WACO, Texas – Rising inflation is top concern for small businesses going into 2022.

“So we’re seeing this reality where things are costing more. It’s inflated in price because demand is up, supply is down,” says Carissa Reiniger, Small Business Expert and Founder & CEO, Silver Lining.

Small business owner Devin Li shares how its affecting his expansion of ‘Cha Community.’

“A few days ago, I went to lowe’s, and home depot, the two by four have gone up to six dollar, six and a half dollar. I think,” says owner of ‘Cha Community’, Devin Li.

Not only is Devin seeing an increase in prices in construction, he’s also seen it in his products.

“I was just talking to our manager maybe two days ago, how our tea leaves cost twice as much as two years ago,” says Li.

But why are we now seeing the highest inflation rate since 1982?

“The thing that I think is probably true is that COVID has been so disruptive. So things like supplies that came in from multiple countries into the U.S. can arrive,” says Reiniger.

“It effects, all of ingredients like sugar and cups, plastic straws, everything has gone up,” says Li.

Small business expert Carissa Reiniger says, the challenges small businesses are experiencing are hurting the bottom line.

“When the cost that they have to operate with go up, when the cost of their supplies, their staffing, their their labor, when it goes up because of inflation, in this case, their profit margin shrinks,” says Reiniger.

While inflation impacts everyone, Reiniger shares some advice on how small businesses can handle the inflation.

“You can buy things in different types or different stocks or different amounts to get the price down. See if there’s ways that you can from buying clubs actually with other small businesses,” says Reiniger.

Small business expert Carissa Reiniger recommends small business consumers to show small businesses support and shop locally.