The Small Business Administration is releasing a new round of relief targeting restaurants, reports KOLD. 

A new round of relief is about to be served up to restaurant owners starting Monday, May 3. The Small Business Administration is offering up money through their Restaurant Revitalization Fund to help with employee payroll, rent, and other expenses.

Read the article on KOLD

According to the US Chamber, small businesses could be hit by the increase in corporate taxes. 

Congress is considering raising the corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent. Many assume that only big businesses will pay this higher rate.

Read the article on US Chamber

If your business has hit a plateau there are a few things you can do to take it to the next level, reports Small Business Trends. 

Many small businesses go through an early growth stage. But after that, you may need to change up your strategies to take the next step. 

Read the article on Small Business Trends

Small businesses often don’t take cyber security seriously, leaving them ripe for an attack, reports Forbes. 

May 7 is World Password Day, and it serves as a reminder for many entrepreneurs and small business owners to prioritize—or reprioritize—cybersecurity and other protections

Read the article on Forbes

It is now more than a year since the coronavirus pandemic brought the world's economy almost to a standstill, and we are witnessing changes in businesses that we have never seen before. As the Small Business Administration (SBA) rolled out a massive lending program ever seen in the United States history, fraudsters saw a potential area to exploit, which is the reason for the rising cases of COVID-19-related fraud. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has termed the high levels of fraud as “historic” and focuses on taking a high level of enforcement action to counter the threat. 

The DOJ has in within a year after Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, managed to criminally charge over 474 people for allegedly obtaining $569 million fraudulently through COVID-19-related schemes since banks started processing Paycheck Protection Program loans on behalf of the SBA. Among the problems that SBA cites are forged companies receiving thousands of dollars, businesses getting money even if their payrolls is more than the 500-employee caps, and others receiving money even when the law prohibits them due to existing government debts.   

Most cases are perpetrated by people who see the economic intervention by the government as a way of making quick money. While these individuals are now focused on the PPP loans, DOJ notes that the fraud will likely turn into something more complex and more significant in the coming months if not addressed now. Due to the sensitivity and possibility of the matter getting out of hand if left unchecked, sweeping investigations by the DOJ have commenced with the law enforcement now pursuing charges against large companies that received millions of dollars in PPP loans and individuals who are accused of fraudulently receiving PPP loans to finance their lavish personal lifestyles.

DOJ is responding to this in a variety of ways. Recently, it advertised a vacancy for a trial attorney whose work will be to prosecute cases under the CARES Act, including PPP fraud. This adds to the DOJ’s Market Integrity and Major Funds (MIMF) Unit that prosecutes cases involving government procured fraud and stopping fraud in the SBA COVID-19 disaster relief programs such as the PPP and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). 

Fraud liability comes in a variety of ways. The first one is from the certifications that companies need to have before participating in the CIVID-19 relief programs. For instance, to participate in the PPP, companies must have multiple certifications on their loans and forgiveness applications. This is where the fraud begins. Some companies obtain false certificates that show that they have no other government loans or are not involved in any bankruptcy proceedings when the facts are different. This increases the risk of companies falling victim to more sophisticated fraud. 

As the rate of fraud continues increasing during this season of COVD-19, several companies will soon find themselves subject to government investigation related to the PPP loans. This is shown by the number of whistleblower reports and lawsuits under the FCA (False Claims Act), that has been on the rise, the cooperation among several law enforcement agencies at local and federal levels and internationally, and the audits being conducted on all companies that borrowed more than $2 million under the PPP. Businesses with foreign affiliates or operations are equally at risk due to footprints and the cooperation between the US agencies and their international counterparts. 

While the companies that did not take advantage of COVID-19 relief have nothing to worry about, they sometimes get asked questions by the regulators and law enforcers. This can be avoided by maintaining robust files that will support presentations and answer all questions that law enforcers might want to know. 

As a small business owner, every penny always counts, and 2021 is an extraordinary year that every income must be secured than ever. As the pandemic-related challenges continue mounting, you must optimize your revenue and income sources, minimize your expenses and reduce your tax liability. Sadly, many entrepreneurs lack adequate knowledge of tricks and tools that can help them achieve this. They, in most cases, end up spending more money than they should. Although some may see taxation and setting up strategies as a challenging undertaking, the truth is that you don’t need to be a professional accountant to understand it and take advantage of the accounting tips. Here are a few strategies that you should consider in 2021.

