According to CNBC, a new survey finds that black small business owners are concerned about the survival of their business. 

When the pandemic first slammed the country last March, Iya Karade was one of countless small-business owners who had to shut their doors.

Read the article on CNBC

This tax season is fraught with challenges for small businesses, however one thing businesses can do is see if they qualify for the employee retention credit, reports WWMT.

With tax season upon us Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, experts said some small businesses might face navigation challenges when filing, especially because of the loans and credits given out due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the article on WWMT

Small businesses are facing a variety of challenges that large businesses don’t face, like the inability to pivot quickly to digital,  reports Entrepreneur

There is not a day that goes by where we don’t talk about the COVID pandemic. It is on the news, in our social feeds and it has infiltrated both our personal and professional worlds.

Read the article on Entrepreneur

According to Small Business Trends, Fiverr is offering a new subscription service to allow freelancers to build relationships with clients. 

One of the challenges of being a freelancer is getting a steady stream of revenue. Fiverr Subscriptions looks to solve this challenge by allowing customers to subscribe to a service with a freelancer

Read the article on Small Business Trends

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.

A financial security benefit that helps employees pay for and manage their out of pocket healthcare expenses allows an employer to not only keep healthcare costs down, but to provide a much-needed benefit to their employees, one that pays dividends for years to come.  Here are 4 reasons why employers need to provide a financial security benefit to their employees as part of their offering. 

1. Restore the "benefit" in your health benefit offering -  The standard employer-sponsored health plan comes with nearly an $8,000 out-of-pocket expense.  Considering that the vast majority of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and 40% struggle to cover a $400 emergency expense, it’s no wonder why so many individuals consider themselves functionally uninsured despite being covered by an employer’s health plan.  And, when an employer’s price tag to purchase that insurance for a family now exceeds $20,000 a year, it is painful for employers to witness their employee “benefit” suddenly become an employee “liability.”  Providing employees with guaranteed access to credit for medical expenses on consumer-friendly terms that they may not have access to on their own is of tremendous benefit.  A benefit like this gives employees something their health plan alone can’t – financial security.

1. Remove barriers to care -  More than ever, employees with high deductible health plans are skipping care, which has costly consequences. Employees who skip care stay sicker for a longer period of time and as a result, employers lose worker productivity.  When outcomes erode and care is delayed, employers will see an increase in health plan expenses. By providing a financial security benefit from the start, employees can seek care with confidence, and prevent this unhealthy ripple effect from happening.

1. Increase participation in Health Savings Accounts – HSAs are great additions to an employer’s benefit line-up.  In some cases, they are also the only plan design that an employer can afford to offer. Employees who are presented the choice of an HSA often bemoan that while the program should work well for them, and that the price-tag for the premium is right, the specter of a one-time deductible exposure makes them hesitant to enroll.  And, while lower premiums paired with some employer HSA contributions can often cover that exposure, employees worry about the timing of these expenses, particularly if they arrive early in the plan year. Providing an affordable way for employees to pay for their healthcare expenses whenever they are incurred, removes a major barrier to HSA plan election.  Further, adding a financial security benefit is much more cost effective for the employer than front-loading the HSA with hard dollars at the beginning of the plan year. 

1. Recruitment and Retention Tool - According to a recent Gallup poll, the availability and affordability of healthcare tops the list of concerns in America.  As employers grapple with objectives, such as attracting, and retaining talent and balancing costs, a financial security benefit not only addresses a major employee concern, but also can help organizations differentiate themselves from their competitors.  

With COVID changing the landscape of healthcare for all of us and open enrollment around the corner, employers need to rethink their benefit strategy while keeping costs down.  Attracting and retaining employees remains a high priority for employers and providing a financial security benefit will not only attract top talent but will also save on an employer’s overall bottom line.

Amy O'Meara Chambers, JD, is the CEO and Co-founder of HealthBridge. She has over 25 years of experience working in the healthcare industry as both an employee benefits attorney and as a business builder. Amy is the author of the great American novel — HSA’s for Dummies and holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.

