The Small Business Administration released "lender guidelines" yesterday for the America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program. While the program was announced back in May, details on the $35,000 interest-free, deferred-payment loans are only now available.

I was on the phone with Eric Zarnikow, Associate Administrator for Capital Access, the SBA department overseeing the ARC loan program, and he told me that, "Borrowers can begin applying for these loans beginning June 15, per the Administrator's May 18 comments. We estimate that the SBA, through our lenders, will be able to provide about 10,000 ARC loans to small businesses across the country."

You can read my article with more details on these loans on Entrepeneur.com.
What are ARC Loans?
ARC loans will be made for up to $35,000 and available to established, viable, for-profit small businesses suffering "immediate financial hardship" in order to provide some temporary financial relief so they can keep their doors open and put their cash flow back on track. It is intended for businesses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing qualifying debt (including conventional loans, credit card obligations, notes owed to suppliers and utilities).

So what exactly is a "Viable business?"
Zarnikow says the SBA defines this as "a for-profit business with evidence of profitability or positive cash flow in at least one of the past two years."

How does the SBA define "immediate financial hardship"

The SBA is requiring businesses to show evidence of a "change in the financial condition" such as declining sales, frozen credit lines, difficulty meeting payroll, paying rent or difficulty making loan payments. The lender must analyze and confirm that a hardship exists.

How do ARC loans work?
The loans are 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA and made by existing SBA 7(a) lenders. They have no SBA or lender fees associated with them (unless the lender must secure collateral as part of the loan). The disbursement period (up to six months) is followed by a 12- month deferral period with no repayment of principal. After the deferral period, the borrower pays back only the ARC Loan principal over a five year period. ARC loans are available through SBA-approved lenders as long as funding is available or through September 30, 2010.

Mark Deo will help to guide you through the loan process
I have spent a great deal of time discussing these programs with officials at the SBA, as well as proving insight to some of the most influential business publications in America, including Entrepreneur Magazine. As a reader of my business update, I am more than happy to share this information with you- all I ask is that you purchase a copy of my new book, The Rules of Attraction. If you have a copy of my book, and you want to get my insight on how your business may be able to obtain an ARC loan, please send an e-mail to mark@markdeo.com and include your name and phone number. I will personally call you to help you assess your prospects of obtaining one of these loans.

Click here to purchase my book from Amazon.com.  Remember that 100% of the profits from my book go to the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Thank you, and have a great week!

–Mark Deo

I am being asked to comment in a number of media outlets about the impact of
the President’s stimulus program on small businesses. Today I did an interview
for MSN Business. Later this week I will be talking to La Opinion. Here are some
of the typical questions I have been receiving and the answers I am giving. I
have done this in outline form so that you can read this very quickly. I’d love
to get some feedback from our readers.

How important is small business to the U.S. economy?

• Small businesses drive this economy
• Employ about half of the nation’s 144 million private sector workers
• Account for 60 to 80 percent of new private sector jobs
• Generate more than $6 trillion in annual revenue
• Account for more than half of the country’s GDP

What do small businesses possess that larger enterprises lack?

• Personal passion: Personally invested rather than Wall Street dollars.
• Customer-centric: Deep understanding of customer needs and opportunities.
• Agility: Adapt quickly to changing market conditions and new business practices.
• Experimentation: NOT afraid to improvise and accept failure as a path to success.
• Limited resources: Adept at accomplishing more with less with little waste.
• Collaboration: Rely on social networks, affiliates, alliances and information sharing.

What are the economic challenges for small businesses today?
• Crushing debt due to asset devaluation
• Lost 4 million jobs in the last year and more than half are small business jobs
• A significant drop in sales and productivity in every industry except Washington
• Lack of access to capital or affordable funding
• TARP participating banks will likely not participate limiting the ability to fund loans
• Wickedly fierce competition and price erosion

How might small business’s benefit from the President’s stimulus plan?
• Obama earmarked $15 billion of the $789 billion stimulus package for small business
• $730 mil to reduce small business lending fees
• Increase SBA loans to 90%
• Attempting to open-up secondary market credit

What are some of the problems with the plan?

