Small Business Thread - Advice for Navigating Covid-19

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by dallasdawg, Mar 18, 2020.

  1. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    let’s use this as a resource for tips, tricks, ideas, successes and failures, advice, news, and anecdotes as we navigate the pandemic

    seems like there are quite a few on here that own and/or operate a small (or medium-sized) business. we need to come together and be a resource to get through this

    what are you doing about payroll?
    what problems are you facing?
    are you closed or closing soon?
    how are you going about loans?
     
  2. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    i don’t think that would be inappropriate. people will be getting funds because of the assumption that their every day working lives have been impacted. if you’re able to keep people employed and paid, i think it’s reasonable to adjust payment

    you’re already sticking your neck out with the loan. it seems like your normal employee would understand that you’re just trying to keep the proverbial doors open
     
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  3. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    will post a little later, but one thing I realized pretty early is to think of money as hand sanitizer. People will be hoarding it once they finally realize the seriousness of the situation. If you have access to loans, tap them out before you need to, because it may be too late if you wait. Speak with your bankers (if you have them) and show them you are being proactive and thinking about how this effects your business and find out what is available to you if you need it. Make it a two way conversation. Ask them how they are doing. Ask them what actions they are taking. Personalize it to show that you care. You want them on your side going to bat for you when you need it. let them know you appreciate the relationship and that they are vital to your business.

    The reality is that credit worthiness is the last thing you should worry about coming out of this. Everyone will be in the same boat and once the economy stabilizes banks need to make money so they will understand that what took place during this time period was a one off.
     
  4. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This is my initial thought. I ran it by a few people so far to get perspectives and most seem to think it would be appropriate.
     
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  5. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    yeah i’m going to call my bank and just have an open conversation about lines of credit, potential interest rates, etc. good call

    may go ahead and secure a loan for the next 3-4 payroll cycles because i certainly don’t have the cash on hand to do that without loaning it myself
     
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  6. CUAngler

    CUAngler Royale with Cheese
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    Here for the party. Have 20ish employees, had to basically shut down 5. I have stuff for the rest to do but only at a week before everything is done.

    Currently I have shortened their schedules to cut hours. I only have enough cash on hand to fund 4 weeks off. Trying to figure out if we should go with some sort of short term unemployment or lay everyone off and try for unemployment.

    Tough spot. Had a lady panic last night and withdraw her entire 401k. Called her this morning and told her not to touch it no matter what she does. She has 90 days without a penalty.
     
  7. CUAngler

    CUAngler Royale with Cheese
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    My bank pushed my loans back 60 days and offered me a line of credit. Y'all should all talk to yours. I think I'm fine with the line of credit as my expenses are pretty much fixed to payroll and commercial loans. Water/power are negligibe and supplies don't add up when we are closed, may have to cut down on advertising but it's not much and I get a high roi from it.
     
  8. Tiger Tiger Woods Y'all

    Tiger Tiger Woods Y'all Putting big balls in little holes, circa 1995
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    I am the COO for a Outpatient Diagnostic Imaging Facility company (multiple centers) that do about $20mm in revenue, with a biweekly payroll of ~250k. We have cash on hand for two payrolls (and if we close the owner will hold on to funds). We get paid by ins 30-90 days after DOS. So we have some consistent lag in revenue.

    1. Payroll isn't a major concern at this second. But will be an immediate concern if we close, and will be one either way here eventually.. We employ from doctors at $300k plus to schedulers and billing staff as low as $14/hour.
    2. We are open now. We are low on PPE and will be out of it by the end of the week. None of our vendors have supplies. Patient cancellations are <. 30% (typically 5-10%) and rising. We have employees not willing to work and those unable due to childcare needs.
    3. We wont close until mandated.
    4. SBA not open in our state yet. Have applied for state funding and discussed with all of our current major debt holders. Nobody really knows what will happen in case of nonpayment at this time.
     
