Time is running out for TikTok users in the U.S.
Amidst the uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future in the U.S., a large number of users, including small business owners, are facing a dilemma.
Brandon Hurst is one such individual who credits TikTok for transforming his plant delivery business.
"It allows me to go live, share who I am, but it also makes it easy for people to buy," Hurst explained.
Since venturing into plant sales on TikTok last year, Hurst, also known as "Brandon the Plant Guy," has seen his business expand significantly.
"In the last year we've been able to sell 57,000 plants," he disclosed.
Hurst's company is just one of the seven million small businesses operating on TikTok, according to the platform. TikTok asserts that it also sustains over 224,000 American jobs.
"I have friends and family members that work for me and help package plants and orders," Hurst emphasized. "So this goes beyond just me now. This is a team of eight other people that would lose their jobs."
The TikTok ban was signed into law Wednesday by President Biden as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package. Under the new law, ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese-based owner, has nine to 12 months to sell the platform to an American owner, or TikTok faces being banned in the U.S.
A ban would force scores of entrepreneurs to look for a new home. Meanwhile, TikTok plans to file a lawsuit over the ban in federal court.
"One of the reasons that TikTok has become so popular among small businesses is because it has an ability, unlike any other platform, to send products flying off the physical and virtual shelves," Jasmine Enberg, an analyst for the data firm eMarketer, told CBS News.
Enberg believes Meta would be "one of the biggest beneficiaries" of a TikTok ban.
"Instagram Reels is the most natural fit," to replace TikTok, Enberg said. "It isn't exactly the same. You can replicate the technology, but you can't replicate the culture."
So where would Hurst pivot his social media business in the event of a TikTok ban.
"I'm on Instagram, I've been doing business on other platforms," Hurst said. "…There's just not that many places you can live sell. So I haven't thought about it yet, to be honest. I'm not sure...what we would do."
