Category: Running a Business

Nav Grant Winner: Sipping Streams Tea Company

Nav Grant Winner: Sipping Streams Tea Company

Going into 2020, life and business were good for Jenny Tse, founder of Sipping Streams Tea Company in Fairbanks Alaska. She had turned her passion for tea, health and wellness into a tea store, restaurant, factory and tea farm. After a difficult divorce, she had remarried and her husband had recently quit his government job to work in the business full-time.  Then the pandemic hit, and the first sign of trouble was a big one: a $15,000 order that was… Read More
Nav Small Business Grant Winner: Freedman’s Town Farmers Market

Nav Small Business Grant Winner: Freedman’s Town Farmers Market

“Just show up and be there,” was the first lesson Sade’ Perkins says she learned when she launched Freedmen’s Town Farmers Market in Houston, Texas with the vision of eliminating a food desert in Houston’s oldest African American neighborhood. It rained the night before her grand opening and she didn’t know if she could pull it off. But she persisted, and last year brought an estimated $250,000 in economic activity to her community.   For creating an essential business that supports… Read More
I Was a Victim Of Business ID Theft: It Can Happen to You, Too

I Was a Victim Of Business ID Theft: It Can Happen to You, Too

There have been 1.2 million complaints of EIDL loan identity theft as of August 2021, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General titled Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Small Business Administration in Fiscal Year 2022. That means over a million business owners believe their business identity has been used to apply for COVID relief loans administered by the Small Business Administration.  I’m one of those victims. Here’s what happened to me, along with steps… Read More
How Much Cash Should a Business Have On Hand?

How Much Cash Should a Business Have On Hand?

Small business owners often struggle to have enough cash to cover day-to-day expenses. But there’s a problem with having too much cash in your bank account, too. So what’s the balance? How much cash should your business have available? What Does it Mean to Have Cash On Hand? Having “cash on hand” refers to the cash reserves you can easily access. That could be cash in a box in your office that you use for petty cash or the money… Read More
Small Business Emergency Funds: Preparing For Financial Need

Small Business Emergency Funds: Preparing For Financial Need

Just as an emergency fund is essential when it comes to your personal finances, an emergency fund for your small business can help your business survive setbacks. The average business has about 28 days of cash on hand. And in a Federal Reserve survey of business owners, 17% of business owners said that if faced with two months of declining revenues, they would have to close. A business savings account can be a lifeline. Learn how to create a business… Read More
The Impact Of U.S. Supply Chain Problems On Small Businesses (2023)

The Impact Of U.S. Supply Chain Problems On Small Businesses (2023)

American small businesses have struggled over the last few years due to supply chain woes caused by the ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus and the ripples it has caused, plus added stress from geopolitical conflicts. A global supply chain disruption can cause serious strife even for the smallest business if it can’t get the materials, supplies, or inventory it needs to sell to customers. No one can predict when (or even if) we’ll ever return to pre-pandemic economic conditions, including… Read More