• Incorporates a HIKE in taxes for all households and businesses earning more than $250,000
• Higher dividend taxes
• Limits on itemized deductions
• Small businesses will likely have to shoulder a more responsibility for worker health care.
• SBA was planning to guarantee $20 billion in loans yet currently on-track for less than $10 billion!
• The US government is not in-touch with the needs of small businesses – they are spending billions to save 250,000 auto-maker jobs while already 4 million small business jobs have been lost!

Summary

While I cannot place the complete blame for this conundrum at the feet of this
new administration I believe the outgrowth of this stimulus plan is like taking
capital and revenue from the mouth of America’s small business owners and
feeding it to the big National Banks, Wall Street financers and government
bureaucrats. This theory enraptures Wall Street and alienates Main Street. Don’t
expect help from the government. Small business leaders are on-their-own. That’s
good for those willing to roll-up their sleeves. This is how our country became
great – on that backs of small business leaders!
We all have to answer the question: Do we have a fighting chance or just a
chance to fight? I believe the former.
Recommendations for small businesses:

Business attraction is more critical than ever:

• Become a bigger fish in a smaller pond by shrinking your audience.
• Create standards and systems to leverage efficiency and accommodate growth.
• Be willing to destroy and rebuild your business or re-invent yourself especially NOW!
• Innovate or die! It’s time to launch your most creative products, services and marketing.
• Take advantage of all the great talent on the street.
• This is the time to enter into collaborative alliances, affiliate relationships and joint ventures to consolidate costs and spread risk.
• Localize or globalize! There is no center ground today.
• Invest wisely. This is the time to buy – learn how to identify devalued assets.

Sources:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Intuit Future of
Small Business Report, Institute for the Future, Huffington Post, MarkDeo.com
–Mark Deo

This is an interesting time. The recent layoff of 80,000 American workers has resulted in all of the financial gurus spouting their drivel about the global economic crisis we are facing. I have even heard some say we are entering another depression. Just a few days ago, I appeared on FOX TV and discussed this with business expert Neil Cavuto. He asked me how I thought this was affecting small business owners and what they could do about it. My comments were that maybe we should put some of these gurus on the firing line of small businesses and see how they do. Their demise would be quick and final. Because as I told Mr. Cavuto, the most important asset that entrepreneurs have today is their attitude.
Without a positive attitude, we are doomed regardless of how well or how poorly the economy is doing. Many of us perhaps have heard the Serenity Prayer – “We must accept the things we cannot change, have the courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Surely, we cannot individually change the economy but collectively it is certainly possible. We can do this by focusing on the critical business issues at hand like, delivering a higher level of customer satisfaction, creative product development and line extensions, smart financial management, getting longer terms on payables, building customer loyalty programs and penetrating new markets. We do have the ability to turn this economy around but we must first look in the mirror and begin the change within. Do you have the courage to take that challenge? I sure hope so. All of our jobs might depend on it.
Click the Fox Business logo below to view my latest appearance:

Have a great week!
–Mark Deo

My hand firmly grasping the remote, I was “couch surfing” the other day. You know how it is – over 2000 channels and still… there’s nothing worth watching.

