What You Need to Know About Employee Retention Credits

With the tax filing deadline approaching, make sure your company is getting all the assistance available from government programs. For instance, that means checking that you've fully utilized the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), the refundable tax credit designed to make it easier for businesses to keep employees on the payroll. The credit is getting extended as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion relief package just signed by President Biden. Originally scheduled to end on June 30, ERC will continue through year end, giving business owners access to as much as $33,000 per employee in incentives. How the credit works, depending on the time frame First half of 2021: Eligible employers can claim a refundable credit against the employer share of Social Security tax equal to 70 percent of a full-time employee's qualified wages paid--including certain health plan expenses--from January 1 through June 30, 2021. The maximum ERC amount available is $7,000 per employee per quarter or $14,000 for eligible wages paid in the first half of 2021.

Posted on: 4 May 2021 | 2:37 pm

Why Are Not Struggling Small Businesses Taking More PPP?

Millions of businesses across the country are struggling, yet many are not taking the latest version of government aid: a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. This is not happening because businesses are better off than they were last year; it is because the PPP still contains structural blockers that are stopping businesses from obtaining the aid they urgently need. A recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank found that 30% of U.S. small businesses — totaling 9 million — fear they will not make it through 2021 without more government assistance. And yet, many are not applying for aid. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that seven weeks after round two of PPP began, nearly half the funds remain, and only 31% of 2020 PPP loans have been forgiven to date.

Posted on: 29 April 2021 | 2:35 pm

Big Business Practices for Small Business Brands

Every business was considered small at some point in its history. Some go big, but some stay small and do quite well. The size of a business in common measurements (revenue, employees, locations) is less relevant than the size of your customer base and the corresponding loyalty of customers.

Posted on: 27 April 2021 | 2:34 pm

Small Businesses Administration extends deferment for all COVID disaster loans until 2022

The Small Business Administration has extended deferment periods for all of l its disaster loans made either in 2020 or 2021, the agency announced on Monday. The extended deferment includes the SBAs Economic Injury Disaster Loan – or EIDL – program, which many businesses that did not qualify for Paycheck Protection Program loans or other funding used to bridge the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. All SBA disaster loans made in 2020 will have the first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note, the agency said. Disaster loans made in 2021 will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note.

Posted on: 22 April 2021 | 2:32 pm

How just a few days cost some small businesses thousands on their PPP forgivable loans

For some of the smallest businesses that applied for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, waiting just a few days or weeks would’ve gotten them thousands of dollars more. But they had no way of knowing what was coming. The Biden administration in late February announced a slew of changes to the loan program, which offered forgivable loans in return for keeping employees on a company’s payroll, after it reopened in January with $284 billion in funding. Those amendments included an adjusted loan formula that would mean larger amounts for sole proprietors as well as expanded eligibility for small business owners with certain criminal records, were delinquent on student loan debt or were non-citizens.

Posted on: 20 April 2021 | 2:31 pm

Number of small businesses in distress triple pre-Covid level

This month almost 135,000 businesses are showing strain, as the impact of a year of Covid-19 restrictions reverberates.Businesses in the services and retail sectors accounted for almost three-fifths of those showing distress, said Mazars. Sectors allowed to reopen were faring better, with construction and manufacturing businesses making up 7.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent of those in distress respectively.

Posted on: 15 April 2021 | 2:06 pm

12 Resources and Communities Entrepreneurs Should Follow for Industry Insight and Tips

Staying tuned in to the pulse of your industry is key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Public groups, online forums and the like are among the most valuable resources for gathering and contributing industry information. But if someone is looking for in-depth insight into their business niche, locating the right groups where this discussion occurs is the first step. T

Posted on: 13 April 2021 | 2:05 pm

Content Curation

With content marketing, small businesses use content in various formats to build stronger relationships with their customers, capture attention, improve engagement, and improve brand recognition. For small businesses, content marketing is a particularly cost effective marketing alternative that does not require a sizeable budget to run. In addition, content marketing delivers some of the highest overall Return on Investment (ROI) for every marketing dollar spent. And it is an integral part of a solid marketing strategy. This is because it helps to increase leads, generate more leads, get higher SEO rankings, and drive more traffic to your site.

Posted on: 8 April 2021 | 2:03 pm

Will COVID Stimulus Help or Hurt Small Business?

The data on business startups and closing show a mixed bag across the United States. Some states have seen an increase in new business applications over the past year (February to February) and some states have shown a decline. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are among the weakest regions, with Virginia showing a 3.5% decline in year-over-year applications. Business closings are harder to track month to month because small business operators do not always file documents when they shutter their doors, and it is hard to distinguish between permanent and temporary closings. Closings do show up eventually in tax filings and articles of incorporation.

Posted on: 6 April 2021 | 2:00 pm

Google Is Scrapping Cookies This Year, And Other Small Business Tech News

Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them? 1 — Google plans to scrap third-party cookies by 2022. Google announced this past week that it plans to stop the use of tracking cookies on Chrome by next year and— instead— will replace cookies with a profiling system 2 —Recruiting startup SeekOut raised $65M to take on LinkedIn and other talent acquisition companies. 3 —Small business owners adopted new software in 2020 and increased tech budgets in 2021.

