Companies in a handful of states have begun taking tentative steps to reopen stores, offices and factories that were closed by the coronavirus. Yet as the first employees and customers return, interviews with roughly 30 major employers show that businesses are confronting deep uncertainty, and many say it is simply too soon to come back.

Across the country, businesses are confronting a patchwork set of regulations that vary from state to state, and industry to industry. Government officials are sending mixed messages about who should open. The thousands of companies that never shut down — like pharmacies, grocery stores and auto repair shops — are using different techniques to promote social distancing and ensure good hygiene. And some businesses that could be getting back to work are declining to do so, fearful that reopening too soon could fuel a new wave of infections and lead to another round of closings.

“Shutting down was hard, but opening up is going to be harder,” said Rich Lesser, chief executive of the Boston Consulting Group. “This is the multi-trillion dollar question.”

Governors in states like South Carolina and Georgia have encouraged businesses to reopen in recent days. Dick’s Sporting Goods, which had shut all its locations around the country, reopened its 12 stores in South Carolina last week.