EBITDAC - Reflections on 2020
This year? Well it’s been A YEAR! Whether 2020 has felt like a year or a decade to you, there’s no denying this will be a year we talk about for literally decades to come. No matter what you had planned, what you wanted to accomplish, what your goals were, we’d be willing to bet that some (or maybe all) of them were impacted in some way - for better or worse. Here’s a quick review of the themes that we saw come out of this crazy year!
PPP
PPP (Payroll Protection Program) loans gave some small businesses a little breather this year, allowing them to retain employees and weather the storm, which was critical in keeping people employed and businesses afloat. But, managing the forgiveness process and the non-deductibility of the offset expenses will definitely increase complexity for tax purposes. For now, we know: it’s a lot to take in, and we’re here to help our clients manage the process. We’d love to see more relief coming, and we’ll be sure to share any updates as they come in.
PIVOT
The pandemic has forced many of our clients (and tons of other startups and small businesses) to pivot, jumping into PPE, Tele-Health and other urgent needs brought about by a pandemic (are there any companies out there not making masks right now?). This was true to some of our own awesome clients, big shout out to those who stepped up and leaned in to provide solutions to meet the changing needs of their customers, including: Azenity, mustER, Emblem Athletic, RX Lightning.
ZOOM
It’s hardly up for dispute: the quote of the year is “You’re on mute”, and we totally agree! If you’ve been awake in 2020, chances are you’ve been on Zoom. For our team, we’ve been using this tool from the start and it’s been fun to watch the shenanigans as everyone has rapidly adapted to the video conference. We’ve seen some things we all wish we hadn’t, but it’s nice to be able to connect with folks face-to-face.
UNICORNS
It would have been hard to imagine 20 years ago that this little big city would be the Midwest startup leader, but go CBUS! There have been major accomplishments for many, and a few unicorns to boot -- Root, Olive and CoverMyMeds. 2020 has been a year for big funding rounds, and we couldn’t be prouder to be in this hub of startup potential!
All this to say, we’re calling this year the EBITDAC year: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization… oh and Coronavirus. No one planned on it, but we’ve all lived it and so hope this will be as memorable to you as it is to us.. Happy holidays from the Book+Street team - may 2021 bring us the normalcy we crave. Cheers!