By adopting a basic set of nature-informed rules as common practice, business owners can thrive to an even greater degree within the existing economic paradigm. While dyscalculia (in laymen’s terms, difficulty with math) often gets between me and the correct number, I have immense respect and appreciation for the concreteness of accounting—truly, even more so because of my own ineptitude....
While I now live in North Carolina, I’m originally from Kentucky where our state motto is “United we stand, divided we fall.” An essential attitude for these times … When I hear doubts about the U.S. and its ability to get through this crisis, I’m not buying it. We still, collectively, have enormous financial reserves and other resources. This isn’t the 1930’s, when we were a relatively poor...
At this point, we’re probably each wondering what the world will look like when this crisis ends and whether we’ll get back to the “good ole days” of last month. I hope not. I hope not because, before COVID-19, the U.S. already had other major crises – we were just kicking those cans down the road. So, now is a good time to ponder our future as each of us sit in our “Shelter-in-Place." We...
The U.S. Treasury, the SBA and the Federal Reserve are moving quickly - trying to shore-up our economy. Nevertheless, private investment will soon be critical to our ability to respond to the “long tail” of COVID-19. HNW individuals, family offices and private investment funds will soon become the investors (lenders and equity holders) of last resort to businesses as we adapt – we each must...
As an investment banker for 36 years now, I’ve observed a significant number of world events during my career. I’ve always found myself wondering each time whether it’s signaled some new “world-order.” Usually, they didn’t, e.g., the 1987 stock market crash and various Recessions. But sometimes they did, such as the Berlin wall coming down, the rise of the internet in the 1990s and 9/11. Here...
This CARES Act update sends two messages: If you have applied for any of the SBA stimulus programs, you aren’t crazy, and you aren’t alone. Odds are that you haven’t received the $10,000 grant that was promised in 3 business days -- and your application to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) has not been accepted, much less processed. So, what happened? First, banks did not initially accept...
The CARES Act now offers much needed financial assistance to business owners, but it can be a confusing process to navigate. Below are summaries of the most important SBA programs, steps to follow, and the forms and other company documentation needed to successfully apply. Eligible recipients include U.S. businesses that: Have been affected by COVID-19 Supply to customers or businesses...
For sustainably-minded businesses, there are myriad solutions that will bridge us from a cradle-to-grave culture to one of a closed, cradle-to-grave goods market—and a thriving biosphere. Instead of moving on to a wholly separate subject matter from my previous column on biomimicry in business, I’d like to dive deeper. More specifically, I’d like to talk about a system of material production...
In the interest of accessibility, here are some terms that any investor should be familiary with.
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