Economic recovery depends on thriving small businesses. Small firms serve as the backbone of communities, providing jobs and essential goods and services. Furthermore, they offer economic opportunity to low-income and undeserved families.
However, these businesses face many difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as adapting business models and investing in new technologies. Many operate with slim margins, necessitating cooperation from across all levels of society for survival.
1. Build a Business Plan
An effective business plan can help a company set and meet goals more easily, as well as attract investors and lenders.
An accurate market assessment is of vital importance, for instance at an MIT Enterprise Forum session one entrepreneur presented a plan claiming that his product could help 17 million small businesses.
Lenders often rely on debt-service coverage ratios to determine whether businesses can afford loans. This process usually includes reviewing financial data such as credit histories, resumes, patents and legal documents of an enterprise.
2. Get a Loan
Small business owners sometimes need a loan to fund their operations. While traditional banks and online lenders provide loan solutions, often the best loans come with flexible rates and terms.
Government-backed loans may also prove helpful, offering competitive interest rates and less stringent qualification requirements than their private counterparts. Such loans can be used to finance equipment, cover operating expenses or bridge cash flow gaps while offering technical and business coaching assistance from experts within the Small Business Administration.
3. Get a Business Insurance Policy
Small businesses must ensure they have sufficient insurance protection. This should include general liability policies to guard against claims of property damage or bodily injury resulting from company activities and professional liability policies to cover negligence or libel claims. It is wise to consult local small business leaders and experts for guidance in selecting providers offering tailored coverage solutions tailored specifically to their type of business; some insurers even offer packages suitable for most small enterprises.
4. Get a Credit Card
Small businesses across industries entered the COVID-19 crisis with limited financial resilience, forcing them to make drastic adjustments and make adjustments that will ensure survival. To adapt and remain sustainable they must implement drastic change measures quickly in order to survive and prosper.
Local leaders must deploy capital access and technical assistance strategies that prioritize place-based small business support and catalyze more equitable recovery. Implementing smart federalist approaches will allow small businesses to withstand storms better and rebound stronger from them.
5. Get a Business License
Acquiring all necessary licenses and permits can be one of the more time-consuming aspects of starting a business, but it is crucial to ensuring compliance with both local and state regulations.
How you obtain a business license varies by state and industry. To help navigate through this process, the Small Business Administration offers great advice about which steps should be taken to obtain one. Depending on your industry, licensing processes can take anywhere from days to months – however the sooner you start planning, the better off you’ll be!
7. Get a Business License
An essential step in starting and running a successful small business, obtaining a business license can be both complicated and confusing, so it is wise to seek legal advice in order to navigate local laws and comply with state requirements.
Small businesses play an essential role in driving economic recovery in rural and urban communities and contributing to a resilient economy. Through an approach focused on place, federal investments could support BDOs to offer equitable support ecosystems that are affordable, culturally relevant, linguistically accessible – creating new opportunities for shared prosperity.
8. Get a Business Insurance Policy
Many small businesses opt to form as limited liability corporations (LLC), which protect their personal assets in case of litigation or default on business debts. Other small businesses join or create organizations to gain economies of scale in purchasing and marketing decisions and advocate for issues at local or national levels.
The Small Business Administration is a federal government agency founded in 1953 to support small businesses through loans, loan guarantees, entrepreneurial development programs and contracting and advocacy services.
9. Get a Business Insurance Policy
Many small business owners opt for sole proprietorship structures when setting up their companies. This leaves them personally responsible for any debts incurred from business activities and all personal assets may be at stake should a lawsuit or bankruptcy ensue.
Other entrepreneurs opt for limited liability companies as an asset protection measure and to reduce risks when running their businesses. Such organizations may join industry associations or purchasing items in bulk such as health insurance.
10. Get a Business Insurance Policy
Dependent upon their industry, small businesses may qualify for government assistance through the Small Business Administration. This agency offers numerous resources including funding opportunities, education sessions and advocacy services.
Many small business owners choose to operate as sole proprietors, which imposes personal liability for any debt their company incurs. To reduce this risk, many entrepreneurs incorporate their company as a limited liability corporation which protects personal assets against seizure in case of lawsuit or bankruptcy proceedings.
Additionally, small businesses frequently join or form organizations in order to leverage economies of scale, such as lower health insurance costs through group purchasing.