Category: Small Business
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Coronavirus Disaster Relief for Dummies
The title of this post might imply that I’m spoofing on the popular book series. That’s not my intent. The title of this post refers to the amount of deliberate or just unformed false information spewed out in social media about disaster relief right now. A lot of the misinformation appears to be coming from…
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Small business disaster relief: What’s my next step
Self employed business owners want to know – Should I apply for the SBA loan/grant program? Is it really free money? Will I be approved? What will it cost to get my application approved? What’s the maximum benefit I can receive? If I apply, does that disqualify me for other financial assistance? Could it be…
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59 Q&As on Families First Coronoavirus Response Act All Miss the Main Point!
The U. S. Department of Labor thoughtfully provides 59 Questions and Answers related to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act but omits the most common situation encountered in the small business market. So I will add Q and A #60 to the list: 60: What happens if my employer has lost 75% to 90% of…
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“I hope you weren’t looking to read good news this morning”
A few clients and other people have commented about my lack of response to recent government actions. Some, I notice, seem to be enjoying an emotional buzz about jockeying for their potential share of the $2 Trillion government aid package. In short, it’s just that there isn’t much worthwhile for me to say about any…
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How am I helping business owners survive the crisis
I might be known around here as the “crisis management guy”. In fact, most of my professional career was spent creating a path forward to help local small businesses climb from economic disaster. Until now, it was mostly a bad joke among peer CPAs. Now it is the most important professional focus that we need…
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Ten tips on how to manage the small business cash flow crisis
Day by day, the real financial impact of the shutdown is sinking in for more Americans. Hardest hit are those who operate a small business. I recognized the early signs of this dramatic impact coming 10 days ago and shifted my tax advisory practice to a small business crisis management practice, drawing on the lessons…
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Ten productive things I can do for my small business during this shutdown: (please share your list for inspiration)
Sharpen my skills on remote communication platforms – Zoom, Skype, Messenger, Face Time – especially for document, web page and screen sharing and group call features. Focus on the online transaction part of the business. Spend more time learning: reading, online courses, podcasts, certification Clean up and organize the supplies and inventory Schedule calls daily…
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First steps in crisis management for small business owners
For many business owners, dealing with a widespread community shutdown like this is brand and previously imagined new territory. I notice that many of the business challenges we face now are similar to what we faced after superstorm Sandy seven years ago. I dug into our past experience plus pulled from advice from our business…
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Small business crisis management starts with strategic communication
This time of crisis brings a need to spend extra time reevaluating our business strategies. This is a critical first step. The world’s major small business service providers like Intuit, Google and banks are already helping their networks of small business advisers offer practical help. I’ve already taken five additional training hours with past week…
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Crisis response message
This short message will go out to business clients ASAP: “Over the past four days I’ve switched my small business advisory practice from cautious planning to full-fledged crisis management. Obviously the intent of this work is to stay ahead of the impact but that is especially difficult with the situation changing by the hour. My…