Category: Business Management

Calculating Your SBA Industry Size Standard for Small Business Loans

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Calculating Your SBA Industry Size Standard for Small Business Loans

There are over thirty million small businesses in the United States, and they play a massive role in the economy; therefore, it’s imperative that they have support as they navigate through the pandemic. The Small Business Administration (SBA) played a huge role in the survival of small businesses in 2020, and they continue to do so in 2021. The SBA provides support for small businesses and entrepreneurs all over the nation with free business counseling, business loans, disaster loans, and more. Small businesses must get these kinds of tools so that they can compete against larger corporations and continue to contribute. In order to obtain this relief, however, businesses must actually count as small businesses, or meet the “small business size standard”. If you have too many or too few employees, you may not qualify for SBA relief and must find help elsewhere.

Need to get a loan from the SBA? Let’s see how if you qualify as a small business!

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The Second Draw of PPP Loans is Here: Everything You Need to Know

Conceptual photo about PPP Loan with written text.

The Second Draw of PPP Loans is Here: Everything You Need to Know

Published by Lindsay Sommers

The U.S. Treasury Department has reopened Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to eligible employers. The PPP loan forgiveness program, enacted by the Small Business Administration (SBA), provided economic relief to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Eligible businesses were able to use their PPP loans to pay for mortgages, payroll, utilities, and more. Despite this relief, many small businesses continued to struggle during these trying times. At the end of 2020, in an effort to assist these businesses further, congress passed another COVID-19 relief bill. That bill allotted $284 billion to go towards the PPP. This allowed the SBA to give businesses another chance to apply for PPP loans or obtain a second PPP loan, which is called the Second Draw PPP loan.

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6 Ways Your Business Can Stop Wasting Money in 2021

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6 Ways Your Business Can Stop Wasting Money in 2021

Published by Lindsay Sommers

Owning and running a business is costly. In fact, most business owners are shocked when they see how much they’re spending in the office. Small costs here and there really add up causing business owners to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars extra every year. To save your business money and keep revenue on the rise, you must cut unnecessary costs. Luckily, there are ways that you can save money by planning ahead and taking the right steps.

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How to Handle Unhappy Customers: Turning That Frown Upside Down

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How to Handle Unhappy Customers: Turning That Frown Upside Down

Published by Lindsay Sommers

Whether you’re working from home or in the office, you’ll cross paths with both pleasant and more complicated customers. As someone who used to manage a sandwich shop, I’ve had my run-ins with distressed and angry customers. Although they’re sometimes tricky to handle, there’s always a path to ensuring their satisfaction. It’s important to handle unhappy customers with care and respect. If handled indelicately, you may make the situation worse and end up losing the customer. Addressing dissatisfied customers’ problems is necessary for maintaining a good reputation, so you’ll want to do it right.

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I’m a CEO. Here’s How I Run My Paperless, Work-From-Home Company From My iPhone

I’m a CEO. Here’s How I Run My Paperless, Work-From-Home Company From My iPhone

Published by Joel Slatis

In the last 15 years, I’ve generated less than one file cabinet drawer’s worth of paper. Most of that paper can be thrown out now, as everything is available online. None of us are strangers to the wonders of the internet at this point in our evolution, but it’s still no less remarkable. For many of us, the internet just kind of snuck up on us, but for others, the internet was attacked aggressively to achieve new possibilities. The latter applies to my business, Timesheets.com, and how I’m able to manage my 20 office-less workers and several thousand customers from my phone.

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How to Protect and Prepare Your Business From the Coronavirus

How to Protect and Prepare Your Business From the Coronavirus

Published by Lindsay Sommers

Now spread outside of China, the coronavirus takes its toll worldwide. Along with South Korea, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, France, and Germany, the United States has now confirmed signs of this deadly disease in its own home. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Coronavirus). As of March 2nd, there are 6 confirmed deaths in the US; however, in its current state, experts say that there will be a huge outbreak soon. This relentless virus brings a lot of chaos and bewilderment to many US citizens and leaves many wondering what they can do to protect themselves. Citizens everywhere are stocking up on bleach, face masks, gloves, and disinfectant products. People worldwide are doing what they can to prevent the virus from entering their own homes and businesses.

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Improving Your Company Culture- One Step at a Time

Published by Lindsay Sommers

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Your company’s culture can say a lot about your business. Company culture is the environmental personality that your employees work in. This includes the company mission, values, ethics, relationships, organization, and goals. This can be very important to your business’ success. In fact, Deloitte’s study found that 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success. When your employees understand your business structure, values, and strategy, they can work together towards company goals.

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When to Give Your Employees a Raise

Published by Lindsay Sommers

Your employees make your company successful, so why not show them that you value their work? Giving raises is one of the best ways to show your employees that you care about their dedication and hard work. Not only will raises motivate employees, raises can also help your business. Employers often use raises as a way to increase retention at the workplace. When you offer a competitive salary or hourly wage, employees will not look for work elsewhere, which prevents turnover. This will save you the trouble of having to find and hire new employees.

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7 Steps For Creating a Working Business Plan

Contributed by: Daniela McVicker

The difference between an entrepreneur who succeeds and one who doesn’t is often in the planning process. To get your startup off to a good start, you should create a step by step business plan. Think of a business plan as a road map. This road map will help you maintain your focus as you work as well as prove to investors that your business is a great idea.

There are plenty of templates which outline the most common business plan steps but, unfortunately, these don’t take your unique needs into consideration. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to preparing a great business plan. Use the following seven steps as the framework for your business plan.

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How to Handle Bad Reviews About Your Company

Published by Peggy Emch

Bad reviews are always pretty horrifying for a small business owner or head of marketing when one hits their inbox. There’s this heart stopping feeling like your reputation is ruined and the business will cease to grow.

While bad reviews can indeed make your product or service look bad, these days, negative reviews are just a part of doing business. It’s best to keep calm and deal with them methodically, rather than freak out and make a rash rebuttal.

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Why Women Entrepreneurs Are More Likely To Get Funding

Contributed by Dennis Hung

The landscape of the modern-day workplace has evolved over the years. There is less gender-bias now than in the past and so women have more opportunity in business. According to The 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report by American Express, 43 percent of all U.S. businesses with 50 to 99 employees are run by women. Like their male counterparts, these empowered female entrepreneurs must secure funding to get their business idea up and running. The good news, however, is that women entrepreneurs often have an easier time at raising capital than men for many reasons.

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5 Writing Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Master

Contributed by Julie Petersen

Entrepreneurs are well known as passionate and proactive professionals who are able to put business ideas into practice. This is a talent not everyone possesses, just like writing is a talent not all entrepreneurs possess. It is, however, a very important skill to master. Entrepreneurs can be so much more effective when they learn to express their ideas and passions in writing.

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