Growth Forum Ask to Join

Many small businesses may need to think about how to control rent costs in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. An article from Axios provides a good starting point for thinking about the issue.  See: Small businesses and rent problems amid coronavirus crisis.  Some landlords are already beginning to provide relief for their tenants. Although many experts indicate exemption under force majeure is unlikely, some suggest there's an outside chance of getting relief under this provision.  

Also, as a small business, you may have a little more leverage that you realize. According to this article "Real estate investors emphasized that short-term delays on rent are meager compared to the income from long-term relationships — lease terms are typically for 10 to 15 years."  See: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/landlords-offer-retailers-some-relief-amid-the-coronavirus-outbreak-210517171.html 

Recommendations? If you're in distress, be proactive and work with your landlord to try and get some flexibility on your lease. Then you can focus attention back on other creative ways to maintain your business.  

Seattle will spend $1.5 million on grants of up to $10,000 to small businesses affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak, Mayor Jenny Durkan announced Thursday.

Seattle’s Office of Economic Development (OED), which will manage the grants, will concentrate its outreach at businesses owned by immigrants, refugees, people of color and non-English speakers in neighborhoods dealing with displacement and gentrification, the news release said.

OED will start accepting applications immediately, including through an online form which you can access at this link: https://seattle.surveymonkey.com/r/RJ57GQN 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-to-offer-grants-of-up-to-10k-to-small-businesses-impacted-by-novel-coronavirus-outbreak/ 

The article mentions that "Seattle is prohibited under state law from giving city money directly to businesses. The city’s $1.5 million will be sourced from the federal Community Development Block Grant program." so we'd welcome any clarification that could be offered by Daniel Beekman, the reporter of this article. d...@...m  

Online Seminar: Take Your Business Global with Help from the Small Business Administration (SBA) - March 2020

by SBA Office of International Trade | International@SBA.gov

Cost: Free

Are you intrigued about the opportunity to export? Increasingly, small and main street business with unique product offerings are finding opportunities to export and this can lead to financial stability and faster expansion. 

The Small Business Administration (SBA), in collaboration with the National Women’s Business Council, will offer a FREE webinar in celebration of both International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

Women-owned businesses represent nearly 13 million businesses — that’s 42% of all businesses  — and they employ 9.4 million workers while generating revenue of $1.9 trillion. That's trillion with a "T". And the annual growth rate in the number of women-owned firms has been more than double that of all businesses over the past 5 years. 

SBA’s FREE webinar will showcase how women-owned businesses have grown their revenues by selling overseas. You can register for this seminar at:     

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-take-your-business-global-with-help-from-the-sba-march-2020-tickets-96510398199 

Date and Time

Thursday, March 19, 2020

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Did you ever wonder what expenses small businesses can deduct for meals and entertainment? It looks like the answer is going to change following changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

In 2017 the TCJA eliminated the deduction for expenses related to activities considered entertainment, amusement or recreation. It also limited the deduction for expenses related to food and beverages provided by employers to their employees. But what constitute entertainment? And what's the limitation on the deduction of food and beverage expenses?  

The IRS will hold a public hearing on these proposed regulations on April 7, 2020 and taxpayers affected by this change may submit comments on the proposed regulations by visiting this link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/02/26/2020-03723/meals-and-entertainment-expenses-under-section-274 

Two minutes of Fanbank small business advice: Get to know Payroll Software

Payroll software is technology that automates employee payments and the subsequent filing of employee taxes. Such software often keeps track of employee hours, while automatically calculating wages, withholdings, and deductions. The software may also handle tasks like making direct deposits or printing checks, plus voiding payments and generating reports and tax forms.

No matter how many employees a business has, payroll software can be a real time-saver. Time saved isn't the only benefit to using payroll software, however, as the software can also help reduce any typing or calculation errors that may occur when manually handling payroll duties. In many cases, an employer needs only to input employee wage information and working hours and the software will handle the rest.

When seeking out software to automate payroll tasks, businesses have several options. Depending on a business' needs, this may mean downloading a free program with limited features or paying a considerable fee for a more robust option with all the bells and whistles. The final option, if a business prefers, is outsourcing their payroll management to an outside company that runs payroll software offsite. 

A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is one type of outsourcing organization that can provide a wide range of services including help for your business to pay taxes, run payroll, provide benefits, and maintain workers’ comp insurance. These PEO’s are considered co-employers because your employees will be listed under the PEO for tax purposes. 

#smallbizadvice