Small businesses are bracing for a potentially disruptive TikTok ban

ONE looming TikTok ban can impact the millions of small businesses that use the short video social media app to help them grow their business.

Desiree Hill, owner of Crown’s Corner Mechanic in Conyers, Georgia, started her business solo as a mobile mechanic. Sharing videos of her work on TikTok helped spread the word, and she became so popular that 18 months ago she was able to open a 9,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar store with five employees.

“Every day I get at least two to three customers who have seen me on TikTok, watched my videos and wanted to become a customer,” she said.

Although TikTok has only been around since 2016, small business owners are using the platform in a variety of ways, from expanding a customer base to advertising and marketing, as well as selling items directly from the site.

According to TikTok’s own estimates, small businesses on TikTok will lose more than $1 billion in revenue in a single month if the ban goes into effect.

The Justice Department ordered the app’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or face a US ban by January 19citing security concerns. The Supreme Court will take up the case in January. President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has requested the Supreme Court for delay.

If a ban occurs, small businesses will have to migrate to other platforms to find their customers. Instagram Reels, SnapChat and YouTube Shorts are alternatives. The good news is that brands likely already have a presence there. But it may be harder to reach teenagers who have made TikTok their social media app of choice.

Another alternative is to build a strong database of customers who choose to provide contact emails or phone numbers. It enables owners to reach customers directly with promotions and other marketing messages.

But Crown Corner Mechanic’s Hill said she is concerned that other sites may not have the reach that TikTok has. She has a presence on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, but it’s not the same, she said.

“I’m worried because there’s no preparation for this,” she said. “It has such an important place in terms of my customer base and how I reach customers that if I lose TikTok, I will lose a large part of my business or I will lose my ability to grow further.”

Crystal Lister is the owner of Mommy and Me: The Listers in Cypress, Texas, which offers interactive workshops on STEM education. She’s working on pivoting to YouTube for videos and Instagram Reels for teasers to drive people to YouTube, but said TikTok is easier.

“It’s going to be a challenge if TikTok gets banned because we lose the kind of functionality that you want — the ability to create a video, the ability to spread the word through social media,” she said. “So we’re going to have to use a lot of other platforms to complement what TikTok did in one.”