Many small businesses support extending the Cares Act payment of $600 to unemployed workers, reports the Guardian. 

About 30 million unemployed Americans are now on tenterhooks waiting to see if the $600-a-week federal unemployment benefit created by the Cares Act will be renewed.

Read the article on The Guardian

Small businesses are feeling the effects of the US Postal Service slowdown, reports Fox 8.

If you’ve been receiving less mail or late packages, you’re not alone. The U.S. Postal Service is experiencing delays all over the country.

Read the article on Fox 8

According to Barron’s the U.S. Government’s small business assistance program, Paycheck Protection Program, has officially ended. 

The U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program, which provided loans to help small businesses struggling during the Covid-19 recession, is about to end. 

Read the article on Barron’s

Watchdog group finds that many abused teh Paycheck Protection Program, reports Fox 6.

A report from the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration published on Tuesday details complaints of thousands of instances involving suspected fraud from financial institutions apparently receiving economic assistance from the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.

Read the article on Fox 6

As a small business, the coronavirus pandemic has presented countless challenges mainly as a result of lockdowns and social distancing restrictions. This has forced governments to come to the rescue by providing funding and tax breaks. Apart from the government, other organizations have also stepped in to help small businesses to survive and keep offering services during and after the virus. However, the biggest help for small business owners comes from the IRS in the form of tax credits. Some of the benefits that the IRS has promised to offer include new credits for the employers that include the employee retention credits and credits for paid sick leave and family leave. With these credits, you can save your small business from the effects of the pandemic while ensuring that your employees are protected as well. Here are some of the tax credits that can help you and how they work.

Employee retention credit

Employee retention credit is a refundable payroll tax credit that is paid retained to employees between March 13 and December 31, 2020. It is available for employers whose gross receipts decline compared with last year or those that have to shut down entirely or partially due to the orders by the government.  This credit amounts to 50% of as much as $10,000 in qualified wages paid to the employees. This includes planned expenses. However, due to the $10,000 wage cap, the maximum amount of the credit is $5,000 per employee. This package is applied using the employer’s share of Social Security and railroad retirement benefit taxes. However, since the amount is refundable, employers can refund even if it exceeds the taxes owed. For an employer to receive this credit and request an advance in the form of a check, they can reduce the amount of federal taxes that they are depositing.

Credits for paid sick leave and family leave

This is a new relief that provides options for the employees that get the coronavirus, those who must care for another person with the coronavirus or those who have to care for kids because their daycare or schools have shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. The employers that pay out the needed sick leave or family leave credits receive a credit for the full amount that is paid out. The circumstances under which employees qualify for the paid leave include:

• Those who cannot work due to quarantine or because they are suffering from the coronavirus symptoms or are waiting for diagnosis are eligible for up to 10 days of paid sick leave. The maximum payment is $511 a day, which translates to $5,110 for the ten days. 
• Employees that cannot work because they are taking care of a relative or a friend with coronavirus. It is also applicable to employees whose children become unavailable due to a coronavirus-related reason. Both these groups of employees are eligible for a $200 maximum payout daily and $2,000 in 10 days. 
• Employees who cannot go to work or work because they must attend to their children whose schools or daycare are closed due to the coronavirus-related issue also qualify for paid family and medical leave for up to 10 weeks. These employees qualify for up to a maximum of $200 daily and $10000 in 10 days.

As an employer, you can claim the entire amount paid out for this leave and any other health plan expenses. Please take advantage of these credits and their availability as this will make the difference in keeping your small business operations and keep critical members of staff on the payroll even when they are not working. This will be a win-win for the employees, the government, and your business in the long run.

Customers today want customization. From startups to big brands, most businesses today are providing their customers with unique options to personalize their products. The increased demand for mass customization is changing the nature of many industries, while also providing a new way to extend product lines and increase sales.  

Founded in 1965, American Cutting Edge (ACE) is an Ohio-based, privately held, family-owned company that specializes in manufacturing industrial knives and razors. Over the years, the company grew due to our ability to manufacture custom products to fit our customers’ needs. The ability to offer custom industrial knife and blade design improved the customer experience and satisfaction and allowed American Cutting Edge to become a leading brand in all things knives and blades. In fact, a third of our sales today come from custom requests.