  9. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Not sure what business you are in, but cutting ROI and Marketing during a downturn are not a great long term idea. If you don't think you can get business from it than I guess I can understand, but the idea is get the exposure during a downturn. Look for earned media. try to give somethings away with the available resources you have. people remember the good deeds and will pay you back 10 fold when they can.
     
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  10. Hatfield

    Hatfield Charlie don’t surf
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    Wish we had started this thread on better terms gents...

    We're a family business, my Dad started the company a little over 26 years ago. Pretty small (10 employees), and we're in the hospitality/conference/events industry so we are essentially fucked for the foreseeable future. Luckily we have clients that we do work for and are paid monthly, but the bulk of our business is consulting and we typically get a commission from event revenue, percentage of hotel rooms booked, etc. Obviously all of those events/conferences have been cancelled and/or postponed, so we're going to be cash strapped in probably two months at the current rate. I can hardly bring myself to think about it, but if cancellations/public gathering bans continue into the fall and we don't pick up revenue elsewhere, we're likely toast. We lost about $150K in projected revenue last Wednesday alone.

    Spent the end of last week/weekend feeling sorry for myself, but have been having meetings w/ my Dad and the #2 in the company about our game plan the last three days. All but one of our employees are salaried, but we're going to have to furlough and/or cut hours/pay since grinding to a halt has really limited the workload for majority of the staff. Still trying to identify best way to do this.

    I'm hopeful we'll get through it, but just can't believe the timing on all of this shit. We had out best year ever (revenue and volume wise) in 2019, and were looking to hire for two new positions as recent as the end of February. Complete 180 now and we're fighting for survival. Crazy time boys, but I look forward to following the thread and figuring this shit out together.
     
  11. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Verne Harnisch, who is a business speaker and founder of Gazelle's, emailed me earlier today to ask what steps we are taking, because he is going to be on CNBC discussing strategies, and I sent him the following. Not 100% relevant, but some ideas that may help.

    Here are a few of the things that we have done or are starting to implement.

    We are the leading provider of diagnostic reporting software for Pathology Labs. We have 60 employees. Our clients diagnose diseases like cancer and communicate the results to treating physicians. We consider ourselves a social capitalist organization and we take all of our many stakeholders needs to heart, including employees, clients, partners, community, etc. Our core purpose is to help patients get results, and this situation has obviously hurt our clients ability to achieve that. This has impacted our business greatly as hospitals where they practice are basically shutdown to anything not having to do with the virus. Projects have been delayed and new orders have as well.

    Our staff was mostly remote to begin with, but we have beefed up our remote support and implementation capabilities for our clients.

    We will be reaching out to clients and prospects and will offer free software and services that can assist them while their resources are taxed or unavailable.

    We spoke with the bank and accessed as much loan funding as we could assume in order to build up cash reserves and prevent us from having to lay off people as we navigate a clear downturn in business. Ou goal is to support our employees through this for the good of their families and our clients so that when this ends we can be in a position to significantly help our clients in a much bigger way.

    We implemented additional remote communication best practices to go along with what we already had been practicing. New initiatives include a friday remote zoom happy hour called "social distancing happy hour." For the most part it is an all hands invite to grab a drink or a snack and just chat about whatever you want to talk about.We want to keep our employees connected and give them an avenue to have fun.

    We also encouraged work groups to turn their cameras on with a group of people and work as if they were working together in an office. Allow them to talk and collaborate while they work to make things more normal and to keep people connected.

    We will be instituting daily huddles to keep everyone up to date on the many changes and new directives that we are making. The purpose again is to keep everyone connected, informed and give them an avenue to share concerns.
     
  12. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Here is a great email i received from my accountant...

    To some of us that owned our own business in 2001 (9/11), 2008 (Financial Crisis) and 2012 (Hurricane Sandy), the current economic situation looks and feels familiar, not good, but familiar. Maybe there is more uncertainty now? I don’t know. I do know that just like those periods of uncertainty and darkness, we will recover. Whether the recovery is slow or fast, now is not the time to panic, but rather a time to plan and execute. For many of us, 2020 went from a time to thrive to a time to survive over a matter of days. For those in that situation, we need to put a plan in place to get us through this period of uncertainty until we are in a place where we can, once again, thrive.


