(upbeat music) - So let's start with just your assessment of what we're facing and what we're likely, I guess, to be facing, especially from a business perspective, a small business perspective here at least in the first quarter or so of this year.

- I think one of the challenges as we begin to think about moving into the new year is we have a new administration obviously just took seat recently.

And the challenge as you think about a new administration, that means uncertainty.

And so from a business perspective, there's always been the old adage, "If the Democrats are elected, you can expect X.

If a Republican is elected, you can expect Y."

And so we think about the expecting Y now that we have a Republican administration.

Historically, they have been known to be relatively business-friendly, business-friendly, you know, cut the taxes, cut the costs out.

If you do that, that gives you the opportunity to spend more money and make more profit at the bottom line.

Not a strong guarantee that's gonna take place beginning of this particular administration.

So I think to answer your question, the expectation short-term is volatility because no one knows what the future holds.

- So the strategy then, if you're someone who owns a small business where every decision of course has tremendous potential impact on the business itself, do you hunker down for this period and just kind of protect what you have?

Or do you maybe lean into the possibility of something big happening?

I know a lot of people, for instance, who think that the stock market is gonna go pretty crazy in the first quarters of this year.

If you're a small business owner, can you afford to sort of take advantage of that and try your luck, I guess, and hope that this volatility, at least for the short-term ends up in an upswing?

- Recommendation to small businesses is to make yourself aware, pay attention, make sure you understand the policies that are be coming out of Washington DC, as well as quite frankly out of Lansing, because those have a major impact.

You think about the stock market, for example, only 50% of the American people are invested in the stock market.

And a lot of those people who are invested in the stock market are probably a little bit more well-off than those certainly considering starting a business.

Again, you and I chatted about this before, the average small business has less than $10,000 in the bank.

So can you afford to put that, for example, invest in stock markets?

What I tell businesses from a business perspective certainly is to make sure you pause, make yourself self-aware of the policies.

Every decision coming out of DC is gonna impact your bottom line.

Do not rush and certainly make any rash decisions, but be patient and hope that things fall in your place longer-term.

- What about access to capital?

Because of inflation, of course, interest rates have not been great for businesses as well as individuals, but small businesses need operating capital, they need investment capital for infrastructure and things like that.

What is the advice, I guess, for maintaining your access to that capital and making sure that that capital doesn't cost you too much?

- Access to capital is always the number one issue for small businesses, whether or not the economy is strong, whether or not the economy is not strong, access to capital always rises to the top.

My advice for small businesses is to diversify your income stream from a business perspective.

Look at all your financing options.

Historically, as you know, people have looked traditionally at banks to get a loan.

You wanna be careful with that.

I mean that's still a viable option, but don't forget to look at things or programs such as grants.

Grants, those are the types of programs where you can get access to capital or capital.

You don't have to pay the money back, but you simply have to prove what you're gonna deliver on that investment, also called a grant.

So look at your traditional financing sources, look at your non-traditional financing sources.

I still discourage people, don't use your credit cards to finance your business.

Ultimately that's gonna break your bank based on interest rates.

So be very frugal, be very methodical, very strategic, and do your research, look at both traditional and non-traditional financing for your business.