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Week 6 of Jessica’s Journal

Week 6 of Jessica’s Journal

June 5, 2020 by

Home > Zig Zags > Week 6 of Jessica’s Journal

Stockpiling Cash or Paying Back Loans Now?

If you read or listened to any of our Zig Zag podcasts, you may have heard the advice to stockpile cash. We certainly did. We made our credit lines liquid even with our approval of a PPP loan just in case we needed it and wanted to get ahead of any liquidity issues banks may face.

Amazing how quickly things change. This article from April from Harvard Business Journal predicts and gives advice to small-to-medium enterprises to search for private investment as banks start to crack down. Now it seems there’s no worry about getting credit and liquifying credit – at least not short term concerns.

We’ll be holding on to our money for now because I don’t have a crystal ball. I still worry that the shit will hit the fan in two months, three months . . . maybe never? Maybe next week? As our sales cycles continue to stay in the 60-90 day mark and we look at incoming lead trends to try to make our best guess. In April, we did only 4 initial consultations. In May, we did 10 – our normal average. If June continues at 10 or more per month, we should be fine and I can look at paying back our line of credit.

Hiring in a frenzy when you’re unsure how long it will last?

That said, we are incredibly busy right now with new work that closed in February, March, and May – many of our new clients have urgency and tight deadlines around their campaigns and projects too which is putting extra pressure on our team. In normal times, we would just hire someone and have them go through our in-office onboarding, they would get a flavor of how awesome it is to work with us. I have two concerns: 1) hiring when I’m still worried about the bottom of everything falling out from underneath us and 2) onboarding new employees in a completely remote situation which isn’t ideal for their directors or the employee.

Likely, we’ll do temporary-to-permanent hires for production staff this year to play it on the safe side. I’ll be reaching out to some agencies to help me with that process. It’s a slightly better way to handle this instead of using a contractor which we already have several we trust. They’re just busy so we need some dedicated time from someone.

The second situation for onboarding them so they can operate like a Hot Dog pack member requires us going through our onboarding checklist and figuring out ways to do all of the items remotely. We’ll probably have to get creative. I’ll let you know what we figure out.

New Ideas for Going-Back-to-the-Office:

Have you talked to your landlord about building improvements? If you’re in a managed building, you may want to see what bathroom and entryway improvements can be made to make people feel safer. We’re looking at splitting the cost of touchless faucets in the bathroom with our landlord. We’re in a 200-year-old building so nothing is really “modern” about the doors or bathrooms, but we might be able to make some simple upgrades to make everyone feel safer.

Also, I’ve been discussing protocols for sick employees. Basically, companies are likely asking employees to complete a contact-tracing survey if they are sick that asks where in the office they’ve been and who at the office (clients, visitors, and employees) they’ve had close contact to so those individuals can go home to work for the next 14 days. It’s likely that our office is small enough that a single sick person would just shut us down completely for 14 days. Again, is it worth going back to the office yet? I’m not sure.

Employee survey results seem to indicate that no one is in a hurry to come back to work because of their own concerns for health or for the concern of public safety. Most of them haven’t wandered out much even with businesses reopening including bars. We probably won’t enter a phase one of reopening the office until August.

Jessica Scanlon

I’m a mom, a small business owner, and I’m a marketing professional with over a decade helping businesses with their branding and online presence. When I’m not spending time with my family or on my business, I love cooking (and eating) and snuggling with my dogs while I binge on TV shows. My favorite authors are Malcolm Gladwell and Steve Martin. My favorite movies are L.A. Story, Little Mermaid, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Trainspotting.

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We have worked with Hot Dog Marketing on a couple different projects and are still amazed at how easy they are to work with. They expedite the... process without cheapening the product. They are affordable, efficient, and have provided us with the guidance and insight we needed for our marketing. We are very happy to be working with them!!read more
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Hot Dog Marketing recently completed the launch of my new business's website and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! They truly listened to... my vision and made it a reality. The design team was so impressive that I chose to also have them design and print my business cards and other print marketing material. My local pet care company, Delighted Paws Pet Care, now has a cohesive and professional (but still fun!) look and brand. Hot Dog was also able and willing to work within my limited budget. They were transparent from the beginning of what they could and could not accomplish within my financial means and executed very much to my satisfaction! Thank you Jessica, Melissa, Brandon, and the entire team at Hot Dog!read more
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Sadly the person that contacted me asked me first what my budget was and if it was between 3,000 to 5,000. When I said no she said I want not their... ideal client.read more
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The entire team at Hot Dog Marketing is very professional and exceptional at customer service. Its refreshing to work with a company that works hard... and clearly wants to do their best each and every time. We highly recommend Hot Dog Marketing if you want to see your company reach its next level of potential! Matt Baker, Realtor/Owner of Baker Realtyread more
Williams Innovation
Williams Innovation
23:25 29 Oct 19
Jessica and her team are AMAZING to work with. I don't know they take the jumbled up notes and conversations and build an entire design and messaging... strategy out of it. They were spot on every time they presented an idea. We will continue to work with them and urge anyone else looking for design, messaging, or marketing to USE THEM!!read more
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Our website re-brand with HDM went smoothly and successfully. They were accommodating with each of our requests, and kept us informed with regard to... completion timelines and project goals. We look forward to working with the HDM team again.read more
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An amazing team of creative professionals to collaborate with! They took the time to really understand and become part of the essence of my vision. I... love my amazing website!read more
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Hot Dog has served the Austin area small business community well! They provide amazing services to both start-ups and established companies, and I... would recommend them to anyone.read more
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Shannon Black
16:15 25 Jan 19
I am so VERY happy with the content that the team at Hot Dog Marketing creates every week for my preschool business. From what they write and... articles they choose for my ads/posts as well as the pictures of our students they choose to highlight, they are outstanding on every metric that matters. It's night and day compared to the last company I hired. They are charging me less for doing MUCH better work! Our Google ranking, which was near the bottom of the first page, is now landing on the top half. We are showing up on maps when we weren't before. I've been in business for 12 years and other businesses much younger and smaller than ours were getting better results, but no longer! At our second meeting, they even gave me suggestions for the website, which I have since implemented, like starting a blog, to help drive more traffic to it. If I have a question or don't like something (no matter how small), they are incredibly responsive. And as we grow with more locations, they will grow with me, which I can't wait to experience. I am absolutely THRILLED they are handling my account and am incredibly grateful I found them.read more
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We are extremely happy with Hot Dog and what they have been able to do for us! We went from not having any online presence at all to being found on... Google, Facebook and everywhere else we need to be and have seen an increase in call volume within the first few months. We highly recommend Hot Dog for all your digital marketing needs!!!read more
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22:56 06 Dec 17
Working with Hot Dog Marketing has been the most stress-free amazing experience ever! Jessica and her staff members, Alexa and Brandon, are very... gracious, easy to work with, and extremely responsive. They all listened to me and what I, as a small one-man business, needed from the very beginning. I love my new slink, professional looking, website.read more
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Hot Dog Marketing was professional and fun to work with from beginning to the end. They really listened to what my vision was and did a great job of... bringing it to life. I would highly recommend them for website, branding or marketing needs. If you want to work with a small business that loves what they do and does an amazing job, then Hot Dog Marketing is for you!read more
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