Big brands could pivot easily if TikTok goes away. For many small businesses, it's another story

Mayer works on a livestream on TikTok on March 21, 2024, in Freehold, New Jersey. Mayer has sold new and pre-owned handbags and other designer goods out of her New Jersey home for 16 years. Early last year, TikTok recruited her business for the live component of TikTok Shop. — AP

NEW YORK: If content creators and corporate executives made TikTok videos about the platform’s possible US demise, disco diva Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive could supply the soundtrack.

Sure, businesses that built strategies around TikTok and promote products there would prefer not to seek eyeballs on another app. Smaller firms and solo entrepreneurs are bound to feel more pain in the event of a breakup. But if the popular video-sharing service remains under Chinese ownership and Congress bans it, many companies would learn to get along.