Suddenly I came across the Crocodile Hunter battling some prehistoric-like creature in the Aussie brush. I thought, here’s my old friend Steve Irwin, animal enthusiast, environmentalist and master marketer, dead and gone, yet his show is still in reruns.But wait… this wasn’t a re-run! This was new. It was being narrated by Bindi, Steve and Terri’s little daughter. She was articulate, interesting, and REAL. This was just another extension of the fabulous enterprise that Steve had built.When I was last in Australia, I was told by many that they believed that Steve had done more for the country economically than the last two Prime Ministers had. Now his daughter is carrying on this enthusiasm. Not only does Bindi, all of nine years old this year, host the Crocodile Hunter but she has her own TV series on Discovery for Kids dubbed “Jungle Girl,” she has released her first CD of her music and she even has a line of clothes for kids called “Bindi Wear!”Crikey! What a capacity for change Steve has. Even in death, his brand is unstoppable.But not everyone has a high capacity for change. According to Rick Maurer, author of Building Capacity for Change, only one third of all change succeeds. Most approaches to managing change ignore or trivialize the need to build commitment to changes such as continuous improvement, training, re-branding, re-engineering, and new software systems. We live in an age of rapid and chaotic change. Failed changes cost organizations dearly. Research indicates that resistance is the main reason why so many new initiatives go way over budget or get implemented in ways that really weren’t worth all the effort and cost. Are you or your employees resistant to change?I myself have battled change over the years. For example, as many know I have had a radio show on the CBS Radio Network for over 10 years that I have recently abandoned in favor of a brash new change. Many have told me that I’m nuts! Perhaps they are correct. Nevertheless, our NEW show, Small Business Radio, debuts this Friday on one of the largest Internet radio networks in the world. The show airs LIVE every Friday at 4pm Pacific time. We will take your calls and every week we will feature a business expert. Just click on the link below to access the show LIVE or hear archives of past shows. Or just go to www.markdeo.com to tune in.So what’s your capacity to change? Are you too busy to commit to improvement?Are you kidding yourself and just coasting, hoping that things just don’t change too much? Or are you like Steve Irwin always battling a new predator and conquering change even from the grave. I hope the later. I trust this helps you to begin see change as a friend and as the precursor to growth.Have a great week!-Mark Deo

The funny thing about change is that most people are unhappy with the way things are, yet few want to go through the pain of changing. In a way this amounts to SHORT changing ourselves.

Change is upon us. Ready or not, here it comes- politically, socially, economically, and financially. The question is not if will we be facing change in the coming year, but, “how will we deal with it?”

I like to believe that if we approach change from the standpoint of “attraction” then we can transform “adapting to necessary change” into LEADING revolutionary change! This is one of the reasons that I have created my “attraction principles.” I believe that with the right knowledge, mindset, and discipline we can actually “attract” a positive, desirable change, rather than being swept-up in unwanted change. 

Over the next few weeks, I would like to share these principles with you, my clients, class members, subscribers, and listeners. It is my hope that they can help you “take control of change.” Each week I will focus on several principles and discuss how practicing them can help us to create sustainable change, win deeper relationships and become more influential to those within our sphere of influence.

The 14 Rules of Attraction
1. Become a big fish in a smaller pond.
2. Strategic rejection makes us more attractive.
3. The problem is more important than the solution.
4. Give information away without selling.
5. Reverse people’s risk in changing.
6. Don’t be a better option, become the ONLY solution.
7. Create an exclusive community of “super-users.”
8. No one has time to read so let design and color speak.
9. Traditional advertising is a HOPE business.
10. Collaborate rather than compete.
11. Who we are is more important that what we do.
12. Create standards and systems that nurture.
13. Learn the discipline of testing.
14. Plan your dive. Dive your plan.

Helloooooooo Tom!
We have been invited by CBS radio to participate in an event to help small business owners and entrepreneurs prepare for 2005 and all of the changes that are coming.

Join me on Saturday, November 13 at the Hyatt Regency in Anaheim with fellow talk show hosts: Tom Leykis, Doug Fabian, and Gabriel Wisdom for the first Financial Fest sponsored by 97.1 KLSX, the FM Talk Station. 

Throughout the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. jam-packed day, you’ll be treated to a panel discussion with business and investment experts talking about small business, building wealth, real estate, and more. At the Financial Fest, we will be available to answer questions and will be giving away one set of our “Attract More Business Program.”

TeleClinics to be held every Monday at 1PM
To provide additional benefits to our subscribers, in November and December we will be holding a series of TeleClinics aimed at improving your attraction quotient.

11-15-04- How to Avoid the Typical Mistakes Marketers Make
11-22-04- The Exclusive Marketing Position
11-29-04- 10 Key Criteria for Developing a Branding Statement
12-06-04- Getting Commitment with Risk Reversal
12-13-04- Rules for Writing Headlines
12-20-04- Bull’s Eye Ad Design and Layout

To register for any of these Tele-Clinics go to https://www.sbanetwork.org/learning/signup.aspor call 310-320-8190. For more tools of “attraction” go to www.markdeo.com.
Don’t short change yourself in the coming year. Let’s focus our energy on attracting precisely what we are looking for. Remember we have to TAKE control in order to be in control.

