Ruth Porat, the stalwart chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google, is no stranger to a crisis. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in 1987, a mere seven weeks before Black Monday—the largest single-day decline in trading history at the time. “At that moment, I was concerned that maybe my career was over before it even started,” she recalls.



Far from it. Porat is one of the rare corporate executives to have transcended the upper echelons of Wall Street to the highest ranks of Silicon Valley. While the scenery may be different, many of the challenges remain the same: navigating economic downturns, government investigations and regulatory hurdles. Of course, a global pandemic is a new obstacle. “This environment is more challenging than anything I&#8217;ve seen because you&#8217;re combining a health crisis with an economic crisis,” says Porat in her first-ever interview with&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;from her home in Palo Alto, California. “The path forward is less certain.”&nbsp;



But Porat has deftly charted a path through uncertain territory before. During her 28-year tenure at Morgan Stanley, she held roles such as vice chairman of investment banking and global head of financial institutions before ultimately rising to the rank of chief financial officer in January 2010. “I certainly started in banking when it was not easy to be a woman in banking,” she says. “I haven’t thought about those shoulder pads for a long time, the bow ties, the scarves, the scotch, the horrible efforts to fit in.” What kept her there, she says, was the opportunity to “keep learning and growing”—remarkably, in the face of great turmoil. Case in point: being called upon by the U.S. government to help with the bailouts of insurance giant AIG and mortgage-financing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the Great Recession. “Much like the current crisis environment, one of the highlights of my career was advising the U.S. Treasury Department during the 2008 financial crisis,” she says. “I was able to use the skills I developed over a [lifelong] career for something that was so important at that moment in time for the country.”&nbsp;



Over a decade later, Porat has the same steely resolve when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, which has already taken a tremendous toll on the U.S. economy. Over 100,000 businesses permanently shuttered as of April, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w26989.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. At the same time, 88% of small business owners say they’ve used all of their Paycheck Protection Program loan funding, according to a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/small-business-confidence-goldman-sachs-74ba6e69-ad0e-4cb5-bee3-d03445b2a30e.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;of over 1,500 businesses conducted by Goldman Sachs. And without additional government funds, 30% say they’ll exhaust their cash reserves by the end of the year. That’s why Porat is leading Google’s latest efforts to help get America’s ravaged small businesses and economy back on track. This while managing one of the world’s largest corporate balance sheets amid the looming threat of anti-trust lawsuits that may hold the fate of the entire tech industry in the balance. It may just prove to be her greatest challenge yet.



While Google is a corporate behemoth, its roots are in small business. “It’s so clear that small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy,” says Porat, rattling off the stats: They provide about two thirds of net new jobs, and 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the local economy.



At the start of the pandemic, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced an <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/commitment-support-small-businesses-and-crisis-response-covid-19/" target="_blank">$800 million commitment</a> to aid small businesses and provide overall crisis relief. Of that, a $200 million Grow with Google Small Business fund was launched in March in partnership with the Opportunity Finance Network—a national association of community development financial institutions—with a mission to serve small businesses underserved by mainstream finance and a proven model for moving capital into the hardest to serve communities. The main objective? Supporting the short-term recovery and long-term financing needs of small businesses hardest hit by Covid-19. To be clear, this is not a handout. The majority of funds are earmarked as up to 10-year term loans at no greater than 3% interest. Some $340 million in Google Ads credits were also made available to all small businesses with active accounts over the past year.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Small businesses are part of our DNA as a company&#8230;Over 21 years ago, Google itself was a small business that started in a two-car garage and our first ads customer was a mail-order lobster business in Maine.” <cite>Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet &amp; Google</cite></blockquote>



“Small businesses are part of our DNA as a company,” says Porat, sharing the company’s approach to small business for the first time since the pandemic began. “We often talk internally about the fact that over 21 years ago, Google itself was a small business that started in a two-car garage and our first ads customer was a mail-order lobster business in Maine.”&nbsp;



In many ways, Porat sees her transition to Silicon Valley as getting back to her roots. She was raised in Palo Alto, California, where her father, a former research fellow at Harvard, moved the family to take&nbsp; a position at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. After earning her bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations at Stanford in 1979, she went on to get her master’s degree in industrial relations from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Wharton before joining Morgan Stanley. Porat was co-head of technology investment banking during the ‘90s tech boom, working alongside famed internet analyst Mary Meeker, who is godmother to her three children. “Tech was something I had done quite a bit, actually,” says Porat. That’s an understatement: She was the chief architect behind the debt financing that saved Amazon from near collapse during the dot-com crash in 2000 and then worked on Google’s IPO in 2004. “It was great to see the vision, the mission, the drive of Google at such an early stage,” she says. “Given I’ve known Google since inception, and how passionate I was about the company, when the opportunity presented itself, I said yes on the spot.”



While Porat has broken the glass ceiling time and again, Google has struggled with diversity within its own ranks. As racial tensions reached a boiling point this summer, Google <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ofn.org/articles/ofn-announces-first-round-google-loans-and-googleorg-funded-grants" target="_blank">announced</a> in June an additional $45 million in loans and $5 million in Google.org grants to assist small businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses. The company committed to increase the diversity of its leadership 30% by 2025. “Hopefully this is the moment that changes race relations and really addresses racial inequality. There is no more time—and so we’re taking a hard look at ways we can help address systemic racism against the Black community with a real sense of urgency,” she says.



The company also announced the first round of the Grow with Google Small Business Fund. Five community development financial institutions (CDFIs)&nbsp; were awarded a total of $15.5 million in loans, and six received $750,000 in grants. Among those awarded were Grameen America, a non-profit founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunnus (and currently run by Andrea Jung, former chairman and CEO of Avon) that provides microloans, training and support to diverse low-income women entrepreneurs and Citizens Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, one of the largest Native-owned CDFIs in the nation. “Systemic inequities, like the racial wealth gap create significant disadvantages for minority communities, which is why we’re so focused on providing Black, Latinx and other underserved communities with more equitable access to capital through our partnership,” says Porat.&nbsp;



The partnership is also unique in structure compared to relief efforts of other tech firms like Facebook and Amazon. “What makes Google such a strategic first mover and different is their focus on recovery versus just short-term relief,” says Lisa Mensah, president and CEO of OFN. “It is extremely rare for a corporate Treasury to release $170 million and judge on their own that this is the kind of debt they will hold. They didn’t wait for a risk rating from S&amp;P or to have it all guaranteed by the government or another source—Google is a trailblazer.”



