I would agree with your timeframe for getting money. I filed the EIDL application and will withdraw if we get approved for PPP.
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2.5 months payroll
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There are 31 of us on the payroll at my company, all working out of the same office/warehouse. Working from home isn't an option for most of us because we handle physical goods and ship around 150-200 orders per day on average. Last Wednesday evening I couldn't sleep and was thinking what I could do to mitigate the risk of our company temporarily shutting down.

Thursday morning I purchased a small four bedroom house for the company. Thursday afternoon we began running Ethernet, purchasing desks, and determining which six employees to relocate to the remote site. Last night we moved the sixth employee.

We also started running a night shift until midnight five days a week so we didn't have so many employees in the building at one time. It was a logistics nightmare to basically send our staff three different directions and make sure all areas were covered.

We've also had someone in charge of disinfecting door handles etc. everyday but now we're doing it a LOT. I purchased Merv 13 furnace filters and we set the thermostats to cycle so the fan runs a minimum of 30% of the time. We turned our dehumidifiers up from 40% to 45%. 43% or higher makes it tougher on viruses to spread.

I've bought an insane amount of inventory the past three weeks. I'm gambling that the supply chain is more likely to close than our ability to ship product out. None of our stuff has an expiration date and it will eventually sell no matter what. And we are an "Essential business".

I have told my employees that if it comes down to it I'll work for free for awhile before I lay anyone off. My goal here is to not let a single employee miss a paycheck. Time will tell if that's possible but I'm sure as hell trying. Almost all my employees are bending over backwards to be accommodating. Most of them are friends and family so that adds a ton of pressure in a situation like this.

If we did have to shut down for awhile, my business could survive for a year or more if there was a zero payroll. We have plenty of cash reserves to cover all of our fixed costs.

The last three days have been the worst three days of sales in a very long time. Not encouraging.
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Do you mind if I ask what type of goods you buy / sell / distribute? OK if answer is no....

Also, in an earlier thread, I mentioned that I'm a small business consultant, and we have laid out plans with each of our clients to protect three things: people, integrity of your business, and liquidity. Sounds like, from your post, that you've done a great job in all those aspects.

Along with those items, I've been telling my client that the single most important aspect of this is the owner being the leader. As scared / concerned as you may be, I guarantee your people are much worse. It's good that you are taking care of them, and leading by example here, because that will have a calming effect on them. But make sure you have specific actions for each of the three areas, and execute, execute, execute every day. This will also calm your people (knowing there are plans).

With all that said: Make sure you review your plans periodically. If liquidity starts becoming an issue, then you have to be real about the situation. Call your banks defer notes, mortgages, or revert to interest only for next 3 months. Call your health care broker, defer premium payments. Keep an eye on Family First Act regarding your people v. UI (may be better to lay off sooner rather than later - as much as nobody wants to do that). Get into the SBA application process, even if today you don't want or think you need the funds....you don't have to take funds even if approve, but leave yourself the options. Also now that CARES has been signed, inquire through your bank about those funds. Be prepared!


And finally, let's figure out how to "raise the bridge"...My general feeling is that most business owners are taking same approach to selling or haven't adapted to the "new reality" we are going through....often time just waiting for phone to ring or customers to place orders that may not even know you're open for business. May not be you by any means, just what I'm seeing (hence the question of what do you sell...."
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Not entirely accurate:

PPP (CARES): With a maximum maturity of 10 years, the amount to be the lesser of (a) $10 million or (b) 2.5 multiplied by the average total monthly payments by the applicant for payroll, mortgage payments, rent payments, and payments on any other debt obligations incurred during the 1 year period before the date on which the loan is made.


EIDL: Up to $2M for working capital. I believe it is based on estimated amount of economic impact (revenue loss), net of any BI.


