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A list of business advocacy groups, government agencies, news organizations, and others offering information and sources of loans, grans, and other support.
1. The National Association for the Self-Employed has a page to help the roughly24 million sole proprietorships—of the 30 million total small businesses in the U.S.—navigate the Paycheck Protection Program and other resources.
2. The Freelancers Union has useful information on this page.
3. For the roughly 6 million small businesses with employees, there is more advice and analysis at the following pages:
- Small Business Majority, updated daily; links to live and archived webinars;
- National Small Business Association;
- Main Street Alliance;
- National Federation of Independent Business;
- National Association of Women Business Owners;
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce
4. Counseling by phone and by webinar is available from government agencies and entities that receive federal funding, including:
- Small Business Development Centers (offices across the country);
- SCORE, a nonprofit that provides training and matches volunteer mentors with expertise in different industries with business owners
5. Seasoned small business owners can be heard from on the podcast 21 Hats, hosted by former New York Times small business editor Loren Feldman. The weekly program includes a regular cast of five entrepreneurs from different industries who offer each other and their listeners a type of survival counseling. “The bottom line: We cut 40 percent of our payroll yesterday. My decision was, I would rather cut deeper, fewer times. So I’m going to do this once,” one business owner recently told Feldman.
6. The basics of the two primary federal lending programs are covered in our explainer article. For city/state grants and loans, check out this list.
7. Another rundown of emergency loans, grants, and other resources comes from Venturize, which describes itself as an “unbiased education and resources” site managed by advocacy group Small Business Majority; it includes national resources along with those from almost 20 states and the District of Columbia.
8. Beware—and avoid—fraudsters. Some criminals are hacking into email servers and sendingfake invoices that appear legitimate. One tip-off: An invoice that appears to be from a longtime client asks you to wire money to a new bank account. Call the client before sending the money. Other kinds of frauds are increasing as well, warns the FBI, which posted alerts on March 20, April 1, and April 6. The Small Business Administration is also warning about frauds involving its loan programs.
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