The COVID-19 crisis will change every aspect of our lives for years to come. Yesterday I was catching up on the government's new CARES act and what that means for small business owners. As you may have read in the news the government has authorized over 2 trillion dollars to be spent on providing relief to those who have been affected economically by the coronavirus shutdown. For most people that means a one time cash payment of $1,200.00. Under the Payroll Protection Act businesses can receive a loan (which can be forgiven in the future if you meet the requirement) from the government to cover their payroll and operating expenses for up to 8 weeks. Seventy percent of the money received under this program must be used to cover payroll. If you run a small business you may want to contact your bank to fill out an application to keep your workers working.
There is also a secondary program that may be of use in keeping your business open. Its called Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance and it is administered through the SBA (Small Business Administration) and there link is here: https://www.sba.gov/page/disaster-loan-applications#section-header-0 . This program mostly helps small businesses cover their operating costs. The first $10,000.00 of the loan is a grant which does not have to be paid back.
The rush to get this money started last week and unfortunately a lot of this money is going to be eaten up by large chains. Over 500 billion dollars out of the fund will be spent on corporate bailouts while many small businesses will be left to suffer. As of last week over 9,779 loans worth $3.2 billion has been approved. If you own a small business now is the time to act. It may take months before you start to see profits again, don't be left behind.