I also came across an SBA "Express Loan" option this morning....no idea what this means at this point, but it's clearly bridge loan and for disaster relief:

https://www.sba.gov/document/support...-program-guide

Also check your state, city, county sites for CDBG money that may be available. I know here in FL they were offering up interest fee bridge loans of $50K, and have already funded some businesses....NOTE: I would suspect that SBA will take that recovery into account when doling out their loans for EIDL
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I read a little earlier that you may be able to use PPP to refinance an existing EIDL loan....this may be the work-around for people to not have to withdraw the EIDL application. My guess is that EIDL funding will come sooner than PPP (pure speculation on my part), but this may give people the options they need (i.e. money in hand sooner without sacrificing the loan forgiveness aspect of PPP)
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They are estimating the ppp to be distributed 48 hours after application
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We distribute about fifty brands of automotive specialty tools and parts. Retail and wholesale.

Wednesday 3/18 we had a company staff meeting where we had a candid talk and I asked for their input on the situation. I let them know that I've got their back through this and they let me know they've got mine. Each day we've been implementing new procedures or rolling out our scheduling/worksite changes.

There are three employees in charge of updating me as new applicable laws or developments happen. Our CPA firm, county development, and regional small business administration director have all been in constant contact with me. Not only do I have good relationships with the last two but we're pretty important to this community because we're in a very poor, rural area and we have one of the larger payrolls around.

Having a plan calms me. Just last night we started developing a plan for when someone in our main building is inevitably exposed. Part of that plan will be to have Service Master or similar come in and sanitize after we all quarantine. Then the six employees at the remote site could come back and pick, pack, and ship the physical goods. There are a few of us who could assist with customer service from home then as well. We could get by for a few weeks in that scenario but those six would probably be exhausted.

Our inventory valuation (our cost) to debt ratio is greater than 4:1 so I feel like we're in good shape. What reports/measurables do you suggest I keep an eye on right now? Payroll is by far our greatest expense and obviously there's a quick solution to that if I absolutely had to but I am fighting like hell to avoid that.

Our web page header says "Essential Business: We're Still Shipping Orders". The issue right now is that repair shops make up over half of our business and some are temporarily closing.

Several weeks ago I locked in a low rate to refinance our personal home mortgage. That process is still under way. I'm afraid to apply for any of the government loan stuff right now because I don't want it to screw with my refi and I feel like we won't need the business loans. I could end up being wrong about that though, who knows.

I'm mentally exhausted and haven't slept much in a couple weeks. That's making it tougher to be confident in my decisions. I feel like we've got a better handle on everything now though so perhaps I can start sleeping better. As a matter of fact I got seven hours last night and feel great today!

Thank you very, very much for the input and feedback.
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I own a roof truss plant in WA. We shut down Thursday for a minimum of two weeks. I am paying all 31 of my employees for these two weeks. Past that point, if the Governor does not realize construction should be essential, I will lay off the majority of my production crew. I will continue to pay my staff for two more weeks.
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Lots of good things in your post!

1. First and foremost, let me comment on the last part first: You're a person like everybody else, but you also have the concern of the people under your charge. I'm amazed at the business owners I work with, because even under normal circumstances, being a business owner is hard work and you bear all the risk. Just by your response, I can tell you are 100% on your game right now, no matter how exhausting it may be.....you are doing an awesome job protecting your people, business and liquidity right now....far better than a lot of business owners I'm dealing with right now.....Keep up the good work, and don't let up!

2. Keep communicating with your team....even if its for 15 minutes a few times per day to update on things, that will give them encouragement. Again, you've done the right thing by having the all hands, but keep giving situation reports frequently

3. 100% right thing to have people monitoring recent developments, laws, etc. and vetting that with CPA, bankers, etc. Lots of news going around, not all of it firm, so keeping your ear to the ground is important....kudos again!

4. good that you have a built in scenario in case somebody becomes sick. Would it be feasible to keep some key inventory items in a separate location or storage so that certain items can continue to flow even if you are shut down at the main facility for cleaning?

5. Inventory: I'd focus time and attention on moving items / turns. You may ultimately need to make decisions on whether or not we will be "full service", or focus on items that are continuing to turn. Obviously, the longer something sits, the more carrying cost on that item, and certainly more cash that is absorbed for items sitting. It sounds like you have good, stable cash position (i.e. strong balance sheet), but if not, I'd only replenish essential stock and may even discount non-moving items.

6. Be real with the situation: Nobody wants to hurt people, but if it's the right thing to do to keep the business afloat, then don't hesitate. Don't mean to sound harsh, but think of it this way: If you have 20 employees, would you rather lose 2 -3 people now, or risk 20 later?