    There is no one-size fits all answer to the issues that we face, however, there are some things that we all must do to keep moving forward. Below are some key points that everyone should address as they apply in no particular order. Please note that the foundation to all of the factors below is communication. Communication with clients, vendors, staff/team, finance, legal, … Communication should come from one source and be consistent and honest.


    Customers: What are they going through and how will the current events affect them? Are you in a position where you can help them through their issues? Now is the time to get closer and not more distant.


    Vendors and Supply Chain: Continue to monitor the supply chain and be realistic with your expectations of your own output. Do you have commitments? What are they? What needs to be done about them? If your cash flow budget says that you will need to adjust payment terms, have you discussed this with them?


    Cash and finance: What does your projected profit and loss statement look like? What are your fixed expenses? How can they be reduced or utilized in another fashion? What is your current cash position? What does your cash flow budget look like – short and long term? What access do you have to credit facilities? Once you have these answers, have you spoken with your bank? Are there any programs that can help you get through this challenge?


    Team/Staff: Your team is what will get you through this challenge. You need to be consistent and honest with them. There will be some tough decisions to be made in the coming days/weeks. Our experience is that if there needs to be a lay-off or an hours cut, to do it swift, to do it at one time and then once it is done, call everyone together and let them know that it is over and we are prepared to move forward.


    IT Management/Security: As many of us move to some or all of our team/staff working remotely, security risks increase. What can be done to minimize the risk? Two-factor authorization? Are your IT advisors giving input to minimize security risks? Understand the risks and act accordingly.


    We continue to prepare to work remotely, but the majority of us continue to work out of our main office. This may change as more information becomes available.


    We also continue to monitor government updates and programs:

    • Attached is a summary of some of the provisions that may affect you from the Bill that passed the House of Representatives this weekend: H.R. 6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The Senate is expected to vote on this shortly and is currently discussing additional aid to be offered. This Bill will most likely change before it becomes law.
    • Earlier today, Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin extended the tax filing and payment deadline by 90 days from April 15th to mid-July for individual taxpayers who owe less than $1 million and corporations that owe less than $10 million. We are hopeful to hear that the states will follow suit and this extension will apply to trusts as well.
     
  13. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This may be helpful for some of you...

    We’re staying focused on cash this week (process improvement/clean up next week). Alan Miltz, creator of the SaaS tool “Cash Flow Story” is going to give a free license for 3 months – and is preparing a video on how to easily use it by inputting just 6 numbers to do what/if scenario planning with our Power of One tool in my book Scaling Up (please read the Cash Section again). Stay tuned.

    Ami Kassar of MultiFunding will be hosting daily Noon ET (yes, US centric) webinars this week to help business owners navigate through the SBA options that are available to help. Register here https://9buq9bpp.pages.infusionsoft.net/

    Multifunding has also put together a community site to help business owners navigate through the SBA loan process during these confusing times https://multifunding.tribe.so/

    Keep Scaling,

    Verne Harnish, CEO

    Scaling Up
     
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  14. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This also may be helpful, but I am trying to see how this actually helps us without some way to fund this. Tax rebates on money lost is not exactly positive on cash flow.

    HOUSE PASSES FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT

    In an effort to assist the American people dealing with the effects of the coronavirus the House has passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. While this is not yet law, President Trump has indicated his support of the bill and the Senate is expected to act on the bill this week. The bill provides increased funding for: food assistance, Medicaid, unemployment assistance, and to cover testing for the coronavirus.

    The bill also contains the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act which will require certain employers to provide sick benefits and leave to its employees affected by the coronavirus. Details are as follows:

    Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

    The Act would require companies with less than 500 employees to provide up to 12 weeks of leave for those employees that have been employed for 30 days and are:
    1. Complying with a requirement to quarantine due to exposure or showing symptoms of the coronavirus
    2. Caring for a family member who is complying with a requirement or recommendation to quarantine due to exposure or showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
    3. Caring for a child under the age of 18 years old, if the school or place of care has been closed due to the coronavirus
    The first 14 days may consist of unpaid leave. However, the employee may elect to use any accrued vacation, personal, medical or sick leave in lieu of unpaid leave. The employer is required to pay the employee at a rate of 2/3 of the employee's regular rate after the first 14 days.

