• WORKING FROM HOME MAY BECOME A POSITIVE SURPRISE from a less compressed schedule, no commuting, fewer interruptions and/or less work to do; for others though, the complexity of increased workload, kids at home, and extended family issues has contributed to ‘mental load,’ stress and even periodic panic. Tips for staying healthy and productive, avoiding burnout, and optimally coping until the coronavirus crisis is passed include: (1) Planning regular work-breaks in your schedule – checking social media, responding to non-business texts, quick walks, getting fresh air, eating lunch, “whatever you need to do to process and calm your internal self, able to come back and focus on getting things done… The key for productivity is sustainability.” (2) Getting more sleep. Unless interaction with others demands early morning readiness, leave your alarm clock off and let your body wake when it’s ready. Also consider ‘cat naps’ or a ‘nappucino’ during the day – “downing caffeine and setting a timer for 25 minutes (which it typically takes to kick in), then take a quick rest to boost alertness without creating the brain fog typical after longer naps.”  [FAST COMPANY – 3/26/20]
  • FEDERAL CRISIS ASSISTANCE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE under the CARES Act: (1) the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provides loans to small businesses, self-employed, independent contractors and not-for-profit organizations to cover two months of payroll, rent, mortgage interest & utilities. These loans are partially forgivable based on levels of rehiring and maintaining salaries, with payments on the balance deferred up to a year. (2) If a PPP loan is not requested, another program provides funding for coronavirus-impacted employers whose revenue dropped by at least 50% from the prior year quarter, in the form of a credit against employment taxes equal to 50% of qualified wages up to $10K per employee. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Most paperwork is being processed through your bank.
  • START-UP BUSINESSES TAKE LOTS OF SHORTCUTS when selling product or service becomes absolute priority. Emphasis is necessarily around the key people proving concept & pricing, not about infrastructure, process, procedures, consistency, or even profits. Wisely, as business emerges, focus then turns to stability of revenue streams, cost controls, management effectiveness, employee compensation programs for recruitment/retention and so forth, attempting to transition to efficient process, effective customer service, and “balanced self-control with predictable performance, flexibility and functional systems.” As an organization further matures, priorities evolve to optimizing & stabilizing productivity and profit-ability, with financial resources & risks weighing heavily on development & marketing of new products/services, but often with internal conflict jeopardizing the Goals & Objectives of entrepreneurial founders. The principal focus of DCG is facilitation of reality-based strategic direction & operations during the maturity process, including mediation of conflicts which arise between owners, managers, workers, vendors, competitors and/or family members. Call anytime for courtesy guidance.
  • “MODERN MEDICINE IS CONSTANTLY NEEDING TO CATCH UP WITH EMERGING VIRUSES but, over time and not so far into the future, COVID-19 will be just another one of the handful of common cold coronaviruses that circulate every year, giving us a cough or sniffle, and nothing more… In the meantime, the zombie-like existence of RNS viruses makes them easy to catch and hard to kill, since outside a host, coronavirus is dormant, with none of the traditional trappings of life: metabolism, motion, ability to reproduce… But once in a human airway, it hijacks cells to replicate – 10,000 times in a matter of hours, hundreds of millions in every teaspoon of blood within a few days – which triggers an intense response from our immune system, causing fever which generates armies of germ-eating white blood cells to swarm the infected region, which is what makes a person feel sick… Then, once outside the host, coronavirus can remain on plastic and stainless steel for up to three days to infect others.”  We have no other option, while scientists work on developing antiviral vaccine, than to avoid exposure as best possible by ‘staying-at-home’ practicing optimum hygiene and trying to remain calm.  [WASHINGTON POST – 3/23/20]
  • IMPORTANT FOR CALIFORNIA ENTITIES:  (A) ONLINE SELLERS: ‘Price Gouging’ rules prohibit businesses from raising the prices of most goods after government declaration of an emergency. Increases are limited to 10% on products including gasoline, food, medical & emergency supplies and building materials, with both criminal penalties (fine up to $10K plus a year in prison) and civil penalties (up to $5K per violation), which the Attorney General will in fact prosecute. (B) NON-IN-PERSON MEETINGS: Corporate Board or Shareholder, and LLC Member meetings may be conducted by telephone, video communications or electronic transmission (fax, email, message board post) provided clarity and participation are available to members.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:   “Human mouths are a zoo, hosting an invisible party on our tongues, most of the time entertaining over 700 species of bacteria, dancing on a floor comprised of layers of protective slime.” 

      For real insight into this pandemic crisis: THE SCIENCE BEHIND CORONAVIRUS – video presented by Dr. Patrick Soon Shiong:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlRvqhGdPk