Oil crash lessons for businesses.

Yes, April 20, 2020, will go down in history as the 1st time the price of a barrel of oil crashed below zero.

The price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, compounded by the unexpected impacts of coronavirus, sent the value of oil spiraling in mid-February.

What does all this mean for small and medium-sized businesses? 

* If, as a small or medium-sized business, you’re heavily invested in oil-related industries, now is a good time to diversify your portfolio.

* Consumer and business prices for oil-related products aren’t determined by the base price of a barrel of oil. There are other costs involved, including refining, distribution, packaging, etc. While slightly lower prices are likely, you shouldn’t count on pumping stations offering petrol for free just yet.

* Taxpayer-Backed Loans for SMBs Went to the Fossil Fuel Industry

Conclusion

Good financial management is essential to small and medium businesses. Many companies will shut down as a result of what’s happened over the last few months. And an even greater number will struggle to get back on their feet. That's why it's important to cut costs with no upfront fees at  BusinessRefund.com

What Does a D&B Report Show?

This a business credit report that could be viewed as similar to a personal credit report for businesses.

This is the report that banks and other lending institutions may consider when determining whether they should give you a loan—as well as what interest rate may be assigned to your loan.

The best way to improve this report is to run a quick 5-minute analysis at

BusinessRefund.com

Bosses making new hires are finding that coronavirus-restrictions can actually help make them more effective recruiters.

Many employers across the U.S. small and large are still hiring--and Covid-19 is pushing them to adopt new and creative recruiting strategies.

Not long ago, the big hiring challenge often was finding enough job candidates, but with the U.S. unemployment rate at 11 percent, the focus for employers with jobs to fill has shifted to how to hire people given the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and how to benefit from hiring.

Businesses can now earn up to $5,000 per employee via YourWotc.com which host a live chat box from 

9am - 5pm  M-F  EST

Business July 15 tax deadline?

Are you ready for the July 15 tax deadline? 

It may have paid to procrastinate this year, as the IRS touts accrued interest on refunds and waives penalties for Americans that owe. 

If you are a business owner in the US, you still have time to capture your tax benefits before filing. 

See your benefits in seconds at BusinessRefund.com

Small Businesses Long-Term

Brick-and-mortar small-business owners are often reticent to spend their small amount of free time learning creative tools or how to build a successful social media strategy. The stay-at-home order has created both the time and the need to lean far more heavily on digital marketing. 

The wisest businesses will take advantage of remote collaboration platforms that allow employees to work with each other asynchronously. Slack and Microsoft Teams have seen dramatic rises in usage.

The combination of skilled people at home needing to make money and bored people at home looking to enrich or entertain themselves is a recipe for a booming population of micro-entrepreneurs. One person with a skill in demand can find an audience. It may, or may not, surpass the earning potential of whatever the person was doing before, but it will open many people’s eyes to new possibilities. 

Openings and closings may be doom restaurants and other businesses!

Many restaurants were set to be able to offer indoor dining this week, but officials scrapped those plans as Covid-19 cases rose across several parts of the country.

Officials in parts of the country also are taking steps to rollback some of their coronavirus reopening plans, especially businesses like bars, gyms and banquet facilities

You Can Cut Business Costs

                                       

Over 79% of small businesses were hit by the pandemic. To lessen the impact of Covid-19 on your business, you should make use of all the available resources and try to cut business costs to have more cash in hand.

Following are some proven cost-cutting ideas for your small business:

*Look for discounts from your local chambers

*Try to adopt free cloud tools, such as Google Drive, Skype, etc.

*Outsource short-term projects

*Adopt a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program

*Purchase used equipment for your business

*Allow more employees to work from home if it is feasible

*Look for tax deductions (see upper right corner of blog)