For Porat, it was a chance to help reposition businesses that were already at a significant disadvantage prior to the pandemic. “Most small businesses are started with personal assets and loans that are typically guaranteed with one’s network,” says Porat. “But if you start with the types of wealth disparities that we have in society where only 20% of small businesses are minority-owned and only 21% are women-owned, our current situation is an outgrowth of that initial disparity.”&nbsp;



The small business lending space is a massive market, one with around <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://qedinvestors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-Brave-100-The-Battle-for-Supremacy-in-Small-Business-Lending_vf.pdf" target="_blank">$800 billion in annual originations</a> and an antiquated process involving tedious paperwork, manual inputs and very little transparency—or software, for that matter. Will Google, a company whose founders famously spoke in 2014 of the need for “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.inc.com/laura-montini/larry-page-says-its-time-to-think-big.html" target="_blank">revolutionary change</a>,” set its sights on disrupting the small business lending space next? Porat quickly puts that idea to rest. “We’re not a financial institution and we don’t intend to become [one],” she asserts.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“The biggest compliment I can give someone is to say they are a real difference-maker—that’s Ruth.”<cite>Hank Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary &amp; former Goldman Sachs CEO</cite></blockquote>



Throughout her decades-long career, Porat has seen great success bridging divides to find solutions. “The biggest compliment I can give someone is to say they are a real difference maker—that’s Ruth,” says Hank Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary during the financial crisis and a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. In 2013, Porat landed on President Barack Obama’s shortlist for deputy treasury secretary until she withdrew her name,&nbsp;<a href="https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/ruth-porat-withdraws-name-from-deputy-treasury-race/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a>&nbsp;over concerns of how bankers were being treated by politicians. “She&#8217;s a real U.S. patriot with a passion for public service.”&nbsp;



To be fair, Google’s efforts are not just altruism. They are growth engines for big business—and of course, some good publicity doesn’t hurt. The over 30 million small businesses across the U.S. drive nearly half of all of gross domestic product. Globally, small and medium-sized enterprises represent over 90% of the business population and 55% of gross domestic in developed economies, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/contributing-global-economy/discussion/foundation-economies-worldwide-small-business-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Trade Organization</a>. And like many of their industry peers like Facebook, Google relies on small businesses for a sizable portion of their business, although they, along with their competitors, do not disclose the actual amount.



“I look back on some of the toughest times in my career, and I know that I’ve learned from them,” says Porat, a two-time breast cancer survivor.  “That ghastly, terrifying experience was also a gift because that proverbial question became all too real: What happens if you are given no more than five years to live?” she shared in her <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGdugTS_RR8" target="_blank">2016 Wharton commencement speech</a>. “So I set about figuring it out: What did I want to do with what could be a limited amount of time? And I realized I simply had no regrets. I hadn’t punted on my life—I hadn’t put things on hold. My lesson from that awful experience was that if you want to do something, then do it . . . life doesn’t know it’s supposed to follow a schedule.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“In the midst of tremendous disruption and market turmoil, Ruth’s judgment and experience are invaluable.”<cite>Stephen Schwarzman, cofounder &amp; CEO of Blackstone</cite></blockquote>



That can-do anything attitude and fortitude may just be a key part of her recipe for not just surviving crises—but emerging stronger as a result of them. “In the midst of tremendous disruption and market turmoil, Ruth’s judgement and experience are invaluable,” says Stephen Schwarzman, cofounder and CEO of Blackstone. “It is rare to find people who have operated at the highest levels on Wall Street and Silicon Valley and that combination is exceptionally powerful.” In June, she joined the board of the $564 billion private-equity powerhouse, whose IPO she also worked on in 2007.



Porat is quick to acknowledge that the tough times she’s endured pale in comparison to much of the pain being felt in the world today. Yet, history has taught her to still believe in the promise of better days ahead.&nbsp;



 “For those who are looking at this moment and wondering the path forward, I would say that having lived through many turbulent times before, there are recoveries,” she says. “New opportunities arise out of crises.”



by Maneet Ahuja, Forbes Staff

Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2018 – Day 1

Exclusive: Ruth Porat On Leading Through Crisis And Google’s Latest Moonshot To Rebuild The U.S. Economy—One Small Business At A Time

As small businesses struggle to survive the economic havoc caused by Covid-19, new research shows that small business owners are optimistic about the future. Some 75% of small business owners agree that if a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic were to happen again, they’d be better prepared to handle it, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Documents/SHRM%20CV19%20SBO%202%20Research%20Presentation%20v3.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;by the Society for Human Resource Management.&nbsp;



Additionally, 52% of small businesses surveyed expect to recover to pre-Covid profitability in six months or less. This optimism is encouraging to Liz Supinski, SHRM’S director of research products, who says that Covid-19 has been a “big driver of innovation.” Many small businesses, spurred by the limitations imposed by the coronavirus, have invented new products, while one in three of those surveyed say they’ve found new ways to deliver services. “For the whole world of work, this has been a large, uncontrolled experiment in changing what work looks like,” Supinski says. “It’s opened the door to a lot of ideas that have been dismissed because change is hard. And if things are good enough, then why would you change?”&nbsp;



According to SHRM, 43% of small business owners have pivoted their business models. One of those entrepreneurs is Denise Woodard, the founder of <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://partakefoods.com/" target="_blank">Partake Foods</a>, an allergy-friendly, gluten-free, vegan cookie company. Since much of her New Jersey-based company’s marketing involved live demos and local events, Woodard has had to come up with new ways of promoting her brand digitally, includingpartnering with minority- and women-owned brands on a “Spot Us at Target” campaign and teaming up with The Blackbird Collective on Instagram Live and Facebook Live events. 



This sort of flexibility is something that Supinski expects to see from businesses of all sizes during this period of business recovery. Three fourths of small businesses are planning to change their policies in response to employees’ childcare needs, with 43% implementing or considering flexible hours or compressed schedules, and 31% offering full-time remote work. “Small businesses are in a unique position because often they’re able to be more flexible with workers than larger businesses. They don’t have the same kind of issues,” Supinski says. However, she adds that small businesses run on small margins, which makes it harder for many to offer this kind of help to employees.&nbsp;



Not only has the coronavirus pandemic spurred innovation, but it’s also led to an uptick in reskilling and upskilling. SHRM found that 22% of small businesses have asked employees to learn new skills to support changes in their business. “There’s certainly a lot of opportunity here for businesses and workers to explore different ways of doing business and having a career and new ways that those two things can come together and change the way the world of work works,” Supinski says. “Opportunity out of adversity.” 



None of this is to say that small business owners aren’t without worries—53% report feeling somewhat or very concerned about the increased risk of lawsuits and liability while reopening amid Covid-19, as the cost of defending one can be burdensome. Despite these concerns, the way in which small businesses have been able to successfully pivot has made them optimistic about the future, and the support they’ve received from their local communities has only helped. “We’re seeing a lot of people put their money where their mouth is and really work hard to support local businesses during this time,” Supinski says. “You would hope that people would continue to appreciate those local businesses going forward.”&nbsp;



Woodard has witnessed this increase in support from the community around her. The company first saw an uptick in sales in March, when consumers were stockpiling groceries due to the pandemic. One of few Black-owned nationally scaled businesses in the country, Partake Foods, saw another increase in sales in May, following the death of George Floyd. “Our business has really received a large outpouring of support from people wanting to support small-owned business, women-owned business, Black-owned business,” Woodard says. “I’m hopeful for the future of small business in America.”



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthatodd/">Samantha Todd</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/leadership-strategy">Leadership Strategy</a>

gettyimages-1197189901-170667a

Small Businesses Are Optimistic About The Future, Even As They Continue Navigating Covid-19

When Jay Wilkinson, founder and CEO of marketing, printing and website-development company Firespring, was 15 years old, he attended a leadership summer camp with his high school’s student council. While there, he learned about Stephen Grellet, a Quaker missionary whose words would change his life forever: “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” It was this quote that motivated him to become an entrepreneur.



