BJ Murphy: I call "BS"

The Coronavirus Pandemic is crippling our country. Our medical professionals are either overworked with not enough supplies or being furloughed due to a lack of work. Big businesses are qualifying for small business financial perks, while most of us grow weary of the unknown.

Last week I spoke with an administrator with the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the mixed signals (or none) within their department’s communications. After applying for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), which promised a $10,000 grant for qualifying Small Business Owners, the wait has been unnerving. There’s no dashboard to check on the status of an EIDL application, rather just a “print this page for your records” submission page.

Our country is suffering immensely. Our political leaders seem to be implementing policies with the best information at their disposal. And while much has been lost, we can only move forward understanding the new normal we’ll be faced with soon.

While there’s much to fret over, we must move forward.

Small Business Owners are natural risk-takers. It’s in our DNA. It’s what makes us tick. We’re always looking for an opportunity and put countless hours and money into seeing those dreams to fruition.

Unfortunately, the largest hidden cost to our economy, in my opinion, continues to be the lack of risk-taking by most Small Business Owners. Many have held out hope that the EIDL or Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by the federal government would stabilize this uncertainty. So far, being approved for the EIDL or PPP seems to be like winning the lottery…we know some “winners” exist, but I don’t know one and it’s not me. The system is designed for thousands to “win” but it’s not happening for the little guys.

Through 4/16 the SBA’s PPP Report announced they had processed 1.6 million loans for a total of $342 billion, bleeding the historic program dry. To put this in perspective, according to the SBA there are over 30 million small businesses in the US with 500 or fewer employees and 6 million of them have employees.

We often hear about the Consumer Confidence Index, which is down drastically, but what about the confidence of Small Business Owners? We’re often touted with support in political campaign ads and yet the federal government has overpromised and severely undelivered. Without Small Business Owners’ willingness to take risks, the costs to our economy could dwarf the EIDL and PPP investments.

I’m not one for a handout. And, I’m not a fan of whining. I’m only asking for a chance to take a breath and plow forward. There’s always a way and we’ll figure it out. I just pray a solution comes and, just as important, am putting pressure on our leadership to solve this issue until it does.

Protecting our health is important, but we risk undermining the very core of what makes us the greatest nation in the world, the country everyone else calls for in times of trouble, by promising Small Business Owners help and delivering poorly or not at all.