• Understand your tax planning

The tax planning process is a critical aspect that helps your business reduce the amount of taxes that need to be paid at the end of the year. Although some business owners wait until the last minute to find out taxation regimes, the secret to this is that the earlier you start, the better the chances of receiving a tax refund. Although there are various strategies to approach tax planning, the main ones are; increasing tax deductions, utilizing tax credits, and reducing your income. While relying on certified public accountants can be helpful, it is often important to have a concrete tax planning strategy in place. Doing so saves money and helps you avoid paying unnecessary taxes. Furthermore, understanding your tax planning gives you an overview of things you are spending on each year. 

• Consider changing to a different tax structure.

When starting a business, the first thing you do is specify whether your business is a sole proprietorship of a partnership. However, things may change midway, and the changes and restructuring can impact the business structure. As you re-strategize, perhaps changing the tax structure in your business can help as well. By choosing to be taxed as corporations, businesses can save a lot of money in tax cuts. Before changing your tax structure, make sure the tax cuts you will realize make sense in the new structure. 

• Know your tax payment plan

Although having a business might be your lifetime dream, generating revenue and paying taxes is a different ballgame that can make your dream a nightmare. This can be made worse by the “pay as you go” tax system, which requires businesses to make estimated quarterly tax payments. This payment plan presents a temptation for businesses in paying taxes as they seek to maintain liquidity. Delaying tax payments “as you go” can put you in an awkward position and present a challenge of penalties and interests that occurs due to delays. Ensure that you have a tax plan and money is always set aside to save yourself from the burden of penalties from the IRS.

• Carefully choose your accounting method.

There are different ways that small businesses calculate their revenue. However, most of them use cash method accounting methods. These methods that are based on the time the money is received instead of when an order was placed. This approach also counts the day the expenses were paid instead of the item or service ordered. Regardless of the accounting method you choose, adjust the approach strategically and report income based on the cash receipts if you want to reduce your end year revenues, mainly if you believe there is a possibility that the income for the coming year will be lower and you expect to be in a lower tax project. A proper accounting method allows you to know the possible tax cuts and anticipate the upcoming tax bracket, which helps you devise a proper tax payment strategy for your business. 

The federal government is in its final stages of a program that will help small businesses remain operational during the coronavirus pandemic. With the coronavirus pandemic posing eral challenges to businesses, the government is looking for ways to support small businesses. President Biden announced various revisions to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) approved by Congress last year. The new tweaks put in place by the Biden administration gives exclusive access to the loans to the smallest of small businesses in the US.

Beginning on Wednesday, companies with no more than 20 employees will be the only ones that are legally allowed to apply for the PPP loans. This exclusive access will, however, last for only two weeks. This was done to enable small businesses that have been kept off the PPP loan process during the peak of the pandemic access funds. Since the program launched in 2020, more than 5 million small businesses have benefited from these loans. Companies with less than 20 employees make up 98 percent of small businesses.

According to Biden, small businesses are the drivers of the US economy. They are the soul of the community, which many people depend on for survival. However, with the pandemic now on sight, they are now being crushed. According to statistics, more than 400,000 small businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Apart from the 2-week window that has been added in the second round of loan applications, other rules allow a larger number of business owners to access PPP loans.

The loan calculation formula is also under review. This will give a better chance to the independent contractors, self-employed persons, and sole proprietors in access to the loans. Unlike the current formula, which eliminates home repair contractors, small independent retailers, and beauticians, the new program seeks to eliminate provisions that bar small business owners under the above categories and others from participating in the loan application process. The new provisions also remove the restrictions that deny PPP loans to business owners if they are convicted felons, are delinquent, or default on their student loans in the past seven years. Furthermore, the loan can be forgiven if a small business spends more than 60% of the money on payroll expenses.

Another crucial change is the access to loans by non-US citizen small business owners. Unlike the past regulations that strictly allowed access to loans only by documented US citizens, the amendments now give small business owners who are not US citizens but documented, access loans. With their individual taxpayer ID, any small business owner residing in the US can now apply for the loans. Backers of these new regulations believe that the amendment is long overdue because it will be of significant benefit to small businesses in the US,  regardless of whether the owner is a citizen or not. According to Biden, the new regulations are just the beginning but not the end. Currently, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package has been passed by Congress.

While it appears as a good gesture, the timing of the new changes will confuse small business owners, more so concerning pending applications. First, the loan, although helpful, might not be enough for businesses that have lost a lot due to the pandemic. No matter the challenges, experts see this as a great chance to fund small businesses that have had difficulty accessing loans, including those owned by women and minorities. Professionals see the new changes as a move by Biden-Harris’ administration to make things right. The program will end in March.