Since launching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.firespring.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Firespring</a>&nbsp;in 1992, Wilkinson has worked with clients in 50 states and 14 countries, growing his staff to 180 and revenue to $25 million in 2019. That’s not to say the Lincoln, Nebraska-based business hasn’t seen its fair share of struggles: In 2002, Wilkinson was fired as CEO by the investor-led board of directors after refusing to lay off employees amid the economic downturn that followed 9/11. But four months later, with the help of family and friends, he bought out the venture capitalists, and within two years, the business was profitable again. “We climbed out of it, and we survived,” Wilkinson says. “The culture that we have today was forged in the fire when we were just trying to save the company.”



That tenacity has proven essential in the current economic environment, not to mention it’s propelled Firespring onto <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/2020/05/12/forbes-small-giants-25-companies-that-believe-smaller-is-better/">Forbes’ annual Small Giants list</a>. The 25 companies that make up the 2020 list all value greatness over fast growth and are weathering the coronavirus crisis in their own way. 



While much of corporate America has been affected by Covid-19, small businesses have been especially hard-hit, with 31% stopping operations as a result of the crisis, according to Facebook’s State of Small Business&nbsp;<a href="https://dataforgood.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SMBReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>. And in the marketing and advertising world, where global ad budgets are expected to drop 36% in the first half of the year and eight in ten marketers have delayed campaigns as a result of the pandemic, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://wfanet.org/knowledge/item/2020/05/13/Survey-Covid-19-global-response-April-2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;from the World Federation of Advertisers, many businesses are struggling to stay afloat.&nbsp;



Firespring has seen an increase in demand for its quick activation marketing programs, such as creating digital fundraising campaigns, as well as virtual strategy sessions, of which it has done more than 200 over the past couple of months. It has also worked with clients to adjust their campaigns so that they are reflective of the times. “We’re very mindful of making sure that we are messaging everything with the Covid-19 restrictions in place so that we don’t come across as being tone-deaf and that our clients don’t, as well,” Wilkinson says. “It’s going to be critical for marketers moving forward and out of the pandemic to understand how different things are going to be, in terms of the way people connect with brands.”



The firm primarily serves purpose-driven organizations and nonprofits, which Wilkinson says are uniquely positioned to navigate the changing marketing landscape, as they always keep clients at the center of their work. But the pandemic has disrupted many nonprofits’ fundraising events, hurting them financially. In an effort to help its nonprofit clients during this challenging time, Firespring partnered with GivingTuesday, a nonprofit known for its advocacy of its namesake charitable holiday for the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The initiative, called Giving Tuesday Now, raised $3 million for nonprofits over the course of May. 



In Birmingham, Michigan, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://brogan.com/" target="_blank">Brogan &amp; Partners</a>, another full-service marketing agency and 2020 Small Giant, has been supporting its surrounding community by working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to produce an ad spot promoting the wearing of face masks to flatten the coronavirus curve. Thanks to the ad and accompanying hashtag—<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/zrj5CzpqjMfOKMQ9t4BY6m" target="_blank">#MiMaskChallenge</a>—Brogan &amp; Partners was able to get the word out to more than five million Michiganders, including celebrities such as musicianKid Rock. “I don’t want to make money off of Covid-19. That’s not my business,” says Ellyn Davidson, owner and CEO of Brogan &amp; Partners. “I want to help and be part of the solution. As much as possible, we want to give back.”



An hour south, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jim Hume, founder and principal of 2020 Small Giant marketing advertising agency&nbsp;<a href="https://phiregroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Phire Group</a>, has also been working with clients to craft their coronavirus messaging. He believes the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of trends such as authentic storytelling. “True authenticity includes vulnerability and putting yourself out there and just becoming more human as a brand,” Hume says. “Everything that we do has to be pointed toward making companies, organizations and brands more human, more accessible, more real.”



That authenticity, he says, is important in every aspect of Phire Group’s business, including how it communicates with clients. “It’s an important time to reach out to customers to let them know you’re there for them, but also to just be transparent with what’s happening,” Hume says. “Just let them know that you’re doing fine, you hope they’re doing fine, and you’re there for them.”

Businesspeople at big creative agency

How 3 Small Businesses Are Navigating Covid-19 In The Marketing Industry

The coronavirus pandemic has continued to take a catastrophic toll on America’s small businesses. According to Facebook’s State of Small Business&nbsp;<a href="https://dataforgood.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SMBReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>, 31% of small businesses and 52% of personal businesses have stopped operating as a result of the crisis.&nbsp;



“What we know today is pretty sobering,” says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. “We’re in a really hard economic situation that is hitting all businesses, but particularly, small businesses really hard. We also know how critical small businesses are for jobs—long before coronavirus,” she says. “Two thirds of new jobs in this country happen because of small businesses and so that means what’s happening with small businesses has always been important, but it’s more important than ever.”



Especially concerning is that only 45% of business owners and managers plan to rehire the same number of workers when their businesses reopen. That number is just 32% for personal businesses. 



“If these businesses are letting people go, it’s not that they don’t want to rehire them,” Sandberg says. “It’s because they don’t think they’re going to be able to. That’s a pretty serious thing for us to be facing.”



Businesses that have been able to maintain operations still face significant hurdles, namely access to capital and customers. Some 28% of businesses surveyed say their biggest challenge over the next few months will be cash flow, while 20% say it will be lack of demand. 



The report, conducted in partnership with the Small Business Roundtable, was based on a survey of 86,000 owners, managers and workers at U.S. companies with fewer than 500 employees. It is also a part of the company’s broader data collection initiative with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the Future of Business.



“We were already in the process of developing this report before the coronavirus pandemic hit,” Sandberg says. “We expected it to be a pretty rosy tale back then of low unemployment, flourishing entrepreneurship, and jobs growing all over the world. Fast forward to today and we’re in a very different position.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="540" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/facebook.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-45576" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/facebook.jpg 960w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/facebook-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/facebook-600x338.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/facebook-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption>An example of Facebook&#8217;s new Shops feature, which creates digital &#8220;storefronts&#8221; for businesses.   FACEBOOK</figcaption></figure>



Now, the company is launching&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/05/introducing-facebook-shops/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook Shops</a>, an ecommerce product that allows businesses to set up online “storefronts” on Facebook and Instagram. Businesses can customize their digital shops, using cover images to showcase their brands and catalogs to highlight their products. And just as customers can ask for help when shopping in physical stores, they can message business owners directly via WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, track deliveries and more. “Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers,” wrote Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10111927602176421" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>&nbsp;announcing the new product. As was the case with the survey, the rollout was planned prior to the pandemic, but was accelerated as businesses have turned to online tools to adapt in the face of the ongoing crisis. According to the survey, 51% of small business owners have&nbsp; increased their online interactions with customers, and 36% of operational businesses are now conducting all sales online.&nbsp;



“One of the things I find so amazing is how much of the activity has migrated online and that we’re doing things we never thought were possible,” says Sandberg. “If I had asked you or you had asked me, could I work entirely from home? Can my whole company go home? I would have said ‘No way.’ But we did it. Small businesses have even more entrepreneurial spirit.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sheryl Sandberg On The Pandemic&#039;s Threat To Small Business And Facebook&#039;s Latest Product | Forbes" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U4FKBcEScWU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S., many of which are struggling to stay afloat amid forced closures and are still hoping to receive financial relief from the government. According to a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/infographic-small-business-relief/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;by Goldman Sachs, 71% of Paycheck Protection Program applicants are still waiting for loans and 64% don’t have enough cash to survive the next three months. As of April 19, more than 175,000 businesses have shut down—temporarily or permanently—with closure rates rising 200% or more in hard-hit metropolitan cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, according to Yelp’s Q1 Economic Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.yelpeconomicaverage.com/yea-q1-2020.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>.