From the beginning, American Cutting Edge understood that customer experience is a reflection of a company’s internal processes. Just as customers demand an effortless experience from the products they purchase, they also expect the same in their business relationships. As the business continued to grow, we needed to ensure profitability, growth and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Streamlining with a Modern Cloud Platform

During the process of reorganizing three separate businesses into one, the ACE management team decided it was time to streamline divisions in order to prevent internal siloes. By modernizing finance software with Sage 100cloud, ACE now has the ability to support finance, accounting, sales, purchasing, and warehouse operations seamlessly across multiple lines of business and place more focus on our customers. Sage has provided American Cutting Edge with significant business value through savings in time and resources.

Shortly after ACE implemented Sage 100, we attempted to have the software conform to our prior processes. However, this revealed how broken some existing processes were and didn’t make for the best use of the software. This required us to take a step back, re-evaluate our processes and use of the system, and reformulate some key processes. By doing so, we were able to establish best business practices that more effectively leveraged the capabilities of Sage 100cloud.

Improving Processes and Increasing Visibility

Through well-defined processes and a focus on data integrity, American Cutting Edge has been able to extend our visibility far beyond financials. For sales, having visibility into daily, weekly, and monthly performance metrics is critical. We set clear sales goals, and by using Sage more effectively, our teams can now publish a Daily Sales Report (DSR), which shows goals, bookings, shipments and margin by specific salespeople, giving a 360 view on our operations, from sales to the shipment of the product. This data is used to produce a monthly trend and pace report that gives the company a full view of revenue by salesperson.

Through the introduction of automated processes and well-defined best practices, the Sage platform provided us with real-time visibility, a strong data-driven culture and an increase in efficiency. By implementing Sage 100cloud at American Cutting Edge, we were able to:

• • Reduce administrative personnel from seven full-time to three full-time and one part-time saving more than $100,000 annually
• • Reduce excess inventory
• • Reduce cash conversion cycle by nearly half

Sage 100cloud has allowed American Cutting Edge to increase its focus externally, enabling us to build a strategy centered around how we can make the customer experience more effortless. Customers today expect that treatment and if a company can deliver it, your business will be at a significant competitive advantage. In order to achieve this, organizations have to look inwards. By deploying the Sage 100cloud system more effectively, our organization has become more effective and efficient. Understanding the needs and challenges of their team members and the organization as a whole was critical to the improvements as was getting the users involved in the solution creation process.

Gregory Billhardt, President and COO at American Cutting Edge

If you’re not familiar with accounting or financial statements for a company, just looking at them can be intimidating. Even once you’ve figured out things like gross margin, cost of goods, and cash on hand, there are other line items that will still cause you to scratch your head, like amortization.

What Is Amortization?

Amortization can be a useful tool, but it’s also an abstract concept. While it’s a very tangible line item, it represents spreading a one-time payment over time which may feel counterintuitive to accounting practices that track expenses in real time.

Amortization doesn’t appear on a cash flow statement because the cash is typically laid out up front. Instead, this line item is found on the balance sheet. Amortization is a company’s way of showing the value of a (usually large) one-time payment that represents a benefit for a long period of time.

Understanding The Abstract

For instance, if your supplier has a great idea for a new product of yours, you may want to buy the rights to that intellectual property from them. There’s not a physical ‘thing’ that trades hands, but the IP is still worth what you and the seller agree it is worth. Continuing with our example, if you estimate that the IP is going to be valuable to your company for 5 years, that is how long you would amortize the payment to the seller. So, if you paid $50,000 for the IP, you would have $10,000 amortized on each of your next 5 years’ balance sheets.

So why doesn’t that $50,000 you paid appear in cash flow? Shouldn’t that appear as a $50,000 expense on all of your financial statements? The short answer is, ‘no’. It should appear on your cash flow for the period that you spent the cash. You no longer have the $50K cash, so that needs to be accurately represented because cash is king, and if you don’t keep good track of cash on hand, your balance sheets can look flush even as you’re struggling to cut payroll.

