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Having tools for quantifying a business’s health immediately available for a business owner to review and understand is critical to evaluate how the business is doing on a day to day basis. Specifically, online marketing focus and internet presence are an ever growing necessity, and understanding where a company stands allows a business owner to pivot accordingly in order to target a goal and grow.
Being able to analyze how a business is performing on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will give you a better ability to understand how to change and adapt. And with GoSmallBiz, these tools are bundled together with other important benefits all in a single plan!
Setting up the different analytics instruments is easy and fast.
Upon logging in to GoSmallBiz, a user will be greeted by the DASHBOARD page. This not only is the home page, but also functions as a go-to for all of the vital information for social media and analytics down to the city a person is in and the weather. This allows for a business owner to quickly review the daily state of the business, check to see how they are measuring on website usage and also make quick updates to their media feeds or accounts.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
Q: When is the new deadline for PPP loan applications?
On Saturday July 4, 2020, the President signed the “PPP Extension Act” into law. On Monday, July 6, the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program resumed accepting loan applications.
As the program’s initial deadline of June 30 approached, many small business owners wondered if there would be another chance to access the remaining funding put in place for the Paycheck Protection Program by the CARES Act. The approval and enactment of the “PPP Extension Act” has provided small business owners with this opportunity.
The new deadline for PPP loan applications is August 8, 2020.
You can view The White House’s and the SBA’s announcements by following the hyperlinks provided below.
Business owners who are still in search of a SBA approved lender can utilize the SBA’s Lender Match Tool, which guarantees contact from a qualified lender within two business days of submitting information on the platform.
Business owners who are interested in applying for, have applied for, or have obtained a PPP loan should familiarize themselves with the latest guidance released by the SBA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury based on the enactment of the “PPP Flex Act” on June 5, 2020.
In a previous blog post we discussed the important changes implemented by the “PPP Flex Act” and provided resources to assist business owners in familiarizing themselves with the SBA’s most recent guidance.
To visit our previous blog post regarding the “PPP Flex Act,” please follow the hyperlink below.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
Just like in sports, the most talented entrepreneurs or organizations don't always win. And if you are micro-business owner knowing this is absolutely vital when you begin onboarding employees. Given the aforementioned, what attributes should you be looking for when evaluating candidates? Here's a couple to consider.
1. Burning desire to achieve, prove themselves, and build something.
2. Are they a good coaching fit? Are they willing to take to take instruction and learn from you, and be accountable?
3. Are they proactive? Inquisitive? Willing to learn more than what is required.
And as business owner are you able to check your ego at the door, and/or level up as a leader, when this person shows up at the door?
JuJuan Buford. Entrepreneur, Business Development. Writer
We at NextOppSocial (Rachele Wilson & JuJuan Buford) are proud to introduce to some and reacquaint with others Mr. Tony Stovall, one of Detroit’s iconic civic and business leaders.
Tony Stovall is co-owner of Hot Sam's Clothier, the oldest men's clothing store in downtown Detroit. After over 20 years of employment at Hot Sam’s Clothing, Tony Stovall purchased the family business in 1994 and has successfully stewarded the business along with co-owner Mr. Cliff Green; building an international brand and establishing it as an iconic presence in downtown Detroit.
Stovall’s commitment to Detroit is more than simply a motto or a branding quip, for despite the myriad challenges that have faced Detroit’s downtown business owners, Stovall refused to relocate to the burbs. Instead, he has remained steadfast in being a beacon and contributor to the culture and socioeconomic well being of the city.
Stovall is serves on the Board of Directors for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, and has received recognition and accolates from an innumerable number of diverse organizations and institutions spanning from, and not limited to the City of Detroit, Wayne County, the NAACP, UNCF, the Nation of Islam, YMCA, 100 Black Men, just to name a few. He is recognized roundly for his mentorship, his spiritual tenacity, and his willingness to help others.
Like so many of our Detroit icons, leadership is more than simply a title, but it is the difference made in people’s lives. Join us with business and civic leader and difference maker Mr. Tony Stovall.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
The aforementioned quote by Mark Cuban could not be more accurate, as at some point you realize that 99% of your success or failure in business is an inside job. However, while the colloquialism “get your head right” is ubiquitous in its use verbally, very few understand its application in business, or in life for that matter. At the end of the day, how do you get your head right as an entrepreneur?
THE STORY YOU TELL YOURSELF, ABOUT YOURSELF IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY YOU’LL EVER HEAR IN LIFE.
