A new coronavirus relief bill will provide $284 billion in loans for small businesses. Here are some key details.

President Donald Trump has signed into law a new $900 billion coronavirus relief and stimulus package. Among its provisions: An extension of last spring’s Paycheck Protection Program, allowing another $284 billion or so in forgivable, federally backed loans for ailing small businesses.

The initial program, overseen by the U.S. Department of Treasury and Small Business Administration, shepherded some $525 billion to more than 5 million recipients but was fraught with loopholes and liabilitiesthat raised countless issues throughout an already complex process.

The new Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venues Act clarifies questions about the loan process, but also adds rules about applying for new loans and seeking forgiveness for old ones. The bill gives the Small Business Administration 10 days to implement the new rules, so more specific rules could be coming. Until then, borrowers should turn to their lenders for guidance.

Here are some answers to questions business owners might have.

How does this round of loans differ from the last one?

Some aspects are broadly the same. Applicants have between eight and 24 weeks to use the funds, with at least 60 percent going toward payroll and the rest toward eligible expenses like rent and utilities.

New loans are capped at $2 million, compared to $10 million before. Applicants must have no more than 300 employees, instead of up to 500, and must demonstrate at least a 25 percent drop in revenues from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the same period this year.

The bill expands the type of covered expenses to include things like cloud computing or remote-work software; and equipment for government-mandated sanitation and social-distancing, like sneeze guards or air filtration systems. It even covers “property damage and vandalism or looting due to public disturbances that occurred during 2020.”

One notable aspect of the new bill that’s not directly tied to new loans is an expansion of the employee retention tax credit, a facet of the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act that encouraged employers not to shed jobs. Originally, businesses that got Paycheck Protection Program loans were not eligible to claim that credit. Now they are.

If I already got one loan, can I get another one?

Yes. These are called “second draw” loans, and as long as you meet the qualifications above, you can apply. The deadline for all new loans is March 31.

Are any businesses eligible for more help than others?

New loan amounts are determined by a formula that involves payroll costs multiplied by a factor of 2.5 (again, capped at $2 million). Restaurants and other hospitality businesses may multiply those costs by 3.5, making them eligible for slightly more funding.

The bill restricts certain companies from applying for loans, including businesses specializing in political or lobbying activities — like the Florida Democratic Party, which received, then returned, $780,000 the last time around. Also excluded: Businesses with extensive dealings in China, or who have China residents on their boards.

Concert venues, theaters and museums, which had long lobbied for additional aid, are not eligible for new Paycheck Protection Program loans, but can apply for special “Shuttered Venue Operator Grants” worth up to $10 million.

How will this impact my existing forgiveness application?

If you got more than $150,000, it probably won’t. If you got less, the process should be much easier.

A few weeks ago, the government simplified forgiveness applications for businesses that got less than $50,000, requiring only a description of how much loan money was spent on payroll, and how many employees the recipient was able to retain as a result. The new bill ups that limit to $150,000. Affected businesses will not need to submit documentation supporting their claims, but should keep it on hand in case of an audit down the line.

If you’ve already applied for and received forgiveness, none of the new provisions apply — you’re done. But you can try to get a second loan.

By Jay Cridlin

THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL ADVICE WHEN STARTING A BUSINESS

Understand the importance of financial advice when starting your own business

THE AMERICAN TRUTH

Understand the importance of financial consulting when starting your own business.

When starting your own business, you need to keep in mind how to invest your initial capital and how to maintain cash flow, so that your company continues generating income and is potentially recognized in the market. For that, it is essential to analyze and organize your finances with the assistance of a specialized financial consultant. With a good financial planning, it will be easier to make large investments in order to ensure your company’s success.

1. What is the meaning of financial consulting?

It is necessary to first identify its literal meaning in order to have a better notion of consulting. The word consulting comes from “receiving or giving advice”, which means the branch of activity that will help someone, or in this case an entrepreneur, to diagnose financial problems and solutions to leverage results and prospect your business. Furthermore, it is the financial consultant who evaluates the data of your finances to seek strategies that may keep them more organized, so that your company is safe to invest and also ready to face the challenges of the market.

