The SmallBizLady Buzz - Issue 53

It’s Time for Spring Cleaning in Your Business

Take care of PPP Loan paperwork & taxes…..

 What is the deadline for PPP loan forgiveness?

8 to 24 weeks after receiving the loan. It's recommended you apply for forgiveness before you need to make your first PPP loan payment. Here's why. PPP loans have a covered period of 8 to 24 weeks after the funds hit your bank account. Once that covered period ends, your loan payments are deferred for 10 months.

Do I have to wait 24 weeks to apply for PPP loan forgiveness?

No. If you spent all funding on forgivable expenses and have the correct documentation to submit to your lender, you can apply for loan forgiveness at any time—even before your “covered period” expires.

Is applying for PPP loan forgiveness complicated?

No. Borrowers that received a PPP loan of $150,000 or less shall receive forgiveness if the borrower signs and submits to the lender a letter that is not more than one page in length, that includes a description of the number of employees the borrower was able to retain because of the loan, the estimated total amount of the loan spent on payroll costs, and the total loan amount. Borrowers are required to retain relevant records related to employment for four years and other records for three years, as the SBA may review and audit these loans to check for fraud.

Don’t delay your tax preparation.

IRS has extended the tax filing deadline to May 17th. However, this relief does not apply to estimated tax payments that are due on April 15, 2021. These payments are still due on April 15. Taxes must be paid as taxpayers earn or receive income during the year, either through withholding or estimated tax payments. In general, small businesses must pay estimated tax payments quarterly to the IRS if your income isn't subject to income tax withholding, including self-employment income, interest, dividends, alimony or rental income.

This week’s feature article: Often small business owners will email with questions. This week's question is, Does a sole proprietor need workers compensation insurance? Read the answer below.

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Ask SmallBizLady: Does a Sole Proprietor Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

The short answer to the question of whether sole proprietors need workers’ compensation insurance is No and Yes. Sole proprietors or freelancers with no employees are typically not required to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. However, it may be beneficial for your business to do so when you’re a sole proprietor, and you do work that could result in an injury.  Continue reading....

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PocketCasts is one of the world's most powerful podcast platforms. The podcast player provides next-level listening, search and discovery tools. This app allows you to prioritize your favorite podcasts. Top Casts. Morning Run. Daily Grind. You can create a filter that gives you the exact episodes you're looking for, no matter the situation. Automatically build a playback queue from your favorite shows and have that up next queue sync to all your devices including your smart speaker devices in your home. 

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Podcast: Embracing the Digital Pivot with Tekoa Hash

Checkout my recent podcast: Embracing the Digital Pivot with Tekoa Hash

Tekoa Hash is a Creative Director and Change Agent for beauty creatives. Using her 25 years of experience as a makeup artist and dot connector in the entertainment, beauty, and sports industry, she pivoted her career and became the Founding Partner of the Teknique Agency, a beauty and lifestyle talent management firm. She shares her top suggestions for pivoting your business to the digital platform and how she took a face-to-face, hands-on business to a digital format and thrived. She also shares how you can avoid burnout, how she stays motivated, and what's next for her company.

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I’m proud to announce the launch of SmallBizLadyUniversity.com, my first course How to Sell and Market Online goes live April 5th. This 6-week course will help you brand your ecommerce business, develop effective product descriptions, build a content strategy for ecommerce, drive sales without ads and you’ll learn how to buy ads on all the major social platforms. Don’t miss this! Reserve your spot today.

P.S. We’ll be dropping classes all Spring and Summer, so stay tuned.

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Melinda F. Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an internationally renowned keynote speaker on small business development, marketing and social selling. Melinda is also the president of the Quintessence Group, an award-winning marketing consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA, serving Fortune 500 brands who target small business market. LinkedIn named her a Top Voice for 2019 in Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In addition to being a former NY Times columnist, she is frequently quoted by media organizations including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News. She is the host of #Smallbizchat LIVE and The SmallBizChat Podcast. A prolific writer, Melinda has published more than 5000 articles on her blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com. Her small business advice is widely read reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, 2nd Edition. Her latest book is Fix Your Business, a 90 Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business.