You may faintly remember it or perhaps you’ve seen the re-runs: One Step Beyond.

It was that old science fiction TV series where the implausible became the possible, right there in your living room. Supposedly the stories were based on fact. I don’t know if they were or not, but it made the show more fun to believe the stories were true. The host John Newland, would give you some spiel about ESP, teleportation, automatic writing, bi-location or some other questionable science and launch into another “true story.”I remember one episode in vivid detail. A woman keeps having dreams of a plane crashing through the ceiling. Overcome with fear, she and her husband move into a hotel – and once settled there a plane crashes through the ceiling of the hotel. But the pilot is saved and the couple gets out of the way when they hear the plane coming in.Today that episode sounds a little too much like reality.But it made me think about how we as entrepreneurs and small business owners can become fearful of the INEVITABLE. At times we fear the inevitable so deeply that we find ourselves rushing headlong into the very thing we’ve been trying to avoid! The women’s dream created an irrational fear that prompted her to leave her home for a place of safety only to find that it was her fear that placed her in the most dangerous situation.Business circumstances can be like that. We try to escape the inevitable conditions of a difficult economy, fierce competition, the dot-com implosion or a maturing product lifecycle by running from them rather than facing them head-on.I have seen more than one example of otherwise talented and energetic individuals paralyzed by fear. They procrastinate or even completely avoid taking on projects that would benefit them and their company. Their inevitable excuse: “I am dealing with too many problems right now; I know I (we) should do this but I can’t deal with it with everything else that is going on.” This is classic conflict avoidance. Avoiding conflict will only serve to produce more devastating symptoms and ultimately end in disappointment or worse.

There are many people in business today that have never been tested by an economic downturn. They have little experience with difficult times. It is easy to succeed when times are good. What differentiates the experienced business owner from the naive is doing what must be done when times are tough. Successful decision-makers redouble their efforts to outpace the pack when it is most difficult. They are willing to go “One Step Beyond.”Here are some pointers to help you go “one step beyond” in your own business. Are they easy to implement? No, but they are powerfully effective when combined with persistence, enthusiasm and sweat:No Risk, No Reward – Playing it safe isn’t necessarily playing it smart – even in cautious times. Don’t be Afraid of Risk. To not take a risk is to risk being ignored.Plan to be a Lot Better – You can’t win in a competitive market by doing things “a little” better than the competition. You have to be a lot better or completely different.Stand Out from the Crowd – You can’t simply sound like everyone else. You MUST be unique. How can you change your process? What additional service can you provide?Zero In – Who can you exclusively target? What part of the marketplace is most precisely suited to your product or service? Or maybe, more importantly, which type of prospects do you NOT want as customers? Sometimes it’s easier to eliminate the chaff from the wheat.Don’t Be Afraid to Take Action – Remember the good moves you DON’T make can be as consequential as the bad moves you DO make. For many business leaders inaction is the worse course of action.Get Emotional – Emotion grabs attention and ultimately sells your product or service. Tell your story in such a way that your product or services becomes totally relevant with your customers lives.Do the Unexpected – Remember while you’re sitting with your staff trying to think of what to do next so is your competition. If you can make an unexpected move then you may have the most important element of success: SURPRISE.Cultivate a Culture of Learning – The fastest way to failure is to stop learning. Make learning a habit for yourself and for the people in your organization.Seek to Create Change – Many consultants and business pundits today are advocating all kinds of methods of “coping with change.” I wholeheartedly disagree. This makes it sound like change is biting at our heels. Put yourself in a position to CREATE change. There is an amazing advantage in being the creator of change rather than the one who has to cope with it.You may be hearing that buzzing of a plane in the distance. It could be your competition or the economy or even the groans of an industry in travail. But don’t turn and run. Face your foe head on with confidence and self-assurance. In doing so you will fuel growth and profitability in your business. By embracing change you will crush fear and go “one step beyond.”

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance, one cannot fly into flying.