    The Act authorizes the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations to exempt small businesses with less than 50 employees from the above requirements if they would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern. In addition, the Secretary can exclude certain health care providers and emergency responders from the above requirements.

    Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

    The Act would require companies with less than 500 employees to provide paid sick time for all employees that are:
    1. Diagnosed with the coronavirus and quarantined
    2. Obtaining medical diagnosis or care for experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus
    3. Complying with a requirement to quarantine due to exposure or showing symptoms of the coronavirus
    4. Caring for a family member who is complying with a requirement or recommendation to quarantine due to exposure or showing symptoms of the coronavirus.
    5. Caring for a child under the age of 18 years old, if the school or place of care has been closed due to the coronavirus
    For full time employees, the amount of required paid sick time will be 80 hours at their regular rate of pay or 2/3 of their regular rate of pay to care for a family member or child as required under 4 and 5 (referenced above). For part time employees, the amount of required paid sick time will be the number of hours the employee works over a 2-week period. The amount of paid sick time is in addition

    to any other paid sick time that the employee would be entitled to under the company's existing policies.

    Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid Family Medical Leave


    The bill provides a payroll tax credit to help employers cover the cost of the wages required to be paid as outlined above. For wages paid under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, the credit cannot exceed $511 per day for employees taking time off under situations 1, 2, or 3 (referenced above). For employees taking time off under situations 4 and 5 (referenced above) the credit cannot exceed $200 per day. The maximum number of days for the credit calculation is 10 days. For wages paid under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act the amount of credit is $200 per day, limited to an aggregate of $10,000 per employee. Under both situations, the amount is refundable should the credit exceed the amount of payroll taxes for the quarter.

    For self-employed individuals, there would be a similar credit allowed against their income tax for their average daily self-employment income. The same dollar limitations ($511 or $200) apply as outlined in the previous paragraph, except the amount of self-employment income to be used for purposes of calculating the credit equivalent for the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, would be 67% of the individuals average self-employment income.

    The aforementioned provisions are effective through December 31, 2020.

    There are other items Congress, Treasury and the White House have been discussing, some of which you may have seen in the press. We will continue to monitor these items and provide updates when necessary.
     
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  15. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    More resources...

    sba - 1.jpg

    sba - 2.jpg
     
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  16. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Last one for now...


    NEWS RELEASE

    Release Date: March 12, 2020 Contact: [email protected] (202)205-7036

    Release Number: 20-24 Follow us on: Twitter, Facebook, Blogs & Instagram


    SBA To Provide Small Businesses Impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) Up to $2 Million in Disaster Assistance Loans

    WASHINGTON – SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza issued the following statement today in

    response to the President’s address to the nation:

    “The President took bold, decisive action to make our 30 million small businesses more resilient to Coronavirus-related economic disruptions. Small businesses are vital economic engines in every community and state, and they have helped make our economy the strongest in the world. Our Agency will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest disaster recovery loans to small businesses that have been severely impacted by the situation. Additionally, the SBA continues to assist small businesses with counseling and navigating their own preparedness plans through our network of 68 District Offices and numerous Resource Partners located around the country. The SBA will continue to provide every small business with the most effective and customer-focused response possible during these times of uncertainty.”

    Process for Accessing SBA’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disaster Relief Lending

    · The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low- interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Upon a request received from a state’s or territory’s Governor, SBA will issue under its own authority, as provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was recently signed by the President, an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration.

    · Any such Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance declaration issued by the SBA makes loans available to small businesses and private, non-profit organizations in designated areas of a state or territory to help alleviate economic injury caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

    · SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance will coordinate with the state’s or territory’s Governor

    to submit the request for Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance.

