by Jean Miller | Accounting News, Business Growth, News
Small business grants offer free capital to start or grow a business, and when a global pandemic hits, the need for such grants only increases. Read on if you’re looking for grants to help you pull through the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
Types of Small Business Grants
There are various types of grants, your eligibility of which depends on your business’s products and services, ownership, and mission. The main business grant options are broken into the following sections:
- Federal Grants: These grants are given from the United States government’s general federal revenue in order to help stimulate the economy and help businesses in need. They are often given to non-commercial organizations, like tech, health, science, or education companies.
- State Grants: These small business grants are offered by a specific state. Because their requirements are state-specific, the competition is often slimmer. The amounts are sometimes smaller than federal grants, but they can still provide a welcome financial boost.
- Local Grants: These grants focus on small businesses that directly stimulate their local communities.
- Corporate Grants: These grants are gifted by select corporations. In many instances, companies will set aside funds at the beginning of the fiscal year and run competitions to determine recipients. Corporate grants have various requirements and varying amounts.
Stimulus Grants for Small Businesses
Specific grants have been created expressly to alleviate the pandemic-inflicted pain for small businesses. It’s important to note that many of these programs close for applications at some point, and some of them open additional rounds of funding, so check with each to confirm the latest.
Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance Grant
Some small business owners applying for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) through the Small Business Administration (SBA) are eligible for an emergency cash advance of up to $10,000. This advance can be forgiven by the SBA (effectually made into a grant) if it is spent on maintaining payroll, paid leave, increased costs, mortgage or lease payments, or other financial obligations.
You may qualify for a targeted EIDL Advance if your business:
- Is located in a low-income community
- Has suffered an economic loss greater than 30% during an eight-week period since March 2, 2020
- Employs 300 or fewer employees
Additionally, your business must have previously received an EIDL Advance for less than $10,000 to be eligible, or previously applied for an EIDL Advance program but never received assistance due to a lack of program funding.
The SBA will reach out to qualifying businesses for a Targeted EIDL grant, so no action is necessary on your part. All legit emails regarding SBA grants will arrive from an address ending in @sba.gov.
Shuttered Venue Operators Grant
The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) was introduced by the SBA as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act. It has since closed, but the SBA intends to open the program for supplemental SVOGs for 50% of the original award amount, capped at a total of $10 million. It has not yet released details.
Eligible businesses include:
- Live venue operators or promoters
- Theatrical producers
- Live performing arts organization operators
- Relevant museum operators, zoos and aquariums who meet specific criteria
- Motion picture theater operators
- Talent representatives
Additional SBA Grants
- SBA Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs
- SBA 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program
- SBA State Trade Expansion Program ($50,000 to $2,000,000)
State-Based COVID-19 Relief Grants
Many local COVID-19 grants and relief funds were created in 2020 to help businesses struggling due to the pandemic. Some of them have exhausted their funding and are no longer issuing grants.
However, some states and cities have continued to offer relief this year. State departments of commerce websites and local chambers of commerce should have up-to-date opportunities for grants and information.
Corporate Small Business Grants
Big corporations often provide grants to small businesses through contests. Here are a few to keep on your radar.
- Intuit National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) Grant: Typically given out annually, the tax preparation software company gifts small businesses a $4,000 grant in partnership with NASE.
- FedEx Small Business Grant: FedEx hosts an annual grant contest for small businesses, awarding a total of $230,000 to 12 small businesses nationwide. Find more details, including tips and warnings from past winners, on the FedEx site.
- Visa Everywhere Initiative: This grant offers funding for small business startups with innovative fixes. Visa annually awards $50,000 to the final three winners.
- Wells Fargo Community Investment: This program focuses primarily on nonprofits, but small businesses with the right criteria are also eligible to receive these business grants, which are offered in nearly every state.
- Kuvio Creative Impact Grant: Focusing on entrepreneurs who are making a difference, this full-service web design and development company provides qualifying small businesses with grants and free services. Applications open three times per year, and funds are reserved for nonprofits, women-owned companies, minority-owned businesses, and veteran-owned organizations. Grant recipients receive up to 100 hours of free services, the specifics of which depend on the scope of the project.
by Stephen Reed | Accounting News, Business Growth, Industry - Veterinary Medicine, News
With big-box retailers and ecommerce powerhouses like PetSmart, Walmart, and Chewy.com offering online pharmacies, private practices are finding that their bottom lines are being affected. Now is the time to strengthen your clinic’s pharmacy with proactive business strategies. Here’s how.
Send Refill Reminders
Your practice likely already sends reminders for vaccines, so sending refill notices for preventatives and prescriptions are a natural extension of this practice. Because text messages have a 99 percent open rate—as opposed to the 33 percent open rate of health-care emails—text prompts are likely your best route. You can also print refill reminders on prescription labels.