2. Build a good financial plan

Every entrepreneur needs to build a good financial plan to achieve his/her goals based on an appropriate level of organization. This will help them avoid going bankrupt due to lack of efficient financial management and it will make your company stands out. Regardless of whether the entrepreneur owns a small, medium or large company, to be successful you must start by separating personal and business finances, record excessive expenses and spending, set prices for services according to what the market demands, have a cash flow, pay attention to payroll, among other initiatives that help keeping your company running. Therefore, for this financial plan to work, it is necessary to rely on the help of a financial consultancy that will make the entrepreneur understand the direction his/her company is going. As a smart act that will add value to the success of your business.

3. How is the financial consulting conducted?

Many entrepreneurs expect to be almost bankrupt and full of problems to seek financial advice, but it does not have to be this way. Before starting a business it is essential to identify the points you need to improve in your company’s financial life to prevent future situations that could put everything to lose. When hiring this service, the consultant will visit your business and compile a detailed data sheet, analyzing the inflows and outflows of money, and assembling a report with the entire financial routine that the entrepreneur provides. Afterwards, the consultant will assemble a diagnosis with all the information to propose actions and strategies to help improve your company.

4. What Do Consultants Do?

The consultant’s work is simple: he will impartially analyze the company’s situation, suggesting changes and understanding the company’s profitability to enable the healthy growth of your business. With his help, the entrepreneur will be able to make more assertive decisions about which direction the company wants to take. In addition, the suggestions may impact several areas of the business such as feasibility, administration and investments.

Now that you, entrepreneur, already know the importance of having the support of a financial consultancy, search for a good company and do not waste more time in bureaucratic processes alone. A good financial management at the beginning of your business, will make you climb higher mountains towards success. Investing in financial consulting will make your company more stable and consequently easier to manage.

The dream of many Brazilians is to have a business and become a successful entrepreneur, but due to lack of planning, things can go out of plan and the result is companies closing their doors with less than a year in the market. According to the Service of Support to Micros and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE), 20% close for lack of capital and 7% for lack of profit in business, leading to the belief that companies close their doors for lack of proper management. Many small entrepreneurs start a business on their own, without the support of specialized entities and associations to give the necessary support in the beginning as well as lack of basic concepts of administration, stock, cash flow and accounting, making it hard to keep the business running for a long time.

For a business to have the expected success it is necessary to plan and organize internal projects, making the management more professional and efficient. Turning the company into a formal one makes the small entrepreneur get ahead of the competition and invest in the quality of his business. But why can’t companies maintain themselves?

1 – Difficulty in planning

The first months of a company’s life are considered the most difficult ones, since they need to have a name that impacts the market. With limited money and an unknown name on the market, any mistake leads to greater instability in keeping the company open. Therefore, in order to avoid such mistakes, it is essential to structure a business plan considering the target audience, competition, costs and as many variables as possible, to prevent the unforeseen events that may arise along the way.

2 – Copy business models

Inspiration is the key to creating new ideas, but many new entrepreneurs end up more than just getting inspired and fully copying the competitor’s business model. This attitude leads to failure, as the entrepreneur neglects the importance of adapting formulas to his own reality.

3 – Develop an incompatible planning with your reality

One of the main mistakes of the new entrepreneur is the development of a business plan that is different from the reality in which the company lives, adding very high values and thinking about reaching a high audience in a short period of time. This leads the entrepreneur to not achieve the expected results. Therefore, it is crucial for the company’s success and growth to study the market, understand the target audience, the branch of activity and the products it may offer, without running away from reality.

4 – Lack of experience

It is not necessary to have been an entrepreneur before to start a new business, but it is very important that the entrepreneur has skills and is aware of what he can do to leverage his business or what to do when facing a crisis. A solid professional training and coaching help to keep the company’s life much healthier. Invest in online courses, meetings, lectures and any range of information that can help build a better company.