Putting It To Good Use

As long as you keep your eye on your cash flow, Amortization is a critical tool for measuring the health of your company. Amortizing these 1-time spends across the useful life of the asset helps level out how your business is doing on your balance and income statements.

Amortizing the $50,000 spent on the IP in our example above across all of your monthly income statements helps show how much this new product is adding to the top line, and then how much is being depleted from your bottom line by the cost of the IP, month over month or year over year.

This also gives your management team a powerful tool to know when to pull the lever on buying new trademarks, license agreements, or intellectual property, or when to hold fast so that you don’t over-leverage yourself with every ‘great’ idea that comes your way. If you are already over-budget on amortization because your R&D team got overzealous in buying up IP, you know it’s time to pump the brakes until some of that spending shows in your finances as payments completed, or fully amortized.

Cultivating a culture of innovation should be a top priority for every enterprise. While this may sound simple, it’s one of the most difficult accomplishments to achieve in practice. Halloran Consulting is no stranger to fostering a culture of innovation within its business. The life science regulatory, quality and clinical consulting firm has seen revenue growth of nearly 200 percent since 2014, winning a spot on Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies for five consecutive years and most recently awarded a digital leadership title by Ventana Research.

However, success doesn’t come without its pain points. The 100-person firm initially faced significant challenges with disjointed information across its multiple systems — financial data in QuickBooks, sales data in Salesforce CRM, and project data in NetSuite OpenAir professional services automation (PSA). That level of fragmentation prevented Halloran Consulting from having a unified view across its project-based business. That meant the organization had limited insights into its operations, could not entirely trust the integrity of its data and was forced to rely heavily on multi-tab Excel spreadsheets to generate basic financial reports.

Success Begins with Delivering Value

Professional services firms face the challenge of delivering value to clients while managing and growing their business profitably. The lack of integration and efficiency drove the Boston-based firm to review its processes and take concrete measures to eliminate the systems that did not contribute to helping the organization succeed. Halloran Consulting chose Sage Intacct for the value its technology brought to the company and its clients - where the firm used to get piecemeal information regarding the financial health of its operations, with Sage Intacct, it was able to access real-time financial data and react quickly to sudden changes that could impact its business growth.

Another catalyst in the company’s transformation has been the elimination of hours of manual work. The firm was able to cut down its monthly financial close from 20 days to 10 while also reducing other financial processes that used to take several days and are now completed in just hours. In doing so, the firm was able to dedicate more time to analyzing its data and implemented a new billing model that increased the company’s profit by $4 million and introduced new efficiencies across its finance function, opening $1 million in new monthly cash flow.

Digital Transformation starts with Finance

The role of the CFO has seen significant changes in the last five years. A recent survey found that three-quarters of financial decision-makers drive digital transformation within their business and 73% of those financial decision-makers believe emerging technologies have a big impact on their ability to forecast and develop strategic financial planning.

One of the biggest value add to using innovative technologies is time. The time that would have otherwise been spent manually crunching scenarios or editing endless spreadsheets can now allow finance teams to invest their skills to help drive growth and become a strategic partner to the business. When technology is used to its full potential, finance teams can be empowered to operate at varying altitudes - either flipping easily between granular project data that cater to project managers or highly critical data that an executive team will be interested in. 

The willingness to deploy new technologies is highly dependent on the types of culture that exist across any organization. An organization that values innovation and understands that access to real-time, actionable and relevant data are key ingredients to driving performance and success will be able to thrive in today’s highly competitive, collaborative, and distributed business world.

Tania Zieja, CFO, Halloran Consulting

With technology evolving at such a rapid pace, some business owners are left digitally disoriented as they try to figure out which of the latest innovations they need to invest in and what they can ignore. It can make for confusing times.

All that bewilderment aside, though, these fast-developing advances also create opportunities that can help small and medium-sized businesses become more competitive – if they understand how to seize them.

