April 9, 2020—Rick Hughlett, owner of Rick’s Automotive in Springfield, Mo., says he should have his Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan by the end of the day.
“Don’t be scared,” Hughlett advises other shop owners of taking advantage of the government assistance programs that are available in light of COVID-19. “It’s basically free money.”
Hughlett has another piece of advice. Don’t wait.
The Process
Hughlett jumped on top of this opportunity right away. As soon as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed, he reached out to his accountant. Hughlett says the process was easy and that the application from the Small Business Administration (SBA) took roughly 8 minutes. Hughlett reached out to his financial institution for the application, and they also informed him what other documentation would be needed, which will vary from bank to bank. For Hughlett, it was his 940, 941 and copy of his pay roll for the previous year.
There are a few stipulations, just as with any loan. If you have a Federal indictment for example, or you’ve defaulted on an SBA loan in the past, then you’ll run into an issue.
The Advice
“Don’t be scared of it,” Hughlett says. “It’s very easy.”
He does reiterate that the hang ups are coming from the bank, so the process was simple for him, but there are certain banks that were saying they wouldn’t even look at the applications for a few weeks, so it does depend.
That being said, reach out—now. The money is going quickly and it’s better to get the process started now.
Another reason it was so painless for Hughlett was because he keeps up-to-date financial records and has a solid relationship with his bank, two things that every shop owner should make sure to do moving forward.
Hughlett provided a copy of the application, for reference. Download here: /ext/resources/Paycheck-Protection-Program-Application-Fillable.pdf