Employees of these businesses are disproportionately affected, with 74% and 70% reporting not having access to paid sick leave and paid time off, according to Facebook’s survey. For hotel, cafe and restaurant employees, those figures are over 90%.



Facebook, which relies heavily on small businesses for advertising revenue, was among the first major tech companies to provide much-needed aid. On March 17, the company announced $100 million in grants for small businesses, the majority of which will be distributed in cash, with some ad credits for business services. Of those funds, $40 million will be distributed across 34 American cities, with 50% being reserved for women, minority and veteran-owned businesses. The other $60 million will be distributed to small business owners throughout the world. In addition to financial assistance, the company also rolled out various product offerings including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/business" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">digital gift cards</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/fundraisers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fundraisers</a>&nbsp;and easier ways for businesses to communicate service changes to their customers.&nbsp;



Small businesses are resilient, even during times of crisis. According to the report, 57% of businesses are optimistic or extremely optimistic about the future, with only 11% of operating businesses expecting to fail in the next three months, should current conditions persist.&nbsp;



“The report raises awareness about the struggles small businesses face from the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Rhett Buttle, founder of Public Private Strategies and co-executive director of the Small Business Roundtable. “But small businesses have brought us out of previous economic downturns and they will do so again.”



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/">Maneet Ahuja</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs">Entrepreneurs</a>

gettyimages-1156934248-594×594

31% Of Small Businesses Have Stopped Operating Amid Coronavirus: Sheryl Sandberg Shares How Facebook’s Latest Product Aims To Help

In late February, Jeff Davidson, cofounder and co-CEO of fitness company Camp Gladiator, was on an annual boys fishing trip on&nbsp;Lake El Salto, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains in western Mexico, when he was struck by an overwhelming sense of dread and déjà vu. After a long day of bass fishing, he logged onto his laptop for his daily browse of investment forums, an old habit from his days as a&nbsp;senior vice president at AXA Advisors. Hedge fund managers and Wall Street analysts were following the development of a novel coronavirus out of Wuhan, China, scouring the region for under-the-radar money plays. The more he read, the more he found himself feeling as he did at the start of the Great Recession.&nbsp;



“I just remember the way it felt when we saw Bear Stearns go bankrupt and the panic of the stock market crash. All of that just burned really harsh memories into my mind,” Davidson says. “I immediately went back to our headquarters and told my team, ‘I think we need to be prepared for a major event.’” From Camp Gladiator’s offices in Austin, Texas, they hatched a plan, “Project Mars,” to pivot their fitness bootcamp business in real time.



Founded in 2008 by Davidson and his wife, Ally, who used the $100,000 she won after being crowned champion of NBC’s&nbsp;American Gladiator&nbsp;(which she had auditioned for on their wedding day) to launch the now $60 million company, Camp Gladiator’s training sessions were always meant to run outdoors, in public spaces like parks and schoolyards where people could come together and support one another on their fitness journeys. In recent months, Ally had been conducting a competitive analysis of the virtual workout landscape, with plans to roll out their own remote offerings in 2022.&nbsp;



As state-wide shutdowns and shelter-in-place mandates have forced gyms to close indefinitely, casting the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ihrsa.org/improve-your-club/industry-news/2019-fitness-industry-trends-shed-light-on-2020-beyond/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$94 billion fitness industry</a>&nbsp;into financial freefall, Camp Gladiator has emerged uniquely poised to profit. While chains like Gold’s Gym&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/05/04/coronavirus-golds-gym-chapter-11-bankruptcy-covid-19/3077385001/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed for bankruptcy</a>&nbsp;and billion-dollar startups like ClassPass have seen&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/technology/virus-start-ups-pummeled-layoffs-unwinding.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">95% of their profits</a>&nbsp;evaporate overnight, Camp Gladiator’s lack of physical locations and trainer income model (the company’s 1,000 instructors collect 75% of the revenue from their classes) have served as advantages. “Camp Gladiator is like 1,000 small businesses rolled up into one medium business, because each of our trainers are local owner operators that collect the profits of their own locations,” Davidson says.&nbsp;



This alignment they have with their workforce helped accelerate the launch of their virtual offerings to&nbsp;March 16,&nbsp;well ahead of competitors like Orangetheory Fitness.&nbsp;After a week of free #HustleAtHome classes streaming on Facebook Live, they released a 6-week virtual workout challenge for $39 (in-person memberships usually cost between $59 and $79 a month). The quick pivot paid off: Since launching two months ago, Camp Gladiator has gone from 4,000 outdoor workouts a week to nearly 10,000 Zoom workouts a week. It has retained 97% of its customer base of nearly 80,000 and has acquired an additional 20,000 customers and $700,000.&nbsp;The adoption rate has been so high that the Davidsons plan to maintain their virtual offering long term and have been hiring new trainers, many of which were recently laid off from other fitness companies.&nbsp;



“Six weeks ago, we thought we were making a Band-Aid. Four weeks ago, we thought we were making a supplemental product offering that might be worth keeping,” Davidson says. “And now we think we’re making the way forward. There’s a chance that in a year virtual will be our primary product offering.”



Needless to say, fitness isn’t the only industry that’s been affected by the pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has taken a significant toll on the majority of America’s more than 30 million small businesses, many of which are still hoping to receive financial relief from the government. According to a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/infographic-small-business-relief/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;by Goldman Sachs, 71% of Paycheck Protection Program applicants are still waiting for loans and 64% don’t have enough cash to last the next three months. As of April 19, more than 175,000 businesses have shut down—temporarily or permanently—with closure rates rising 200% or more in hard-hit metropolitan cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, according to Yelp’s Q1 Economic Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.yelpeconomicaverage.com/yea-q1-2020.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>.



The restaurant industry has been especially crushed. A recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.saverestaurants.com/news-item/april-16-new-survey-only-1-in-5-restaurant-owners-are-certain-they-can-survive-the-covid-19-crisis-despite-stimulus-assistance-putting-at-risk-11-million-workers-and-1-trillion-industry-without-urgent/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;conducted by the Independent Restaurant Coalition and James Beard Foundation found that the food services industry only received 9% of PPP dollars, despite accounting for 60% of job losses in March. The National Restaurant Association&nbsp;<a href="https://restaurant.org/Articles/News/Restaurants-on-track-to-lose-$80-billion-in-sales" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimates</a>&nbsp;the restaurant industry lost $80 billion through April and is on track to lose $240 billion by the end of the year.