-Friedrich NietzcheAs an amateur percussionist for 19 years, I can remember when I first heard a tape of Buddy Rich playing drums. It was a tape of the Buddy Rich big band recorded in the mid 70s called “Ease on Down the Road”. I was amazed at the intricate patterns he was able to play, both by his creativity and by the physical ability he had that allowed him to produce these sounds.At the time I had only been playing drums for about a year, but I sat down at my set inspired by what I had heard and tried my best to play along. As you may guess, I was unable to keep up with what he played- I sounded much more like Buddy Hackett playing drums than Buddy Rich. As a beginner I had no chance at replicating a pattern played by the world’s greatest drummer. What I took from that experience was the knowledge that if I ever hoped to play like Buddy Rich, I had better practice – a lot. So I dedicated myself to becoming a better drummer, and I practiced every day; I just about wore out that tape from listening to it over and over again, hearing something new in it each time I listened.After a few years of practice, I was able to play a few of the riffs Buddy played on that tape. It brought me incredible satisfaction to finally be able to play along with it. What enabled me to play along was my years of practice, and to me, they were worth it. That practice also brought me the opportunity to play in an honor orchestra at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, an honor band in the Rose Parade, and led me to later play drums in a bagpipe and drum band with some of the best players in the world. Not only had I achieved the goal I set, the work I put in brought other rewards; I ultimately enjoyed the side rewards far more than being able to play along with my tape.In our businesses, we sometimes see competitors who appear to be so far ahead of where we are that it can be discouraging. We are made to feel that no matter how hard we work we will never beat Wal-Mart or Amazon.com at their own game. By looking to these businesses as inspiration, rather than as behemoths who are trying to crush us, we have the opportunity to learn how we can be more like them.What makes Wal-Mart such a dominant force is not just the volume discounts they get as a huge chain, but their reputation for great customer service and friendly employees. Amazon frequently is more expensive than their rivals, but they sell more because of their extremely easy to use ordering system. As a business consultant for the Small Business Advisory Network I have learned that these elements are more important than price to the success of a small business.I’ve learned that developing a reputation as a company with excellent customer service can be much more valuable to your business than having the cheapest price for your products. I’ve learned that having an easy to use shopping system is critical to e-commerce web sites. Knowing that these are the reasons people buy from your competitors is insufficient.Just knowing that I wanted to play like Buddy Rich however, was still short of making me actually sound like him. I knew that it would take a lot of work to just play along with a tape, let alone ever create music like him. So what do we do? If knowing what we want our business to be like leaves us with lots of work to do, is it worth it? Most entrepreneurs will say that they’re too busy to practice – it’s hard enough trying to just run their business.Douglass Adams wrote, “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” This is proven true time and time again.But as W. Edwards Deming wrote, “Learning is not compulsory; neither is it survival.” We need only look to the bankruptcies of Kmart and pets.com for examples of businesses that refused to learn from their competitors. They surely knew what their competitors did better than them. They might even have wanted to do those things themselves. But they didn’t put in enough practice to make these changes.Target and Barnes and Noble, however, are two examples of thriving businesses that DID learn from their competitors. Instead of just seeing how their competitors operated and hoping they could be more like them, they actually put in the time and effort it would take to change, and are now reaping the rewards of doing so. Learning only occurs when we see what we want to become and work toward becoming it.I encourage you to figure out what your bigger competitors do better than you. Then decide how you can practice these skills to get better at them so you can use these new skills in your business. While you may never beat your competitors at their own game, you can learn some of what makes them successful. By using these skills along with the things you already do that make you unique, you provide a better overall option to prospective customers.This “Business Update” was written by SBANetwork Sales Technology Specialist Matthew Walker.

Change…. Who needs it!

