If you have not yet applied for your stimulus money, please read this article that I shared last week and get on that right away. As an update, some of what we are hearing is that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications are being processed and banks are asking for the information to make loans under that program. On the other hand the EIDL (remember the $10,000 GRANT for the disaster recovery loans?) isn’t moving forward at all, and that $10,000 GRANT isn’t what we all thought.
The PPP loans are specifically for payroll replacement and mortgage, rent, and utility expenses, which you can see outlined here in this fact sheet from the Treasury. The loans are made at 1%, and they are forgivable when used for permitted expenses. These loans are administered by banks, and if you have not yet applied, or need support, please contact us.
The EIDL loans, on the other hand, are administered by the government, and seem to be mostly at a standstill due to the overwhelming number of applications submitted. We’ve heard that over 1,000,000 applications were submitted in 7 days, whereas there were a total of 500,000 submitted in all of 2019. So, we’ll need to be patient, and of course we’ll keep you updated. We’ve also heard that the $10,000 grant will be limited to $1,000 per employee and will not be a $10,000 grant for most business owners.
Okay, so now to the purpose of this article. If you have applied, you may have started thinking about how to use your stimulus money in the best way possible. I’ve got a few ideas for you.
Get in the Right Mindset
You have probably heard me talking about the importance of mindset before, but that’s because holding a positive, purposeful vision and taking small baby steps each day toward that vision is the surest way to get the best results. The other side of that coin is that holding a negative vision can pull you off course. And sometimes we don’t even know when we’re doing it.
Limiting beliefs can be ideas that have looped in your head so many times that you barely even notice them consciously anymore. One of the most common limiting beliefs is that you’re “bad with money.” If you have a “bad with money” story, you may actually be pushing away the resources that are available to you right now.
Check in with yourself to see if you have a “bad with money” story, and how that may be limiting your ability to see the support resources available to you. If you have a “bad with money” story, we can help you shift that with simple systems, structures, rhythms, and flows for your business. Contact us.
Get Good with Money
Getting good with money is our ticket to real freedom. So let’s get you there!
The first step is to understand money for what it is, stripping away all the emotional baggage and symbols we’ve come to associate with it. In its simplest form, money is just the resource we use to exchange for goods and services. It’s how we assign and exchange value, together as a society.
Money is just a tool. And like any tool, your job as a business owner is to use this tool to get the results you want. Once you really understand this, you’ll begin to see that being good with money means using it wisely to help you add value to the world so that you are repaid the value you invest many times over. To use money wisely, you must know what you need, how you’ll use it, and how it will return multiples to your company in a way that covers your expenses and then some.
Making these wise decisions requires you to be looking at your money clearly with, as my mentor says, your eyes wide open. And that’s easy to do with the right support, so contact us if you need support creating the systems, structures, rhythms and flows around money.
The sooner you get good with money, the sooner you can start making the best use of it.
Learn from the Application Process
As you apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and/or the Paycheck Protection Program Loan, you’ll be asked to fill out a series of questions that will help you reflect on your business’s structure. There’s a good chance you’ll notice a few (or more) leaks that existed before our current economic situation became what it is now. Take note of any of the holes in your legal foundation and commit to filling them, either by learning how to do so yourself, or by consulting with us to help you.
If you have filed your taxes this year and you have all the other documents you need to submit the application, go for it. Otherwise, see this as your chance to take action and shore up your systems, rather than seeing your holes as permanent obstacles holding you back.
Carefully Consider Investments
Once you get your money, all sorts of ideas may come rushing to mind about how your money could or should be used. Keep asking yourself this question: what will multiply my business for the long term with sustainable foundations I haven’t had in place up until now?
Resist the urge to spend your money on short term fixes, or to throw it at the first problem that crosses your path. Instead, think about what would create long-term sustainability, and contact us if we can help you with that process.
Do you need more education to get better at what you do, so that you can charge premium prices? Do you need to put systems in place to make operations run more efficiently? Do you need to repair your sales process, or do you have a great sales process and now you need the right marketing systems to draw in more customers and clients?
Step back, take stock, and choose the investment that will turn the stimulus you have received into greater, steadier profits. There are few better ways to boost your confidence in your relationship with money.
This is an unsettling time to be a small business owner, and it might be bringing some of your insecurities to the forefront, particularly when it comes to your ability to use money correctly. Do not let your fears or baggage from your past keep you from taking hold of the chance that is being offered to you. While this is uncharted territory for most of us, it also could be your opportunity to hit the reset button on your relationship with money. Use this moment to learn how to get good with money and make investments that result in sustainable success.
We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for business owners and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer you a LIFT Your Life And Business Planning Session, which includes a review of all the legal, insurance, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Schedule online today.