Posted on: 1 April 2021 | 1:59 pm

Selective Survey Finds Majority Of Small Businesses Lack Cyber Insurance Coverage

A survey of small businesses conducted by Appalachian State University in coordination with Selective found that cybersecurity and technology issues were growing concerns for 44% of survey respondents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, only 20% of survey respondents have cyber insurance coverage. The findings highlight an awareness gap among small businesses about the risks they face from cybercrime. Twenty-eight percent of data breaches impact small businesses, and phishing attacks account for over 30% of breaches, making them the biggest cyber threat for small organizations.1 Cyber coverage from Selective can help small businesses manage and mitigate risks with comprehensive coverage options and cyber threat education.

Posted on: 30 March 2021 | 1:57 pm

An Entrepreneurs Quick Guide to Invoice Financing for Small Businesses

Invoice financing is a type of business funding wherein the business sells its outstanding invoices or account receivables (A/R) to financing companies to get an immediate cash flow boost. The financing company takes over the invoices, and sometimes be in charge of collecting customer payments (as in invoice factoring). Invoice financing is a popular financing option for businesses that have to wait 30,60, or 90 days to get their clients payments.

Posted on: 25 March 2021 | 1:55 pm

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: Small Business Funding

Specific PPP provisions of the new law include: Appropriates an additional $7.25 billion to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for the PPP program Expands PPP eligibility to include: ~ Additional tax-exempt nonprofits, such as 501(c)(5) labor and agricultural organizations and community locations of larger nonprofits, whose lobbying activities do not comprise more than 15 percent of its activities ~ Internet publishing organizations assigned a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code of 519130 and engaged in the collection and distribution of local or regional and national news and information ~ Adds COBRA premium assistance as an allowable payroll cost under the PPP program.

Posted on: 23 March 2021 | 1:36 pm

With Shopify, Small Businesses Strike Back at Amazon

In a world in which e-commerce has become a necessity for nearly every retailer, it can seem they have only two options: list their goods on marketplaces run by giant companies, or sell to consumers directly, hoping they will make more on each transaction despite fewer sales. In other words, either join a dominant marketplace like eBay , Walmart or Amazon —which by itself represents 38% of U.S. online sales, according to Digital Commerce 360—or hope they can find customers through advertising and word of mouth. For many small- and medium-size sellers, a third option has emerged, embodied by the rising star of e-commerce, Shopify . This approach gives merchants access to cloud-based third-party services such as payments and fulfillment, but lets them maintain more control of their branding and customer relationships than the biggest marketplaces offer. Shoppers might not even know they’re buying something from a Shopify-powered retailer, and that’s the point. In addition to making goods available on sellers’ own sites, these software companies—which also include BigCommerce and Magento—can perform the laborious task of listing merchandise on the giants marketplaces. By becoming hubs for managing sales through multiple channels, including social-media platforms, they represent real competition for Amazon and its ilk, potentially giving merchants more leverage when dealing with those entrenched giants.

Posted on: 18 March 2021 | 1:36 pm

How Smart Phones Have Changed the World

With the ongoing move of smart phones towards near-ubiquity, much of society has come to take these do-all devices for granted. In overcoming the novelty of smart phones, many of us have lost our one-time sense of awe at this technology, and have ceased marveling at the effect it has had on the world around us. However, it is undeniable that smart phones have exerted a huge and multi-faceted impact on society, and continue to do so to this day. How Smart Phones Have Changed the World

Posted on: 26 February 2021 | 8:28 am

How Covid-19 Is Transforming the Business World, According to Scott Galloway

The pandemic is accelerating existing trends. Covid-19 has initiated some trends and altered the direction of others, but its most enduring impact will be as an accelerant. Take any trend--social, business, or personal--and fast-forward 10 years. Even if your company isn't living in the year 2030 yet, the pandemic has spurred changes in consumer behavior and markets. This is clear in the rapid increase in online shopping, in the shift toward remote delivery of health care, and in the spectacular increase in valuation among the biggest tech firms. The more disruptive the crisis, the greater the opportunities--and the risks.

Posted on: 24 February 2021 | 8:22 am

Why Student Debt Is Crippling Entrepreneurship

After the pandemic knocked the wind out of our economy, recovery plans focused mainly on saving existing small businesses rather than breathing life into new ones. Yet entrepreneurship is critical to emerging from the Covid-induced recession. Startups drive almost all net new-job creation. They contribute disproportionately to innovation, breaking new ground while also spurring midsize and large companies to follow suit. And perhaps most important in the current climate, startups are well-positioned to respond to drastic changes in consumer and business behavior, recognizing and acting on opportunities born of adversity. For aspiring entrepreneurs, student debt reduces the amount of cash avail­able for startups and affects their credit score, making business loans tough to secure. It also renders more daunting the prospect of failure, which increases risk aversion.