    · Once a declaration is made for designated areas within a state, the information on the application process for Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance will be made available to all affected communities.

    · SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance and can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

    · These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75% for small businesses without credit available elsewhere; businesses with credit available elsewhere are not eligible. The interest rate for non-profits is 2.75%.

    · SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years. Terms are determined on a case-by-case basis, based upon each borrower’s ability to repay.

    · SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans are just one piece of the expanded focus of the federal government’s coordinated response, and the SBA is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible.

    For additional information, please contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center. Call 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 1-800-877-8339) or e-mail [email protected].
     
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  17. Mix

    Mix I own a Fuddruckers with Scottie Pippen
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    In the hospitality world so this is going to crush us. Its definitely a little depressing. This month we're going to be down $30k or so plus a bunch of future bookings are gone. We're not paying rent to any of our landlords for the foreseeable future and we've cut our staff to 0 and just running it ourselves (fam bus with my brother and mom).
    We are building an in-house delivery system now that we can use to give our staff some hours doing deliveries. We can probably deliver beer and wine as well so once we get the go-ahead on that we'll add that to our options. Probably roll that out next week.
    Its gonna suck for everyone so I guess that is something but its bad timing. We have location coming online in Dallas this summer but thats being pushed back and a new restaurant planned to open in Aug/Sept so that will be pushed as well.
     
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  18. scarlet_tacos

    scarlet_tacos Well-Known Member
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    Danny Meyer just laid off 80% of his workforce. 2000 people. I’m in the country club side of hospitality and we are starting to look at layoffs now also. The uncertainty of how long this could really last is awful.
     
  19. Drew63

    Drew63 Well-Known Member

    I work for an almost identical company to yours in the health IT space, but we are helping to solve patient scheduling rather than diagnostics but our current challenges sound similar to yours. Really interesting to hear your thoughts. I work on implementations and are progress with clients is starting to stall.
     
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  20. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    If you are in the hospital space, then you can expect it to come to a complete standstill. Everyone started off as if things would move ahead normally, but that never made sense to me. The issue is capacity. They are so focused on patient issues with coronavirus that all non-essential resources are being asked to leave the hospital, so they aren't taking client meetings and especially for implementations onsite. They don't even have the bandwidth to do anything unless it is absolutely critical and it will get worse as the hospitals reach capacity and they start losing staff to the virus.

    We have the capability to implement remotely, and that is even an issue for us right now. Again, they have nobody to pay attention to it.
     
  21. Drew63

    Drew63 Well-Known Member

    Thankfully we are in the privately owned physician practice space, mostly orthopedics so we are not completely to a halt just yet. I'm sure that will come soon.
     
  22. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    yes, you should be in a better place than us, but with social distancing i can see that slowing down as well.
     
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  23. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Thoughts for those of you that are more directly in the line of fire than we are. Agree with the sentiment that having no real idea of how long the virus or subsequent recession will go on greatly complicates any planning. I'm thinking that construction in our market will be business more or less as usual until discretionary spending slows. I have 3 projects to bid (18+ months worth of work) on my desk. Went from hoping we didn't get all of them to praying we get any of them. Big picture we need to be health minded for both ourselves and our clients right now. The financial chips will fall where they fall. Already spoke to employees about decreased hours and possible work shortages on the horizon. My least favorite part of owning a business is the chance of negatively impacting an employees life. Even if it isn't my fault, the bad news comes out of my mouth.
     
  24. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    That part of it kills me. I feel such responsibility for my employees and sometimes too much, especially when they suck at their job.
     
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  25. Rusty Shackleford

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    We are about 10 months in to opening my practice. Things were going really well. We are now not seeing anyone except for emergencies and urgent care until April 6th. We are good from a personal and professional cash flow stand point. Here is where I am struggling. I feel a personal responsibility to take care of my employees. All of them live pretty much from paycheck to paycheck. I have already told them that the next two weeks are covered at full time regardless of how many hours they work. I’m not really sure what direction to go next. I could potentially be closed for the next couple of months. I’m really curious what the requirements are for the the bill that just passed the senate. That will likely be the direction I go. Other option will be to just have everyone file for unemployment. I feel selfish but I am being a little protective of my liquidity. The only reason it is there is because I took only about 20% of profits out of the business. I feel like draining the checking account is coming out of my pocket directly.
     
