Wyoming Business Tips for March 23-29

A weekly look at issues facing Wyoming business owners and entrepreneurs from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming.

By Jill Kline, state director, Wyoming SBDC Network

Continuity is important for every stage of business. Wyoming now has several confirmed COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases, and things are changing quickly. The SBDC Network, as part of our emergency preparedness strategies for businesses, is ready to strategize with entrepreneurs statewide to develop individualized plans to keep their businesses running as smoothly as possible.

COVID-19 will, if it hasn’t already, affect your business in some manner -- everything from employees staying home sick, daycare accessibility, vendors unable to fill orders and/or customers’ uncertain if they should shop. Your business can prepare.

Protect Yourself and Your Employees

-- Do what you can to stay healthy. Follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations. If you’re not well, how can you run your business?

-- Work from home and allow employees to do the same, if possible.

-- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

-- Encourage sick personnel to stay home and self-quarantine as advised by their physician. 

Protect Your Customers

-- Communicate regularly with your customers. Reassure your customers that you are taking steps to protect their health, such as properly cleaning your business at regular intervals and requiring sick employees to stay home.

-- Use phone conversations and video conferencing to meet with customers.

-- Offer hand sanitizer near your business’s entrance and at cash registers.

Protect Your Business 

-- Talk to your banker as soon as possible to plan short-term financing options if you are worried about your business finances during a potential downturn.

-- Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available through the Small Business Administration (SBA) to small businesses in Wyoming that are suffering substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19.

-- Look into delivery or pickup opportunities for your customers.

-- Develop a plan for employees to continue working on other projects and business-related duties in the event that your business is closed due to the pandemic. This will reduce the risk of losing employees to other businesses as they look for work.

Wyoming SBDC Network staff is located throughout the state and are capable and able to meet with you virtually over the phone or through web conferencing to assist with your questions. We offer confidential, no-cost technical assistance to help create a strategy specific to your business needs. To contact your local adviser and to access more resources related to COVID-19, visit our website at www.wyomingsbdc.org/covid19

The Wyoming SBDC Network offers no-cost advising and technical assistance to help Wyoming entrepreneurs think about, launch, grow, reinvent or exit their business. In 2019 alone, the Wyoming SBDC Network helped Wyoming entrepreneurs start 108 new businesses; create or save 3,402 jobs; and bring a capital impact of more than $24 million to the state. The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by UW with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council and funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. SBA.

To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY 82071-3922.