04/20/2020
What is the definition of a "Small Business"?
Here are a couple of issues I have experienced when applying for 2 of the so-called "Small Business" loan/grant programs:
1) Definition of "Small" business - one of the loans I applied for considered a business that has 500 employees to be a "small" business. My opinion is that a company that has 500 employees is not a small business, that is a very big business. One of the loan programs had a requirement that you had to have at least 3 employees. So I guess sole proprietors that work on their own, with no other employees other than themselves, is not even considered to be a "small" business. There are thousands, if not millions of business owners that are just a one-person business. These business owners are suffering greatly from the loss of jobs due to COVID-19. Our businesses may not have a million dollar AGI, but we are the ones working to support our families and make ends meet.
2) Definition of "store-front" - the Small Business Development Centers grant program rejected my application because they did not feel I have a "store-front". I work from my home, but I have clients for meetings in my home, I have a photo studio for portraits, I just had a 2-day head shot session event at my house. If I rented a building on a major highway, I would not have done things any differently and I would have not been rejected on the application. Simply because my business is located in a residential area and not on a major highway I guess I don't have a REAL business in their opinion. I network and work along side a ton of business owners that work from their home. I am an active member of my Chamber of Commerce. I provide a viable business service to a lot of businesses around town. I feel I am a REAL business but so far I haven't found any funding available for those of us that truly have a "small" business.
My hope is that all of the sole proprietors that work from their homes would contact their Chambers, local State Representatives and State Senators and let them know that a work-at-home business is a REAL business and is worth trying to save. Right now during this crisis there are millions of businesses applying for relatively small amounts of money, so there is not enough to go around. Very few of us will get any of this help. I believe that most of it will go to "big" businesses not "small" businesses. We need to change the definition of "Small Business" in this country.
Working from home doesn't mean you are sitting around doing nothing. It means you work long hours after your kids go to bed but yet have a schedule that allows you to be a parent and pick your kids up from school. It means you make time to volunteer and help non-profits. I would be willing to say most non-profit volunteers are either retired or sole proprietors that work from home. It is hard for a "small" business to make it under normal circumstances, much less during this disaster. Don't forget about the work-from-home sole proprietors!
