Weekly Small Business Roundup: EIDL Loan Approvals, Inequality in Relief Programs, Cryptocurrency
A quick recap of the most important small business news from the past week, covered on the Skip blog. There was news on the major government grant and loan programs, a scathing report on the restaurant grant program, tips on creating a budget for businesses, and an in-depth post on cryptocurrency. Let's dive in.
EIDL Loan Approvals Increase Despite Potential Internal Issues at the SBA
The latest SBA data and insight from our community shows more EIDL loan increase approval progress. In fact, we did an in-depth video on the final steps of EIDL loan approval — what a loan officer may ask you, what emails you'll get from the SBA, and what you'll need to do on your SBA portal.
Despite this mediocre progress, it's possible the SBA may be facing internal issues both in their approvals process and their communications team. This came to light after internal shuffling we found out about on their communications team, including the person leading the EIDL communications effort.
The two main reasons we bring up the potential of internal issues in the above video are: Based on our data, only around 1% of eligible businesses have received their EIDL loan increase nearly 3 months after the loan increase went into effect (methodology in video). Second, the SBA said they were working on alternatives to the 4506-T requirement over 2 weeks ago and that they were "close" to having this in place. So far there has been no announcement of changes — a change that would drastically speed up EIDL loan approvals.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund Data Shows Massive Inequality — And Disappointment — in Relief Grants
When the federal government released RRF recipient data, our data team analyzed who received the grants — and more importantly, who was left out. Three of the main takeaways from our in-depth RRF report were:
- Two-thirds of applicants did not receive any grants due to funding running out
- 5% of approved businesses received 40% of the program's funding — around $11 billion of the programs $28 billion in funding
- Nearly 3,000 business owners had their approved funding rescinded due to a lawsuit on the implementation of the program
In our RRF report, we recommended policy changes that could have allowed everyone who applied to receive critical funding to support their businesses.
Small Business and Investment Best Practices Are Still Some of the Most Important Things to Keep in Mind
While millions wait for the government programs to continue disbursements — from EIDL grants and loans to other programs — there are numerous other resources out there that can help business owners navigate the changing business climate.
We posted how to create a business budget in 8 steps — and why you should care about this now. And if the budget shows you need more capital to stabilize or grow your business, here are private lending alternatives to EIDL grants and loans.
For business owners or individuals looking to diversify investment streams, we did an in-depth post on cryptocurrency and some considerations for you to keep in mind.
Finally, for everyone who's serious about getting capital for their business — through grants, loans, and other resources — our team's posted more opportunities for Skip Plus members. You can join hundreds of thousands of others and get two weeks free right here.