Most of us would be happy campers if things would just STAY THE SAME. Sometimes it seems if we ignore a problem long enough then it will go away. Or we may look at a circumstance and say, “it’s not precisely what I’d like to see, but I guess I can live with it.” Surely this is easier than making a CHANGE. Ughhhh! Anything but change. Let’s “wait and see.”I see many entrepreneurs and small business leaders become complacent after having several successful years behind them. However, today’s economic environment, political situation and competitive landscape are shrinking profits for businesses nationwide. Dominant competitors are much more powerful, financially adept and possess more resources then ever before. Often times they can offer a similar product or service at a lower price. If we hold steadfastly to the ideals of the past and resist change, there is a good chance that our business will suffer severely.As entrepreneurs and small business professionals we can not afford to make very many mistakes. It is not enough that we recognize problems WHEN they occur. We must develop systems that help us to quickly identify signs of impending trouble. By doing do we will ultimately save our company long term problems and expenses in a relatively short period of time. We must be ahead of the curve. We must influence change BEFORE serious problems emerge. 
There are many reasons that business failures are at record levels, but I believe the primary reason is the inability or refusal to adapt to a rapidly changing economy. Studies show that more businesses fail or regress due to lack of attention to early warning signs then any other reason. The signs are almost always there. You do however, have to be willing and able to see them, accept their reality, and deal with them NOW! The major problem I see is that they are not perceived as “real” signs only short term problems that will be fine in a few weeks or months. They also may be seen as related to “uncontrollable or external factors” where nothing can be done, while the competition is being proactive to these same factors because they recognize that this is the real world and they still have to do business in it.A while back I was fortunate enough to take a cruise. Kathy and I marveled at the magnificence of the cruise ship. We decided to take the tour of the bridge of the ship and I noticed the officers hovering over some instruments and discussing something. When I asked our tour guide what they were doing he told me they were making a turn. Apparently in order to turn the massive ship they had to begin to negotiate the turn several minutes in advance. Our businesses are like that. If we decide to hire someone today, in all likelihood that person will not begin to be fully productive until two or three months. They will need to be trained, assimilate into the company culture, and become proficient. This is why knowledgeable, experienced management is so critical in small businesses today.I’m NOT talking about experience in an industry, product or trade but “decision making” experience. A demonstratable skill in making decisive, proactive business management decisions is at a premium today. Companies now run lean and mean and there tends to be a shortage of management, not an overabundance. Simply put, even if there are people on the payroll that are capable of solving the problem, they are usually bogged down daily putting out fires. They are almost always willing but due to time constraints not able. Important long-term projects always get back-burnered to current fire-fighting. This is unquestionably detrimental to the near and long term future of the company.We all have this feeling of infallibility. It can’t happen to us, maybe the competition, or all the people we read about in the papers and business journals everyday but not us. WE know what we are doing! But when we procrastinate making changes it leads to a decision delay that costs the company much more in the long-term then a positive (albeit difficult) decision would now. Often times the easy choice may not be the right one. This kind of complacency is the biggest killer.I hope this motivates you to take action by:

• Removing complacency from your decision making process.
• Becoming the catalyst for influencing change in your business.
• Developing systems that allow the warning signs to become visible.
• Getting outside, experienced management help early on.

I remember my 1966 Mustang. I sold it for $600 in 1976 before going to grad school and Im still kicking myself over that! Everyone loved Ford in those days. But its not easy to believe in Ford these days. The auto giant has lost over $15 billion, closed factories, shed tens of thousands of jobs, sold-off Jaguar, Land Rover and given-up the No. 2 position in sales to Toyota!

Their new Chief Marketing Officer, James Farley formerly with Toyota was rehearsing for his speech to dealers, stockholders and company leaders. As the lights dimmed, Mr. Farley didnt calmly announce his future plans or quote statistics. Instead, he spoke from the heart, revealing a depth of passion for Ford that turned the room dead silent. He became swept up in the emotional power of the moment. I believe, in many ways, the future of Ford is the future of our country, he said. The work here is simply more important than the work I was doing at Toyota. When he finished, the dealers rose for a standing ovation that left Mr. Farley momentarily stunned. After the applause died down, he savored the reaction. They were waiting for someone to believe in.Computers, automation and mobile connectedness has had a strange impact on people today. It has caused a desensitization of emotional response. We want to quantify and analyze everything. It is draining the passion and heart from all that we do. I would like to encourage business leaders today to let their true emotions show. Cry real tears, quake with true laughter and shake with anger if you must. Dont downplay the power of REAL EMOTION. Your team is depending on your genuine emotional display to motivate them. It is the fuel for their continued belief and a precursor to talking action!
Have a great week!