Strategy and Innovation Opportunities to Come from The Paycheck Protection Program

The havoc created by the coronavirus has turned “business as usual” to anything but usual. Millions of workers have been laid off and many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat. In recent weeks, however, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is part of the stimulus package passed by Congress, has offered a glimmer of hope for small businesses during this trying time. The Payment Protection Program, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is a “loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus pandemic.” Obviously, during these rather trying times for us personally, this is good news for those of us trying to keep our small business alive. If you have seen a decrease in your clientele or find yourself short on work, the PPP can provide many employees in your company with opportunities to work on things that you’ve “never had time for”, which ended up being shelved in deference to higher-priority items. Before we look at the strategic and innovative opportunities the PPP can provide, let’s take a deeper dive into what the PPP is.   

What is the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)? 

The Paycheck Protection Program is a stimulus package that will provide nearly $350 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses in order to keep their workers on payroll. According to Forbes, the criteria for obtaining a loan from the PPP is that your small business has no more than 500 employees, that your principle place of business is in the United States and that your business is operational as of February 15, 2020. Small businesses that qualify can get a loan equal to their average total monthly payroll, multiplied by 2.5, or 250%. According to the SBA, the loan is forgivable so long as “employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage, interest, or utilities.”

Additionally, at least 75% of the loan forgiveness must be used for payroll and, if the loan is not used as intended, you will have to pay it back (or it will be reduced). The loan forgiveness is also dependent on full-time headcount and wages remaining the same. The PPP will be available through June 30, 2020. One of the unanswered challenges of this offering is that many businesses will not be ready (or allowed) to open their doors till well beyond May 15, thusly making it difficult to achieve the “by June 30th” spend on payroll. 

Even still, it is clear to see that the PPP will provide many benefits to small businesses and job security to employees who might be otherwise unemployed for a longer term. But let us bring a bit of attention to the less-obvious benefits that the PPP may help allow for in your company, in particular, the accomplishment of tasks that perhaps you never had the time to work on.   

What the Payment Protection Program Means for Small Businesses 

How many times have we all said, “I’m trying to fit 12 hours into an 8 hour work day”? Life is often very fast paced, rarely allowing businesses the chance to slow down for a look at the finer details. This pandemic is providing a unique opportunity for small business owners. As client revenue and typical workload have decreased, more time has opened up to work on projects that have always been put on the “if we have more time” list. With the opportunity to bring furloughed employees back to work, with the help of the PPP, it’s time to think about the strategic and innovative tasks that will enhance your business down the road. If you have applied for the PPP, or will be soon, this is a crucial time for your company – it will likely be few weeks until you see your (possible) forgivable loan. Use this new-found time creatively and resourcefully to think about what you will have your employees engage in while they are at hand now, as well as when they return to work.  

Consider the skills and talents that your employees already have and put them to good use! Go back to their resumes to dig into their past experiences; many will be pleasantly surprised at the new-found recognition of their utility and long-hidden-away skill sets.  Have scheduled conversations where they come prepared with ideas of their own. Or, develop a list with your Leadership team of tasks to tackle, and match talents against those tasks. While it is difficult to find silver linings during this time, having the time to focus on strategic business-enhancing projects could be exactly what your company needs.    

How Will MarketReach Use This Valuable Time?  

At MarketReach, we have a talented crew of appointment setters – they spend their days making outbound sales calls for clients. On the other hand, Frank really enjoys coding and database work. Frank will now be tasked with working on our CRM and take the 30-hour course to begin enhancing our database to allow our team to be even more effective and efficient as things get back on track! Malik enjoys video production. He’s full of energy and has developed videos for his own side business. What magic can he create for MarketReach by putting those talents to the test to help us create the content that we surely have been missing here? Prospect research and qualification is an ongoing requirement for our newest team members – Dakota and Dylan excel at this part of the job. They will make for a brighter campaign result for clients that have stuck around with us during this challenging time– those clients will get this service for free! These are just some of the various opportunities MarketReach will be able to pursue with this loan! 

A few months from now, you are going to want to look back at this time and know that you took the necessary steps towards success. Once business returns to normal, you will not have the valuable time that you have right now. So, what’s your strategic vision to tackle those “if we had more time” ideas?