Also keep in mind that Family First Act goes into affect April 2nd, which can give your employees additional 80 hours of paid leave for COVID reasons, on top of already accrued time. This is reimbursable to the business eventually, but is cash out the door upfront....if you're making personell moves to conserve cash, I'd do so sooner rather than later.

Also keep in mind that most states and the Feds have greatly reduced UI requirements for COVID, and are making it easy for people to get cash in hand, not to mention adding more and longer duration benefits. Obviously, it's not the best thing to put somebody on UI, but I do think there is concerted efforts on Govt. to really help most impacted people. Again, may make the decision a little easier if you ultimately know its the right thing to do. Also note that most states have work share, where people can apply for UI for the "impacted" part of their week. For instance, if you keep somebody on part-time, they can get UI for the difference in their 'normal' full-time position and the wages they earned on part-time work. EACH JURISDICTION IS DIFFERENT, SO PLEASE RESEARCH THIS FOR YOUR AREA!

7. Had to be blunt here, but the likelihood of people looking you up on-line is probably slim to none. So listing "OPEN" on your page, while definitely something you should do, likely isn't really doing much for you. Here's what you need to do: Whether you have this electronically or people have rolodexes full of customers: CREATE A CUSTOMERR CALL LIST AND GET YOUR PEOPLE CALLING THEM IMMEDIATELY - EVERYBODY YOU CAN THINK OF! Let them know you're still open for business, let customer know how you are keeping your people safe, visitors safe, and most importantly you have ample stock and ready to deliver.

Call those customers you haven't been doing business with (you don't know if your competition is open or even able to supply them, and I'd guarantee that most of them don't have the inventory or cash that you have, so they may not be able to sustain business).

Heck, call your competitors, ask if there is anything you have that they need, and vice versa, so that all customers can be serviced....form a strategic alliance with other like businesses to swap inventory.....Sell your ample stock to others that may need the inventory themselves....

With key customers: you're not worried about them paying you, you're worried about the timing of when they can pay you, so if you have inventory, get it to them and work out payment terms through this period. Your customers will remember that you were there for them in tough times

This is going to sound bad, but nows the time to review and refresh your pricing. I'm not talking about gouging people, but I'd look at every SKU you carry, it's turns, and carrying costs, and marking to the appropriate level. Most small businesses don't do this frequently enough, and an extra 1 - 2 % over the long haul (even if you have to discount today due to COVID) goes straight to your bottom line.

Have your employees blast out on their social media that their business is open, they are working, and to communicate that to others.

Communicate communicate communicate, but be the initiator, not the order taker!

8. finally, keep regalar communications with your bank on the refi. This is how they earn their money, so they should be able to tell you appropriate things about your re-fi in relation to business loans. I personally would not hesitate to apply for any and all things COVID related, even if ultimately you don't need them or use them, but you want to keep that option open. Just let your banker know that's what's happening, and unless they stringently object, keep the SBA / COVID / PPP options moving forward

Don't know if any of this helps, but hopefully there's a few nuggets in there for you. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, AND MORE THAN HAPPY TO DISCUSS THIS AT ANY TIME (noting that even if you don't want to discuss with me...make sure you have somebody that you can have these discussions with that can help you through this - there is no shame in asking for help!) With that said, you're doing a fantastic job and keep working your plan!
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Everyone with businesses needs to get in touch with their bank. It’s not first come first serve but just get in their ear and let them know you want to have some of this stuff. No reason not to.
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Please make sure that you pay attention to Family First Act that goes into effect April 2nd. It gives employees paid time above normal accrued time for COVID...This could have an impact on your liquidity that you may need to account for.
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100% accurate....apply for any and all things offered. Even if ultimately don't need it or don't want it, keep the options open. We don't know if this thing is going for 2 weeks or 2 years....prepare yourself.

We are telling our clients 3 months: April, May , June.....protect your people, integrity of your business, and your liquidity!
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Since I’m incorporated and actually pay myself a salary, I’m assuming I will account for that in wages for the business?
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Don't see why you wouldn't, nor seen anything that disqualifies wages paid to owners for functional roles....
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