I realize as you read this that it’s too late to get any of the Small Business Administration Disaster Loan money before it runs out.
Because it already has.
At least in the first round of funding.
But I want you to be more prepared to go for the loan in any subsequent funding cycles.
100% of my clients who went for the money got it last week, and I’ve been working overtime helping them figure out how best to use it. Because of the financial margin this money allows, none of my clients have had to layoff or furlough any workers.
Here’s how we did it, so you can hopefully get in next time:
- We had everything ready before the loans opened up. I force all my clients to be meticulous in their paperwork and records. This way, anytime an opportunity (like this) or a negative event (like an audit) opens up, they’re fully loaded and ready to fire away. Get your mess in order right now before the next funding opens up!
- We jumped on everything immediately. Every time a new SBA application came online, we filled it out and sent it in. Then, when the bank sent us a modified SBA app, we had it sent back within 30 minutes.
- There was a preexisting relationship with a local bank. I hate big banks, and I only use them when they have a financial product my local bank doesn’t carry. I encourage all my clients to do as much banking as possible with a local bank. If you don’t have one, go open up an account right now at a local bank. Not a local branch of a big bank, but a LOCAL bank.
- Plan ahead for how you’ll use the money before you get it. Questions like this came up with bankers during the process. It seemed like they only wanted to help applicants who knew what they were getting into and understood what the money was for.
- Pray before, during the process, and after.
Here’s some other things I had to do in the past week for my clients once they got the money that it would be wise to work on beforehand:
- Set up systems to record the loan usage in their bookkeeping software.
- Build a meticulous process to keep track of all paperwork, texts, papers, and any single thing related to the loan. The only way this loan will be ‘forgivable’ is if it’s used in the right way. You can guarantee that your usage of the loan will have to be proven.
- Craft amazing thank you notes and social media posts thanking their banks for their help.
- Sending out public relations articles to their mailing lists and on social media letting their customers know the good news.
- Pitching articles to local and regional media about their success in getting the SBA money.
That’s really it. It may not sound like much just reading it, but this is actually the compilation of years of work with some of my clients. Believe me, if you’re a small business owner, I know what most of your record-keeping looks like.
All of this is simple, though time sucking, work that you can do yourself. If you need help from me, give me a call. Now that the first round of funding is over and most of my clients are getting used to the crisis and the quarantine, I’m freeing up some time.
Until you call, I’m headed out to the back porch where my kids have a fire pit and some marshmallows ready.
Dr. Dave
