Well I woke up this morning to Good Morning America’s “Christmas in July” re-run and faced a cold hearted when I turned to CBS and caught the live Coronavirus update, or COVID19 rhetoric shall I say? So, discouraging for all of us small business owners that have been ram sacked and disrupted by the national state pf Emergency that we have been all been placed on. A CLOSED FOR BUSINESS executive order; that makes entrepreneurialism, ownership, giving back to society and setting new trends all terms and clichés of the past. In this extremely difficult time, it’s so nice to have some words of encouragement amidst the elected state governed re-opening or permanent closure plan that congress and the senate obviously stand behind. So, recently it has all been about information, technology and opportunity. With over 75% of the population opting into the new “wear a mask” concept that helps prevent the spread of COVID19 I did some research on my own and learned from BBC news online that, “ The WHO says countries must weigh the risks and benefits when it comes to advising the whole populations about wearing face coverings.” (WHO being the world health organization). What exactly those are I have yet to understand and will commit to completing more detailed statistics for my readers in the coming weeks. I personally am in the 30% of SBA informed small business owners that are wondering what in the “blank dot, dot” (please excuse my French, but I'm sure many of you will thank me for saying what you're thinking).; Is supposed to happen to our operations in between. As a business logistics specialist with a contract closure rate over 88% I have a few tips on maintaining while the rest of the world figures out a long-term plan of precisely what to do. We keep it simple for those of us that really don’t even have the time to read articles because we’re trying to keep our heads above water. The focus point of the article are as follows: A. Your Business Finances B. The Hygiene of your Perspective industry and C. Solution that will work most for both. Let’s tackle the most unimpressive and the biggest headache of a topic first. Finance, Finance, Finance! My ears hurt at the sound of it. I feel like throwing a remote at the TV just for the sake of it.... How about you? We’ll the best approach for finances is a debt to assets module. If you currently have employees and are considered a non-essential business you might want to consider convert your perspective layoffs to part time or per diem employment for a season until you foresee business picking back up. Next think about have a portion of your current staff go to 1099 or contract employment to reduce your workers comp and liability in difficult times. Be sure to do your research about your industries standard and the trends of your demographic before choosing which positions this is best for. Then take a look at your States small business and Emergency funding available for your industry. This should be your go-to option as the federal government has an expectation that states government will receive and appropriate funds according to the fiscal year budget(s) that were submitted for approval federally with the previous year's tax reporting documents. Get a clear understanding of what your state sees as essential and non-essential by definition. I have found that this definition varies by great estimation from state to state. As, most states are expecting local government to dictate and recite those definitions to the citizens for continuity and clarity. Most federal funding is pretty cut and dry; the guidelines are pretty standard and consistent with the usually SBA funding requirements. In addition, most of the federal opportunities are easily accessible and can be apply for follow up with online. Finally, for a shameless plug on my own professional background seeking a strategic planner (not failure analyst) about potential based and stabilizing income you can contact a local business consultant about outlet such as UberEATS, Door Dash, Angie’s List, etc. These avenues can be very resourceful in these transitional time for you small business pioneer and entrepreneurial gurus of today’s time. All of which will support the topic of implementing a Hygiene plan for your business. The topic of hygiene seems to be over exaggerated
for the masses in today's time. Some are supportive of the extreme information line and others are tired of the entire topic as a whole. I would consider myself I between because it gives me another topic to blog about for my most attentive readers. The main thing for you to consider as entrepreneurs and small business owners is weather or you need to follow the Home office your brick mortar concept for solutions. Primarily, home office users can utilize their local news channel for resources on keeping your office clean and usable during these COVID19 precaution times. The standard, use a mask concept and staying a respectful six feet away from your employees or clients is a great rule of thumb to follow at this juncture. The basic washing your hands for 20 seconds is flexible for your personal preference.
For all of those brick and mortar rentals, rent to owns and standard lease you need to decide if your business is operable within the near future. Definitely seek the information waves of your state government for clarity. The few that come to hand (and I specialize in federal) for non-operable are mom and pops, non-franchised food and convenience locations. Most fitness facilities and a large number of private practices for most industries. If you find your company or organization in any of the above listed genres then you need to find a trusted employee or viable surgical cleaning corporation or company and schedule a thorough cleaning of your space and/ or facility. Testing is nowhere in the near future for small or large business so you can certainly put that on the back burner for now (what a relief). Then, at your leisure find the current safety guidelines for spacing and notifications. If you are an early starter then you can absolutely go into to your facility and start applying those techniques and measure so when the doors do open you are more than ready to serve your clients and consumers. Better start is the true art right! Finally, working with a local consultant on doing research on your area and the immediate of the virus on your industry and prospective and/or current clientele is necessary because the future of your business and/or life could possibly depend on it. You would want to know as soon as possible option on diversifying your resources and in the event the closure takes longer than expected. Feel free to contact me if you have further question about that topic specifically (shameless plug). The few business that the federal government considers to be essentials that come to mind are specialty medical practices, virtually run and operated business (eBay, amazon, gig sites etc.) and public speaker and writers. Most of you can follow the standard safety measures list above and look into safer communication devices and accessories to complete your work and you can consider changing or add more safety measure to your packing and handling guidelines.
For all the above listed home and small business scenarios you can still be positive in a said to be hopeless time for us entrepreneurs and stay at home workers. Because staying six 6 feet away at the local department store might be something that most states have to learn to deal with. Washing our hand before we connect and share with our friends and loved ones might be a trend of the future. However, providing for consumers that are in need of our perspective product/service should not be a task that cannot be completed for those of us who actually choose to do as such. So, stay encouraged and click the links below for more resources and information.
References: By Michelle RobertsHealth editor, BBC News online; 30 April 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52015486 Small Business Statistics: Published Mon, Mar 23 202011:20 AM EDT Updated Mon, Mar 23 202011:57 AM EDT Tom Huddleston Jr. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-small-businesses-across-us-are-coping-with-covid-19-pandemic.html
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