Financial Wellness...Scooching Towards...?

Today is May 6, 2020

That, my friends, is the face of a woman who is enjoying her first exercise endorphin burst in 2 months. Ahhhhhh, back on the tennis court! As of just yesterday. And yes I have played twice so far. Reunited and it feels so good! (Sorry for the nostril-probe-view. I figure some of you are seeing similar during your Zoom calls these days so you can handle it.)

My goodness I hope this finds you well, I really do. I know some of you have had reduced income. Some of you are still waiting to hear from the EDD, or about a PPP loan. Some of you are working harder than ever, whether the income has changed or not. Some of you have turned into instant teachers of little ones. Some of you have lost family members, whether due to covid or not.

It can get surreal to be with all of this. It can also get VERY real, too.

Like, has anyone else finally started gardening during shelter in place? I'm in the club now!! I've taken a shine to succulents. I like how they look and I like how people say they are very forgiving. I downloaded index cards for how to care for like 50 varieties because why garden if you're not going to pound available resources hard. jkjkjkjk but, ok so I obsess but you knew that already. My sweetheart, turns out, does not care for succulents. A) WHO ARE YOU and B) good thing we don't live together because I'm about 5 minutes away from starting to hoard them. I found clippings from a neighbor discarding a succulent, and planted them in my little back yard. Another friend heard me talking about it at a Zoom party and she has more in her yard than she knows what to do with and is going to send me clippings. (See, that's when I need to refer to my index cards for what to do when I actually receive them.)

To be honest, I'm also obsessing over an app called Creative Plant Ideas. They build these little worlds with pots and plants and tiny creatures. I am giving myself the space to just ooh and ahh over happy little world pictures. It's non-pandemic porn and I am down with it. Sometimes I take in some news, and sometimes I take in some creative plant ideas.

It's true that some are suffering deeply.
It's true that some already were, and have gone deeper into the suffering.
It's true that some are buffered by conveniences and luxuries. And sometimes that alleviates their suffering and sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes both for the same person.
It's true that some people are working around the clock.
It's true that some people are laying around, around the clock.
There is some sort of natural balance in all of this. It very literally is what it is. That is not to minimize it, or reduce it. It helps me feel a bit saner to be able to name things without judging them.

For My Small Business Peeps

Well if this hasn't been the dangdest thing!
I figured I'd just list what I've heard in terms of results. Would be so glad to hear your experiences...are you getting any loan support? So far I've heard directly of:

*they scooted right in with their local bank in the East Bay and were helped with a PPP and actually got the money. (A 12-employee construction company.) (Sorry to lead with the unicorn story but I do want people to know that it is possible yet this is also not the dominant story I'm hearing.)

*they applied to Wells F'ing Fargo immediately and ran into hurdles with the technology, being able to talk to a human, and then seemed to get stuck in a loop of canned emails saying they were still in the pipeline but probably best to keep applying other places. They then applied at like 5 other places. One turned them down saying the SBA rejected it because there was already an application on file. They ended up getting approved for PPP from an online lender but have not yet gotten the money. (An 8-employee health services company.)

*they applied maybe a week after the very big rush (Wells again, too big to fail) and havent yet heard anything personalized. They did get one more set of questions, which seemed like maybe someone was attending to it, but nothing since then. (Single employee S-corp, professional services)

*they have applied at multiple places but the process ground to a halt because their 2018 taxes were not current. (Seasonal business in its usual high season, with inventory going unused while the storage rental continues)

*they bank at a local credit union, had some difficulty getting the application submitted due to needing to pull together reports that weren't easily accessible, but once it was submitted, they did get funded with a PPP. (Sole proprietor holistic health business who has been entirely out of operation)

Webinar coming soon with me and green-focused financial advisor Michael Velzo. We're going to discuss cash flow for small businesses and do some Q & A. If you'd like to submit questions in advance, I'd love to hear from you!