As an organization, how do you decide who to entrust your money to? Does a company opt for a local credit union or open an account at a well-known bank? If you’ve recently opened a business or are looking to change which financial institution you trust your money to – you’ve come to the right place. While there is no correct answer – this article aims to outline the pros and cons of a credit union versus a traditional bank when it comes to a company or business.

Credit Unions

Credit unions are non-profit financial institutions that tend to be local to a community. Unlike banks  - credit unions are controlled by their customers. Like a bank, credit unions use the money deposited by their customers to issue business and personal loans. Because customers of a credit unions typically live in the same area or belong to the same union; the loans tend to benefit the community whether it’s a local business or a member of the community looking to remodel their house. 

Many people prefer credit unions over a traditional bank because of their lower interest rates and better customer service. Many clients also like the idea of investing in their community.

The downside of a credit union is that they are not convenient for everyone. There is usually only one or two branches of the credit union so customers may have to go out of their way to get money from an ATM or deposit their checks. Credit unions understand this dilemma and more and more credit unions are opting to reimburse their clients for ATM fees incurred by using other ATM machines.  Other credit unions have introduced mobile banking where their customers can take a picture of their check and deposit their check online.

Finally, a myth of credit unions is that they are not as safe as banks when it comes to insuring their savings. This is not true. Like banks, the Federal Government insures up to $250,000 per savings account.

Traditional Banks

Where credit unions are non-profit financial institutions, traditional banks are for-profit institutions whose main goal is to make money. They do this through their high interest rates and their strict eligibility for personal and business loans.

Where they lack in interest rates – they make up in convenience. While there are smaller family-owned banks – banks typically have multiple branches that their customers can use throughout the state or country. Bank of America has over 4,000 financial centers and 400,000 ATMs in the United States alone. This makes travel immensely easier especially if someone is in need of cash because they lost their wallet or under-estimated their budget.

Traditional Banks are statistically more technology savvy than a credit union – offering state-of-the-art user interfaces on their websites and different online resources such as mobile banking.

Conclusion

What which is better a credit union or a traditional bank? It’s really up to you and what you’d like to get out of your financial institution. If you want an establishment with excellent customer service and low interest rates for loans – a credit union may be the way to go. That is – as long as you don’t mind going to one location to deposit your checks or withdraw cash.

On the other hand, if convenience is important to you whether that means being close to an ATM anywhere in the country or ease of remotely depositing your check you may opt for a bank instead.

Regardless of the size of your enterprise, it has probably been affected by the COVID-19 in one way or another. The pandemic has brought many businesses to their knees, while those that remain standing have been affected in a way that might take years to recover. Most of them are fighting to satisfy their customers while remaining open by finding new, innovative ways to grow. Despite the pandemic-related challenges, businesses can still survive, although it will take more than the current government-related funding. The real work will begin with business owners and the executives and the strategies that they will lay down behind the scenes to overhaul their operations and take their businesses into the future as far as performance is concerned. Here are some strategies to make your business thrive after COVID-19.

• Reduce overhead and go digital

Enterprises that successfully move from physical to digital spaces could soon be the ones that will see the future. Doing this will save a business from many overhead costs and ensure organizations save a lot of money on operating expenses. With the help of modern technologies, employees can work from home. This means that office supplies will no longer be necessary on a large scale than working from the office. With the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses must open up more because the future belongs to those who successfully adopt digital working environments.

• Reconfigure your budget

Although grants and government loans can help your business remain afloat, they will not take long before they dwindle. As such, it is now the perfect time for you to look into unnecessary expenses and see where you might tweak to grow your revenue. Some things that you need to reconsider include looking for low-cost marketing opportunities, paying debts as fast as possible, reducing employee overtime, minimizing or putting company retreats on hold, and using remote meetings as an option. Take as many steps as possible to lower expenses and increase your revenue to make sure there is a sound financial strategy and future.

• Relook at your business strategy

Things are not as they used to before the pandemic. Customers have encountered the most difficult moments, and how things are done has changed significantly. Therefore, you must also change your business strategy and model to suit the new demands of the customers and perhaps the change in the business environment as a whole. During the pandemic, it is essential to keep your business as flexible and responsive as possible. You can achieve this by moving most of your operations online. This could mean changing the foundation that your company was built on but can also mean adding some aspects that were not there before. If your business operated in a brick-and-mortar store, it is time you consider moving into a digital world.

