Category: lifestyle
Business Resources during COVID-19 Crisis
Lakes Business Group knows privately owned businesses are what makes our country great. At this health and economic crisis period there are resources to help businesses manage through this crisis.
JUNE 2020 – Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act 2020 UPDATE
Below we have compiled some resources for you to look through and apply as we get through this pandemic together.
Click here to read information for eligibility requirements for the PPP loan forgiveness.
Here’s a link to an informative video update from Eric Ness, the top-ranking official for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Wisconsin. This 42 minutes video covered the ins and outs of the Paycheck Protection Program and answered questions. To watch this click the link
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources. Click for SBA info
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. launched Small Business 20/20—a $5 million grant program that will give companies with fewer than 20 employees up to $20,000. The Small Business 20/20 Program provides grant funds to approved community development financial institutions (CDFIs). Click for info
Waukesha State Bank is one of the local banks with PPP information and applications. Click for link to Waukesha State Bank.
Transitioning after Selling your Business
Our team at Lakes Business Group has helped hundreds of business owners through the process of selling their business. It’s a big change for most of the business owners we work with, many have been contemplating it for a while and have future plans and others have just decided it’s time to move on.
Regardless of the reason, when a business owner decides to exit the business, the process can be an emotional time. Part of the transition is communicating with your employees and the emotions and stress that they may feel during the transition period. Also, you and the new owner assessing how to tell the customers, suppliers and any other key people associated with the business.
From feelings of relief and excitement to disturbed, anger and concern about the future of the business as well as your future without the business as part of your life. It is okay to take the time to mourn this loss. You now have the time to slow down and consider the next step.
The article in Inc.com tells of an owner who sold her company to pursue a dream of living abroad which gave her new perspectives. 
“When I sold my company to Caliber Corporate Advisors, I spent two months pursuing my dream of raising my children overseas by living in Nicaragua and Costa Rica,” says Joy Schoffler, Founder of a FinTech focused PR firm, Leverage PR. “It was really amazing getting the time to read, paddle board, and just be.”
“Now that I am home and back in the swing of things, I am looking at everything in a new light. In addition to continuing to serve as a senior advisor at Leverage PR and on AARP’s and SXSW’s Accelerator advisory boards, I have gotten a chance to serve as an advisor to companies I’ve had a passion for over the years: Wealth Migrate and The Experience Firm. Having the time and energy to dedicate to companies I believe in is a really cool part of this phase,” adds Schoffler.
Need for an Exit Strategy
Of course there is always a percentage of business owners who regret their decision after it is sold. If you are contemplating and exit strategy in the next 5 or so years, begin your plan now rather than waiting. Planning now reduces the risk of regretting the sale. If you need help in a future exit plan, reach out to our team of business advisors who can help with information that can help.
Holiday Office Party at Lakes Business Group
Our office is having our annual holiday office party next week. Although, we haven’t really ‘decked the halls’ in our office, we do enjoy planning a party with good food, since our team appreciates good food. The holiday party is a time for our team to get together in a more casual setting where we have a gift exchange planned. Finding the right gift takes time, so we’ve had our party on the calendar over a month ago. Our gift exchange is not quite a white elephant, although we use the ‘rules’ for white elephant. Everyone gets a number and start with number 1. When your number is up, you can pick a wrapped gift or steal a gift that’s already been opened, and the person who has their gift stolen, gets to open a new gift. This continues until we get to the last number and the gift you are left with is yours.
Our December holiday party also has a brief time of looking back at the year to 
see what we have achieved and also to look at our failures and see what changes to make for a better year in 2018. We give accolades to those who have had a good sales year and encourage all to have goals for the coming year.
Whatever your office or work place does for this time of year, we hope you have time to relax and to reflect on the past year and look forward to 2018. Happy Holidays!
Doing Business in 2018
Knowing the trends helps us to prepare as we continue to grow our business so that when it’s time to sell, the business is still relevant. What are some of the trends for the coming year? Following are a couple of 2018 business trends that have been coming up in articles the past year.
1- the Experience economy: With the Millennials having more say in our economy with their spending dollars, businesses are catering to them. They want to experience an emotional connection. They are looking for organizations that speak to their reason and their emotions. They are looking for organizations with shared values. One of the examples is the State Street’s Fearless Girl statue. State Street Corporation, the $2.6 trillion asset manager, installed the Fearless Girl statue on Wall Street, agreed to settle US allegations that it discriminated against hundreds of female executives by paying them less than their male colleagues. “State Street is committed to equal pay practices and evaluates on an ongoing basis our internal processes to be sure our compensation, hiring and promotions programs are nondiscriminatory,” the company told Bloomberg.com.
As you look for goals for 2018, your business must find ways to be honest and transparent. Find ways to speak to the emotions and reason in your marketing – tell a story. One example of a 2017 television ad is the Audi commercial titled ‘Daughter‘ and the NFL commercial titled ‘Inside These Lines‘. Both of these ads tell a story through the images and the narrator that connect on an emotional level
2- Creating Shared Value. This is a trend that has been talked about the past few years. Creating shared value is the practice of creating economic value in a way that creates value for society by addressing its needs. An article written in October 2016 referred to this new era as Shared Values Economy. One of the examples is how businesses are partnering with non-profits; In 2015, the Starbucks Foundation assisted at least 5,000 smallholder Tanzanian coffee farmers and their families. In 2016 Whirlpool company partnered with Habitat for Humanity to provide washer and dryers for the homes built.
This article has highlighted just a couple of the trends that have changed in the past few years. There are many articles written on 2018 business trends. Below are links to three of them.
Article on workzone.com written in November 2017
Forbes article posted today
Article written in November 2017