Reinforce Client Relationships
When you receive the fax from the internet pharmacy, instead of immediately signing it, take a minute to connect with the client, especially if the client’s pet is overdue for an exam and heartworm test because you have the opportunity to make an appointment. Even if their pet is up to date, reinforcing the doctor-client-patient relationship with a phone call is important. It also gives you an opportunity to explain to the client how your hospital buys safe drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies, your staff receives regular training on medications, and your pharmacy offers competitive prices. If you can offer any additional savings on particular brands, or if you have an online store and a home-delivery option, now is the time to make sure the client is aware of these services.
Set Up an Online Store with Home Delivery and Auto-Ship Benefits
With your own online pharmacy, you can offer your clients home-delivery of medications with auto-ship benefits by partnering with veterinary distributors. Offering an auto-ship option assures the client that they will never be in need of long-term prescriptions and preventatives. If the client purchases a six-month supply of flea and tick medication, set up an auto-ship refill in five months when the client will have one dose remaining. This is especially helpful in regards to heartworm medication because near the end of a 12-month supply, you can send reminders to the client for an exam, heartworm test, prescription renewal, and additional preventative services.
Begin Offering Home-Delivery of Pet Food
Home delivery helps to cross one more errand off of your clients’ to-do lists. It’s a time-saver for working professionals, a relief for older seniors, and a natural move for anyone who regularly orders online. You can seamlessly get clients started with recurring shipments during exams, offering them a starter bag of food, and assuring them that their online order will arrive on their doorstep in just a few days.
by Daniel Kittell | Accounting News, Business Growth, Industry - Professional Services, News, Professional Services
Professional services organizations were already doing their best to embrace the challenges of ever-evolving technology developments when COVID-19 hit, forcing remote work, which in turn affected project delivery and resource management. Read on for growing trends that will support and enable growth and profitability for professional services businesses long after the disruptions of the pandemic have passed.
Implementing Automation and Artificial Intelligence
Extensive data-analysis is the most effective way to provide useful business solutions to clients, but it is a time-consuming process that is sensitive to human errors. Enter smart technologies enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning. By decoding real-time data and systematizing large chunks of data into usable information, the process becomes simpler and less laborious. Utilizing past data can also help generate strong and clear data-driven insights for the client.
Look for organizations to start using emerging technologies to automate back-end tasks, which will allow employees to focus on specific roles within the company and grow in individual skill sets and abilities.
Increasing Remote Work and Virtual Offices
The pandemic pushed us into a virtual world overnight, and now that we know video-conferencing and collaboration tools are vital information-sharing resources, remote work has become an integral part of the work culture. Additionally, managers can keep track of project progress and employee performance across diverse geographic boundaries through resource management software. Virtual offices allow companies a wider reach of clientele, who have the opportunity to vet companies based on reputation and work portfolios, regardless of location.
Enforcing a Value-Driven Revenue Model
Some professional services charge clients by the hour, but this method excludes the value generated out of each task. For example, when an accountant saves a client 10% in taxes after an hour of billable work, the client is still invoiced based on the employee’s charge out rate instead of on the task’s value. Not only does this decrease profit margins for firms, but clients may not recognize the benefits realized. However, with the adoption of a value-driven revenue model, invoices to clients can reflect the benefits and profits made over the duration of the project (e.g., tax savings, ROIs, and insurance claims), which will increase earnings for firms.
Adopting a Hybrid-Talent Model
In order to reduce project resourcing expenses, professional services firms are embracing the use of digitized project management tools that predict resource demand ahead of time. This provides firms with the opportunity to draft a hiring plan based on project costs and demands. As such, many firms are moving toward a hybrid-talent model—a team comprised of contractors, freelancers, etc., as well as full-time employees. Not only does optimizing resource allocation help to prevent employee burnout, but it also controls project financials and helps to increase profitability.
Establishing a Tech-Supported and Connected Team
Research suggests that highly engaged and connected teams experience greater productivity, improved performance, and enhanced team morale. Moreover, an engaged team produces greater profitability. However, if some or all of your team is working from remote locations, encouraging team engagement can be challenging. By investing in a tech-enabled work culture with the use of collaboration tools, employees can communicate, problem-solve, and share important information in real-time.
by Stephen Reed | Accounting News, Business Growth, COVID-19, News
The Covid-19 pandemic has proven to business owners that a major key to long-term growth and success is found in digital strategy. No matter your industry or niche, businesses need the following core attributes in order to prosper in a post-pandemic digital world.
Adopt a Flexible Mindset
Technology is perpetually changing and progressing, and it will continue to shake up the way we work. When small businesses adopt a flexible mindset, they are prepared to assess new technology and expedite change as needed. This swift adaptation allows them to gain the biggest benefits of new technology.