• Look at the existing contracts

The contracts that you are already signed up to might need to be examined afresh as your business seeks to emerge from the pandemic. Ask yourself if it is sustainable to, for example, continue leasing property for your business. Look at the contracts and how they impact your payroll. If the contracts hurt your payroll or operations after COVID, consider renegotiation to cut some costs and make your business lean and effective. After all, everyone has been affected by the pandemic, and those you are in contract with will understand.

Although the above issues are the main ones that will allow you to emerge stronger after COVID-19, there are many others that you need to look into as we head into uncharted territory. You need to realign customer relations and customer service, and roles of the employees to suit the new normal to enhance effectiveness and foster growth.

The news that major pharmaceuticals had secured authorization for a coronavirus vaccine was a source of hope. To many businesses, the global economy had a chance to bounce back. As the vaccine rollout continues in many countries, small business owners are getting a new sense of confidence that things might soon come back to normal. With the rates of vaccination rising by the day, experts project an increase in money spending among citizens. This means that businesses are soon going to make profits.

Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, things might not be as easy as some people think. More than 70 percent of the population must first be vaccinated before we achieve the herd immunity that experts believe will be the point where things can return to normalcy. Until more than 70 percent of the population is vaccinated, the pandemic will continue to instill fear in the people and government on a potential scarcity of hospital beds and depletion of revenues due to COVID treatment.

A recent survey by Kabbage, an online financial technology firm offering funding to small businesses on more than 500 small businesses in the US, indicated that 57 percent believe that their enterprises are fully open. The interviewed business owners also noted that federal shutdowns' ease of restrictions had shifted the revenue expectations across small businesses. The interviewed entities also indicated that there is a rise in revenue growth expectations.

The connection between the small businesses and vaccine rollout is simple; they mutually benefit each other. Once the vaccines are availed for all employees, employers will no longer have to worry about dealing with reduced staff or positive coronavirus cases among their employees and how their operations will be adversely affected. On the other hand, small business owners benefit the vaccination by driving vaccine adoption and trust. In a survey by NatureMedicine, most employees said they would take a vaccine recommended by their employer. While the vaccination is beneficial to the person taking it at an individual level, it also directly benefits small business owners. Once the herd immunity is reached by vaccinating between 70 and 85% of the population, the performance venues shut down will once again reopen. Trips to the local coffee shop will resume, tourism will come back, and consumer spending will again thrive.

The pandemic’s impact is long-lasting, and consumer spending will take some time before we see the pre-pandemic trends. In fact, other changes might be permanent. However, the vaccination campaigns will be critical to a return in consumption of products and services that small businesses depend on for their survival. With the supply of vaccines increasing across the US, business owners must mandate, recommend or propose the right vaccine for their employees to take. Each of the three approaches will assist businesses to return to work faster.

While small businesses have a role to play, they must join forces with the government on a global scale to ensure consistent, reliable, and correct messaging of the vaccines’ safety and efficacy. Doing so requires small businesses to be creative and transparently share information about COVID-19 vaccines that people will trust. By building confidence and trust among the employees, organizations raise awareness about the safety and importance of vaccines in ending the pandemic and reducing severe illnesses. It also shows the importance of vaccination in reopening businesses, returning operations, and ending the pandemic.

Small businesses must therefore invest in vaccination campaigns by prioritizing access to vaccines. The drive must address the most affected and the highly vulnerable groups in the organization.

With so many opportunities out there, it is always hard to settle on the best idea to invest in as an entrepreneur. It can be challenging to figure out where to put your money and an investment worth pursuing. Although jumping on a new trend can be risky in many instances, it can also be rewarding if you focus on what you love. The best business ideas are those born at the intersection of strategic thinking, passion and right timing. Your next small business opportunity could be one of these five ideas:

• Dropshipping

With the e-commerce industry increasingly booming due to COVID-19 restrictions, perhaps now is the time you started thinking about offering e-commerce services yourself. This doesn’t mean that you have to keep a massive inventory of goods. Instead, you can be a link between the supplier and the consumer. This is what dropshipping essentially is all about. With dropshipping, people with e-commerce websites go to a third party to fulfill customer orders. The third party is a wholesale retailer or a manufacturer who runs warehouse and shipping activities. You don’t have to invest thousands of dollars to start this kind of business. Instead, you just need a website and a few other tools, and you are set.