This year has shown the importance of high cash flow as the pandemic has forced small businesses around the world to close – many unable to survive shutdowns and decreased sales. Those that have endured are predominately companies that have adequate cash flow that they can lean on during this unprecedented time.

In order to be successful, businesses have to keep an eye on their cash flow (or cash that is flowing in and out of your business). That means monitoring cash flow regularly and hiring the right people to manage your budget. Here are four tips that every business should do to effectively manage their money.

Hire an Accountant                                                                                                                                                    

Not everyone is financially savvy – and as a business owner the sooner you recognize that the sooner you can hire someone who is. Look for someone who has a background in finance and accounting and is familiar with QuickBooks or other accounting software that can monitor spend and notify you of any issues.

Cutting Cost

If your accountant tells you that more cash is flowing out of your organization than coming in – it may be time to cut costs. Are there any bills or subscriptions that are redundant? How about monthly expenses that are not essential? If you are treating your staff to lunch every Friday, it may make sense to cut that down to once a month – or even a quarterly outing. While no one likes to make layoffs – it may make sense to reduce employees’ hours or lay a few people off. While it’s not ideal – it will increase your cash flow if need be.

A good accountant or book-keeper will be able to show you exactly what you are spending your money on – and can advise you on ways to limit your spending until your capital increases.

Get More for Less!

A smart entrepreneur understands how to get more for less. Have old inventory that isn’t selling? Sell it. Sure, you may not get the highest price for your items – but you may be able to recoup the cost that you originally purchased it for. Either way – selling at cost is better than having your inventory collecting dust in the back. 

Save money anyway you can. This could come in the form of buying in bulk at wholesale costs, taking advantage of vendor sales, and even utilizing credit cards. Credit cards? That might seem backwards – but sometimes you have to spend money to get money. A grocery store has to purchase goods from vendors to sell in their stores – why not put the bill on a business credit card with 5% cash back? Travel a lot for your job – why don’t you invest in a particular airline’s credit card so you can turn around and use your rewards on discounted flights? Some business credit cards even offer a bonus just for signing up. The key to managing a credit card is to make sure that you pay it off fully each month. This will ensure that your business never goes into debt, and you are not penalized with high interest rates.

Finally, if you are a company that renders service (construction, lawyer, doctor etc), it’s important that your clients pay you on time. This means staying on top of invoices and ensuring that new clients accept your payment terms – whether that’s payment upon completion of the project, or net 45 days. If need-be send out reminders or follow up with them if payment is late. This can ensure prompt payment.

I once knew a landlord whose tenant never paid her rent on time. It wasn’t because she couldn’t afford the rent – it was that she never had time to go to the post office. The landlord took matters into his own hands and dropped off 12 stamped envelopes so she never had to worry about going to the post office again.

If you’re working on a longer project such as remodeling a house, or have a long court case it is in your best interest to ask for a down payment or partial payment of the project. This will ensure that some money is coming in and can cover the cost of material, and payroll.

By following these four tips – you’re well on your way to managing your cash flow. Remember, it’s always important to have capital for a rainy day. This will ensure the success of your business even if times get tough.

The end of the year is the time for businesses to plan for the next year. However, with the uncertainties occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, predicting how 2021 will look like is difficult, taking into account changes that have occurred. The abrupt changes that occurred concerning consumer behavior, the uncertainty surrounding the time the coronavirus pandemic will take, and the methods that can be adopted to avert the effects of the virus on the environment make budget planning for 2021 difficult. Whatever you have experienced and what may come next year, make sure that your budget is ready for the challenging times ahead and will be able to respond to whatever is thrown in the way of your organization. Here are some of the ways that ensure your budget is ready for 2021:

• Speed up planning cycle

As you approach budget planning for the New Year, you will need to be flexible enough to accommodate everything. Since new things are always set to emerge, you cannot develop a budget and forget it. Rather, your budget must accommodate new ideas and changes that keep coming up on the way as you move on. Planning is an important aspect that needs to be given the utmost attention. As such, the planning cycle needs to be hastened since doing so will make the process of analyzing, adjusting, and implementing plans successful and able to navigate the changing business landscape. Achieve this by setting up annual plans, quarterly, monthly reviews, and speeding up time to market your products or services.  