At minimum, make sure you have an online presence with an up-to-date website as well as active and engaging social media accounts. You will also want to create a digital marketing plan—or hire a marketing agency to create one for you.
Learn to Outsource
As an entrepreneur you might be in the habit of doing everything yourself, but the digital world moves too quickly to be able to sustain growth this way. The most effective and efficient way to run your business includes outsourcing. Smart and calculated outsourcing can tremendously boost your profits and productivity. Essentially, you are trading some measure of control over your business for “extra” time, allowing you to work smarter and more efficiently. Depending on your industry, outsourcing opportunities could include tasks such as:
- Accounting and tax preparation
- Payroll
- Web and marketing design
- Copywriting
- IT management
- Social media marketing
Embrace Digital Communication
Consistent communication efforts through digital networks are essential in today’s internet landscape for gaining and retaining clients. By giving your clients multiple channels of communication through a website, social media accounts, and email—and responding to feedback and questions in a timely manner—you have the opportunity to troubleshoot issues as they arise, improve satisfaction with clients, and retain a loyal client base. You also have the opportunity to expand your reach, share specialized messaging, and establish valuable relationships with audiences across online channels. Some ways to connect and communicate with both existing and prospective clients include:
- Launching social media campaigns
- Distributing an email newsletter
- Running banner ads
- Publishing blog posts and articles
- Sending discounts and offers through email
- Offering how-to videos, web series, and behind-the-scenes looks at products and processes through a YouTube channel
Install Cybersecurity
No matter how small your business, it is a target to hackers who want access to sensitive information of both your company and your clients. And as more companies go digital, attacks will only increase. A surefire way to lose trust in a client is to expose their sensitive data through a security breach. Invest in at least basic cybersecurity in order to safeguard your website and other digital accounts from malware attacks or phishing scams.
Some key elements to start protecting your business include:
- Install an SSL certificate for your website
- Make sure you have a firewall
- Keep software and systems up-to-date
- Use strong passwords
by Jean Miller | Accounting News, Business Growth, Financial Statement Reporting, News
Business financial statements demonstrate the source of a company’s revenue, its assets and liabilities, how money was spent, and how the company manages cash flow. They also help managers, employees, investors, and lenders assess the company’s performance at the end of the fiscal year. Read on for the three core reports that fit together to make up a complete set of financial statements for your small business.
Income Statement: Demonstrates Business Profits and Costs
Typically, the first point of interest for an investor or analyst is your income statement (also known as the profit and loss statement). This report illustrates your business’s performance in revenue and expenses throughout each period. Your sales revenue should be displayed at the top, followed by the deduction of cost of goods sold (COGS) to find your gross profit. Note: COGS includes the cost of labor, materials, and overhead needed to manufacture a product. From there, additional line items of business expenses, including taxes, will affect your gross profit until you reach your net income at the bottom, i.e., your “bottom line”.
Balance Sheet: Demonstrates Financial Position of a Business
This report gives an account of the business’s financial health by displaying assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity at a particular point in time. It helps business stakeholders and analysts gauge the overall financial position of a company and its capacity to handle its operating needs. The balance sheet can also help determine how to meet financial commitments as well as the best methods for using credit to finance your operations.
In general, the balance sheet is divided into three categories: assets, liabilities, and equity.
- Assets: These are usually organized into liquid assets (cash or assets than can be easily converted into cash), non-liquid assets (land, buildings, and equipment), and intangible assets such as copyrights, patents, and franchise agreements.
- Liabilities: These are debts that the business owes. They’re typically categorized as current or long-term. Current liabilities are due within one year and include items like accounts payable, wages, pension plan contributions, medical plan payments, building and equipment rents, temporary loans, and lines of credit. Long-term liabilities are payment obligations that are due after a one-year period. These may include long-term debt such as interest and principal on bonds, pension fund liabilities, and deferred tax liabilities.
- Equity: This can also be known as owners’ equity or shareholders’ equity. It is the remaining value of the company after subtracting liabilities from assets. Equity can also incorporate private or public stock, or even an initial investment from the founders of your business.
Cash Flow Statement: Demonstrates Increases and Decreases in Cash
Unlike an income statement, which shows how much money you’ve spent and earned, a cash flow statement tells you precisely how much cash your business has on hand for a specific period of time. If you use accrual basis accounting where income and expenses are recorded when they are earned or incurred—not when money actually moves into or out of your bank—cash flow statements are a necessary component of financial analysis. They show your liquidity; they show your changes in assets, liabilities, and equity; and they assist in predicting future cash flows. Additionally, if you plan on applying for a loan or line of credit, you will need current cash flow statements to apply.