• Teaching online

This comes second on my list because education has been affected by the pandemic, just like shopping. The high demand for online education means that you will always have something to teach people. As an entrepreneur, you can start your own venture by teaching people things such as computer applications or computer software. You can decide on any other subject that you love and are knowledgeable about regardless of your location. For example, if you have advanced knowledge in English, French, or Mandarin, you can teach non-native speakers. As your business grows, you will get many people signing up for your teachings, and this can earn you a lot of money in return.

• Digital event planning

Even planning is highly in demand nowadays. With this in mind, one of the best business ideas that you should consider starting is opening up a digital event planning agency. Here, your work will be to plan, organize and even report on digital events such as webinars and online summits to different companies. You can make money by charging a specific amount for the services and selling sponsorships, among other things. If you have a passion and expertise in this area, this is something you need to consider.

• Application development

App development is one of the most profitable ventures in the world as we speak. This is the case because so many organizations are going digital and require applications to handle various aspects of their operations. Accordingly, the cost of starting an application development venture has significantly dropped, and so have the tools needed for this business. This means that you can start your app development journey with a small amount of money and skills. With many software platforms such as Sketch and CoreAnimator, you can easily create mockups before publishing your apps. You can charge a premium or include in-app purchases in your application.

• Freelance copywriter

If you know how to play with words and make a reader interested, this might be the right business for you. You can establish yourself as a freelance copywriter by looking for clients and helping companies and individuals write blogs, web content, technical documents, and plenty of other write-ups. With SEO knowledge, your value will go up overnight, and you can even start an agency where you hire people to write for you. Most freelance copywriters charge up to $50 per hour for their services. 

Turning an innovative idea into a successful commercialized product is no small feat. In fact, most hardware product design projects fail to deliver a positive return on investment. Research shows there are a myriad of contributing factors to hardware product design failure. And among a thousand decisions that need to be made in the product design lifecycle, there are fewer than 10 critical decisions that if made incorrectly, not only lead to new product failure in the market, but also start-up company failure.

So how do you make sure your next hardware design project does not become another failed statistic? Here are 5 tips to consider that should be part of your new hardware product development strategy.

Know your target customer. Know who your customer is and what they need this product to do. This helps avoid bringing a great product to the wrong market segment and for the wrong audience. Physical products designed today live in a connected world. Do your homework by conducting market, country and customer value research. Solicit feedback from real customers that would use it. Are you delivering a new capability that customers need? Conducting primary and secondary research will give you a strong understanding of how competitors are distributing and positioning competing or similar types of products.

Identify and remove unwarranted risks early. Customers don’t use a product they don’t like. Product defects and missed customer expectations result in failures and returns of hardgoods that are not only expensive to solve but can also bankrupt early- stage companies. Making the wrong decisions in the concept design stage will increase your R&D and fuel future manufacturing and quality issues. Put a process in place to identify the key user acceptance features and feasibility risks as well as the mechanical, electronics and software architectures.

Decide who will manage the development process and how product decisions will get made. If you do not have the design, engineering, or manufacturing process expertise in house, find outside partners to create or audit your product concept to identify potential risks early. Design-for-retail price-point and yearly sales volumes are critical targets. Have a good estimate of your costs of goods early so you can track gross margin for the product. Cost of goods target will impact the decisions on product features, material choices, capital tooling and more. As companies strive to deliver innovative and bring new value, ensuring close alignment across business, marketing and engineering will help get you to market faster and with predictable outcomes.

Foster a collaborative development team. Expert led multi-discipline teams with long experience in business, marketing and hardware product development will make sure new opportunities and new risks are assessed and managed during the development. Close working collaboration with the right people during critical architecture and component selection is critical, and identifying opportunity and risk will come from many heads - operations, business, marketing, industrial design, engineering, electronics design, software coding and manufacturing. The Integration of ideas and concerns, weighting pros and cons of alternative concepts, and selecting the best fit solution to deliver the customer wow factor is critical to get right. Among a thousand decisions that need to be made, it’s the 10 critical ones if made incorrectly will lead to product development failure.

Test your product design early and expect continual refinement. There’s nothing worse than hitting “go” on volume production and then find out when delivered to market, it fails to attract customer attention, resulting in commercial failure. Ongoing user and engineering testing during the development process identifies problem areas early so they get resolved in the first product release. Hardware product development is a very involved process. Making complex products is a continual improvement process that goes from the first units sold to the many fine-tuning adjustments needed over several years of customer use and feedback.

