The information shared in this episode is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
As a small business owner, times are certainly challenging right now. Most float centers have closed their doors and now need financial assistance to cover expenses and take care of their employees. For this live-recorded episode, we invited anyone in the industry to join us as we talked to Jesse Calm, a small business attorney who shared information about the Paycheck Protection Program, which is an element within the recently passed CARES Act in the United States.
The PPP, administered through the SBA, is a loan that may be partially forgivable. If you’re interested in applying for it, talk to your local bank immediately, ideally one with whom you already have a working relationship. Jesse, among others in the crowd, shared details about loan eligibility, amount eligibility, and how to qualify for forgiveness of some or all of the loan. Please note that this information is accurate at the time of recording, but because the application goes live two days after recording (on Friday, 4/3/2020), some details may change. It is crucial to talk to your professional team for the nuances of your situation.
To be eligible for the PPP loan, you must have fewer than 500 employees and be located within the United States, and you must review statements and certify that your business has been impacted by the COVID-19 situation.

The loan amount for which you’re eligible is calculated based on your average monthly payroll cost times 2.5 months. After eight weeks, you may be eligible for forgiveness of some or all of that amount, based on the total full-time employees (or combination of part-time employees who add up to 35 hours a week to be considered full time) before the event, compared to the average number of full-time employees (or combination of part-timers) over the course of that eight weeks. If you have already laid off your employees, you might still benefit from the program as a two-year loan with a 0.5% interest rate, but may not be eligible for forgiveness. You must be able to provide receipts and paystubs for payroll costs, rent, utilities, and interest payments, but 75% of the loan does need to be used for payroll in order to be eligible for for loan forgiveness.

Links

Guide to the CARES Act

Paycheck Protection Program

Sponsors
Float Helm
Floataway

NSFW: It’s vent time, ladies and gentlemen. This episode contains a few four-letter words. 

Times, they are a bit strange. Someone’s binging on Netflix, someone’s not sleeping, somebody is hanging with the Tiger King, and someone else might be getting cozy with the whiskey. With all four co-hosts’ centers closed during the COVID-19 closures, the crew chats about their expectations for the national relief programs and what they’re each doing during the “downtime”. 

You’ll hear a few ideas for keeping in touch with clients, taking care of employees, and some sobering thoughts on the future of your own business (and theirs). To help with the nitty gritty world that must go on, Kim shares some tips for what to share (or not share) on social media, Drew poses some thought-provoking sentiments about offering sales right now, and the whole crew shares in a little love and support. There are pros and cons to each decision you’re making along the way, of course, so you’ll have to arrive at your own conclusions, but not without a few ideas and nuggets of compassion to help you. 

Sponsors
Float Helm
Floataway

Links

• SBA loans
• Disaster recovery

If you listened to last week’s episode, get ready to zoom out, spin around, and question it all. Blood, sweat, and tears. It’s all here because it’s pretty amazing what can happen in a week, salty friends. The crew, along with Sanda (Dylan’s  amazing partner at The Float Shoppe and in life) comes back together to hash out what they’re feeling, what they’re doing, and how they’re handling the way events have unfolded in the last week with the COVID-19 virus. If you’re debating closing, you’ll hear the thought process each person went through in order to arrive at the decision to stay open or close their center – from the size of the center, number of employees, and how people get to work. 

[Read more…] about Zooming out on COVID-19

Coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 – it has so many names, and just as many stances to take. Are you a prepper? Avoider? Non-believer? Or just a float center owner who needs to be prepared to handle your business in this uncertain time?

In this episode, we invited a special guest, Jason MacDonald to join us to talk about what we, as owners, should and shouldn’t do. Jason is an industry advocate who has spoken at past Float Conferences, and he is a Health inspector in Canada.

Jason dispels some misinformation and shares his general perspective about how the virus is spread and how float centers are already well-equipped to keep the public safe. (He even drops a few one liners that you could use for marketing campaigns!) While there’s a lot of uncharted territory with COVID-19, Jason sheds light on what to look for in your cleaning and disinfecting products to make sure you’re doing just that. Tip: contact/dwell times matter.

Dylan, Gloria, Drew, and Kim then chat about what they’re each doing onsite for their cleaning routines, staff communications, and public messaging. Some are holding out, and some are shouting from the rooftops. In which camp will you fall after hearing it all here?

Sponsors
Float Helm
Floataway

Links
Force of Nature