Laura Yamanaka: You Can’t Rely on Help Coming

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_Laura Yamanaka

Laura Yamanaka has been president of the National Association of Women Business Owners and has a company, Team CFO, which advises small businesses on financial matters. In the pandemic, small busineses are struggling because the world has been turned upside down. Nobody was prepared for the faucet to be turned off. Size and level of preparedness hasn’t mattered. People are concerned about their family, their employees, their business, and themselves. Each company has a different story and a different situation for survival.  Very few businesses are not doing extremely poorly. Some companies have been able to convert to remote basis. No one knows so companies can’t rely on a guru for advice. It’s the new normal. It is what it is.

As business owners, we can change on a dime and respond to the stimuli because we are used to being flexible. It will end up being an advantage. Business are no looking at cash flow; they are seeing to determine how long they can last and what their business might look like in the future.  Business models are all changing. If a significant investment of capital and time is needed, they don’t have it right now. They know they have to make changes; the question is “what.”

If they don’t know anyone who has been impacted, there is a different reaction and perspective on life.

Don’t be afraid to look at your financials. It will be the same whether you look or not.

 

About nanmckay

Nan has been President of Nan McKay and Associates, Inc. since 1980. She started Nan McKay Connects LLC in 2019 and has started 4 other businesses over the last 50 years. She has received numerous awards including the Allan Anderson Award of Merit from Minnesota National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Section 8 Administrators Award, in 2018 the National Association of Women Business Owners' (NAWBO) Signature Award for Southern California, and in 2019 she was selected by NAWBO as the California Woman Business Owner of the Year. She was co-founder of Minnesota Women in Housing and has served on the Board of Directors for the National Leased Housing Association for many years. She has two buildings named after her in Minnesota, a 10-story elderly high-rise, the Nan McKay Building, and a family subsidized development, McKay Manor. Nan now hosts four podcast shows featuring stories of women empowerment, oral history makers of affordable housing and community development, and stories of ordinary people coping with COVID-19 pandemic.
www.trailblazersimpact.com; nan@nanmckayconnects.com