“Technology exists today that at one time was available only to large corporations with huge technology budgets,” says Chris Hoose (www.choosenetworks.com), an IT consultant who works with small businesses.

“Every year, technology becomes even more accessible to companies of all sizes.”

Hoose says businesses that want to stay on top of their games should make sure they invest in these technological trends, if they haven’t already:

The Internet of Things. Many Internet of Things-connected devices, such as smart refrigerators and thermostats, are designed for home use, but there are also applications for small businesses, Hoose says. Some examples: smart locks use digital keys that can’t be lost or stolen, and log a record of who uses a door and when; RFID tags on merchandise can prevent theft and automatically update inventory; and mobile-card readers can replace cash registers.

Artificial intelligence. Don’t be fooled into thinking that AI is something only the big organizations can afford to use, Hoose says. “It’s making inroads into technologies accessible for businesses of all sizes,” he says. “AI can help you offer increasingly personalized experiences to customers by maximizing your time and automating manual tasks, like data entry.” AI also can be used to improve decision making, Hoose says. Essentially, AI will help you take that jumble of data most businesses have and analyze it in a way that allows you to make better-informed judgments on the actions you need to take.

Telecommuting. The office world is changing and more workers spend at least a portion of their work week telecommuting. “In many cases remote employees use their own equipment, which can eliminate some of the company’s costs with purchasing and maintaining computers, printers and mobile phones,” Hoose says. Video conferencing, instant messaging and other advances are helping to make telecommuting a viable option, he says.

Customer-relationship-management (CRM) software. Any application that a business uses to interact with customers, analyze data, or recommend products and services to customers is “part of the CRM family,” Hoose says. “This type of software helps your team manage, control and build customer relationships,” he says. “It can log your team’s touchpoints with prospects, including emails, phone calls, voicemails and in-person meetings. You can have a complete record of your team’s interaction with a prospect that’s easy for anyone to access.”

Voice search. Consumers increasingly are making use of such AI assistants as Siri or Alexa to help them do internet searches using their voices. “Voice search is changing the way people find information because these queries are structured differently than when we type terms into a search engine,” Hoose says.

“Organizations of all types can benefit from optimizing their content to improve where they fall in a voice search.”

“To help propel your business going forward, it’s important to stay abreast of technology innovation,” Hoose says. “These technologies will help you expand your customer base, create more efficient in-house processes, and increase engagement from both customers and staff.”

Chris Hoose (www.choosenetworks.com) is the president of Choose Networks, an IT consulting firm for small businesses. Hoose started the company in 2001 to give large-scale solutions and support to businesses that can’t afford their own in-house IT department. He earned a Master of Information Systems Management from Friends University.

There comes a time when your side hustle is ready to become a full business. You will realize the importance of this step most if you are dealing with customers or creditors. There are two particularly common structures for small businesses to follow. On the one hand, we have Limited Liability Companies (LLC), and on the other, S-Corporations (S-Corp).

Limited Liability Companies

What does an LLC entitle?           

• Legal protection:
  • Assuming there is no co-mingling of funds.
• Pass-through entities:
  • There is no income tax at the corporate level.
• Members can freely draw money from the company:
  • This will not be taxed as compensation.
• No salary requirements.
• Members can be individuals or entities.
• No corporate regulations.
• Profits are subject to self-employment taxes.
• No separate income tax returns are required if there is only one member.
• S-Corporation elections, if needed.

 S-Corporations

 What does an S-Corp entitle?

• Legal protection:
  • Assuming there is no co-mingling of funds, and if compliant with regulations.
• Pass-through entities:
  • There is no income tax at the corporate level.
• Owners can make tax-free distributions:
  • This will not be taxed as dividends.
• Salary requirements:
  • It can be reasonably determined by owners.
• Shareholders can only be individuals:
  • Maximum: 100 shareholders.
• Corporate regulations:
  • There must be annual shareholders meetings.
  • Elections for officers with minutes.
  • Issue stock to shareholders.
• Profits are subject to self-employment taxes.
• Separate tax returns are required.