  26. Room 15

    Room 15 Mi equipo esta Los Tigres
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    Restaurants will be out a while so probably better to let them start collecting now.
     
  27. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Honestly, it's all fair an understandable today unless you are sitting on millions in which case I would say pay them. I take very little profits out of my business. I am completely bootstrapped and I started this business almost 20 years ago, but I have worked with many of my employees for many years and they are like family.

    Maybe you have them file for unemployment assuming that the % reimbursement is legit and find some other way to pay them off the books the difference or close to it to keep them whole. I am just spit-balling as it is tough to really make these decisions. If you think they are good it may be worth it as it's hard to get good employees and the cost to retrain and start from scratch well may exceed that.
     
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  28. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This is an email from my CEO Mentor. I belong to a CEO group in NY and we share info and meet monthly.

    I promised not to inundate you so I'm going to only be sending out one of these emails a day unless it's critically urgent or important. I would encourage you to look on the COMPEL CEOs website for postings of news articles such as the one from yesterday's New York encouraging the government to Bridge loans at 0% interest on a five-year pay back to every business owner.

    For today my messages regarding your cash flows and the importance of protecting them. I am strongly encouraging you to draw down all available credit lines at your disposal as I am convinced that the banks may be doing something drastic in the near future if they're forced to I know they're already looking at what obligations they have to adhere to and which ones they have some flexibility to adjust. So please if you have credit lines available considered drawing them down fully.

    I also recommend that you take a close look at your clients especially those that owe you significant sums of money and staying contact with them on a very regular basis to see how you will be paid if you will be paid at all. I am hearing of, and expect to hear more of, a slowdown in payments.

    I would also encourage that you asked all of your customers and clients to provide you with either a business debit or credit card as backup for your invoices being paid. I understand that this may not be available to many of you but those that it is available to you need to Avail yourselves of it as much and as soon as possible.
     
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  29. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    NYGator you are killing it in this thread. it’s much appreciated
     
  30. Hatfield

    Hatfield Charlie don’t surf
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    Another potential resource to look at are locality/state small business associations. The county we are in is having a conference call this afternoon to review resources, go over state/federal programs, answer questions about the relief bills, etc.
     
    #30 Hatfield, Mar 19, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2020
  31. bakonole

    bakonole Well-Known Member

    Second this. Appreciate the information and feedback
     
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  32. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    I haven’t done this and it sounds like it’s ultimately a paid service, but may be interesting to some on here.

    Alan Miltz is the “king of cash”; co-authored the Cash section in Scaling Up; and created the SaaS tool and Power of One process for doing quick what/if scenarios to dramatically improve cash.

    He and his team have rushed out a Cash Stress Test this week – go to this link www.cashflowstory.com/stresstest and enter 6 numbers from your financials. You also get 3 months of full access to the software at no charge. It’s software we highly recommend all our clients CFO’s use; here’s a chance to test drive it. Login and click on the “Stress Test My Business” button and follow the instructions.
     
  33. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Here are the notes from the Multifunding webinar that My CFO and VP of Ops attended the other day.

    EIDL PROS –
    • Low rates
    • Long paydown term
    • Up to $2M
    EIDL CONS -

    Can be very slow, 5 months or longer

    Need to show substantial injury

    Show you are unable to get >$350k loans from others

    Place liens on owners homes

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    SBA PROS

    Up to $5M loans

    Non-government – multiple lenders

    Much faster

    Borrow < $350k = no liens

    Up to 30 year paydown


    SBA CONS –

    Higher Int. rates – 5.75%

    10 year paydown term
     
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  34. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    Consider adding an expense line item called COVID-19 and dump off all expenses in there including your staff and personal time spent dealing with a crisis – this 30 second video by Ron Lovett, author of Outrageous Empowerment, will explain why it will make it easier to apply for government assistance if and when it comes available. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ron-lovett_outrageousempowerment-activity-6646137020743761920-N9Uo