• Understand ROI

In everything you do, you would want to understand how it is giving you a return on investment. Going to a new year, this will be important than ever before. With the uncertainty that all industries live on, understand the impact of every item or line of items. Invest in analytics to enable you to track outcomes and manage data from disparate systems. Investing in analytics will help you to track revenue and study patterns. This will help you to make decisions that are based on information.

• Assign budgeting talent to be high priority areas

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the operations and configuration of teams at an unprecedented pace. It has also altered the reporting needs as companies must report at much shorter intervals than they did before. With the shorter reporting cycles, there is a need for better budgeting and planning decisions. Looking at 2021, you will have to come up with a bigger team of budgeting professionals to tackle high-priority problems, unlike in the past when a small squad could have solved the budgeting issues. Take advantage of digital tools to reduce pressure from the finance teams.

• Understand priorities

As a business person, it is always crucial to be prepared to adjust your budgets when the need arises. In 2021, prepare to alter your budget based on the changes that take place in the marketplace. Understand the business activities that are essential against those that you can afford to live without. Begin by identifying what makes certain things more important than others. This can be understood by assessing the return on investment of a specific activity. Create a system that helps you understand activities that are critical than others and review them regularly.

• Plan to change plans

At times like these, where there are many market uncertainties, there are various challenges that emerge on the way. This demands that you stay ready at all times to tackle these challenges as they arise. You can achieve this by developing a flexible budget that can accommodate emerging issues. While it is crucial to design a flexible budget, resist the possibility of budgeting for things that are irrelevant to your business.

If there is anything 2020 has taught us, perhaps emergency preparedness is the biggest lesson ever. The coronavirus pandemic has taught us the importance of having emergency preparedness and the need to have a plan that will keep the business running during and after a crisis. Emergency preparedness is not a one-day affair. It is a process that does not just involve a single drill once a year but entails planning how a business will run, before, during, and after a crisis. The process begins with identifying possible business threats or disruptors and developing plans to counter them. Here are some common business disruptors to watch:

• Pandemics

As evident from the happenings of 2020, this is the most severe threat that can extremely affect any business. It can severely affect the delivery of services, as evident in the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced people to stay at home. Destruction of livelihoods reduces consumer power to purchase, while reduced demand affects companies' ability to pay their employees. Pandemics can also shut down or disrupt the supply chain. Organizations can prepare for this by having options in place just in case the supply chain is shut down or disrupted.

• Natural disasters.

Natural disasters ranging from weather-related disasters, tornados, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes to others such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and wildfires can have far-reaching consequences to business operations. The bad thing about natural disasters is that it is hard to predict and can occur within a short time with so many adverse effects. Some natural disasters can have physical damage to structures and can also disrupt the supply chains. They can also make offices inaccessible to employees, led to the loss of life and loss of working hours. 

• Cyberattacks and data breaches

Cyberattacks and data breaches have become frequent in the world today. Organizations should no longer talk about if they get hit by cyberattacks or data breaches but when. Small businesses with weak data protection mechanisms are likely to experience these challenges more than bigger, more established organizations with the expertise and resources to guard their systems. Organizations- mostly the small ones- will inevitably face more challenges and must prepare for cyberattacks at any time. They must identify risks associated with cyberattacks and countermeasures to ensure organizations run even after a successful breach.

• Internal risks

Some business functions are risky, and some of the challenges include malpractices, employee health and safety, and other dangerous operations. Healthcare professionals and employees in chemical manufacturing plants, for example, engage in activities that can be risky every day. There should be an assessment of how organization can be impacted by the internal risks and the resilience plan in such organizations. The leadership levels should also be structured so that if there is a problem, a leadership vacuum cannot be left.  Doing so brings stability to the organization.

A business continuity plan is crucial for every business as it cushions against disruptions that can adversely affect operations. With the right business continuity plan, businesses can respond to various challenges caused by disasters such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, and internal risks. These are not the only areas that business continuity planning helps address. It also aids an organization to maintain operations, build customer confidence, protect the supply chain and gain a competitive advantage. It also helps a business mitigate financial risks, preserves brand, and creates a good reputation with the customer.