Most new products in development have unforeseen quality and customer issues with the initial product release for sale. It’s important that your design and manufacturing teams identify and manage the ‘known-unknowns’. It is near impossible to catch the ‘unknown-unknowns’ and with less experienced teams, critical risks get overlooked. Take

advantage of outside expertise as an experienced design engineering team can augment your team and help identify critical choices that are risky and plan appropriately to make sure the finished design avoids them. This will help ensure first launch problem-free products get delivered to market that meet customers’ expectations of operation and quality. Importantly, it helps ensure business success.

Kevin Bailey is the Founder and CEO at Design 1st and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company. For over 25 years, Kevin’s product design and business expertise have successfully guided CEO’s, start-ups, and established organizations through the intricacies of the entire hardware product development lifecycle. Under Kevin’s leadership, Design 1st has delivered over 1,000 products to market across a variety of industries, and that influence millions of people globally. Global companies that Design 1st has helped turn ideas into successful commercialized products, include Motorola, Acer, Stanley Tools, Ericsson and Christie Digital.

Prior to founding Design 1st, Kevin was on the ground floor of global hardware product innovation, cutting his teeth with National Research Council, General Motors, Shell, Bell Northern Research Labs and Nortel Networks where he worked on the first global smartphone development and initial production in 1995.

Kevin holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. In addition to being a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario since 1985, Kevin is also a VC and Angel Investor.

Kevin lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife. In his spare time, he plays hockey, mentors young entrepreneurs, and enjoys spending time with his 3 children and grandchildren Ronan and Adelaide.

An ever-changing economy creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs, even during these rocky times that COVID-19 has caused.

Whether people are looking for a better work-life balance, a new job after having lost one, or an extra source of income, opening a seasonal business is one strategy that fits those goals, says Chris Buitron, president of Mosquito Authority® (www.mosquito-authority.com).

“Many people are taking this route as a reliable way to generate income,” Buitron says, “because although the economy is changing dramatically in some ways, seasonal businesses still fulfill annual consumer needs.

“The benefits for a seasonal business owner are attractive: more freedom, both in running a business and having the ability to take a few months off; the satisfaction of providing a service or product to which customers stay loyal; lower overhead costs than a year-round business; a solid second income; or, if done right, a sufficient income by itself.”

Buitron offers these tips on how to run a seasonal business successfully:

• Carefully construct your business model. Since you won’t be open year-round, it’s important to account for downtime in your cash flow. “If the seasonal business is your main or only source of income, you’ll need to put in extra work during the season in order to make it through your off-season,” Buitron says. “Make sure you have access to credit and plan your budget very specifically. It’s a bonus if you can find ways to diversify income streams for your seasonal business in the off-season. Determine the other needs of your customers and how you can fulfill them.”
• Evaluate the past season and plan accordingly for the next season. “Analyze your successes and shortcomings from the previous season,” Buitron says. “Seek customer feedback to assist your evaluation. Overall, determine why some things worked and others didn’t. The analysis will help you build a solid plan for the next season. Look at areas such as staffing, inventory, and other expenses. Did you have enough employees and how did they perform? Which products or services weren’t successful? Should you introduce new ones? Would it be cheaper in the long run to buy your equipment rather than lease it?”
• Connect with the public year-round to build your brand. Social media allows a seasonal business owner to build their business, their authority and strengthen their place in the community. “Your target audience is just as accessible in the offseason,” Buitron says. “You can reach out to them and offer exclusive pricing, or create a rewards program. Publish blogs and post updates on the sites your customers follow. Give them content that can educate them beyond the reach of your business’ services. Showing you care about their lives and the community helps them remember you.”
• Attend networking events and workshops. The off-season is the time for self-improvement that leads to business improvement. “Learning and networking opportunities help you and your business grow,” Buitron says. “Local business events, trade shows and conferences are great ways to gain new partnerships and skills.”

“A seasonal business comes with an array of unique demands,” Buitron says. “But with the right combination of good business practices and the passion to make it a way to enhance others’ lives, it can be a profitable and enjoyable experience for the seasonal business owner.”

Chris Buitron is president of Mosquito Authority® (www.mosquito-authority.com), a nationwide leader in mosquito control with franchises serving communities across the U.S. and Canada. Buitron has an extensive background in franchise industries. He was chief marketing officer for Senior Helpers, vice president of marketing for Direct Energy (home services division), and director of marketing for Sunoco Inc., where he supported the company’s 4,700 franchised and company-owned rental facilities across 23 states (over $15B in annual revenues).