Posted on: 22 February 2021 | 8:19 am

Small Business Development Center breaks down how raising minimum wage may affect small businesses

Minimum wage is a complex issue for small businesses, says the Small Business Development Center in Binghamton. The SBDC adds that, typically, small businesses have a close relationship with their employees and if they could pay them more originally, they would. They add that they believe some business owners may have to pick up the slack in order to keep costs low.

Posted on: 17 February 2021 | 8:15 am

Three Learnings Small Businesses Should Take From 2020 Into 2021

The United States has seen an increase in new businesses formed this year. According to the United State Census Bureau, in week 50, there were over 86,000 new business applications nationwide — representing a 38% increase over filings during the same week in 2019. The challenges small businesses have experienced in 2020 have led to some core lessons that those in the business community need to apply — whether they own an established small business or a newly formed one.

Posted on: 15 February 2021 | 8:02 am

How Your Small Business Can Take Down Goliath

The accelerated churn rate of the S&P 500 indicates that at least half of todays top U.S. companies will get replaced by someone new over the next decade. That is a mind-boggling market value of $13.5 trillion up for grabs. And the craziest part is who replaces the old market leaders: It is often companies that, just a few years before, were considered scrappy little startups. To unseat a champion, a smaller company has to play by a completely different set of rules. 1. Change the basis of competition. 2. Exploit taboos. 3. Optimize for power. 4. Dramatic simplification.

Posted on: 11 February 2021 | 8:00 am

A business owner who spent nearly $46 million on Facebook advertising says he has been booted from the platform without explanation

A business owner who spent nearly $46 million over the years on Facebook ads said he got booted from the platform without warning. Jordan Nabigon, the CEO of the Ottawa, Ontario, content-curation site Shared, said Facebook deleted his companys main Facebook page without warning in October, and without providing an explanation. He shared a Medium post detailing his experience, which has received more than 400 claps from readers. Nabigon spent $45,870,181 on Facebook advertising between 2006 and 2020 for Shared and his other company Freebies, according to expense reports reviewed by Business Insider. Shared employees three people full-time and 12 contract writers, Nabigon said. Facebook increased its use of artificial intelligence to oversee advertising and other content during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Nabigon is among hundreds of business owners who said they suffered from Facebook's crackdown on ad policies.

Posted on: 9 February 2021 | 7:57 am

Why Small Business Owners Need to Reconnect With Their Mission

Pivoting has become one of those hot topics in mainstream business media. When an economic crisis arises, countless think pieces are written about how to pivot your business to respond to the external environment. But pivoting is a huge gamble, requiring deep resources and the ability to fail with minimal consequences (hence why the term is often associated with venture-backed startups). And, one must ask oneself if there’s even a solid reason to pivot. As a small business owner, while you might feel pressure to look anywhere and everywhere to increase your top line, resist the urge to pivot. Instead, focus on your mission.   Define your mission In the college admissions space, disruption is something we are used to. While high-profile recruiting scandals and a renewed focus on racial inequities have dominated headlines recently, a larger cultural shift was quietly occurring.

Posted on: 5 February 2021 | 5:16 pm

5 Hiring Hacks for Small Businesses That Need to Stretch Their Budgets

Finding and keeping the best talent has never been easy. It became the top concern for HR professionals this past year, with more than two-thirds reporting struggles with their recruitment and retention efforts. While the reasons for those struggles run the gamut, they often relate to attracting qualified candidates (49%), retaining star employees (49%) and issues with the talent-culture fit (42%). For small and midsize businesses (SMBs), any difficulties with finding talented hires end up wasting precious resources. Worse yet, the cost of a bad hire is equal to 30% of the hires first-year salary – without factoring in the potential losses in revenue and time associated with onboarding the wrong person for a job.

Posted on: 3 February 2021 | 5:13 pm

How To Bring Employees Back To Your Small Business

The Covid-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented financial ripple effect in nearly every industry but hit the small businesses that define America the hardest. Throughout the first six months of the pandemic, more than 60 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance. That’s 23 million more than the 37 million who filed claims during the 18-month Great Recession. By now, many small-business owners who made the difficult decision to shrink or temporarily pause are rebuilding. As they have already learned, though, rebuilding your business is not as easy as flipping a switch and watching your business rebound to its pre-Covid-19 state. As a small-business owner, your plan to rebuild should focus on rehiring employees who can fulfill your immediate needs while simultaneously paving the groundwork for growth in the new norm.

Posted on: 1 February 2021 | 5:12 pm

7 Ways Inbound Marketing Can Build Relationships and Grow Your Business

For small businesses,traditional marketing can be expensive and difficult to maintain. Inbound marketing can level the playing field and give even the smallest business a chance to stand out and grow. Why use inbound marketing? 1. It is cost effective 2. It helps build customers trust. 3. It increases brand awareness and boosts your online presence. 4. It can improve your marketing decision making 5. You can craft customer-focused content. 6. Inbound marketing provides two-way communication. 7. It helps bring in organic traffic to your website

Posted on: 29 January 2021 | 5:09 pm