Building a business continuity plan begins with identifying the goals of the plan, establishing an emergency preparedness team, assessing risks, preparing a plan for each risk, and reviewing to make sure every business function has been covered in the plan. After this, staff must be trained, plan tested, revised, and updated regularly to address the emerging needs.

With the Covid-19 vaccine finally making its way through the country, bringing staff back into the workplace is at the forefront of companies’ minds. This has continued to push conversations from when staff will come back to the office, to how.

Archetypes of the workplace

As companies explore the future of the return to the workplace, it has challenged new ways of thinking - how the office will adapt and change, what will be its purpose, and how can it become better for staff.  However, how businesses approach the workplace evolution will be different. From conservative approaches to pushing the boundaries, three mindsets have emerged as we look at the future of the workplace.

• Traditionalists – cultures grounded around in-person environments with a low investment in virtual working and higher investment in physical work environments.
• Progressives – cultures that are flexible and promote a hybrid work model with employees being comfortable working remotely or in offices. Investment for this model will equally be split in the virtual and built environments to support hybrid work models.
• Visionaries – cultures encouraging autonomy and remote work with employees who come into the office as needed. This includes a significant spend in technology to enhance the virtual environment and to monitor productivity and performance.

Regardless of your future workplace strategy – scaling, adapting, or staying the same, the pandemic has altered the real estate landscape as we know it. Social distancing, sanitization processes, working from home, and virtual communication are here to stay, even if the vaccine turns out to be everything we’ve hoped for. While we’ve had no choice but to accept this new reality, many occupiers and landlords are struggling with “what’s the best next move” for their space.

As we navigate these unchartered workplace waters, flexibility has emerged as a key player. Office strategy and design will need to be flexible to support the changing needs of staff and companies both in the short and long-term. The question remains, what does flexibility look like in the future workplace?

Riding the Evolutionary Forces 

As the saying goes, “change is the only constant,” and while inevitable, change gives us the opportunity to grow and evolve. How and where we work is different from a year ago, which has influenced changes from workplace strategies to business models and processes, to workforces. This has caused decision makers to pause on making long-term real estate commitments until we better understand the lasting effects of the pandemic.

Driving regional and industry trends
 

As real estate shifts and trends begin to emerge, many will play out differently depending on their location. By the end of 2021 it’s expected businesses will return to the office at a reduced capacity, however, how this will be done is the question.

The pandemic has accelerated an already growing migration of knowledge workers from cities like New York and California to less-expensive locales. Raleigh, N.C., and Austin, Texas, are among the boomtowns attracting young workers. These cool, vibrant cities offer culinary experiences, cultural and social scenes that appeal to young professionals who enjoy an urban lifestyle but find large metro areas too dense or expensive.

The recent growth of these midsize cities shows the pandemic and work-from-home policies aren’t undermining all of urban America. It illustrates a reshaping of what many companies, families and individuals are now looking for, a location that is more affordable, has more space, and access to job opportunities and talent.  Several recent high-profile corporate relocation announcements suggest companies are inclined to follow this migration.

Solutions for “the next best move” 

What should be your next move? Research is saying space will be used differently and we still don’t fully know how Covid-19 will influence office use and behaviors in the future. Before making permanent, long-term decisions, companies are trialing office strategies to see how their people are working in a new environment.

Pilot spaces and employee surveys are a good way to learn what will work best for your people. Companies are starting to accelerate these programs, repurposing the workplace to align with work modes and conducting 60-day utilization studies to see if these new workplace designs are effective.  Some actions may include improvements to office décor, an increase in collaborative hubs, and bringing back some private offices or quiet areas, providing staff with a place to go to work and build relationships.

Occupiers with larger real estate portfolios may adopt strategies like maintaining the hub location but adding the spokes (hub & spoke model). This allows them to expand their footprint, keeping their CBD presence, while providing staff with much-craved collaboration, culture, and connection in spoke locations. We’re even seeing C-suite focused hubs emerging to support board related tasks, client meetings, and leadership-driven activities.