    Ami Kassar will continue with his noon ET SBA Loan webinars tomorrow and next week -- register here: https://9buq9bpp.pages.infusionsoft.net/ He has also put together a community site to help business owners navigate through the SBA loan process during these confusing times. https://multifunding.tribe.so/

    And I just sent info on getting Alan Miltz’ SaaS tool for managing cash – no charge for 3 months – stress test your cash with just 6 numbers from your financials. www.cashflowstory.com/stresstest
     
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  35. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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  36. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    5.75% from sba, yikes. i guess you pay for speed

    our revenue has dropped an average of 50% over the last 3 days compared to the previous 90 days. is this what they’re taking into consideration for “substantial injury”
     
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  37. Corky Bucek

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    Thanks dawg
     
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  38. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    If you plan on applying for any type of SBA loan in the near future it is critical that you start to get the following information together ASAP.

    1. Three years of personal and business tax returns. Personal tax returns are for any indiidual who owns 20% or more of the company.
    2. Try to get your 2019 tax returns done as soon as possible. But if they are not close the lender is going to need your 2019 year end financials
    3. A personal financial statement for any owner who owns more than 20% of the company. A link to download can be found here https://www.sba.gov/document/sba-form-413-personal-financial-statement-7a504-loans-surety-bonds
    4. A debt schedule for your business. A link can be found here https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/tools_sbf_sba202.pdf
    5. Go into your Quickbooks and figure out your monthly operating expenses from March through September of last year. If this is not clear ask your bookkeeper or accountant for help. This data will be an important part of your loan appication
     
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  39. Corky Bucek

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    I'm in SoCal and with the recent announcement we are looking to see how we can keep business operating during the shelter in place. The guidelines are unclear on what exactly is an essential business, so let's hope we can make a case that we are. Overall who knows wtf is going to happen in the next 30 days here in CA and the rest of the country.

    Not sure what everybody else does here, but we import product from Asia and distribute around the country. Main warehouse in CA right now is not ideal.
     
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  40. Boo MFer!

    Boo MFer! No longer a cog in some powerhouse machine
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    Shit. Prayers.
     
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  41. Goose

    Goose Hi
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    Do you have automation? (Conveyor, palletizer, etc?)
     
  42. Wendel Clark

    Wendel Clark Gambling God
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    Yeah. I’ve been trying to get circuit boards for one company from China for the last 2 months basically.

    I can tell you, the Japanese government is one of my biggest customers and I didn’t think we were going to get much sales from that. Anytime Japan opens a new building or adds a piece of furniture, they have to use my product. Well they placed an order yesterday so that’s good news for the Asian market. Also my South Korean distributor emailed me they are getting back in the swing of things right now. So there’s some good news going around
     
  43. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This is great news, because it can be a leading indicator for what happens here if our government gets it's shit together.
     
  44. Wendel Clark

    Wendel Clark Gambling God
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    Would also recommend, try to collect as much A/R as you can right now. Try to collect as much as possible.
     
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  45. Wendel Clark

    Wendel Clark Gambling God
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    Getting to 75% of the daily sales goal in back to back days feels like a win to me right now. Going to take and it breathe a little easier
     
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  46. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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  47. Rusty Shackleford

    Rusty Shackleford Dale 1 - Rats 0
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    The FMLA expansion is a real kick in the nuts for me. I don’t even care about having to front the costs. 6 of my 7 employees have school aged kids. If they all wanted to claim it then I can’t open up when the time comes.
     
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  48. dallasdawg

    dallasdawg does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
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    today has been better than the last 3 which is nice
     
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  49. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
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    This is my day...Our virtual hangout happy hour. Had 45 employees on at one point.

    zoom fuck.jpg
     
  50. Hatfield

    Hatfield Charlie don’t surf
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    I think we need to do something similar. Understandably so, but morale is at an all time low rn.