Small business owners on Long Island are doing what they can to stay afloat during the pandemic, but a recent survey shows more than 100 privately owned businesses have closed this year.

The groups Vision Long Island and Long Island Main Street Alliance surveyed dozens of downtown business districts on the Island to see how many businesses have had to close because of economic hardship in 2020.

The results showed 128 privately owned shops and restaurants on main streets have gone out of business since the start of the pandemic. And local stores that are located away from main streets are hurting even worse.

Business owners News 12 spoke with say they're adjusting their operations to keep their doors open.

"We took our whole concept and changed it from what it was to more a takeout and delivery. We developed our own app and anything we could just to adjust and change and give people food but also keep our employees," says Billy Miller, of Restoration Kitchen and Cocktails.

Eric Alexander with Vision Long Island and Long Island Main Street Alliance says small business owners have been working hard and are adapting to stay open - but the community has also been a big help spending money at local businesses.

Joseph Abruzzo with W A Meadworks in Lindenhurst says fewer people are visiting his winery's tasting room.

"We want everyone to be safe and healthy, but also businesses are starting to suffer right now. So another lockdown would be detrimental to a lot of us," says Abruzzo.

Clariona Griffith, who co-owns Safe Child Early Learning Center in Hempstead, says less money has been coming in during the pandemic -- but they still have the same bills to pay.

"It's a life-and-death situation. Death in terms of the business, death in terms of your health," says Griffith.

Griffith says she has less than half of the usual number of preschoolers in her day care this year, even though she insists every surface is clean, the kids wear masks and they're distanced from each other. She says with COVID-19 infection rates now rising, the future of her business and so many others remains unclear.