Small Business News

A new report by Biz2Credit reveals that among small businesses who took Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans those in finance and retail had done well in recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

According to Biz2Credit Recovery Ranking for 2021 report businesses engaged in finance, retail, and real estate lead businesses in recovery showing a recovery rate above the 50-percentile mark. These businesses experienced the greatest strength of recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns. Because businesses in financial services and insurance had a high demand for expansion capital, but a low level of distress. Even though these businesses are rebounding financially, challenges, however, remain related to the supply chain, rather than consumer demand.

This ranking matrix measures the resiliency of businesses across different industries based on their ability to bounce back from the economic shock of the pandemic.

Other findings of the report include:

Among the key findings of the report is recovery among small businesses has been uneven across industries. And it suggests targeted opportunities for additional private and public support for small businesses. In a bid to help small businesses recover from the pandemic the US government had rolled out relief programs. This includes the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to millions of small businesses across the nation.

Businesses in accommodation and food services had seen the highest average approval rate for all financing applications at 57% followed by retail trade (55%) and health care (54%).

Among businesses with the highest average revenue in 2020, information technology leads with average revenue of over $1.5 million. This is followed by wholesale trade ($1.3M), manufacturing ($1.1M), retail trade ($750K), accommodation and food services ($626K), and health care and social assistance ($612K).

In terms of businesses with the highest average credit score, Information Technology averaged a score of 636, followed by real estate (633), finance and insurance (624), professional and technical (623), and health care (619).

The report also analyzed how frequently businesses in different industries worked with a CPA firm for financing applications. Among the top business working with CPA firms are other services (20.8%), transportation and warehousing (12.8%), and professional services (11.3%).

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Which Small Businesses Recovered Best After Getting a PPP Loan?" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2021/11/small-business-recovery-after-ppp-loan.html

Which of these quotes best describes your attitude toward work?

“If it was supposed to be fun, they wouldn’t call it work.” 

Or

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. ” ? James A. Michener

Maybe a better question is – how do you want your team, your employees, and maybe your customers to feel about working with you?

“Elevating the Human Experience: Three Paths to Love and Worth at Work” by Amelia Dunlop seeks to understand what workers want from work. I received a review copy recently and, I have to admit, I had a conflicted reaction and lots of questions.  

At first glance, I was dubious. Who wouldn’t be after hearing things like “People are our greatest asset” or “We value Emotional Intelligence and Servant Leadership”  only to go to work and experience something more akin to “I pay you to show up and make me money.”

Then, as I started reading, I became curious.  And, I encourage you to do the same. What saved this book for me was that it was based on a research study Dunlop did with 6,000 people in the United States.

Author Amelia Dunlop is the Chief Experience Officer at Deloitte Digital and U.S. Customer Strategy and Applied Design Leader. She helps organizations develop winning strategies that combine design, creativity and strategy.

“As marketers,” She says “we have an opportunity to create more human experiences—earning long-term loyalty and trust in the process.” And this is the center of her work as she leads a team who use human-centered design and insight strategies to focus on the human experience instead of just customer experience. 

It helps to know that Dunlop studied theology and then worked in management consulting for a firm that highly valued “moral purpose” 

Studies show that when employees’ needs are met, profitability can soar. For example, a 2020 Gallup survey found that companies with engaged employees can see profitability increase by 23%.”

In the “Foundation” section of the book, Dunlop reviews the five distortions of work.  These are the behaviors that have gotten in the way of work serving as a path to self actualization.  They include:

It’s no surprise that happy and engaged employees generate higher profits and productivity.  And, of course, leaders are responsible for creating systems and cultures that engage employees.

But here’s where “Elevating the Human Experience” is a little bit different.  It’s not necessarily written for the leader.  It’s written for the individual.  Instead of focusing on the people, systems and organizations you cannot change, Dunlop shows you how to lead yourself and elevate those around you.

She does this by giving the reader three paths:

The First Path is an inward one where you first learn to love yourself and recognize your own worth. This is the entrepreneurial path. 

The Second Path is recognising the worthiness of another.  In this journey, you’re shifting the focus from yourself to another person in your life. I see this as more of a journey of working for another person; maybe a boss or a client.  

The Third Path is learning to recognize and love the people you work with every day.  While this can easily apply to a business owner or leader, it can also apply to a small business owner or team member.

Dunlop calls these paths, but I tend to visualize them more as a ripple effect you might get as you throw stone into a pond.  

“Elevating the human experience is about acknowledging intrinsic worth as a human and nurturing growth through love.”

If you’re one of these people who has been frustrated by observing the futility of managing businesses from a more human perspective, you will appreciate this book.

First, it’s founded on solid research that is expertly illustrated throughout the book.

As you can see by this image from the book, the illustrations appear to be hand-drawn, giving them that very warm and human touch.  Another benefit is that you’ll find yourself seeing how your responses might compare to the data.

“Elevating the Human Experience” will show you how to empower yourself no matter what your role is in business; entrepreneur, employee, or owner. You can read the book from front to back, or you can select the specific path that you’re on and focus on that section. 

No matter which path you choose to explore, expect to be uncomfortable.  You might be uncomfortable because you’re not used to seeing the word “Love” dropped so freely in the workplace.  Or, you might be uncomfortable because you’ll be confronted with how little “love” there is in your work environment.

Wherever you see yourself in the journey toward a more human workplace,, you’ll insights, strategies, and ways to find yourself in the world of work.

Image: amazon

This article, "Should You Focus on “Elevating the Human Experience”?" was first published on Small Business Trends

Read more: https://smallbiztrends.com/2021/11/elevating-the-human-experience-book-review.html