When taking your side hustle to the next level and registering your side hustle as a full business, you protect your personal assets from those of the business. In the event of any lawsuit or bankruptcy, your personal assets will not be at risk—provided there is no comingling of assets. Aside from this, registering your entity will allow for tax-preferred retirement savings. This means you can establish a solo 401k plan, which comprises a salary deferral contribution and a profit-sharing contribution.

My professional recommendation to take your side hustle to the next level is to begin by structuring your business as an LLC. This is extremely recommendable if you are unsure of the direction of the business, or if you are a single owner or member. In this scenario, you will not be bound by corporate regulations and will not have to file a separate tax return. Once you notice your business has become profitable, you would be able to move on to an S-Corp to enjoy its tax benefits and set salaries to avoid potential audits.

Mirel Barcelo is the founder and owner of Corp 1, LLC, where she offers her comprehensive services as a CPA in Florida.

Barcelo comes from extensive education and experience in accounting. She graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s in accounting, as well as an Executive Master in science of taxation. Barcelo then went on to become a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida.

Her company, Corp 1, LLC., specializes in personal and corporate income tax services, IRS audit management and representation, tax preparation, accounting educational course programs, and sales tax compliance. Barcelo also offers accounting and bookkeeping services, compliance consulting, corporate services, and notary services. For more information, please visit https://corp1llc.com/

Congratulations – you and a few business partners just launched your new company. The next few months that follow will be a whirlwind of getting your business off the ground from fundraising to purchasing equipment and hiring employees. Too say you’ll be busy is an understatement. But don’t forget – no matter how hectic things are –create a shareholder agreement to protect yourself and your company.

A shareholder’s agreement is an agreement between shareholders that dictate what will happen should a shareholder leave voluntarily or involuntarily, or the company ceases to exist. This essentially protects each individual in the long run. If a shareholder agreement has not been created and an individual decides to leave the company things can get messy.

First things first- before you begin to draft your agreement it’s important that you hire a lawyer that has your best interests at heart. Your lawyer will make sure are not going to be taken advantage of if you ever decide to leave the company or get pushed out by the other shareholders.

While there are many shareholder agreements that you can find on the web, I’d recommend you consult a lawyer even if the agreement is between you and one other person. This isn’t something that you want to rush.

After you speak to a lawyer – the next thing to do to is decide what rules and regulations should be included in the document. What are the voting rights of the shareholders? Do decisions have to be agreed upon unanimously or is a majority agreement sufficient? 

Depending on how many shareholders you have- they all may have different responsibilities within the organization. You will want to include those in the shareholder’s agreement. In the agreement you will want to detail financial obligations, percentages of each shareholders, how to transfer shares, what happens if a shareholder were to die, commitments of each shareholders, and how to handle potential disputes.

In the document you will want to cover any situations you may encounter. For instance, franchising, or purchasing property. Decisions agreed upon now – will make the business run efficiently should these issues occur in the future.

It is also important to outline financing details. For instance, how is your organization going to obtain funds? Can shareholders put some of their capital into the business? What happens if the business should go bankrupt? Are shareholders obligated to pay that debt from their personal assets? These are questions that you will want answered in the shareholder’s agreement.

Finally, you will want some type of exit strategy within the document. This could document what would happen if the business goes bankrupt, if the shareholders get into a dispute or if a shareholder simply wants to leave. Negotiating now will make for a smooth transition should a shareholder leave the company.

Before you sign a shareholder agreement, have your lawyer take one last look at it to make sure your rights are protected in the case that you would like to sell your shares or you are asked to leave.

Purpose, by its nature, is defined as the reason for existing and goes beyond making money.  It is about people coming together to make an impact in something they believe in with the trust that revenue and growth will follow, rather than as an end in itself. To be a  ‘purpose-driven’ organization, companies need to stand for something and look to positively impact society. “Innovation cannot advance in a positive direction,” Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce recently said,

 “unless it’s grounded in genuine and continued efforts to lift up all of humanity.”

Here are 3 steps to re-capture your purpose to drive long-term results in these uncertain times: 

Go back to your WHY.