Running your own business can be hectic for many business owners. For small business owners, however, having all the responsibility to all operations, including successes and failures, can be detrimental to one’s health. Sadly, health among small business owners has not been taken seriously as it should despite the economic significance of such businesses to society and the economy. The mental health of small business leaders leads to a healthy working environment. It also leads to effective teams that are characterized by respect and trust in one another.

Large corporations with complex and well-structured succession plans can hardly be affected by health issues that may affect their leaders. The well-laid down succession plan ensures that in the absence of the CEO, operations run without hitches. Unlike big multinationals whose operations cannot be affected by the health issues among those in the high offices, poor health among the leaders of small businesses can end operations and render employees jobless. The simple structure of a small business is risky, and the impact of the demise of a CEO is unimaginable. With an instant disease or a condition such as a heart attack, everything can go down the drain since everything revolves around an individual. From this, it is evident that health is the greatest capital of small business owners. The smaller the firm, the higher the vulnerability in case the owner develops health complications, either physical or mental.

The health of such business owners may have damaging consequences not only for those that have been employed but can also impact those that depend on them entirely. For example, the family members who rely on the owners can also be significantly impacted. Similarly, health problems among the personnel and family members can destabilize operations and how the business runs. Small business owners face many challenges that often affect their mental wellbeing. According to a Danish study, there is a significant link between entering entrepreneurship and receiving prescriptions for sedative or hypnotics and/or their spouses. This is a clear suggestion that entering entrepreneurship is a health risk as it is a potential source of stress for entrepreneurs and their family members.

Many studies have found out that stress level among the business owners is higher than those of the employed. The always conflicting issues such as ambiguity in the business environment, lack of adequate resources, and daily hassles as well as failure to clarify roles increase stress and the possibility of health complications. Work overload is another factor that many small business owners face and may result in a complication. Entrepreneurs often work for more than 50 hours a week. Working for long hours, including weekends doing intensive tasks, is a potential cause of stress. 

Uncertainty is often identified as another factor that can cause health problems among self-employed individuals. The fast-changing business environment is always a concern for entrepreneurs who are always worried about their businesses in case things do not go as planned. These owners have many things to worry about, including their employees, government regulations, and reduction in profits, all of which determines the success of their businesses.  Loneliness of business owners also results in burnouts, which in itself is a potential contributor to mental health. Loneliness can be harmful in an environment where difficult decisions are to be taken, such as firing or hiring employees.

As seen above, health issues among the small business owners have severe spillover effects on those they employ and their families. Unlike CEOs of large companies that have a proper succession plan, health challenges among small business owners can cripple operations. As such, it is crucial to always stay ahead by addressing potential causes of health problems before they manifest into catastrophes.

In a world where working from home, family, recreation, faith and other factors compete for our time, people speak about the need to seek a “balanced life.” But maybe “balance” is the wrong goal.

“The concept of being in ‘balance’ has the potential to set us up for immediate failure,” says Michael Sipe, author of The AVADA Principle and founder of the consulting firm 10x Catalyst Groups (www.10xgroups.com).

“We talk about work/life balance as if work and the rest of our lives are separate things. But in reality, work and everything else are all part of one life.”

Instead of balance, Sipe suggests seeking an “integrated life,” where the integral parts of life are combined into a fully functioning whole. He acknowledges that’s easier said than done.

“It’s a challenge to determine what the integral parts of human life are, how to integrate them, and what a fully functioning and completely whole life would be like,” he says.

For Sipe, a major part of that integration involves faith. But his suggestions on how to approach your job so that it is integrated into the rest of your life are relevant regardless of spiritual views.

In Sipe’s view, work often gets a bad rap. Work is actually a neutral concept, he says,  and the larger evaluation is not that we “have” to work, or how much we work. Instead the key is to look at the purposes toward which our work is directed and to be intentional about how we allocate our energy.

