Craig Hudson: Taking stock of small business success in 2020 27 Dec, 2020 11:00 PM 4 minutes to read 2020 was the ultimate test for small business survival. Photo / 123RF NZ Herald OPINION: Let's not mince words, 2020 was a rough year. In fact, we've asked small business owners how they went this year. Unsurprisingly, 60 per cent of them said this year was the most difficult they've ever experienced. Of course, statistics can never capture the human stories of quiet desperation, quantify the difficult decisions bosses have had to make about staff layoffs, or the sacrifices of everyday people trying to make sense of a pile of bills on the kitchen table.