5 – Lack of follow-up

The inspection of all your company’s activities is essential to understand what is happening. Many entrepreneurs close down activities early because they delegate functions and do not closely follow the work being done. The main ingredient of a successful business is work, so it is essential that the work of employees and collaborators is supervised, the accounts are reviewed and the entrepreneur follows closely the company’s revenues and expenses.

6 – Not segregating personal accounts from company accounts

This may be the main mistake of entrepreneurs: mixing the company’s accounts with personal finances. This act can result in great difficulty in the financial control of the company, creating irreversible mistakes, which could result in bankruptcy. Mixing personal accounts with company accounts may also bring future problems with the IRS, since withdrawals without accounting records can be understood as tax evasion.

7 – Lack of marketing strategies

A good promotion of your products and services makes your company known in the market, so it is very important to create marketing strategies, focus on communication, learn to enjoy online sales and social media. Although word-of-mouth still yields good publicity, social networks have made the process more accessible and with greater visibility. Bet on the optimization of these tools to attract customers in a continuous way and increase your profit.

8 – Cash Flow Problems

The lack of organization with finances is common in entrepreneurs who cannot keep the company active, this is because they do not plan expenses and investments in advance. To improve this, you need to create spreadsheets, graphs, notebooks and control all the information about your company during the week. This will allow you to identify your cash flow and monitor everything that happens in your company.

Good partnerships help entrepreneurs to succeed in their businesses

A good business alliance is able to strengthen the company, make it recognized in the market, conquer other segments, open a new portfolio of customers and services and also a range of opportunities that the company could not achieve if it remained independent. Moreover, alliances are necessary to expand the customer base and strengthen existing ones. We can mention the example of Uber and Spotify in the United States, which have made a partnership where Uber’s customers, besides knowing the music streaming service, can control the radio during the whole trip. This has given both companies a new range of customers and opportunities to leverage their business.

Partnerships are beneficial to every business, from micro and small to large companies, as long as they know how to take advantage of the partnership in a way that brings good results for both. Therefore, it is important that the entrepreneur analyzes how he can create alliances to enable the company to grow. It is recommended to look for reliable partners, with similar values and business trajectories and with similar personalities so there are no major differences of ideas.

To build a successful alliance you must first decide what kind of partnership is needed to leverage the business. Will there be several partners for social promotion or distribution? It is important to bear in mind some projects in order to be able to choose the right kind of partnership your company needs. Understanding the advantages of working with another company is essential. A good alternative is to research how they will contribute to your growth and make an assessment of what is needed for the partnership to work. The entrepreneur who seeks the partnership needs to clarify his goals and facilitate the conditions so that together they reach the targets proposed.

Below you will learn 6 tips to achieve a successful partnership:

1 – Point out the aims of the partnership

Alliances and business partnerships connect companies so that together they can improve their reputation and thrive in new markets, which is why it is important to clarify your goals as an entrepreneur and what you intend to achieve with the partnership. By setting out the aims you will give your partner the opportunity to talk about your business and listen to the ideas that may strengthen both companies.

2 – Make your partner’s work easier

It is important that both sides make the alliance as easy as possible and are committed to the business growth. A partnership to work must not become complicated. Deliver materials, projects, marketing pieces and demonstrations so that your partner can promote your products in a simple way. This will also ensure more visibility for your company and a new range of customers.

3 – Set out the structure of the partnership

Elaborating a structure with details is not always a simple task when building a successful partnership, but it is important to specify what the partnership will accomplish for each company and what the domain of each partner is. When you start your company you have already set the roles that each employee would take on, and the same should be done when you take on the partnership, so that one of the team gets a specific title with clearly stated responsibilities.

4 – Think of your partner as a member of your team

From the moment you consider your partner as part of your team and not as a competitor, you will be even more successful. Conflicts may delay or undo the partnership before you even make a profit, which is why you need to be fully integrated in both teams.

5 – Be honest and transparent

To achieve the desired successful partnership, you need honesty and transparency in transactions, interactions and in what you want for your company. Whenever possible, keep communication open, make your strengths and weaknesses known to your partner. Companies need to be more transparent about their business, explaining what is missing and what they offer in order to decide if the partnership is a good idea.

