 Hey everyone, I'm Scott Shigeyoka. I'm GoDaddy's entrepreneur in residence and I'm here at home, sheltering in place. And earlier this week, I got to talk to a round table of experts from Washington DC who shared a bit about the updates to the PPP. Today I'm going to talk to small business owners who have actually been impacted on the ground. So there's one small business donor who has successfully applied and is waiting to hear back. There's one entrepreneur who decided not to apply and then there's another small business that applied and actually got funding. So we're gonna talk a little bit about their experiences, what they've learned and if they have any advice for other entrepreneurs out there. I'm speaking with Yolanda who runs a farm to skin spa in Atlanta, Georgia called Iwi Fresh and she applied for the PPP and is waiting to hear back and she's gonna talk a little bit about her experience. Hey Yolanda, really excited to chat with you. I'm wondering with COVID-19 going on and some of the relief efforts that are happening. Have you heard of and applied to the PPP and how did that experience go, if so? Yeah, so we was very excited to hear about the PPP. I'm with a large bank Bank of America and I think they were the first one that sent it to me. So we got it, it was just one form. We filled it out, we sent it in and we thought, oh, that was simple. Then we realized that it was a little bit more in-depth and it was a lot of more paperwork so we had to get our accountant involved and my accountant had to take over and help us fill out all the paperwork, get it all in and we were submitted. Then we heard on the news that they ran out of money. We've been out since March 19th, you know? So we've already hit our month mark April 19th. So now we're going into May, you know? And so, and there's no money that has been circulated at all, you know, to us. Is your team still on payroll right now? A local company gave us a very small amount of money so we was able to get that just enough for me to pay my payroll, to pay my staff, give them something and do a little bit of inventory. I still owe my staff another pay period but I don't have the funding for that yet. Is there maybe something else about, you know, there's still opportunities out there even in the midst of this COVID-19? There's a lot of opportunity. I mean, what I've learned through this is that I really need to put more energy in my online sales, my online products. Even when the doors open, I gotta have that. I can't just have put all my money into the brick and mortar. I can't put all my energy in there. I have to really push it. So I'm gonna be pushing my online sales and my digital presence as though COVID is coming back. Do you have any advice for any other small businesses who might be going through some of the same experiences you're going through with BPP? Apply, because you never know. You gotta apply. We don't have nothing to lose, you got nothing to lose. So you might as well reapply and just, you know, and just sprinkle some love around it, some good vibrations around it and pray and hope you get some money. Thanks Yolanda, it was really great talking to you and I hope you stay safe and well. All right, bye bye. So next I'm talking to Lizzie who runs a rock climbing business out in Bend, Oregon called She Moves Mountains. And she ultimately decided not to apply for a PPP loan because it didn't feel like a good fit for her. Hey Lizzie, nice to meet you. I'm a fellow rock climber and I'm curious to start with, you know, how has COVID-19 impacted your business and so much of it occurs outside and in person? We're a seasonal business and so our season runs from the last weekend of March until the last weekend of September. And right now the parks around us are closed indefinitely and the parks in Washington are closed until September 30th for the national parks we operate in. And so at this point in time, it has put a full stop to everything that we know. I'm curious, were you aware about the PPP and are you or have you applied? And if so, why or why not? I am aware of the PPP, but when I looked into it, it didn't make sense for us at all. Basically all of our guides are independent contractors because of the nature of our work and some of them will only work about four days a month. So they're not technically on payroll even though I decided to pay them for every single day of work through the month of April. Their full wage, it still doesn't qualify me and then we don't have like physical address. So in terms of like paying mortgage, our gear storage is all at my house. And so the stipulations that were attached to the PPP didn't make any sense for us. When you realize that you weren't eligible, like what was going through your mind and how does that affect your business? You know, just trying to stay open and support your wonderful guides and employees. As the CARES Act has rolled out, I've realized that I'm just as on my own as I was before any of it came out. So it's a little disheartening. I guess like my feelings were feelings of stress and helplessness for the most part for a couple of days. And then I've had to switch that into being resilient and creative. I'm curious, like where are you finding, you know, hope or support or community? At first I felt incredibly alone that all of the decisions were mine to make, that all of the people that work for me are mine to support. And I am somebody who moves the world, throughout the world with a lot of transparency. And so I just shared what I'm up against to the people who follow us and follow me personally through our social media channels. And we began selling hats with optional donations and gift cards and also offering our clients refunds or credits. The amount of donations that we have received covered the payments that I made to my guides. And so it made it no longer feel like the burden is mine, but it's ours. And that if I ask my community for anything, if I just let them know what I need, that they're gonna be here. There's likely a lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs who don't qualify for the PPP or don't see the PPP as the right fit for them. So what's the advice you would give to them? Stay resilient, be creative and humble yourself enough to ask for help. I think people are so understanding right now of the situations that we're facing, but people can't help if they don't know you need it. Thanks so much for providing your voice. I'm just so thankful for the time and just giving you lots of light on this continued journey that you're on. Thank you. I'm gonna talk to Kevin, who's the co-owner of Freeds and Scoop in Astoria, Oregon. It's a fries and ice cream shop and they applied for the PPP and received funding. So he'll talk more about how that experience went for him. Hey, Kevin, thanks so much for joining me. I was wondering if we could start off by talking about how the application process went for you? The application process is very simple. So it probably took me 15 minutes to fill out the majority of the paperwork. I think we're gonna have to two weeks later, at most, we had heard back from our banker saying that we were approved and seven days later, we had signed the paperwork and the day after that, it was funded. Ah, that's awesome, congratulations. I'm super happy to hear that. Thanks. How did you feel when you learned you got the loan and how did you find out? Did your bank call you? It was a Sunday morning and I got a call, a text message from our local banker and he just said, you've been approved for the PPP loan for X amount of dollars. It gave me the feeling of I stopped the temporary bleeding for now and we'll see what we can do with this money as we go forward. What are some of the concerns you have about this loan? It's a very short-term help and it's an appreciated help, but it's very short-term and I think for most people in very small businesses like ours, it's a band-aid at best. If we're gonna take on a loan, it has to be forgiven because I guess one of the other problems is that let's say for some reason, I mess up somehow and I don't get all of this turned into a grant. Well, then I have to pay that back. They say it's a very generous 1% interest, sure, but it has to be paid back in two years. Do you have any advice for small business owners who might wanna apply for this loan? My only advice is in a general sense, apply for everything. If you can get this loan, at least get in the system and try to get the loan, I would say go for it. You can always worry about the details later. I haven't spent a cent of the loan yet because I'm still being very cautious, but I feel better about having the loan in my bank account now than worrying whether or not I'm going to get it later. It's stressful no matter what, but it's slightly less stressful to have the money than not. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and for your time today. So I hope this content and this conversation has been really helpful for you. It's really important for us to stay connected and to stay in community as small business owners. With the PPP constantly evolving, we also need to stay up to date and informed. So if you go to openwestand.org, we're including some resources and some links for you to support you on that journey. And if you have questions, you can leave those in the comments below and you can subscribe to this video channel as well to stay up to date. And know that you're not alone, that we're all in this together. And I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining me.