La Monarca Bakery and Café, a $15 million Los Angeles-based chain described by cofounder Ricardo Cervantes as “if a Mexican bakery and Starbucks had a baby,” expects revenues to drop as much as 40% across his 12 locations this year. “Being that we purposely positioned ourselves in working class Hispanic neighborhoods, we are in areas where the employer and employee basis have been hit the hardest,” Cervantes says. “We have not stopped,” he adds, referring to the work he and cofounder Alfredo Livas have been doing to adapt to the new normal. They’ve kept all of their locations open for pick-up and take-out and reduced all costs and management salaries in an effort to keep the majority of their team intact (about 10% were laid off) and expand their business to include more prepackaged items and family meal options. In response to the needs of their local communities, they started carrying essential items like milk, butter, flour, paper towels, toilet paper and bleach. “Some of our neighborhoods do not have access to large supermarkets or Costco, and if they do, many individuals don’t usually have the resources to stockpile two months of toilet paper,” Cervantes explains. “They need daily goods but in smaller quantities and that’s what we’ve been providing.”



When the duo met as MBA students at Stanford Business School in 2001, they had no idea they would someday be putting their finance degrees to work like this. “We are busier today than we have ever been—and that is not to say that business is great. As the analogy goes, we’re building this new airplane while we are in the air,” he says.&nbsp;



But while the need for social distancing has forced business closures around the world, taking a toll on every sector, some like the wine industry have found somewhat of a silver lining. According to data from&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&amp;dataId=230448" target="_blank">Nielsen</a>, wine sales for off-premise consumption during the period from March 1 to April 18 were up 29% as compared to the same period year-over-year, with total alcohol sales for off-premise consumption up 24%.&nbsp;



Kingston Family Vineyards is banking on this trend. Founded in 1998 by Courtney Kingston, the $3 million family-run business is headquartered in Portola Valley, California, with a 100-year-old farm and 350-acre vineyard in Chile’s Casablanca Valley that doubles as a premier tourist destination, one that’s been awarded TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence for the past six years. It produces just 3,500 cases of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc annually (they sell 90% of their grapes to other winemakers), so when Chilean President Sebastián&nbsp;Piñera declared a state of catastrophe on March 19,&nbsp;Kingston lost a significant amount of revenue during what’s been their most profitable season of the year.&nbsp;



With Kingston’s 20th wine-grape harvest of the year well underway, the vineyard shifted to offering virtual wine tastings, shipping bottles to customers in advance. Revenue in the U.S. for the month of April was down just 10% year-over-year.



“Based on these virtual tastings, we’ve made up a lot of revenue with a totally new business,” Kingston says. “Before the coronavirus, hosting guests in an intimate setting was key to how we shared our small corner of the world with others. They’d often become customers for a lifetime. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, we can’t do that. The bright light in the darkness is what we can do.”



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maneetahuja/">Maneet Ahuja</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs">Entrepreneurs</a>

Happy business owner hanging an open sign while wearing protective mask

How Three Small Businesses Are Pivoting To Stay Afloat Amid The Coronavirus Pandemic

Tech entrepreneur Mandla Ngcobo dabbled in everything from poultry farming to selling airtime and electricity, until he found his niche in telecom – and his connections are growing.



Mandla Ngcobo represents everything the digital age stands for.



He’s young, happening and ubiquitous, with hopes and ambitions in every sector: from the poultry business to IT and everything in between.



&nbsp;Born in Newcastle, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, Ngcobo is the founder of Accelerit Technologies that’s heading forth in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.



“Entrepreneurship is something that has always been around me,” he says resolutely, taking a sip of his drink, when we meet him at an upscale restaurant in Sandton, Johannesburg.



“My father was a taxi owner. My mother was unemployed but used to sell clothes and plait people’s hair from home. She was a firm believer that one must have multiple streams of revenue. My mother used to do whatever it took to put food on the table.”&nbsp;



This attribute made him resourceful too, as he saw it work. He was employed but was inspired to start his own business.



His job for six years at a global technology and consulting firm in Johannesburg exposed him to the inner workings of the ICT business.



The computer had been a loyal companion since high school.&nbsp;



In the mid-1990s, his brother bought him his first TV game console, then gave him his old Pentium One computer with 133 megabytes of data.



“I was fascinated by the fact that you could program a computer to do certain things,” says Ngcobo.



Graduating from the University of Cape Town in South Africa with a BSc in 2005, he wasn’t particularly passionate about theory, but was driven by formulae.



“I also did business as an elective because I was thinking about the trade. So, varsity was mostly about computers and business and that’s where it all began.”



Two years later, he ventured into the chicken feed business as his mother had started a chicken farm.



He ran the business for five years with a fair turnover and employing three.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“That money was able to pay for my car; I saw it had legs. I tried so many businesses; I even sold prepaid airtime and electricity around where I grew up.”



The chicken business didn’t take off but at least he was now lured into the art of making money.



In 2011, the 36-year-old serial entrepreneur registered Accelerit Technologies, a small and medium enterprise providing turnkey ICT solutions. He needed to have licences to run a telecom business to do business with other companies and consumers.



He was still an employee with the company he worked for, but time had come to go on his own.



“I had to be billable as a consultant, so I had to work. There was a project I worked on that absolutely almost broke me; I didn’t enjoy it at all, so I was in a space knowing I didn’t have to do what I was doing. If I could dedicate a little bit of my time to pursue my own venture, I could make it work and that was it, I was done, and I resigned in 2013,” he says.&nbsp;



Having tasted entrepreneurship, he knew he could do it, but this time, he had to be fully present and committed.



“I sold my fancy white Audi TT car, and moved out of my lavish apartment in Sandton. I had to downgrade my life, I needed to bring it back to a level where I could manage my month’s expenditure and align with the fact that I was no longer an employee,” he says.



He shared office space but had a business address; it was time to get his first customer.



He set up a Wi-Fi base station at his sister’s house and sold vouchers; expanded to Greyhound Lines, an intercity bus carrier; then a student commune around the Johannesburg CBD, and within months, Ngcobo was turning over R10,000 ($617) a month.



“That made me feel chuffed,” he says. His sister was his first employee and two other friends soon were on his payroll.



“I was coming from a job that paid me R60,000 ($3,700) a month, and the R10,000 ($617) had me super excited. I knew I never had to work [for someone else] a day in my life. If I put in 10 times the effort, then I would be making R100,000 ($6,168) a month and that is how the journey started.”



Business was growing and within 24 months, Ngcobo set up Wi-Fi base stations in estates around Midrand still using the voucher system; at the time, it was massive.



In early 2017, Accelerit Technologies moved to fiber optic technology delivering high-speed data.



“That made us very competitive; we went from north Johannesburg to providing services nationwide, turning over R900,000 ($55,512) at the end of the 2018 financial year.”



Currently, Ngcobo is projecting R30 million ($1.85 million) for the financial year 2020 and employs 20 full-time staff.



It’s big numbers and wired ambitions, but as always, he is sure he can make it work.

IMG_5448

The $600 That Sparked A Telecom Trade: This Entrepreneur Represents Everything The Digital Age Stands For

The hygiene industry has received a shot in the arm with the recent pandemic. With emptying retail shelves, small business is also coming to the aid with innovative sanitizing ideas.



Retail stores in Johannesburg, as in most urban centers in the world currently, have run out of wet wipes and hand-sanitizers – the widely-recommended weapons to keep the coronavirus at bay.



With the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province on March 5, the pandemic has brought the country to high alert and a state of national disaster proclaimed by President Cyril Ramaphosa merely two weeks later, with 116 confirmed cases and counting (at the time of going to press).