6 – Have a good relationship

Observing and encouraging your partner’s business is a step that helps strengthen the partnership. The more you are able to show how your company will help, the more the partnership will benefit both of you.

A successful alliance will bring advantages to both companies, access to new audiences and ease of prospecting new clients, besides leveraging reputation, brand and influence in the market, making companies with more competitive potential over others.

Business in the USA: make sure you ask yourself these 7 essential questions before starting a business abroad.

Many people have a dream of opening or expanding their own business in the United States. Despite fear, bureaucracy and uncertainty, the country, which comprises the largest economy in the world, has one of the lowest costs of goods and inputs and companies have no corporation tax. That is why this opportunity attracts so many Brazilians.

But what can you do before starting a company in the US? Many old concepts are still being used when starting a new entrepreneurial project, but before talking about the characteristics and more bureaucratic issues, entrepreneurs need to ask themselves some basic questions when investing in this experience.

1. What drives me to start my company?

Here the initial idea is to ask yourself about your main motivation when you want to start a company. Think about things you believe in that could impact people in the future. Avoid the obvious, which is to focus on profit, and think about purposes. Jot down ideas that make your heart beat faster and analyze your motivations. An enterprise with no real purpose will have difficulty selling the products.

2. What kind of business do I intend to build?

Here you need to understand what you want and how you imagine your business to be seen in a few years. Before you open it, is essential that you think about people and companies that you admire, projecting your ideals. Think about brands, enterprises and people that you believe have built a great company and realized a well executed project. Think also about the values you appreciate from these companies, are they the same as yours? How can you put that into practice? Set it as a goal so you can also leave your legacy.

3. What is the culture that I want to push forward by opening my company?

When you analyze and think about the future of your company, you understand that building something requires more than a lot of effort, determination and that makes you become a mirror. So think about the culture you want to push forward in this process. When you train a team of employees to help develop your business, all your initial effort, character, personal dreams are transferred to them. You pass on your purpose. And sharing these questions is very important for you to shape the company’s culture and maybe that’s the reason why the company becomes known.

4. What are my values?

Thinking about values is essential when it comes to building a good business. Most companies keep the good old trio “mission, vision and values” because they understand that it is necessary to maintain this identity. Think of a list of values that you admire and believe are essential to you and from that create the values of your company according to your principles. This is an important step for people to understand who you are and who your company is.

5. What’s my vision for the future?

Your vision of the future is also aligned with your purpose and what you expect for your company. Knowing what motivates you makes it easier to visualize the horizon of your business. Think about where you want and can go with your company and visualize the goals you want to achieve with your business. Having a vision of the future when starting an entrepreneurial project is important to understand the paths you can take.

6. What impact do I want to make on the world?

An important step in building your company is to think beyond the box and understand what impact you want to promote, whether in the neighborhood, the city, the state or worldwide.

Think about the consequences you want to cause with your products and services. If you want to be inspired, analyze some businesses based on the trend of sharing economy.

7. Why am I the best person to do that?

After all these questions, it’s crucial that you ask yourself what your differential is. It’s no use knowing what you want if you don’t stand out in the market. Think about what is special about your product, analyze if you are the best person to do what you do and understand your difference between companies and people who work with the same segment. These questions will help you to better understand why you need to start a company.

Understanding the differences in entrepreneurship in the United States and Brazil makes it easier to establish companies in the North American country.

Becoming an entrepreneur in Brazil is not an easy task. You need to be determined, creative and dedicated in decision making, persistent and very optimistic to keep your business running. Once the economy is in crisis, actions need to be taken with caution and the entrepreneur has to identify opportunities to turn them into something profitable. Most Brazilians venture autonomously into Brazil, without any assistance from public agencies to become regulated companies, they get into unknown areas affected by the desire to undertake, and they do not take into account the need for specialized help from entities and associations.

In the United States, despite having a different language, the laws and rules for undertaking are a little simpler. The American country represents the largest economy in the world, providing incentives for research, entrepreneurship, technology and consumption, and is a prosperous nation for new business. It is unusual to hire a service from a local company and the company does not keep its agreement with the client, as often happens in Brazil. To understand this process of how to open your company in the United States it will be necessary to first know the differences between undertaking in the North American country and in Brazil.

