We’re patiently waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Challenges persist

The percentage of AV providers citing specific negative impacts seems to be levelling off. Among AV providers: 71 per cent cited revenue declines, 69 per cent slowing sales, 45 per cent supply chain disruption, and 31 per cent staff reductions. These figures are on par with last week’s survey.

Digging a little deeper, it’s apparent some AV companies are teetering on the edge. In previous surveys, respondents were asked to estimate the percentage declines in company revenues and staff layoffs/furloughs. At the high end, they could choose “more than 50 per cent.” For this week’s survey, we offered more granular choices for both questions above 50 per cent. Notably, 15 per cent of AV provider respondents of those with revenue declines reported a drop of 91 to 100 per cent; 14 per cent of those with staffing reductions said their companies had laid off/furloughed 91 to 100 per cent of their employees.

Turning to end users, there was an uptick in respondents perceiving declining revenues (60 per cent, up from 51 per cent) and slowing sales (29 per cent, up from 22 per cent). This bears watching because the business health of end user customers could have a trickle-down effect on the business prospects of their AV providers. On the bright side, the share of end users citing staff reductions over the past week was down to 19 per cent (from 24 per cent).

“We have not had changes in the last week — still continuing as we have been,” said one AV end user. “The only real change is that we are getting a little more efficient and productive in our transition to working remotely.”

Some  benefit from a firmer footing

All told, after a month of rapid deterioration in industry business sentiment, this week’s Impact Survey implies an uneasy calm. As of this writing, news coverage is highlighting efforts by some governments to reopen their economies, and in the United States, Congress appears ready to pass a bill providing additional emergency funding to small businesses.

For some in the US, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), two programs funded by the CARES Act, provided the temporary infusion they needed. In this latest survey, 57 per cent of AV provider respondents said their companies had applied for government assistance.

“Cash reserves and EIDL/PPP loans are allowing us to operate somewhat as usual for four to five months,” said one AV provider.

According to another, “We secured additional PPP funding and are retaining all of our staff. The field techs are doing training and certification, and the rest of us are working from home on exec-level things. We are somewhat optimistic overall.”

Of course, since the last Impact Survey, the US PPP ran out of funds, spurring Congress to act again. Not all companies — AV and other — received the loans they needed the first time around. About 1.6 million loans were reportedly made in round one of the PPP.

“The PPP has run out of money,” said an AV provider. “As of Friday, there were still over 2,000 applications ahead of ours at the bank. We’re working on a plan to continue business with the anticipation that we won’t be receiving stimulus money.”

Live events bruised but resolute

Even the limited sample of live events professionals in the Impact Survey are showing signs the catastrophe may be levelling off, although for many, what comes next is unclear. The live events community has been hit especially hard by cancelled events and government regulations against large gatherings. Notably, 71 per cent of the limited live events sample said their businesses had experienced a large negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and 100 per cent said their companies had been hit with declining revenue (93 per cent have dealt with cancelled projects).

“We do parties and corporate events, with sound equipment, lights, LED screens, stages and structures,” said one AV provider. “We consider that we will have to change the business and adapt the company to carry out fixed installations at home or business, video conferences, among other things.”

Said another, “Meetings are picking up, but not to the level they were before COVID-19.”

Coalescing around June as the turning point?

When asked when they expect project work to pick up, Impact Survey respondents are eyeing anywhere in the June to September time frame, though the share of people mentioning June was up over last week’s survey. More than 32 per cent of AV providers and 29 per cent of end users cited June as the month they expected project work to resume, the most popular answer.

That said, 43 per cent of AV providers and 42 per cent of end users expect work to start turning around in Q3. Whatever the case, some say they’re taking the time to consider how their business might change in the months and years ahead.

Said one live events respondent, “I don’t necessarily think things are on an upward trajectory just yet, but we have been making a lot of progress in the research and planning stages of several major events coming up that will allow us to manage the events virtually and from a distance with health and safety concerns in mind. This is certainly a step in the right direction, as the current state of things extends into the foreseeable future, especially in live events.”

“We are experiencing a lot of requests for live streaming, apart from collaboration needs — live events being webcast and archived for later viewing,” said an AV provider. “[We’re] getting lots or requests for that and people are opening their purses to purchase the gear. I believe this may be a longer-term solution, as people have learned how to work from home, more or less effectively.”

The next survey results will be released on May 1.

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