Now, more than ever, companies need to revisit and return to their purpose /  WHY / core values. During hard times, leadership is forced to make quick and tough decisions. By going back to their purpose, each choice can be tied to the long-term vision of the company and help avoid costly short-term/knee-jerk decisions. “So many businesses are lost right now. At BirdEye we are focused on navigating these uncharted waters by focusing on our core values  - customer obsession, family spirit, world-class and innovation.” said President & COO, Dave Lehman “Purpose-driven results are measured by the impact we have on our customers and partners. That way, we can all get through this together.”

Connect employees with a vision they can believe in and embrace.

As leaders quickly pivot a company's direction and change priorities, the stories and reasons behind the change matters. When teams and individual contributors understand how their roles fit into the company’s WHY, everyone feels part of a greater good and can own the company’s key messages. Executives can’t be connected with every customer directly, so it’s critical to  empower employees with a foundation to go and expand the brand. Research by Bain & Company shows that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100% and an engaged employee’s level is 144%, the productivity level of an employee that is truly inspired by the company’s purpose is an impressive 225%.

Show empathy and advise with humility.

Emotionally connect with your customers and focus on how they are managing in this time of great uncertainty. Ask the personal questions and be willing to spend time sharing your personal stories first. Selling in this environment is about doubling down on fixing their problems and addressing their concerns rather than pushing your products or services. In these unprecedented times, authentically connecting and helping your customers is the only way to drive business.  For example, IKEA wants “to create a better everyday life for the many people” and Southwest Airlines strives to “‘connect people to what’s most important in their lives.”  In essence, a company should be selling their vision and aligning their purpose with their customers. Human beings need to feel connected.  People will remember how we act today more than any product or service they buy from us.

Businesses that embrace the idea of purpose and profit being intertwined are companies that will drive innovation and achieve long-term success.  Leadership needs to communicate more than ever that we are in this together, reinforcing that the company is truly a community that shares the same core values.

JANEL DYAN is a well-regarded executive brand strategist and expert on how to build a story to achieve brand alignment for both company and leadership success. She founded Janel Dyan, Inc. (JD) in 2014, which provides transformative brand strategy and style consultation to high-visibility clients across various industries. Her work has been seen by millions through public experiences at Fortune 500 companies, the United Nations, and the World Economic Forums, among others. Dyan also runs Beyond Us, which provides opportunities to build confidence in women through a platform for sharing clothes with other women who are ready to take the next step in their professional lives. Dyan resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two sons.

Learn more about Dyan by visiting her website and connecting with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Story. Style. Brand. is available now on Amazon.

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.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the economy hard, and people who are nearing retirement or already retired are feeling the stress. “COVID-19 has caused a lot of retirees and those approaching retirement to rethink their plan for retirement,” says Dennis Notchick, a certified financial planner for Stratos Wealth Advisors (www.dn.stratoswealthadvisors.com). “Falling interest rates, massive volatility in the stock market, and stifled economic growth are having a massive effect on psychology.”

“A plan created years ago may not be as efficient when interest rates were much higher and the economy was in better shape. Stress testing your current retirement plan adapted to the post-COVID-19 world can show if you’re positioned to weather this storm or in need of an update.”

Notchick suggests the following tips to re-evaluate a retirement plan and perhaps retool it to withstand the effects of COVID-19:

 Take precise inventory of expenses. “Sometimes people don’t realize how much they are actually spending,” Notchick says. “When they lay it out, they’re shocked. For accurate retirement income planning you must have good data to understand where the money goes each month –everything it takes to live, plus discretionary expenses. A dollar saved is a dollar earned and is more important now that ever.”

Check asset location and effects on taxes. “Tax planning in retirement is critical to understand,” Notchick says. “It’s about knowing how the different accounts are taxed in conjunction with other income streams like Social Security benefits, rental income, pensions, etc. A savings account will be taxed differently than a Roth IRA, which will be different than a 401(k), or SEP IRA. Another important point to remember is that dividends, interest and capital gains may not be taxed equally, some can be taxed as high as your ordinary tax rate, and some may be completely tax free. Income tax planning in retirement will expose any tax-planning missteps.”