The impact of transformational technology on workplace design 

With this fundamental shift to incorporate flexibility, transformational technology is going to play a critical role. Firms have already adopted this status quo- leveraging digital tools to improve business operations and communication. As technology continues to power collaboration in the workplace, from Microsoft Teams video meetings, to AI wearables and VR presentations to smart whiteboards, it’s likely work styles are going to shift into more team-oriented environments.

In turn offices will need to be outfitted to support in-person and remote workers, providing them with the technology and space to seamlessly connect. Leadership communication and change management will play an essential role in navigating the return to the workplace. Outlining clear protocols and processes can guard against burnout, help manage meetings and communication expectations (in-person and virtual), and coordinate teams to make sure they are driving the right outcomes.

As digital innovations continue to emerge, virtual sharing and collaborating will increase, causing reimagined horizons, like a world without email, creating monumental changes in the workplace.

Meeting the pace of change 

With the current real estate landscape and continued disruption, there is still uncertainty about what the future workplace will look like. Partnering with a company that has an agile and flexible end-to-end approach to workplace creation, can empower smarter and responsive decision making to meet the ever-changing needs of businesses and their people. 

Propeller, a workplace framework, provides stability and a solution for companies’ next real estate move. Using data, the model can help outline what teams’ experiences should be in the office and at home, from purpose and work modes, to behaviors and culture. Whether it’s a long-term commitment to remote work, embracing a flexible model, or taking a wait-and-see approach, this workplace strategy can help outline the best next step.

Ryan leads the Americas region, managing the United States and Latin America. With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, Ryan has led teams to execute complex workplace projects, driven global initiatives, and redefined Unispace standards. With a strong knowledge of local and global markets, he brings his strategic vision to drive growth and improve operational excellence across all aspects of the business.

Many Americans have been working from home full-time for a year now since COVID-19 hit the U.S. And many prefer that arrangement to a traditional office. In a survey, 65% said they want to work remotely full-time after the pandemic.

That could pose a problem for them and their employers.

Given the availability of vaccines, many companies are planning to ask their employees to return to the office. But a sizable number of workers might balk – or even walk. In a survey by LiveCareer, 29% of working professionals said they would quit if they couldn’t continue working remotely.

“The reality is that some jobs just don’t work remotely and some people don’t work well remotely,” says Cynthia Spraggs (www.virtira.com), a veteran of working remotely, author of How To Work From Home And Actually Get SH*T Done, and CEO of Virtira, a completely virtual company that helps other businesses work virtually. “Companies have time to plan for both – and so do employees.

“Many employees now expect to be able to work flexibly. Some companies will use a hybrid approach, and others will go back to full-time in the office. But if employees are not given the choice to work from home, some will look for other employers that do offer that. Companies need to assess which jobs are best done remotely and assess their employees to understand which ones benefit the company most by either working from home or returning to the office.”

Spraggs offers these thoughts for workers, business owners and managers to consider in the WFH vs. return-to-office debate:

• The WFH type. “At this point, it should be relatively easy to assess who is thriving and who is miserable in a WFH setting,” Spraggs says. “What we’ve found is, regardless if you’re an introvert or an extrovert, the perfect WFH employee is someone who embraces life and who has passions and interests outside of work. They work efficiently and are strong performers because they see work as a means to fund their life.”
• The traditional office type. Spraggs draws a stark contrast between people who thrive working from home and those who are much happier commuting to a traditional brick-and-mortar office environment. “These individuals have strong social relationships through work and require the camaraderie that an in-office environment provides,” she says. “For many, especially those focused on the corner office, work is their life. These are the ones who pull down 80-hour weeks to move up the ladder. They stay glued to their boss, and likely are the ones who just won’t function well at home. Sadly, they are also likely your VP.”
• Weigh how your company thinks of you. “Although we all like to think that companies care about employees,” Spraggs says, “the harsh reality is that employees are a unit of production and companies will migrate to the setup that senior executives mandate. Do you really want to work for a company that isn’t prepared to accommodate what makes you most productive and happy? Better sharpen that CV and get ready. Plan now and work your networks.”
• Management realities. For many companies, even with the environmental, health and productivity advantages that remote work brings, Spraggs thinks some simply aren’t going to embrace WFH as an opportunity to streamline operations. “They are going to want to return to the ‘old normal,’” she says. “A good number of senior management people didn’t do well with the WFH environment because they view WFH through a lens of slacking-off employees, lower productivity and lower ROI. So it’s likely these companies are not going to make the investments in training, home-based bandwidth, VPNs and tools to make it work.”

