Unleashed - How To Thrive As An Independent Professional

Oscar Wimshurst discusses the content that Bench Accounting has been publishing to answer the questions their customers have been asking on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. I learned about Bench when I searched for a good summary of the Paycheck Protection Program on March 28, 2020, the morning after it was passed, and their summary ranked at the top of the first page of Google results.  They’ve had their whole content team focused on generating useful material for their customers – and potential customers – which tend to be businesses with 0-5 employees. Oscar also explains the bookkeeping services that Bench offers. Check out the latest educational material from Bench on their blog.

Today’s episode is a recording of a webinar that I facilitated on April 8, 2020, attended by 80 independent management consultants. Ryan Vaughan is a Tax Director at Mazars, a leading global accounting firm, and he answered our questions about the Paycheck Protection Program. Ryan first provides a general overview that pertains to all businesses, and then he gets into our detailed questions about how independent consultants can access the Paycheck Protection Program. Some of our key questions included: If we aren’t W2 employees of our own firms, how do we demonstrate “payroll” to ourselves How much of a loan should we be eligible for How does the loan forgiveness work The practical steps of applying for the loan Starting around the 45 minute point, we touch more briefly on the Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan. In the first part of the discussion, Ryan reviews several pages of a slide deck. We’ve posted that document on the Umbrex website, and here is the link. In this episode, Ry

You've submitted a proposal to a client and then..... silence. Here are some tips on how to follow up.  

Tips on updating your resume. I’ve looked at 5,000 resumes over the past four years – seen some good ones, and lot of resumes with room for improvement. This episode is particularly geared at independent consultants, but 90% of it is relevant to any professional. Sections covered: Formatting Contact info Summary section Experience Education Publications Public speaking Patents Volunteer activities Technical skills Certifications Media Functional skills Geographic flexibility Personal info Languages Citizenship

Nayla Bahri conducted the research for her EdD on how professionals responded to layoffs during the Great Recession. She discovered that certain behaviors helped lead professionals become resilient and emerge from the crucible even stronger. In today’s episode, Nayla shares how the lessons from her research apply to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and we discuss practical tips to do what she calls “inner work” and “outer work.” Learn more about Nayla’s work on her website: https://www.naylabahri.com/ And if you like this episode, check out my earlier discussion with Nayla on Episode 97 of Unleashed.

Note: This episode recorded April 1, 2020. The guidelines on the Paycheck Protection Program are evolving daily. For the latest news, visit: https://www.umbrex.com/resource/paycheck-protection-program-and-sba-eidl-loans/ === Dave Haase runs Peninsula Accounting, which offers bookkeeping, tax preparation, and payroll services to small businesses. Dave’s firm is working with ~100 of their clients this week to prepare applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, and in this episode we discuss that program as well as the SBA EIDL loan. Regarding the PPP we cover: The latest guidelines from the U.S. Treasury The draft application form The information you need to pull together to apply How much will your business qualify for? How does the loan forgiveness work? Can you apply for the loan through more than one bank? Regarding the SBA EIDL we cover Documents you’ll need to apply How to apply === The U.S. Treasury application form for the PPP is here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Paycheck-Protecti

Maureen Pritchard is a trust and estates attorney based in New York City. In today’s episode, Maureen discusses: What information you should gather before meeting with a trust and estates attorney What is the benefit of creating a will? What are the benefits of creating a trust? What are the considerations in designating a guardian for your children? What other documents, besides a will or trust, should be included in an estate plan? How much will it cost to have the documents prepared? Why not use LegalZoom? How to select a trust and estates attorney Maureen kindly shared several documents that can help you get started: 12 tips for guardianship Estate Planning Worksheet Will Design Sheet Contact info for Maureen is on her firm’s website: https://www.wpaslaw.com/  

Over the past couple decades since I left the Navy, people have often asked me what it was like to serve in a submarine. Well, if you are sheltering in place, here are tips to simulate submarine life at home.

