White House job summit: Obama pushes business – Money
“‘The number 1 priority is to get banks lending to small businesses because small businesses create the majority of jobs in the United States,’ [Google's Eric] Schmidt said.” This quote comes from the article in CNN’s Money.com (link above).
Finally! Is Washington beginning to “get it”? The answer to the economic situation is supporting small businesses to permit them to grow unfettered, despite the fact they don’t have the big-bucks lobbyists. But will those Wall Street refugees in Treasury really understand? I didn’t when I was drinking the Corporate America Kool-aid.
If ever there was a time for small business owners like you and me to contact our representatives, now is it! And we need to be clear about what we’re asking. This country was built on the backs of small businesses across the land – please afford us the same considerations you gave the amoral Wall Street investment bankers last year.
written by Nancy Chorpenning
If you don’t have an ARC loan, you’re not alone!
The America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program was introduced in June 2009 by the US Small Business Administration “to provide up to $35,000 in short-term relief for viable small businesses facing immediate financial hardship to help ride out the current uncertain economic times and return to profitability.” Only 2715 loans had been approved through September 15 across the nation.
Catherine Clifford, writing in CNNMoney.com, explains that big lenders are foot-dragging or opting out from participating in this lending program altogether – there is a lot of paperwork for relatively little bank profit -”only” 2 percentage points over prime from the SBA to the banks. (So much for anything resembling gratitude for the TARP money we taxpayers gave the banks!). One of the biggest shockers she uncovers is how few lenders are participating – only 400 lenders as of September. The SBA lists those lenders participating in the ARC pr0gram as of October 5 by state on their site.
Even if you do find a lender who participates, the process is taking months to get a response. Ironic, when one considers how quickly billions went to bail out Wall Street.
So good luck! But don’t count on this program to be a panacea for your business.
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: ARC Loans, ARC progam, SBA, small business loans
It may be a fact of life for your business. To keep your doors open, you may have had to furlough or even lay off some employees. No one likes to do that. Even when you jettison marginal performers, no one enjoys the process, least of all the business owner.
If it DOES happen to you, are you aware that the layoff isn’t the end of the process? What about those employees who are still with you? Oh, they’re lucky to have a job, you might say. But they are scared no matter what you say or do – and who can blame them?
To protect your business, you need to take several more affirmative steps. Most won’t cost you any money, but they do require effort and caring. Continue reading »
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: employee retention, employees, layoffs, motivation
How to Innovate in a Downturn – WSJ.com
What do nylon, Hewlett-Packard and the iPod have in common? Would you believe they all launched during a major financial downturn?
Excellent article by Harvard B School Prof and McKinsey partner Bhaskar Chakravorti from the Wall Street Journal, chastening entrepreneurs that this is NOT the time to hunker down. Rather, “There is considerable anecdotal evidence that crises can be catalysts for creativity.”
Need help “making lemonade”? Chakravorti’s article will do it!
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: Business Development
Practically Speaking – Small Businesses Critical of Stimulus Bills – NYTimes.com
If you’re a small business owner, chances are this headline resonates. The author of this NYTimes article quantifies the sense that many of us have had about the stimuli under discussion: “only 0.05 percent of the House bill is dedicated to small-business lending programs, and the Senate version is only slightly better.”
Yikes.
Our (C-Suite Advisors) clients most certainly exemplify the engine small businesses are to the economy. They are hiring people, and spending to develop their business and be ready to take advantage of opportunities that are the other side of this recession. But are they getting the same kind of help as Wall Street, Detroit, and Washington? Not on your life. They are working smarter and staying hopeful to be sure.
Now may be the time to write your Congressional representatives!
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: recession, small business, stimulus package
How Obama’s SBA Chief May Change the Agency – BusinessWeek: ”
Good overview article in Business Week about an Obama appointment. Karen Mills has good Corporate business roots, coming from family business Tootsie Roll (no joke!) to earning a Harvard MBA (we Kellogg alums will try not to hold that against her), then tours at General Foods, McKinsey, and starting up an equity firm. Does she really understand the demands on smaller businesses? That remains to be seen. With an impressive pedigree, she will be taking on a role that will get more scrutiny than her predecessors.
Let’s hope she hits it out of the park!
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: Karen Mills, SBA, Small Business Administration
2009 Will Be an Economic Engine for Change
Interesting article from HBR Online, predicting the coming year will be “an economic engine for change.”
Author Jeff Stibel offers some historical examples supporting his point that economic upheavals create the greatest opportunities. I rather like his analogy with forest fires as a necessary part of nature’s life-cycle, this may “clear some underbrush” that isn’t contributing but is using resources.
Economic contraction creates market dislocation, i.e., recession upsets the status quo in a free market system. And ergo, opportunities. As I alluded to in an earlier post, the TRICK of all this is of course figuring out the right thing, the right way, at the right time. Bon chance to us all!
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: Business Development, recession
Angel Investing Down
Check out this article in Inc.com. Maybe not a huge surprise but economic uncertainty is impacting the private equity world. But there are some recession-resistent markets for startups that may disprove the rule: green technologies, renewable energy, and health care, to name but a few.
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: Angel Investor, equity, Investors
Don’t Skimp On Ad Budgets – Forbes.com:
So you read or heard the news the other day (and I use the term “news” loosely) – the US is in a recession and has been since December of ‘07. I’m so glad there’s a group of academics poised to tell us such things!
More helpful is the advice from Knowledge@Wharton via Forbes.com: Now is not the time to slash your ad budget! This harkens back to what I’ve preached for some time (see my Oct 15 post) but it is very hard for most small business owners to buy into. It takes particular intestinal fortitude this season, but this is precisely when it has the potential to pay off the Continue reading »
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: Advertising, long-term planning, Planning
It is well established that concentrated attention and focused thought are more productive than the start-and-stop too many of our days are like. That working in dribs and drabs is also a common symptom of business owners who work IN their business more than they work ON their business, then wonder why they never make progress.
Try setting aside time regularly as you plan each day – or each week, minimally – when you Continue reading »
written by Nancy Chorpenning
\\ tags: business planning, Focus, Time Management
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