CSU Bakersfield SBDCServing Inyo, Kern, and Mono Counties.
Helping Your Business Start, Grow and Succeed

Solutions for potential challenges faced by healthy and distressed businesses in a rocky economy is the topic of this week’s FREE webinar presented by the Small Business Development Center at CSU Bakersfield.   

Host and SBDC director, Kelly Bearden is joined by Ben Nicholson, president of Fortis Business Advisors, a performance optimization and asset maximization firm that assists healthy and distressed small businesses transition through change. Nicholson discusses elements of distress business owners should expect during periods of economic volatility, what can be done to prevent problems, and solutions to potential challenges businesses may already be facing.

Webinar Wednesday resident economist Mark Evans, emeritus professor from CSUB takes a look at the Federal Debt Ceiling and Budget Update. This marks the 298th episode of the weekly “Webinar Wednesday” business series that provides news and information helpful to employers and business owners.

The CSU Bakersfield SBDC provides free one-on-one consulting to help small business owners. New and existing businesses can sign up for assistance by clicking here!

TIMESTAMPS THE Bold blue links below are where Dr. Mark Evans and Ben Nicholson begin their presentations
00:00 Intro
00:29 What’s up today November 8, 2023
02:48 Kelly introduces Dr. Mark Evans, our resident Webinar Wednesday economist
03:31 Federal Deficits, Debt, Debt Ceiling
04:32 Federal Responsibility Act of 2023: Debt Ceiling & Budget Aspects
06:02 FY 2024 Budget
08:16 FRA applies only to discretionary programs
08:53 Unsustainable debt trend driven by mandated benefit programs
09:44 Paying higher interest rates on greater debt
11:10 Politics is broken
12:08 Some Bipartisan Information Resources
12:45 Kelly rejoins Dr. Evans
14:36 Key Finding 2022 Small Business Credit Survey – CA Firms Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey - Link https://fedreserveboard.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4PKWyQfbGKeIL3g?o...
17:21 EIDL – Economic Injury Disaster Loans
18:48 Applications are open for $10,000 grant for Mono County Business Owners https://tinyurl.com/MonoCountyGrant
 
19:40 Want to run a home day care business? $1,000 start-up grants
20:22 Free Human Resources Hotline for Employers
21:15 CSUB SBDC YouTube Channel
21:43 See what tools the SBDC has for your business
22:21 Kelly introduces Ben Nicholson, president of Fortis Business Advisors
25:10 Overview
26:56 What is Turnaround Management
28:53 The Three Things that Get a Small Business in Trouble
30:34 Business Operating Like a Runaway Stagecoach
30:57 Someone is Not Going to Get Paid 31:32 Distressed Business Analysis
32:30 What It Is and What It Is Not
33:20 Sales Don’t Solve All Problems
34:51 Margin Compressions
37:25 Break Even and Cost Containment
38:36 Ratios and Key Performance Indicators
40:11 Distressed Liquidity Management
41:25 The 13-Week Cash Flow Statement
45:53 Banks and Other Sources of Capital
46:04 But You Said We Were Friends
47:53 The Baddest of the Bad Actors
50:06 Case Study: Consumer Products Business
51:57 Everyone Has to Buy in to the Strategy
52:37 Who We Are and How We Help Small Businesses
53:34 Kelly rejoins Ben for discussion and Questions and Answers
English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and a Grant with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA or the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the California SBDC closest to you.