– The difference in education

Education in the United States is geared toward the independence of students, focusing on actions that develop their autonomy and decision-making from a very young age, without having to wait for a retirement or other government programs. There, citizens are prepared to invest and open their own businesses, since they have a base of how the whole process works, being easier to undertake.

In Brazil, schools do not encourage citizens to have entrepreneurial sensibility or to attend events with the purpose of generating business. The first contact comes after choosing a course in the area or a degree. When it comes to entrepreneurship on Brazilian soil, many people run away and give up because they fear taking risks. It is a nation where almost everyone would rather earn some money and be employed than build their own business.

– Focus and organization

American entrepreneurs don’t leave home without a business card, they praise professionalism. They create well organized websites and projects because they need results. By networking, it is well-known that Brazilians don’t exactly operate that way. The lack of a company structure and disorder makes the Brazilian entrepreneurs fall behind the Americans.

– Marketing Strategies

Another point that affects the Brazilian entrepreneur is the low investment in technology. While Americans make a high investment in websites, e-commerce, app, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Whatsapp, among other tools that help in the prospecting of their businesses, Brazilians use them wrongly, without much professionalism. To be successful in the US market as a good entrepreneur it is necessary to study how digital media work to capture and engage clients. If there is no focus on digital presence, possibly the entrepreneur may fail when trying to open his business in the United States.

– Business recovery

Dealing with failure is one of the crucial points in keeping the business going. In Brazil, when something doesn’t deliver the expected result, the companies close, investors vanish, clients judge and the discouragement process begins. The entrepreneur drops the idea of having a successful business because he fears a new failure. In the United States it is different, since entrepreneurs were taught from an early age that there is no failure but a start over. Many investors are even interested in putting their money into companies in which the founders have some experience of previous failures, ensuring that they do not make the same mistakes.

-Finance organization

Americans are also great buyers and highly organized with their finances. As a country with the largest consumer market in the world, they take into consideration price surveys and decisions when purchasing a product. The consumer really knows what he or she wants and they pay the fair price so everyone involved can perform their best. In addition, entrepreneurs organize their finances in spreadsheets, agendas and daily planners to understand what they have spent and where their money is going.

Therefore, before undertaking in the United States, it is necessary to understand the current market and focus on quality, organization, planning and actions that will give your company a competitive edge.

To keep small businesses on track in the market it is necessary to focus on strategies that ensure better financial results, such as the use of accounting. In the US, it’s the same. When undertaking in the country it is essential to be aware and keep accurate records and compile accounting data in one place to better analyze them, hire professionals, separate accounts and perform procedures to help expand your business in the country.

– Hire a good accounting professional

Hire an accounting professional to manage debts, expenses and purchases accurately. Through this initiative, the entrepreneur avoids making mistakes and is able to keep up with his business for longer. But you must be aware: it is necessary to look for specialized offices within the business segment in order to avoid hiring unqualified professionals who could harm the company.

– Separate personal finances from company finances

After hiring a good professional the entrepreneur should open a bank account under the name of the company, separating personal and professional finances, avoiding disastrous results. A separate bank account also makes life easier for the entrepreneur at the time of tax deposit. Nevertheless, opening a separate bank account from the personal account is not mandatory if the company is exclusively owned, but it is advisable to take this step in order to manage the financial expenses more efficiently.

– Control the cash flow

Controlling and detailing daily expenses helps the entrepreneur to understand what he has spent, where he has spent it and where this money will go. Organizing finances by categorizing expenditures helps the entrepreneur understand where most of his money is going.

By calculating expenses daily or weekly, the entrepreneur is able to budget for the following weeks. When planning how much it takes to keep a small business running, you need to devise a system of regular expenses and obligations to understand the minimum income the entrepreneur will need each month. Since income can be the most complicated to calculate, the entrepreneur can make a strict target of what he will need to earn.