“There’s coming tension in many companies between what will work best for management and what will work best for the employees,” Spraggs says. “We may see a big migration in workers going to fully virtual companies.”

Cynthia Spraggs (www.virtira.com) is the author of How To Work From Home And Actually Get SH*T Done: 50 Tips for Leaders and Professionals to Work Remotely and Outperform the Office. She is CEO of Virtira, a completely virtual company that focuses on remote team performance. Before taking leadership of the company in 2011, Spraggs worked with large consulting and tech companies while completing her MBA and research into telecommuting.

The pandemic made 2020 a difficult year for many small businesses, as many closed permanently. But other small companies had success despite the surge in outbreaks and are hoping to build on those achievements in 2021. How can they keep their momentum going, and what can other companies learn from their struggles to navigate the challenges of the new year?

“To stay afloat, owners adjusted on the fly and creatively found ways to change their operations,” says Chris Buitron, CEO and president of Mosquito Authority® (www.mosquito-authority.com). “Those that survived can use innovations they came up with during the pandemic to generate new opportunities and drive revenue.

“But there is a lot of uncertainty still ahead in the business world, and strategy should be a combination of honest reflection and a deep study of where your industry and audience currently are.”

Buitron has these five tips for small businesses to improve or keep their momentum going in 2021:

• Fine-tune your messaging. Research shows that effective branding is connected with a company’s authenticity, so it’s important to coordinate messaging across all channels. “Your branding is your promise to customers,” Buitron says, “so you need to make sure all of your messaging is valid, consistent and on point. Every aspect of your branding should align to show iron-clad authenticity.”
• Maximize social media marketing through storytelling. Over half of social media users research brands they’re not familiar with, and keeping their attention is the key. Buitron says storytelling about the company on social media channels resonates with customers and can create a connection that leads to customer loyalty. “It connects to authenticity and its importance to customers,” Buitron says. “Use different forms, long and short, of your company’s story – vignettes and quotes in your social media marketing, a complete version on your website. Humanize; let potential customers see the people behind the brand and the people your company has helped.”
• Emphasize customer service. Buitron notes that some companies that did well during the pandemic did so because they went the extra mile for customers. “Now take that lesson another step,” Buitron says. “People expect good customer service from a small business, which has more at stake and fewer resources than a large company. Customer service is how you hold onto them. Sometimes the customer service that has the most impact is that which provides an unexpected solution. Train your people to think outside the box and make it goal No. 1 to make customers much happier than they were before presenting you with a problem.”
• Focus on building and improving your team. “A successful company is built on the strength of its employees,” Buitron says. “Leaders need to see their people have passion for their jobs, which is essential to success in small business. If you have a great team, it can always be better, and it’s important they know that. This is no time to coast. Talk to your team leaders about gaps and opportunities. Invite discussion that promotes growth.”
• Keep adapting. “If companies big and small learned anything during the pandemic, it was about how to adapt,” Buitron says. “That concept doesn’t figure to change. Adaptability means being prepared to pivot whether you see big change coming or not. For example, a major switch to online sales by many companies was the only way they could survive. Then they learned how to offer more online services. Building on those changes, and finding creative ways to adjust to new customer demands, will continue to grow companies.”

“The pandemic made businesses think about their operations in a very in-depth way,” Buitron says. “Going forward, more small-business owners will be better positioned for success – if they really learned from what it took to survive 2020.”

Chris Buitron is CEO and 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).

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.