Here are some resources that might be helpful in navigating the new normal.
Main Street Lending Program Wall Street Journal, 5/1/20
This federal reserve program announced today that it will relax minimum loan amounts to help more small businesses.
Small Business Advocacy Council (SBAC IL)
The SBAC advocates for small businesses in Illinois. They work tirelessly to even the playing field for small businesses that have to compete with large companies with deep pockets. If you’re a small business in Illinois, check them out.
Women In Business
Affiliated with the SBAC, Women In Business is a networking and resources group that advocates for women business owners and employees in Illinois. We are both active in this group. We’re also active members of the SBAC but you don’t have to join to be involved in WIB (although you’ll probably want to)! Join WIB’s Facebook group to learn more.
Here is a list of WIB members who are offering help to small business owners.
What A Great Website
We will review your website and give you tips for improving traffic and effectiveness.
Rickey Gold / rickey@whatagreatwebsite.net
iris b branding & communications
Pick my brain for free for up to 1 hour. Branding, marketing, design, website help.
Iris Marreck / iris@irisb.com
EAG Accounting Solutions, Inc
Accounting Consulting
Elizabeth Gustafson / elizabeth@eagcpa.com
Golan & Christie LLP
1 hr free legal counseling. The firm also has a pro bono program for qualifying organizations.
Barbara Yong / blyong@gct.law
Hershman Cohen LLC
1 hr fee legal consulting. Her area of expertise is working with start-ups.
Leslee Cohen / lcohen@hershco.com
CRMIG
I help all businesses with all their Records Management needs. I’m happy to talk to anyone interested in learning more for 1 hour for free.
Cheryl Banke / clb@crmig.com
SCORE
A partner of the SBA, SCORE is an organization that offers free business mentoring, classes and webinars for people who want to start a business or entrepreneurs who need help growing their existing business. SCORE mentors are all experts in entrepreneurship and related fields. Learn more about SCORE here.
KABBAGE
Here’s one we just learned about today (May 10, 2020) from an article in Forbes. Kabbage is an online lender that was formed to offer short-term lines of credit to small businesses. It is now offering PPP loans. Apply for a Kabbage loan here.
Helpful Articles
Here are some articles we’ve bookmarked recently. We’ve found them helpful dealing with stress, productivity issues, and working from home with too many kids/pets/husbands around.
The Best Response to Disaster is Resilience by Madeline Albright, NY Times April 12, 2020
7 Habits of the Happiest People (That Most of Us Rarely Practice)
How to stay relevant in a quickly changing market
We wrote this blog post a year ago when we noticed a lot of businesses being impacted by companies moving online. It’s about how to pivot. And it’s even more relevant today.