– Separate receivables from loans

Entrepreneurs often need start-up capital for product purchases, marketing campaigns, and to keep the company secure during the first few months of opening. To ensure that this money will not appear in receivables and they will not lose sight of what is the entrepreneur’s and what needs to be paid, a good alternative is to separate the receivables from the borrowed funds. The clients’ billing also needs to be up to date. It is essential for the entrepreneur to insist on receiving payment of previous orders or monthly fees, before allowing them to have more materials and services. This initiative is crucial to keep the company running and avoid default.

– Create a profit and loss statement

Another alternative to keep the company in full operation is the creation of a profit and loss statement or financial income statement. This will provide relevant information to the entrepreneur about the ability of his own business to be profitable. To accomplish this process, it is necessary to compile four pieces of information: small cash transactions and activities accompanied by receipts, purchase records, information for returns and price discounts, and all sources of revenue with card and check payments.

By using these accounting strategies in the United States, the small entrepreneur will be able to keep his company running not only in the first months, but for long years. Keeping the business running healthy and stable every day helps the longevity of the company.

The financial crisis is a condition in which small and large companies go through daily. This happens because there is unpreparedness when it comes to managing the business itself, breakdowns, disorganized finances, excessive spending, among other factors that can make the entrepreneur think about closing the company. But how to go through this crisis and recover the business?

1 – Recognize the problem

Every entrepreneur, when starting a project, places all his positive expectations and does not prepare himself to deal with the failure that may occur. Being faced with what you dreamed of in a negative situation becomes quite discouraging. For this moment of fragility to be remedied, the entrepreneur must give up apologies and try to solve the problem, recognizing that the company is going through a crisis and that it is necessary to review irregular attitudes to avoid further damage to business. Humility to recognize mistakes and use them as a way of learning is the first step for the company to get out of the red.

2 – Know how to identify the current situation of the company

Understanding the current situation of your business is also an important step to get the company back up and running. The entrepreneur needs to check the cash flow and understand how the situation reached the desperate point for the company to continue. You need to be aware of all cash flow information, look for receipts and be aware of what has been spent. The entrepreneur should not be afraid to add up the debts and see the total amount he will need to pay off. At first the amounts may be frightening, but it is necessary to face the problem and go after solutions to solve this financial breakdown.

3 – Negotiate debts and be transparent with employees and suppliers

A good step to improve the financial crisis of your enterprise is to renegotiate debts with creditors. It is important to contact banks, suppliers and service companies and explain your situation. Nowadays it is uncommon for a company or institution not to accept a proposal for renegotiation. Another important factor when renegotiating debts is to pay attention to the amounts that the entrepreneur will be able to pay per month, so he won’t have to overspend once again. The entrepreneur should also make a list of the debts that are more urgent and prioritize salaries in arrears, in order not to face any labor claims. Cutting unnecessary costs is crucial for the entrepreneur to recover his business. Avoid dismissals of employees to prevent them from accumulating functions and reduce overheads like water, electricity, internet and telephone. Transparency in explaining the situation to staff is also critical. Ask for everyone’s collaboration until the situation is settled, because thanks to teamwork everything will flow better and the company will be able to get back on track.

4 – Keep personal finances apart from the company’s finances

Learn how to keep personal finances apart from the company’s finances. Bear in mind that you need to have two separate accounts and you will not be able to withdraw money from the company’s cash to improve personal losses. This will decrease profits and keep the situation at its worst. Restructure the finances, create spreadsheets to divide the expenses and implement measures to get everything better organized. Once personal finances are more organized, it will be much easier to get around the company’s crisis.

5- Control the cash flow

Be sure to control your cash flow on a daily basis. It is very important to keep an eye on everything that comes in and out so the financial stability of the company remains intact. Use developers, websites, software and management applications to record all expenditures and purchases. Under this approach, it becomes easier to understand where the entrepreneur is spending his money. The cash flow also allows the entrepreneur to make a forecast of the upcoming months, knowing what you can spend and what you need to store to avoid negating the balance.

With these practices in hand, it will be much easier to get around the financial crisis and take actions that will improve the company and keep it active for much longer. Starting over is the key to getting out of financial trouble.