This is a guest post from CEED
(Member since 2007)
Thousands of people are being pulled from farms and factories as entire industries shut down.
Essential products are rationed. Massive amounts of national capital are put towards new costs and supplementary wages, all fuelled by government debt.
Economists predicted a staggering great depression after World War II turned our country upside down. And as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, similar signs of market recession are becoming apparent.
Canada’s economic response plan helped businesses and their employees stay on track, but for entrepreneurs, finances are waning, options are shifting, and uncertainties are growing day by day.
Snowballing costs and dwindling sales are inevitable outcomes in a world gripped by uncertainty and doubt. But inevitable outcomes don’t always spell certain doom.
The economic landscape in Canada is changing. Small businesses will have a vital role in establishing the new normal, and for entrepreneurs, it’s essential they be poised to prosper when that time comes.
Now more than ever, distressed business owners need access to capital.
At CEED, the Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development, we know there is no magic fix. For businesses to thrive, they first need to survive.
That’s where the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Urban Main Street Loan Initiative comes in.
The Urban Main Street Loan Initiative, or UMSLI, is about helping entrepreneurs who are still feeling the lasting effects of COVID-19.
UMSLI loans require no interest or principal payments for two years, offer up to $40,000 in assistance and can provide 25 per cent in loan forgiveness.
Organizations need to be energized. No matter how determined and hardworking an entrepreneur may be, COVID-19 has reminded us that every business needs a contingency plan.
The perils of complacency are clear in a crippled economy. And as the pandemic continues, it’s clear that the inevitable new normal is going to be different for everyone.
But the means to get there won’t be. UMSLI loans provide businesses with the financial capital required for relief, recovery and reconstruction.
These loans are tailored for the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to ensure business continuity through unsure times and calculated to help finance the everyday operations of any enterprise that offers strategic importance or community significance.
When the war ended, Canada proved the economists wrong. The country prospered.
Our national GNP doubled, we passed universal public health care, Marilyn Bell swam across Lake Ontario and the Avro Arrow took flight at 2400 kilometres per hour.
Thousands of people returned to work, thousands more started, and in the booming 1950s, Canadians staved off depression.
Entrepreneurs got back to business. They just had to weather the storm.
The world is unpredictable and business success is paved with predictability. But so is history, and throughout it, we have always come out stronger on adversity’s other side.
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