Where there was plenty before news of the outbreak, exasperated customers are seeing ‘Out Of Stock or ‘Sold Out’’ signs in bold red letters on hand-sanitizer shelves at retail outlets and pharmacies. There is a long waiting list at dispensaries such as Clicks in Johannesburg.



At a store at The Marc, a fairly new retail mall in Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile, the manager echoes the sentiments of his counterparts in other malls in the area: “Three weeks ago, we were fully stocked, now, we are out of stock. This happened the week of the first coronavirus report in KwaZulu-Natal, when we had foreign nationals who bought hand-sanitizers more than the [locals] because of the [five-star] hotels in the area.”



About 21kms from Sandton in Roodepoort, another city in Johannesburg, Khensani Moleko, a 27-year-old account manager in the advertising industry, says she mall-hopped a whole weekend in search of hand-sanitizers.



“We went to multiple shops in the Roodepoort area and found nothing. However, we had sanitizers before the outbreak so we still have some left but it’s running out. I’ll be looking online,” says Moleko.



This is what consumers like Mufhenyi Mashamba, a Johannesburg-based interior designer, are doing too.



“On the websites, all sanitizers were out of stock, and they are usually priced between R20 and R30. When I checked the next day, people were auctioning hand-sanitizers [at ridiculous prices]. So now, I’m sitting here with no wipes and no sanitizers. I’m relying on personal hygiene and making sure I’m aware of my surroundings and that people have their hygiene in check,” says Mashaba.&nbsp;



This is also an opportunity for private business and small entrepreneurs such as Ludwick Marishane, founder of Headbody Industries and inventor of DryBath Gel, an innovative gel that can be used as a water-less body wash.



“We are making an antiseptic version of the product and the idea is to provide it to businesses because facilities are no longer safe. We have also been approached by a few retailers interested in listing our product.”



The gel is currently sold online, and should find its way on to retail shelves by June next year, says Marishane.



He is not the only entrepreneur making money off the hygiene industry.



Whitey Chemicals, founded by Joanna Stewart in Johannesburg, is a chemical cleaning service and supplier. The company started with cleaning petrol stations; one of their products is used to remove oil from concrete and restore it to its original form. The company also supplies disinfectants and cleaning solutions for schools, businesses and homes. “When I started the business two months ago, we fully got into hand-sanitizers because of the increase in the chaos going on in the country. Sanitizers are in high demand and business has picked up rapidly, it’s the main focus currently,” says Stewart, who has been in the pharmaceutical industry for the last 15 years. She has a full-time staff of six but has had to employ another 15 as freelancers to keep up with the demand.



With emptying retail shelves, small business is coming to the rescue, whilst also cashing in on the timely opportunity.

Sanitizer 520

Hands-On Approach: Small Business Is Coming To The Aid With Innovative Sanitizing Solutions

Until March 27, when South Africa initiated its first phase of the nationwide lockdown, Mphepheto Street in the suburb of Dobsonville in Soweto, had been bustling with informal traders, street vendors, illegal gamblers, taxis and fast cars. With vehicular traffic now restricted only to those with special permits to operate essential services, the entire stretch has turned into a ghost town. Although some residents continue to abide by the regulations, a handful continue to ply their small businesses under the radar to sustain their families.

Mphepheto pic by Tlhabi

[PHOTO OF THE DAY] Shut Shops And Open Roads

For continental traders like Robert Mensah and Nomkhosi Shongwe who sell organic soaps made of cocoa, the border bans induced by the pandemic have meant undelivered products and a backlog of work.



Ghana, the beautiful country in West Africa, famous for its cocoa, is one of the world’s largest exporters of the natural product. The humble bean is also used to make organic black soap, favored by many for its dermatological benefits.



But the current Covid 19-induced lockdown in the country has meant that Accra-based traders like Robert Mensah are not seeing any monetary returns for their esoteric organic cocoa products.



The brand he founded, named Akwaaba, produces and supplies ‘raw African black soap’, organic cocoa butter and even shea butter (another West African specialty) to overseas markets.



Mensah’s entrepreneurial journey had initially even included a stint in South Africa, when he sold djembe drums in the quaint old suburb of Yeoville in Johannesburg, but then, decided to return home to Ghana for good and start selling the soap.



“I left South Africa about three years ago to set up this organic black soap business to sell locally and internationally. The business has been operating for over two years, employing three people; two of assist with packaging and the remaining one is a dispatch driver,” he says.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah-768x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44381" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah-300x400.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah-600x800.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Robert-Mensah.jpg 810w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption>Robert Mensah</figcaption></figure>



Like most other countries in Africa, Ghana too has travel restrictions, so this means Mensah cannot make deliveries to other towns.



“International trading is one of our biggest challenges as all borders and airports are closed.”



Mensah had orders that were meant for overseas deliveries but at the moment, his goods are stuck, although production is ongoing.



“It’s very tough, that is how the world has come to be, for now,” he says.



All he can do, for now, is mentally travel back and forth in time.



In 2018, when his business was still new, he recalls receiving an order online from Nomkhosi Shongwe, a South African curious about his organic skin products.



Shongwe, an advertising professional in Johannesburg, who is now Mensah’s business associate, had been researching organic products when she stumbled upon the black soaps.



“I just saw the benefits of African soap and shea butter online and searched for an African supplier and Mensah’s name popped up. I ordered the soaps to try them out and possibly sell. People liked it and I promoted the business on social media and I now sell it nationally.”



From Ghana to South Africa, her woes are the same as Mensah’s.



She says business has also been slow since the lockdown effected in South Africa from March 27. She is unable to collect the supply delivered prior to the lockdown because of travel restrictions. &nbsp;



“The product is in high demand globally and locally; customers locally have even made deposits in case they run out of money post the lockdown.”



Luckily, Shongwe has another source of income so is not solely reliant on the sales of the organic products.



But the business is dependent on social media promotions, as she regularly posts and educates people about the organic products.



“I am comfortable knowing that the information about the product is out there and whoever searches for skin solutions might come across my page and all the information is there. So the business manages itself while I am still busy with my nine-to-five [other job],” she offers.

Nomkhosi Shongwe

The Dark Patch In The Black Soap Business

A salon owner in the township of Soweto in South Africa laments how she has no option but to dip into her savings and await the relief fund promised by the government after the lockdown.



At a time when self-preservation has become far more important than keeping up with the Joneses, retail establishments offering grooming and hair treatment services have taken the cut, not listed as ‘essential services’ in the 35-day lockdown period in South Africa.



Le Salon is one such, founded by Thembeka Nkosi in South Africa’s sprawling township of Soweto in 2014 after she won a national hair competition, and received R10,000 ($536) in cash and a year’s supply of hair products and equipment, and she started working with major hair brands.



Nkosi was able to grow her business, but the coronavirus pandemic has now derailed all the progress she made.



“The business has been operating for six years and I employ three people paid weekly based on commissions. Now it is very difficult for the employees and myself because if there is no work, there is no income,” laments Nkosi, who is now dipping into her savings to sustain herself.



She urges people to abide by the rules of the lockdown to help flatten the curve, so life can return to normal and people like her can go back to business.



“I had applied for the relief fund promised by the government for small businesses, but the problem is that the money is needed now. We are not open now and not having an income now, but we’ll wait for that money which will help when we reopen, however, the problem is now!”



Before the lockdown, Nkosi had a couple of orders for wigs and is currently working on them.



“Luckily, I had enough stock [hair to make wigs], but even though I can’t deliver them, hopefully, after the lockdown, people will be able to get their hair. I will also lower prices when we reopen and work long hours to generate the money lost.”



Hopefully, she will be able to make up for lost time.

Thembeka Nkosi

Wigs, Weaves And Woes: Beauty Not Priority In Crisis

Ntokozo Hadebe had just started his business when South Africa went into lockdown. He is hoping he will be able to recover payments and keep his enterprise alive. 



Ntokozo Hadebe, an occupational health and safety (OHS) entrepreneur from Soweto, Johannesburg, only recently founded his own business, BNH Pty/Ltd, a consulting and training business concerned with the health, safety and welfare of workers. 



Little did Hadebe know that a killer virus would shut down South Africa. He had just opened shop, and the timing could not have been worse.



“Business had to stop all operations due to the lockdown. I had already invoiced clients and processed jobs that I had recently done. Going into lockdown, I had to put jobs on hold that were scheduled and paid for. I also had quotes awaiting approval and they too were put on hold,” he says.



Like many small businesses, the three-week lockdown in South Africa has affected his operations too; and he, like many of counterparts in business, are uncertain if the lockdown will be extended.



At this point, he is unsure of the business recovery plan of his clients, as that would inadvertently affect payments.



“Recovery is also going to depend on my clients’ strategies. After this crisis is over and business operations continue as normal, I am not sure if my clients will have a budget for me because of the financial constraints they may have incurred during this lockdown. This leaves me in a very tight corner for me to continue to provide my services,” he says.



Hadebe is using this period to strategize and find ways to help BNH recover because, “if there is no operation, there is no income for the business, meaning, I can’t grow the business going forward.”



He is currently surviving on previous payments but also mindful of cash-flow issues for running costs once business kicks off again.



“In a nutshell, I have to use a hand-to-mouth system in order to survive. At least I have settled costs incurred with my suppliers and other service providers, like printers. But for now, I have nothing else coming in at all.”



Hadebe had earlier been employed at a company but quit because he felt he wasn’t getting the support he needed and decided starting his own entity would satiate his hunger.



The lockdown is a harsh learning curve and he hopes he will become a tougher entrepreneur as a result.

Blessed Ntokozo Hadebe

‘Hand-To-Mouth To Survive’: A New Entrepreneur Banks On Hope During Lockdown

Tshepo Phiri has had to shut down his branding and printing business but is turning to online marketing to pay his bills during the lockdown.  



Riding motorbikes as a hobby and having a passion for visuals led to Tshepo Phiri from Mabopane, a township in the north of Pretoria in South Africa, to found Prodigy Studios in 2016, a video and photography business that soon expanded to branding, printing and social media marketing for mostly the motorsports industry. &nbsp;



During the three-week lockdown imposed by South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa, Phiri’s small business has also been affected – he has closed shop and hopes good times will roll again. &nbsp;&nbsp;



“The lockdown hasn’t been good to us; we feel the effect of the virus. Suppliers have increased prices and we on the other hand couldn’t suddenly increase ours, because of the current orders we had already been busy with. We just had to take the fall for it.”



Young Phiri, nonetheless, understands the need for the lockdown, but says that with the whole world panicking and stock markets crashing, who will pay attention to small entrepreneurs like him?



“I can say I am fortunate enough to have the likes of MFE Motors and Ducati South Africa as my clients. I am busy with a large order I had received prior to the shutdown which I’m currently finishing, but again, the lockdown might come as a hindrance to delivering and that may obviously have its effects on getting paid on time,” he rues.



But it’s not a losing battle yet for Phiri; he runs social media pages for clients on month-to-month contractual agreements and is using that income to help him survive this period.



The motorbikes are parked away and silent, and so too the engines of the economy.

Tshepo Phiri

‘We Feel The Effect Of The Virus’: This Entrepreneur is Turning To Online After Business Shutdown

Some of these fads were slowly building in the previous decade, others are still nascent, but need your full attention to prepare your business for the times ahead.



1. AI and machine learning



Key takeaway: Automate repetitive tasks, but be wary of automating inefficiencies and biases.



You’re surrounded by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning: from the recommendations Netflix makes based on your viewing history to those pesky adverts that track you around the internet. As Bronwyn Williams, a trend analyst at Flux Trends in South Africa, explains, “Most of what you think is AI is actually machine learning.” Williams emphasizes that fears about AI “stealing jobs” are overrated, and most businesses will see the arduous, repetitive tasks given to machines, freeing up humans for analysis and critical thinking. She warns businesses to remember it’s the human interaction that differentiates one offering from another. “Don&#8217;t automate away your value. Look under the hood and make sure you understand why you are automating something – and be careful not to automate inefficiencies.” Looking at automated HR processes, companies have discovered that even unconscious human biases are learned by machines (for example, CVs belonging to certain genders and races are discredited. Machines are not born neutral – especially if they’re learning from humans.) Embrace machine learning, but do so with a pinch of salt.



2. Driverless cars and the supply chain



Key takeaway: Autonomous cars are still about 15 years away, but it’s best to prepare your fleet and supply chain choice now.



The automotive industry is going through some major changes: electric cars, the growth of services like Uber and Lift, and lastly, the development of autonomous vehicles. Though the first two will impact everyday consumer experiences, it’s self-driving cars that will massively alter businesses and their supply chains across Africa in the next decade. “As convenience and efficiency are the cornerstones of the fleet industry, there is no doubt self-driving vehicles will start making a play for their share of the fleet industry sooner rather than later,” explains Sudesh Pillay on fleet management company EQSTRA’s online platform. The supply chain will no longer be affected by driver fatigue and human error. Driverless cars will also dramatically impact accident rates (lowering them by 90%, according to some estimates) and supply chain efficiency. As Innovation Group’s Future Now report indicates, autonomous cars face some serious challenges across Africa before they can become a practical alternative to human drivers. “There is a vision, in the not-too-distant future, in which self-driving cars hold a lot of promise…. Others are more skeptical about the practical feasibility, especially in Africa where the infrastructural limitations (roads, electricity etc.) hold back the vision, at least in the foreseeable future. Our research indicates that self-driving cars may only become a reality in South Africa in [15] or more years and that this may spur innovative advances in infrastructure, energy services and ultimately the look and feel of roads and cities.”



3. Climate crises and



natural disasters



Key takeaway: Hire a Chief Sustainability Officer to



start building climate resilience into your business.



“Now is the time to start thinking seriously about resilience,” says Hugh Tyrrell, Director at Green Edge, a corporate mentoring initiative in Cape Town that helps businesses develop sustainably. “The big brands have Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO). This role is in the C-suite and is forward-thinking,” Tyrell explains. CSOs look at how businesses can start developing their own power, lower their eco-footprint and manage their resources better. Looking to the big corporate trendsetters, there are some major shifts in corporate strategy focusing on a sustainable business model instead of growth at all costs. Unilever, for example, is holding their suppliers to the same eco-friendly standards that they themselves are working at, says Tyrrell. Natural disasters associated with the climate crisis are already affecting African businesses too. Explains Tyrrell, “In agriculture, which is a big sector in Africa, we are seeing the effect of droughts or floods. Others have to work more closely with their suppliers to ensure supplies come in good condition and on time.” Mining is another industry heavily impacted by the climate crisis – and the push by consumers for more environmental-friendly solutions.&nbsp;



4. The age of cyberattacks and data breaches



Key takeaway: Make sure your IT department includes



skilled data protection specialists.