Who or what is shaping your world view, your place in it, and you’re overall self concept? In other words how much time are you spending writing, reading, and reviewing your vision statement, your goals and affirmations, and looking at the action steps you’ll need to achieve your chief aims? Versus, how much time are you spending listening to constant negative news, sifting through social media content, profiles, and commentary, or listening to the most recent radio show gossip?
If you’re willing to answer this question honestly, the answer may and should alarm you to no end. From the time you wake up in the morning, the world’s agenda is waiting for you. And the question you have to ask yourself is are you ok with it? And are you really in control of your life’s trajectory, or are you a shiftless human, happening?
If you think of your mind like an emotionless, computer programming system (which is kinda what it is), ask yourself who’s making the most inputs into your mind: the corridor to your thoughts, feelings, physical doings, and spirit. Are the very first inputs of the day determined by you? Or are you taking inventory of what your boss wants you to do via email? Or what the news wants you to be scared to death of today? Or your bill collectors demands for your wages? Or the opinions of people, who wouldn't attend your funeral on a rainy day?
Whoever is determining or making the most inputs into you, is ultimately determining your trajectory in life. Are your thoughts being dominated by things that build up your self esteem and give you energy? Are you consuming content that you are the author of, speaking to your dreams, ambitions, and the life you truly want to live? Is your mind inundated with your victories -small and large alike? Financial independence deposits? Information, new learning, or data that will help you become 1% better each day?
Show me your social media feeds, or lack thereof, and I’ll show you your life. Who is ultimately penning your life’s story. Who’s really pulling your strings? Are you the pilot? Or are you asleep at the wheel, or worse, allowing others to steer you here and there. You say, God’s got his hand on the wheel. I don’t think God would appreciate his name being taken in vain, and substituted for Facebook, your supervisor, or the bank that financed your car.
Don’t be flippant, or allow yourself to skate past these questions. Take inventory right now.
FAMILY, FRENEMIES, AND NEIGHBORS
The people that you spend the most time interacting with are either breathing life into you, or siphoning it away. They are either challenging you to live up to your potential, or happily introducing you to their shared life partner, Mr. or Ms. Mediocrity. They are either contributing to your goals, strivings or ambitions, or sabotaging your efforts.
There is no in between. Just like there is no in between when a hyena is chasing a zebra. You’re life’s energies are either being consumed and torn asunder by the words, actions, and inaction of those around you. Or they are being replenished and edified like a sunflower, being kissed by the sun.
This is not a call to diss those around you. However, if you’re not moving forward or making the progress you desire, perhaps it’s time to distance yourself from some people, and befriend others who are achieving and succeeding at the work you desire to pour yourself into.
I’m not a motivational speaker, or social media influencer who is going to fill your brim with curated sunlight. Entrepreneurship is empowerment, but it can be grueling. The rewards of entrepreneurship can by far exceed the alternative, but so does the price. Being an entrepreneur means you’ve decided to swim upstream against the current (the opinions of naysayers and haters, and a system that is constructed to reduce you to a duracell battery for the matrix), and it requires that you have some people who are willing to spot you when the physical, psychological, and spiritual fatigue sets in periodically.
Talent wins games. But TEAMs win championships. Remember the Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA Championship team.
YOU MUST LEARN
At the end of the day, entrepreneurs are compensated commensurate with the volume and size of the problems we are able to solve, and or the needs, wants, and desires we are able to fulfill. The bigger the problems solved, or appetites fulfilled, the bigger the paychecks. The most successful entrepreneurs repeatedly summon the courage and the humility to step into the fringes of society, and see things first. And this type of commitment requires that you must be better informed, more acutely aware, and attentive to the ever changing conditions coloring people’s lives.
By the time most of us reach adulthood, we’ve attended 12 to 17 years of structured learning and preparation to become a more effective worker bee. Why would you believe that the entrepreneurial journey you’re embarking upon…..the vehicle that you intend to transport you to, and deliver a lifestyle of satisfaction would require a lesser commitment to learning?
Goal setting and goal achieving is skilled trade. Understanding how and why people make decisions is skilled trade. Learning and implementing systems that will allow your business to scale beyond simply surviving is skilled trade. Effectively influencing and communicating with people is skilled trade. Listening and interpreting the winds of change is skilled trade. Leadership is skilled trade. Balancing your personal and business checkbook is skilled trade.
The super-majority of us haven’t been exposed to or inundated with these skilled trades in a structured, extended learning environment. Reading ten pages of a good book a day (or an equivalent audio) pretty much ensures that you’re reading approximately 1 book a month, which is tantamount to approximately 15 books per year. Entrepreneurship is leadership, and leaders are constant learners.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
