1) My mom will have to close down her small business in California, not due to COVID, but due to rising minimum wage. Each extra dollar of minimum wage costs her $10,000 per year (2.5 employees on average x 80 hours per week x 52 weeks x $1). This has to be offset by higher food prices, which piss customers off, or increased customer flow, which doesn't correlate with minimum wage at all seemingly.

2) Rising minimum wage will make many small businesses close, reducing the great food diversity any city has. If Walmart can eat up small businesses, why can't certain popular food chains do it?

3) Many minimum wage workers are fucking idiots. A teenage kid who puts in the bare minimum work while getting high on a vape pen secretly doesn't really deserve a $15 wage. Of course, there are tons of great minimum wage workers, but there is so much risk for a small business owner in hiring employees who simply don't care. The risk just goes up as minimum wage goes up.

Basically, I don't see how small businesses can cope with all this shit. People are ruder/lazier/more demanding than ever + minimum wage is going up. It's hard for a small business owner.