Business Owners – this is for you!

Managing through the crisis – financial strategy steps to take now:

  1. Prepare a weekly cash flow forecast for the next 3 to 6 months (both current reality and worst case). This will give you valuable information on the potential cash flow shortfall. Knowledge is power and this will help you determine the next steps. 
  2. Payment deferrals – check with your banker, credit card companies and vendors regarding possible deferral of payments for 60 to 90 days. 
  3. Ask for an increase in your current line of credit to cover the potential shortfall. 
  4. Work with your team to determine creative revenue-generating strategies during this crisis. 
  5. The SBA is enhancing its current lending programs through local banks, especially the express loan program. This will be a much faster route than the emergency loans however the options are not mutually exclusive – you can apply for both. Proactively reach out to your lender now. 
  6. Facebook announced a small business grant program today. Hopefully others will be announced soon. All of us need to advocate for more grants to be made available for our small business community (none of us needs more debt). 
  7. There has been a lot of interest in the SBA Economic Injury Loans. The information is fluid; however, the Governor must first declare a disaster zone. At the time of this post, Governor Stitt has not done so. The application will be online, and SBA will process, underwrite and issue loans directly. The SBA is not set up for this and the process will most certainly be slow and complex. The interest rates and repayment terms will be more advantageous than traditional lending, but the timing could take months. 
  8. Please beware of short-term online loans. They have rapid repayment terms with exorbitant interest rates and could likely create a worse situation for you. 

The Mettise Group will continue to post updates at least daily to bring you the most current information.