Are you one of the business owners that took advantage of CEBA? It was a total no-brainer if you needed it over COVID – the feds gave you 60K and you only have to pay back 40K.  That’s a 20K cash bonus…as long as you pay it back on time.   

And therein lies the “but” – cause D-Day is only 7 months away: December 31, 2023. 

Is anyone else feeling like their business hasn't really recovered??  I know the business associations are all pushing the Feds to delay payback another year, but I don't think they'll be successful.  This means that there are a ton of businesses out there that need to come up with 40K in the next 7 months.  

If you haven't started saving (or haven't saved much), you need to be putting about $1200 a week into your savings account in order to meet the deadline (and if you’re reading this long after I wrote it, that number is even more).   

There’s no better cure for a full-on panic attack then a good old-fashioned plan.  So today I’m providing you my 3-step formula for getting your CEBA loan paid back.  Stay tuned at the end for a zero-judgment, FREE challenge you can join to help get you there.  

OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT 

CEBA isn’t due till the end of the year, so there’s no point in giving them your money right away.  IMHO you should open a savings account and squirrel your CEBA savings there.  This way you can earn interest on your money and maybe shave off a few dollars from what you need to set aside! 

If you have an “unused” savings account already, that will work…just make sure you’re ONLY using this account for CEBA savings. 

Once it’s set up, go into your online banking and make it official by renaming the account to “CEBA Savings”. 

DO A SPENDING AUDIT 

Wonder how you’re going to get $1200 a week put into your savings account? You need to do a spending audit to truly understand where every dollar is going. I’d take 3 months’ worth of bank and credit card statements and figure out what you spent money on, and what money you brought in. 

Once you’ve put each into a category, add each up and see how things look.  What came in vs. went out? Did you have wiggle room to move $1200 each week? How much are you short?  

CUT, SELL, MOVE 

Cut: Are you short money to make your weekly transfer? Head back over to your spending audit and do a little soul-searching to make some hard decisions about what you NEED to spend money on, and what’s nice to have.  Cancel subscriptions, pull back on contractors, and make some adjustments to services. 

Sell: Did you cut what you can and still don’t see how to get $1200 each week? Time to come up with some new ways to up your sales – Subscriptions? A new wholesale account? New client? It’s time to brainstorm and put your ideas into action. 

Move: Now the most important part…every week, move that $1200 into your CEBA Savings account.  Every time. Without fail. 

FREE CEBA PAYBACK CHALLENGE 

There isn’t anything magical about this process, but it does take some serious dedication.  If you’re unsure whether you’ve got the discipline to do it on your own, then I’ve got just the thing for you. 

Starting May 1st, we’re kick-starting a FREE CEBA Payback Challenge.  Join me and fellow business owners as we support each other in reaching that 40K savings goal.  If you need an accountability partner SIGN UP NOW. 

And don’t be shy to join anytime…we’re here when you need it, so dive in whenever you can and start saving now.