Business News for August 14, 2020 |
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Today's message includes the following news and online courses:
- News and Updates
- SBA will pay 6 months on loans
- QuickBooks pricing changes and online discount
- Creative Destruction lab accepting applications
- Congratulations to Garth's Brew Bar - SBDC success story
- Upcoming Learning Opportunities:
- Two-course SBDC series on Business Valuation and Buy-Sell Agreements
- Leadership in the time of COVID
- Free Webinar: Retaining Rural Business Through Employee Ownership
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Reminder: SBA Will Pay 6 Months on Loans |
If you need Small Business Relief, the SBA will pay 6 months of principal, interest and any associated fees that borrowers owe on new 7(a), 504, and Microloan loans disbursed before Sept. 27.
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QuickBooks Pricing Changes and Online Discount |
We know that many small business owners use QuickBooks as their primary accounting software, so we are sharing a message we received from the company regarding pricing changes.
Regardless of your accounting software of choice, this could be an ideal time to switch to a cloud-based platform as many of your operations are likely taking place remotely. Even if you are not currently working remotely, cloud-based software provides you with protection against other types of disasters, including fire, flood, tornadoes, etc.
QuickBooks Online Discount - Click the image for program details
Effective August 1, 2020, SBDC referred clients will be able to receive a subscription discount of 40% for a one-year monthly subscription for new customers, (50% off for 2 or more subscriptions). Existing QuickBooks Online subscriptions will maintain their current pricing discounts.
QuickBooks Desktop Pricing Update
As of August 1st 2020 the discount for the 2020 version of QuickBooks will be discontinued, meaning that any orders for QuickBooks Pro 2020 after August 1st will be at the full MSRP of $299. In addition, in mid-September, Intuit will launch QuickBooks® Desktop 2021.
Intuit will also be increasing the MSRP $100 on Pro and $150 on Premier on all perpetual license (outright) products and eliminating promotional discounts. Pricing of subscription-based desktop products will remain unchanged.
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Creative Destruction Lab Collecting Applications - Due August 26 |
A new program from the University of Wisconsin and the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), CDL delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. The newly launched CDL-Wisconsin Risk Stream is currently accepting applications from companies with the potential to transform society’s ability to manage risk. The Risk cohort focuses on emerging technologies related to identifying, assessing, preventing, mitigating, and transferring risk. This mission includes a wide variety of subject matter; from how organizations identify, assess and manage risk, to the insurance value chain, and beyond.
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Congratulations to Garth's Brew Bar
Featured in our latest Success Story
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Congratulations to Garth's Brew Bar, our latest success story! The bar, which serves local beers and had been open only 3 months when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Luckily, a shout out from CraftBeer.com - and his work with his SBDC consultant - helped give his brand a boost in tumultuous times and started him on a trajectory of quick pivots that kept the focus on community.
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Upcoming Learning Opportunities |
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Work on Your Business Now to Save Yourself Headaches Later!
Two-course series helps grant you piece of mind
This two-course series provides you with the rare opportunity to work on your business and not just in it. By working with a valuation expert, you will better understand what matters when a business is being assigned a value - and how to make valuation decisions with your business partner(s) before the time comes. Both courses will provide you and your leadership team an invaluable resource: peace of mind.
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Beyond the Numbers: Understanding and Increasing Your Business’ Value - October 1
With all of the disruptions to business processes during COVID, many owners have been left thinking about what is next. If your business has slowed down, now is an ideal time to learn more about what qualitative factors you can work on now to improve future value and to understand what factors go into the valuation process.
Cathy Durham from Capital Valuation group provided some tips for increasing your business' value - even during quarantine. Check out those tips in our newsletter archive:
Small Business Exit Strategies: Fundamentals of Buy-Sell Agreements
If you started a business with someone (or brought on a partner later on), you have already had practice making a variety of decisions together. Yet one decision you do not want to make in real time is how your business' value should be split when - not if! - one of you leaves the company.
In this course, you will learn more about why phrases like “Fair Market Value” and “Book Value” are not sufficient direction to a business appraiser, and why formulas don’t work. In addition, the course will share a matrix developed by Capital Valuation that will help you create a meaningful document to assist you when a triggering event occurs – saving frustration, arguments and potential litigation.
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Leadership in the Time of COVID
September 10 & 11
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What are the qualities of effective leadership in this time of great uncertainty? What enables someone to become an adaptive and resonant leader when the coronavirus is profoundly altering our workplaces, our expectations, and our daily lives? This online session explores the core foundations of leadership and examines the unique challenges facing our organizations and their leaders during these uncertain times.
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Retaining Rural Business Through Employee Ownership |
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2016, more than 110,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin businesses with employees were owned by people 55 years or older. If these businesses are not retained, local economies are threatened by a loss of jobs, income and quality of life.
Employee ownership, particularly in the form of worker cooperatives, offers a solution for some business transitions. Shifting to employee ownership can keep business doors open, save jobs and maintain the business as a valued part of the community — a triple-win solution for the owner, the employees and the community. Surprisingly, few companies take advantage of this option. There are fewer than 7,500 employee-owned companies in the U.S. (out of millions of employer firms). While most of these are Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), worker cooperatives are a more viable and practical option for businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
Tuesday, August 25
9:00 - 10:00 a.m. CT
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Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or 608-263-2221 to request accommodations.
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