In managing your attitude about work, Sipe recommends that you:

• Focus on purpose. “One definition of work is energy directed toward a purpose,” Sipe says. “If you find yourself holding a detrimental attitude about your work, take a look at your purpose. Perhaps you simply are not directing your energy toward a purpose you care about.” If so, he says, consider changing your work so that you can invest your energy toward a purpose that matters to you. Alternatively, perhaps you have not connected your work to your purpose, and thus, your motivation to work is suffering.
• Avoid griping. The more you declare that work is hard, bad, unpleasant, a waste of time, and a drag, the more it will be all those things for you, Sipe says. “Reframe work as good, as a joy, a blessing, a challenge, an opportunity, a privilege, an investment,” he says. “Loving your work is a choice – your choice.”
• Take responsibility and take charge. If you don’t like your work, Sipe says, then change it. “You are not a tree rooted in place; you can move,” he says. “You are not a victim or a slave. If you are blessed to live in the Western world, and especially if you are blessed to live in America, you are free to do the work you love toward purposes you desire”
• Ask yourself better questions. When things aren’t working out as you hoped you might be inclined to ask yourself, “Why me? Why is this so hard? What did I do to deserve this?” Instead, Sipe says, ask yourself: “What am I supposed to learn here?” He says you could also do as the late Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker, instructed: “Don’t ask why things are so hard; ask how you can get better.”

“The concept of work is simple, but we tend to complicate it,” Sipe says. “And work really does apply to everything we do. Yes, we can work at a job, but we also work on our health, work on our education, work on our marriage, work on our friendships, and work on our faith. It’s all energy applied toward a purpose.”

Michael Sipe, author of The AVADA Principle, is the founder of 10x Catalyst Groups (www.10xgroups.com), which helps entrepreneurs grow profitable and thriving businesses organized on a foundation of Biblical principles. Sipe has also enjoyed a successful 30-plus year career in mergers, acquisitions, and business development as the founder of CrossPointe Capital, a middle market investment-banking firm. In that capacity, he consulted with and evaluated over 5,000 companies and has provided advisory services for approximately a half-billion dollars in business sales involving hundreds of companies. He remains active in transactional work and has been a key advisor in mergers and acquisitions projects covering a multitude of industry sectors.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic struck and sank the world’s economy, retiring at the age of 65 was already becoming a hot topic among many professionals. Now that the pandemic has impaired many businesses, both small and large plans of many organizations are in shambles. One of the areas that have been significantly affected is retirement. Business owners that were planning to retire are now forced to rethink. This could mean that the retirement age is likely to fall further as employees try to pick up from where they left once the economy reopens and the pandemic eases.

Although the recovery is expected to happen sooner or later, it may take some time. This is if the 2007-2009 recession is an example to go by. The recovery time can even be longer considering the severity of COVID-19 compared to the recession witnessed in 2009. As such, many small business owners may be tempted to consider selling their businesses rather than waiting for things to get better.

A study by StreetWise Retirement Confidence Index in May indicated that 26% of those interviewed stated that they would postpone their retirement plans after the coronavirus. Their decision is due to the economic conditions that the virus has caused. As damaging as they may seem, the decision is not surprising, given the uncertainty and fear that the pandemic has caused in many industries in different countries. The uncertainties have had an impact on the financial strategies of organizations and have forced many businesses to change their priorities. Another study by Allianz Life Insurance Company found out that almost half of Americans interviewed went into early retirement for reasons beyond their control. One of the reasons that were cited in the research is job loss. This was cited by 34% of the respondents, while 25% cited health challenges as their primary reason for retiring early. As an entrepreneur or employee who is willing to persevere and try their best to achieve their dreams, all is not lost. Taking some steps can enhance value and build your business so that you can sell more and retire as you planned or even early.

Creativity is one of the ways that can help you remain open in the current era of uncertainty. As a business owner, try your best to find creative ways that can adapt to the changes in the business environment. One way you can do this is by adding other services that will replace the revenue that has been lost. For example, as a restaurant owner, you can supplement the revenue lot by ordering food and selling them. This will create a new stream of income and increase profits even when other sources of revenue are not doing well enough.

A good rapport with banks is also crucial to businesses. Regardless of the size of your organization, always ensure that you have a good relationship with financial institutions. Having a wrong sense of security will only deceive you, and you will not have anyone to turn to in case things become tough. With the right relationship, you will have someone to run to for loans when the revenue stream dries up, and you need additional funds to keep running. Always ask yourself, is my bank relationship stable? If the answer is yes, then you are in the right place.

Coming up with a transition plan is another approach that you must consider. Just because you are delaying your retirement plans does not mean that you should not establish a transition plan. Take time to build a working transition plan that will not leave your organization in chaos when the right time comes. Most business owners lack a proper transition plan. This leads to a lack of focus on what is needed for a business to operate successfully.