Bridge the retirement income gap. Notchick points out the need to tailor retirement plans for the inevitable costs of aging, some health related as well. Income diversification ensures a strong, well-built plan. “If you have an income shortfall in retirement, where will that come from?” Notchick asks. “It may make sense to use a variety of income sources like dividends, capital gains and income from an annuity.”

Re-assess your risk tolerance. “Some investors may have been complacent over the past year; markets kept going up and nobody worries about markets going up.” Notchick says. “COVID-19 changed that, not only is there more inherent risk in the stock market, but because of the zero interest-rate policy enacted by the Federal Reserve, interest-rate risk is high. When rates move back up, bond prices will go down. This has also caused more risk-taking because the interest rates are so low on bonds of all maturities and when you take inflation into account, you are actually going backwards.”

Ask these questions. “Does fear of loss or stability keep you up at night? At this stage of your life, how much risk do you need to achieve your goals? Failing to plan is planning for failure,” Notchick says. “This applies to all aspects of life, including retirement.”

“Holistic financial planning for retirement ensures all parts of the financial plan are working together – investments, taxes, estate planning, etc.” Notchick says. “The pandemic has made the picture murky for some in retirement, but an updated retirement roadmap will allow you to get to your retirement destination with clarity.

Dennis Notchick, a certified financial planner for Stratos Wealth Advisors (www.dn.stratoswealthadvisors.com), has been serving high net-worth families and business owners since 2008. A certified financial planner since 2010, Notchick has worked with well-respected firms on Wall Street and provides consulting on investment management, retirement planning and holistic financial planning. He’s been published or mentioned in numerous online financial publications, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and TheStreet.

It’s a good strategy to be forward-thinking and plan for the future, so now is a fine time to consider future vacation ideas. Not only will you have something exciting to look forward to, but you may need a longer lead time to put one of these plans in motion.

There are few places on Earth that are more remote, exotic, and accessible as Hawaii. With direct flights from almost all major US cities, and no passport required, Hawaii is a great destination to feel like you have left the monotony of day-to-day life behind. What’s even more exciting about getting to the most far-flung US State is that there are multiple islands, with 4 very different vacation styles for every taste. The big island offers no shortage of adventures, from walking across a volcano to snorkeling with sea turtles and manta rays, to tropical hikes with breathtaking waterfalls. Oahu provides the familiar hustle and bustle of city life with picturesque beaches. Maui is the most popular destination, with relaxing beaches and lively nightlife both. Finally, Kawaii is the most relaxing and serene of the islands.

If you prefer to stay in the continental US, the Southwest has plenty of adventure! From riding dune buggies through the desert to a train ride to the Grand Canyon, there is a right-pace adventure for everyone. Relax in a hot air balloon over Albuquerque or relive the old west with a trip through Tombstone, Arizona and other gold-rush towns. Few images are as inspiring as a desert sunset over the mountains, and once the sun goes down, the action never stops in Las Vegas.

Stretching along the Coast, there’s many options for a memorable vacation. Traveling to New England may seem like quite a change of pace, but there is plenty to keep one busy from Maine down to Connecticut along the coast. Enjoy a lobster dinner on the oceanside, hike through some of the nations oldest states and national forests, and get lost in miles of winding roads. Boston or Portland make perfect bases of operation to go a few hours north to the backwoods of Maine or to enjoy the finest foods from a wide variety of different cultures right in Boston or Providence.

While you won’t be able to enjoy an ocean view, the Midwest offers plenty of excitement as well. The mighty Mississippi touches 10 different states, each one with different scenery to enjoy. Whether you’re up for rugged hiking in Minnesota or a leisurely cruise on the river in Louisiana, the Mississippi River has dozens of perfect destinations along it’s 2320 miles. St. Louis boasts some of the region’s best museums while Memphis, Tennessee is a must-see for Elvis fans everywhere.

No matter where your interests take you, across our vast nation, there are ideal vacation destinations to be had. From coast to coast, you can’t go wrong planning your vacation in any region. Take your mind off any current worries, let your dreams loose, and plan ahead.