Why you should use a password manager Deep dive on how to set up and use LastPass

How to receive payment from a client in another country when your invoice is denominated in your own currency and when the invoice is in a foreign currency How to send payment to a subcontractor or vendor in another country when the recipient’s account is denominated in your currency or in a foreign currency How to set up a recipient for payment – the account info you’ll need A deep dive on how to use Transferwise

When you have time between projects, here are some ideas on which skills you might want to spend time investing in. Also, some tips on resources to use. Suggestions include: Writing Slides Data science and programming Data visualization Software for creative professionals Core business skills Excel, PowerPoint, Google Suite Social media Google Search Liberal arts, science, engineering Industry-specific topics Drawing Economics Foreign language Suggested resources include LinkedIn Learning Udacity edx.org Cognitive Class Coursera Iversity Youtube    

In this episode, tips on how NOT to submit expenses to a client. And my suggestion on one right way to do it.

This episode is U.S. specific, as I discuss the Paycheck Protection Program, which is an element in the CARES Act passed by Congress yesterday.   Topics covered: Who is eligible for the loan The maximum amount you can borrow How you can get the loan forgiven. Yes, I said forgiven. The interest rate for any portion of the loan not forgiven The application deadline And whether you can double dip if you already got a Small Business Administration Economic Injurty Disaster Loan (EIDL) related to COVID-19 Useful links: The full text of the CARES Act https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hr6379ih/html/BILLS-116hr6379ih.htm Articles from bench.co that do a great job of summaring the Paycheck Protection Program as well as the full CARES Act https://bench.co/blog/tax-tips/coronavirus-relief-bill/ https://bench.co/blog/operations/paycheck-protection-program/ A press release on the PPP from the US Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/ac3081f6-

Marc Feigen is considered the leading CEO advisor in the United States; Fortune magazine called him the “CEO Whisperer.” Marc currently advises a dozen Fortune 200 CEOs, and in today’s episode he shares the questions those CEOs are facing and the steps they are taking to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. To learn more about Marc’s firm, visit: http://feigenadvisors.com/

Umbrex member C.V. Ramachandran has three decades of consulting experience, having served as a senior leader at Booz Allen Hamilton, A.T. Kearney, AlixPartners, and Accenture. Today he runs his own consulting practice focused on digital transformation. In our discussion, C.V. shares a perspective on the impact the coronavirus will have on B2C and B2B businesses. To follow up with C.V., connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cv-ramachandran/

In a matter of days, Umbrex member Kaihan Krippendorf has organized a fantastic event to support the fight against COVID-19: the 2020 Outthinker Virtual Summit. 100% of the proceeds will go to charities working on COVID-19. Kaihan has lined up 20 amazing speakers who have each agreed to donate an hour of their time to providing a perspective on the crisis and answering questions. This online event is taking place April 6 and 7, and I definitely encourage you to check out the website and consider signing up. If you attend live, you’ll be able to submit questions to the speakers. If you can’t attend every session, they’ll be available afterwards for registered attendees. Listeners of this show can use the discount code UNLEASHED30 to get a 30% discount (disclosure statement: I do not receive a referral fee.) Read more at: https://summit.outthinkerroundtables.com/ In this episode, Kaihan explains how he and his team pulled the summit together so quickly, and provides tips on how you can set up something similar

Daniel Weiner is a prominent attorney with forty years of experience serving companies in distress, guiding them through restructuring efforts. He is widely published on the subject of bankruptcy, including co-author of the Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide and  contributing author to Bankruptcy and Its Impact on LLC Membership Interests, published by The Institute of Continuing Legal Education. In today's episode, Weiner provides a broad overview of how restructuring works, and then in the second half suggests some specific steps for owners of small businesses impacted by the global pandemic. To learn more about his work, visit http://www.schaferandweiner.com/

If you are looking to stay productive while between projects, one way to use the time productively is to invest time in creating or improving the marketing collateral of your firm. In this episode, I share 14 recommendations. I mention some previous episodes of this show in my discussion, including: Episode 211: LinkedIn Profile Best Practices Episode 235: Mark Williams on creating an amazing LinkedIn profile Episode 140: Creating a project list Episode 121: Creating a portfolio of sanitized work

If you are looking to stay productive while between projects, one area to invest time is setting up technology tools for your practice. In this episode, I share 17 recommendations. I mention some previous episodes of this show in my discussion, including: Episode 172: David A Fields on setting up a CRM system Episode 236: Evernote Episode 237: MixMax Episode 73: Calendly

MixMax is a tool that plugs into Gmail or G-Suite email and provides you with email superpowers. In this episode I discuss the incredible capabilities of this tool, including sending sequences with automated follow-ups, finding out who has opened your emails and when, and scheduling emails to get sent at some future time. Sign up for MixMax at www.mixmax.com