As businesses innovate and rely less on physical hardware like servers, and start instead relying on the cloud, they can expect to see a massive uptick in cyberattacks and subsequent data breaches. This trend increased exponentially in 2019 (even the City of Johannesburg in South Africa was held by ransomware) and is set to explode in the coming decade. Added to this, businesses are collecting more data than ever before, particularly for marketing purposes and to tailor their product offerings. Because of this, businesses should prepare themselves for the onslaught by firstly, taking their online security very seriously, secondly, training their staff (employees are the weakest link in any security chain) and thirdly, putting more budget behind appropriate security measures. “The demand for narrow cybersecurity expertise is driven by a constantly changing threat landscape, as well as evolving technologies, such as cloud or IoT. As a result, we see the bigger demand in, for example, threat intelligence analysts and dedicated threat intelligence services, and experts for cloud platform protection. The call for data protection specialists is seen in both technical and regulatory and compliance aspects,” says Alexander Moiseev, Chief Business Officer at online security software Kaspersky.



5. The remote workforce



Key takeaway: Flexi-hours and working remotely are practical ways to combat challenges like loadshedding and traffic.



With intermittent power supply (particularly in South Africa), increasing traffic and less reliance on physical IT infrastructure like servers, the remote and flexible workforce is becoming a norm. Says Moiseev, “The working model is already being changed, with 40% of small and medium companies regularly allowing their employees to work at locations outside the office — from home or while traveling.” In addition, health scares like the coronavirus are amplifying these trends. “Apps that enable remote working are having a moment,” explains Williams. “You now get filters to add makeup to video conferences so you don’t have to dress up when you’re working from home.” Many employees expect the flexibility of remote working when job hunting, and businesses reap the benefits of agility.  



-Samantha Steele

Computing and malware concept

The Five Trends To Future-Proof Your Business

The historic Vilakazi Street in South Africa is now eerily quiet. With the lockdown, small entrepreneurs here like Sifiso Moyo are pondering new ways to resuscitate life into the precinct.



Sifiso Moyo is the co-founder of The Box Shop in one of South Africa’s most historic tourist hubs.



The lifestyle and retail outlet he founded with his business partner, Bernard Msimango, is on Vilakazi Street, known for being the only street that has famously housed two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in South Africa’s township of Soweto in Johannesburg.



Even before South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the national lockdown from March 27, Moyo says he had been seeing dwindling visitors to the street and The Box Shop.



South Africa had confirmed its first Covid-19 case on March 5.&nbsp;



“The street is literally on lockdown. All businesses, especially formal establishments, have ceased operations, however, businesses that will survive on Vilakazi Street post the pandemic are those that didn’t invest [much] in attracting and appealing to international tourists,” says Moyo.



The Box Shop will need to start dropping prices, he adds, to attract more locals to the outlet.



“We need to position the street as a destination that is futuristic, cutting-edge and tourism-friendly, especially to the locals. So we are strategizing, decreasing our prices, marketing ourselves aggressively to the locals and addressing ourselves as a destination of choice.”



Moyo predicts it will take four months for global tourism to return to normal, but will South Africa be one of the preferred destinations?



“We at The Box Shop and some operations on Vilakazi have positioned ourselves so well that we appeal to the locals too, but looking at the economic impact of the virus, we have less cash circulating in the market and that affects all of us. So as a precinct, we have to start thinking differently,” he says.



The Box Shop has taken the lead in integrating technology into its operations, developing an app for the upcoming Youth Day; a South African public holiday in June. The app shares the Vilakazi Street experience and allows people to book tables and make advance payments for the event.



All this, only if the coronavirus has been brought under control by then.



For the period of the lockdown, the shop is not trading, and Moyo says they too are applying for a relief fund from the government.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“We are feeling the effects, we really need subsidy from government, otherwise there is a threat that the entire precinct might shut down and it will need to be resuscitated and re-established which will mean all the 20 years of effort that has been put in to develop the street will go down the drain,” he laments.



For now, responding to the situation using technology and some clever marketing seems to be the only way forward for most small businesses like The Box Shop.

Founders of The Box Shop Bernard Msimango and Sifiso Moyo; pic supplied

A Famous Street Falls Silent: Luring Locals Only Way After The Lockdown

It was
recently reported by ratings agency S&amp;P Global that the coronavirus
outbreak has plunged the world into a recession. On the home front, a sudden
surge in COVID-19 cases in the country resulted in the President of South
Africa imposing a 21-day country-wide lockdown, starting from Thursday, 26 March
2020. Combine this with the fact that the country also recently announced to be
in its third recession since 1994 it’s safe to say that many businesses are
beginning to feel the effects of the pandemic.



The impact of the coronavirus on small
businesses is likely to be substantial, especially for local businesses who are
already feeling the pinch, as financial and market uncertainty can easily
translate into an emotional crisis that can overwhelm our systems. However,
help is on the way as the Department of Small Business Development announced
that a Debt Relief Fund has been set up to assist small, medium and micro
enterprises impacted by COVID-19.



While this
relief is welcomed, it is still vital for leaders to step up. The
world has been through crises before, but during these significantly difficult
times, the economic impact may be as severe or possibly worse. As such, those
in leadership positions must use past crises as examples and apply what was
learnt to keep the country on course and minimise the impact of the pandemic.



Karl Westvig,
CEO at<a href="http://www.retailcapital.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> </a><a href="http://www.retailcapital.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Retail Capital</a>, has pinpointed the visible areas that are affected
and outlined a few pointers to help small business owners weather the storm.



Liquidity



The first
victim of panic is liquidity – banks, asset managers and funders stop lending.
When they cannot calculate the potential risk, they will not lend.&nbsp; Therefore,
it is critical to shore up cash by drawing down on available facilities and
suspending any unnecessary investments. Reduce expenses and manage cash flow
daily.



Get Your Best
Team on It



When a
business is growing, we tend to shift our best people into roles linked to
growth and new initiatives. In a crisis, these people need to move into the
highest priority roles. These roles would include collecting from customers,
raising facilities or engaging key clients.



Morale and
Communication



People need
leadership. This would include authentic and regular communication about the
situation, what the business requires and how this will be achieved. You can’t
control the circumstances, but you can control the response and actions. This
will create more certainty. 



Hands-on



Events evolve
quickly and every day is critical. Leaders must be hands-on. They have to be in
touch with customers, suppliers, funders and staff. They have to collect data
on everything – the mood, the financial metrics, even customer stories. Some of
the best information is anecdotal, not just big data. 



Policies



It’s tough to
lead when you don’t understand all the underlying levers. These can change in a
crisis. What worked in a stable environment can go out of the window in an
instant. The best approach is to start again, listen to customers and then
adapt your policies within your framework.



“This is not a manual on how to handle the current crisis, but hopefully, the points mentioned above can add to what you are already doing. In simple terms, it is easy to be overwhelmed, so tackle a few things very quickly and with commitment. This will create certainty and lead to action. The alternative is paralysis,” concludes Westvig.

Tag: small businesses

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA