The Morning Report Weekly Wrap Up

We discuss implications of Biden vaccine/testing mandate for small business; a handful of states now require employers to disclose salaries; what happens now for small businesses that thought we'd be "past" Covid by now?

We discuss essential changes in hiring for today's workforce shortage; how to shift from commodity to value pricing; Loren discusses 21Hats pricing challenges; we highlight info in today's SBE Council podcast on self employment for wealth creation.

The recently enhanced Employee Retention Tax Credit for small biz; two interesting stories about how the Amazon platform gives birth to new startups rolling up other Amazon sellers and Amazon delivery partners; SBE Council's new tax policy survey.

How to leverage entrepreneurial employees as assets for your company; private equity experiment shows big spread on valuations; airlines still expect business travel to return this fall, but what about the Delta variant and Zoom?

We talk masks, vaccines and the Delta variant, and what small businesses can do to manage it all effectively; we also pay tribute to master pitchman/entrepreneur Ron Popeil and discuss both personal and business lessons we can learn from him.

We talk about how, deep in Missouri and Delta variant hotspot, Jack Stack and his team from SCR Holdings are using the "MiniGame" strategy from his "Great Game of Business" fame to motivate employees to get vaccinated.

We talk about Mel Gravely, CEO of TriVersity Construction, and his upcoming book for biz leaders called “Dear White Friend”; Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly once opposed remote work, now he wants to "fix" capitalism. And biz lessons from Ted Lasso.

Could there be a silver lining to the worker shortage? Why some CEOs cut their pay during the pandemic (women), as others gave themselves a raise (men). Are you ready to sell to Costco? California to help small businesses buy their own buildings.

More VC funds for Black-owned biz + we focus on Holmes Mouthwatering Applesauce; SBE Council podcast: STEP Act's impact on small biz/minority-owned biz; more startups offer alt Amazon platforms; 21 Hats Podcast: Citibin ponders new growth strategy.

Some businesses are addressing labor shortage by increasing wages (and also profits); Built In asks: Can you build an effective sales team without quotas and commissions?; SurveyMonkey changes its name, we bet on how long the new name will last.

White House memo on cybersecurity + resources for small business; find out what happened when this Texas burger chain hiked their minimum wage to $15; here's why VCs are now in love with nail salons; new SBE Council podcast went live this morning.

WEEKLY NEWS WRAP-UP: PPP chaos, and how to prepare an appeal if your forgiveness application is denied; more advice from Carey Smith (BigAssFans) on giving away equity too fast; Liz Picarazzi (Citibin) on creating your own PR coup.

Gene Marks on how to use CARES Act to pay down workers' student debt; how companies are using automation to overcome worker shortage; Ami Kassar's EIDL extension update; Carey Smith, who built & sold Big Ass Fans, on giving away equity too quickly.

Bank of America to raise minimum wage to $25 by 2025; WeWork says demand for space now exceeds pre-Covid levels; CNBC explainer on digital ad revenue; NPR talks to small biz about mask policies; 21 Hats Podcast: "We're Raising Wages for Everybody."

Commercial real estate doing much better than after Great Recession; small, independent businesses popping up in malls; great marketing lessons you can learn...from a bidet company; 21 Hats Podcast: Is it fair to say employers take all the risks?

New CDC guidance, and rethinking office plans; unemployment job search requirements being reinstated; digital ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram increasingly effective in 2020; new 21 Hats and SBE Council resources for digital marketing and growth.

WEEKLY NEWS WRAP-UP: What do new CDC guidelines mean for small biz?; Is it time to rethink what marketing is and can do?; Why Jack Stack thinks a recession is great time to grow & transform your business; SBECouncil Podcast: More on new mask rules.

We're getting back to pre-Covid normal; Yelp data shows car-free streets boosted business during Covid; Is it post-pandemic inflation?; Gene Marks predicts cause of pipeline hack; 21 Hats Podcast: Are we headed back to old normal or to new normal?

Vaccines unleash wedding boom; Gene Marks on using tax credit as hiring bonus; CPI rose faster than expected in April; Jack Stack says a recession is great opportunity to transform your business; 21 Hats Podcast: Hiring pitfalls to avoid right now.

Chipotle raising avg wage to $15; Don't let employees choose which days they work from home; Pypestream is attempting to kill the call center; mini golf from Topgolf founders raises $60M; 21 Hats Podcast: "Are you ready to go back to the office?"

Is April jobs report a blip, or something else?; Uber & Lyft now paying record wages; "Second Chance" workers getting lift from mfgrs.; Washingtonian magazine CEO doing HR damage control; SBE Council Podcast: PRO Act & independent contractor rule.

Our weekly news wrap-up: We talk supply issues from the past week and past year, including the worker shortage and remote work, what carmakers are learning from their supply chain issues, and one guy who pivoted and has had his best year ever.

Why the pandemic has been great for adult orthodontics; why gum/mint/chip sales tanked, and what they're doing about it; why you should care about the lumber shortage; if you adopt a hybrid work model, should your employees get a raise?

The PPP money is gone, applications are no longer being accepted, but SBA loans are on sale; Zoom founder says he has Zoom fatigue; New Era ADR says it has simpler, cheaper way to settle biz disputes; 21 Hats Podcast: The Basecamp saga continues...

Restaurant relief fund opened Monday, but cash is going fast; Kroger is testing drone delivery; automakers move from just-in-time manufacturing; malls try renting to public schools; 21 Hats Podcast: "Did It Have to Get Crazy at Basecamp?"

Go back to work at this office, win a Tesla; more employees demand on-demand pay; now even c-stores offer signing bonuses; how chip shortage is even hitting pet washes; 21 Hats Conversation: pro skateboarder/reality TV star/entrepreneur Rob Dyrdek.

Our weekly news wrap-up: Marty Walsh, US labor secretary, signaled major change in policy on gig workers and SBE Council's new podcast today about PRO Act; Video tours on YouTube changing how luxury homes are sold; More on the "Basecamp Bombshell."

GDP growth accelerates; Consumer goods companies passing increased expenses to consumers; Amazon raising wages for hourly workers; NYC to fully reopen July 1; Is the "Blowup at Basecamp" a PR debacle + this week's 21 Hats Podcast focused on PR.

Confidence in US economy approaches pre-pandemic level; Did the PPP program work?; Even small amounts of money can have an impact on people starting businesses; What really happened at Basecamp?; 21 Hats Podcast: We have a heated debate over PR.

SBA's $29B Restaurant Fund to open on Monday; malls are back; employers demand new hires get vaccinated; why India's Covid problem is also our problem; Basecamp's culture bombshell; 21 Hats podcast: "Why I've Had a Love-Hate Relationship With PR."

Should your employees stay home or return to work?; Amazon testing tool to let sellers reach out to customers; How much does your url or business name really matter?; SBE Council podcast: SVOG taking applications today, and today is World IP Day.

In our new weekly news wrap-up: Entrepreneurs are finding angel investors on Clubhouse; the story one of founder who was rejected by investors 97 times before getting funded; lessons to learn from Amazon as it opens a hair salon in London.

Tech startups flooded with cheap cash; car washes are hot in commercial real estate; 2020 was worst year ever for biz ransomware; Biden admin to overhaul opportunity zone tax break; 21 Hats Podcast: What if your employees reject your new client?

Amazon is opening a hair salon and Brooklyn-based Citibin saw an opportunity, and lessons to learn from both companies; Gene Marks says his smartest clients don't wait for government data; 21 Hats Podcast asks "Can you be friends with employees?"

The chip shortage will not ease any time soon; the great Covid migration seems to have been overblown; 10 best states in which to start a business; 21 Hats Conversation, today @ 3pm ET - robots, chainsaws and making your marketing more effective.

Retailers desperately prepare for “extraordinary” spending; Amazon building largest US logistics firm; a McDonald's pays $50 just to show up for interview; W. VA gives remote workers $12K to relocate; Mark Wahlberg makes HBO small biz docu-series.

In our new weekly news wrap-up: Restaurants in Philadelphia now paying signing bonuses up to $3K + $15/hour; the debate over the worker shortage, what role does unemployment play?; how the pandemic has helped Walmart.com compete against Amazon.

Today, economists expect reports of retail surge; Dollar General to hire 20,000 workers; global chip shortage will affect far more than auto production; Subway franchisee woes and from 21 Hats Podcast: Dana White decides to franchise Paralee Boyd.

Is inflation about to look worse than it really is?; HBR asks "Do you have a post-pandemic channel strategy?"; Could 'L.A. Platform' be the future of retail?; 21 Hats Podcast: Can you help Stephanie Stuckey solve her "pecan log roll" problem?

Dental office startup Tend launched 6 months before lockdown then shuttered, but has reopened and raised $200M from VCs; what you can learn from France's hottest fast-food craze, "French Tacos"; 21 Hat's Conversation with Ramon Ray today @ 3 pm ET.

What's booming right now because of Covid? How about swimming pool construction + Outdoorsy.com, aka "Airbnb for RVs"; the impact of fear of Covid on worker shortage; 21 Hat's Conversation with Ramon Ray and Loren Feldman. Tues April 13 @ 3 pm ET.

Tales of two venues (one is Disneyland) during Shuttered Venue Operators Grant meltdown; resource at SBECouncil.org to help venue operators; worker shortage continues as everyone in about every industry is trying to hire at the same time.

PPP likely to run out of money; HBR reports on powerful impact of women in C-Suite; recovery news - subprime borrowers falling behind on car payments and grim forecast for commercial real estate; 21 Hats Podcast: Managing customer expectations.

Calif. to reopen economy on June 15; hundreds of regulations eased during pandemic to be abandoned; can you ask customers to prove they're vaccinated?; fixing your bad home haircut; 21 Hats Podcast: Does raising your prices make you a jerk?

Why ketchup is latest supply-chain shortage; even with unemployment still high, small biz can't find workers; why you are about to start hearing a lot more about antitrust; 21 Hats Podcast: How do you manage customer expectations during a plague?

Strong jobs report fuels optimism; US factories are desperate for workers; thanks to pandemic, productivity drought may be ending; increasing ROI on Facebook campaigns; how some of US's largest corporations paid no federal tax last year.

Why the cost of shipping boxes is at an all-time high; new car shortage has buyers taking any car they can get; Victor Hwang on $10B from federal stimulus package for small biz; Ramon Ray becomes NetSuite's first-ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

Could this new Covid surge...have a happy ending?; Canada boosts economic recovery via immigration; Walmart third-party marketplace is growing, but faces hurdles; 21Hats Podcast: For serial entrepreneurs, a 5-point test for starting a new business.

Fintech startups ride wave of investor frenzy; Spain to test 4-day workweek; secret midday naps may cause remote workers to rebel against going back to office; 21Hats podcast: 5-point test for serial entrepreneurs-should you start another business?

Scott Galloway: "This is best time in 10 years to start a business"; cheaper rents could fuel recovery; basing some rent on sales as recovery strategy; hot new job title in tech: "Head of remote work"; advertisers are spending more on podcasts.

PPP deadline now (almost) extended, but funds may run out; unemployment claims just fell to Covid low; should you mandate vaccinations?; SBE Council podcast: Biden press conf. and your biz; the American Rescue Plan and your biz, free tax webinar.