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A diverse workforce speaks volumes about your company’s values and your desire to create an inclusive workforce. Recruiting people of color (POC) is one way to show that your organization is committed to embracing the best talent from multiple ethnicities.

So how can companies recruit diverse employees in general—and POC in particular? Below, we offer 7 helpful tips to get you started.

1. Recognize the benefits of diversity.

Some companies may decide to recruit POC because they feel pressure to be politically correct. However, it’s also advantageous to your company. Research reveals that diverse companies are more creative and profitable than homogenous organizations. In fact, a study by McKinsey found a direct connection between racial and ethnic diversity among senior leaders and financial performance in the US. 

“Recognizing that having a diverse team of different genders, races, ages, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and education is a massive advantage is the first step of integrating diversity into a business structure,” says Ashwin Sokke, cofounder of WOW Skin Science, a vegan beauty brand. 

2. Actively seek diversity.

If your standard recruitment efforts aren’t producing POC applicants, you may be fishing in the wrong pond. Expanding your efforts to such sources as historically black colleges (HBCUs) can provide a plethora of candidates. Another tip is to reconsider what you’re looking for in job applicants. “It is extremely important that each new employee matches the company’s core values but also offers a completely new set of unique skills, perspectives, and experiences,” Sokke says. 

“The beginning stages of developing a system of hiring that is heavily focused on diversity and inclusivity is the most challenging part of the process,” he says. Blind-hire practices, which include removing identifying characteristics from the job application (race, age, gender, etc.), can ensure that unconscious biases do not play a role in hiring decisions.

3. Promote POC

Another way to recruit POC is to show them that your company will reward their hard work. “The most effective way to attract and recruit more people of color is to have people of color in leadership positions at your company,” advises Nerissa Zhang, CEO of The Bright App. She points to 3 reasons why she says it’s the most important factor if you’re trying to diversify your company. 

“It shows prospective POC talent that they’re less likely to face bias during the hiring process and afterward,” Zhang says. “Also, it shows them that they are more likely to truly have the opportunity for advancement at your company.” In addition, Zhang says promoting POC shows applicants that they’ll have a greater chance of finding mentors for professional development.  

Her views are shared by Dr. Ti’eshia Moore, a CliftonStrengths coach and researcher who focuses on organizational learning and culture. “Specifically, top-tier applicants are looking to see if diversity is a true organizational commitment or simply an organizational statement,” she says. “They are interested in things such as the presence of key leaders and decision-makers of color and opportunities for advancement and mentorship.”  

4. Include POC in recruitment efforts.

In any scenario, nothing beats a real-world example, and this is also true when recruiting POC. “One of the critical ways that companies can recruit people of color is by utilizing people of color from the team in the recruiting efforts,” says Moore. 

“Now, more than ever, they are looking for real feedback and experiences from members of the actual team,” she says. “If you want to recruit people of color, show them that the environment is making an intentional effort to foster or increase the quantity and quality of applicants of color.” 

5. Create a culture that embraces diversity.

One way to show applicants that you’re making an intentional effort is by creating the right type of company culture that supports POC employees. “Applicants of colors are used to working in environments where they are the minority, but now more than ever, a diverse workforce is a key factor in employee satisfaction,” Moore explains. “This is important as we investigate the difference between recruitment and retention.”

In addition to diverse work teams and leadership, Moore says POC are also looking for action-oriented organizational commitments to diversity. “And while organizations may still be recruiting people of color, future statistics may reveal a higher turnover when a company’s culture doesn’t match its rhetoric.” 

6. Provide diversity training.

Creating the right type of environment may require diversity training for your employees. “Moving from the design stages to implementation can cause resistance within the organization,” Sokke says. “Offering diversity training that demonstrates to employees how to adopt diversity through inclusion efforts and team exercises is crucial to developing a culture of diversity.”

7. Make your intentions known.

The last tip for recruiting people of color is to make sure that everyone knows this is one of your priorities. “Promoting the implemented culture of diversity initiatives on social media, career pages, and print content will attract those diverse candidates,” Sokke says.

Let’s not beat around the bush. Today’s small business environment makes it incredibly difficult for female entrepreneurs to build successful startups. No matter how much talent or hustle they have, the game is stacked against them. Already, 90% of startups fail, and you can imagine that percentage is even higher for female-founded businesses struggling to find venture capitalist funding and small business loans.

The struggle is real. And it’s also unjustified, especially considering women-led businesses have greater profit potential than businesses with mostly men in the driver’s seat. Because of this, we want to give every woman entrepreneur the resources she needs to level the playing field.

Unfortunately, women-only business loans don’t exist. However, a few lenders and loan programs prioritize supporting female small business owners. On top of that, women-only mentorship programs, business grants, and other resources are available to give women the support they need to build successful companies.

To help female small business owners reach the top of their game, we’ve compiled the best-of-the-best resources available.

Accelerators for female founders.

Accelerators offer startups invaluable mentorship, networks, seed money, and more, but they’re notoriously difficult for female founders to join. That’s where women-only accelerators can help.

Female Founders Alliance (FFA), a relatively new network of female startup founders, has built a free five-week accelerator for women, by women. This program goes beyond finding female entrepreneurs—it also caters to their specific needs. Many competitive accelerators require founders to relocate for three to six months, a feat often impossible for women, who are more often caregivers. FFA’s Ready, Set, Raise, program consists of remote workshops followed by a one-week immersion in Seattle, designed intentionally so women don’t have to uproot their families.

FFA is not the only one giving women a chance to start businesses. There are a number of other women-only accelerators to consider:

• SheStarts offers a three-month program in Australia for women in tech industries.
• MergeLane helps startups with at least one female founder connect with mentors and investors.
• Women Founder Network hosts an annual six-week accelerator in California.
• Women’s Startup Lab offers a nine-week program in the Silicon Valley area.
• Women’s Venture Capital Fund provides a six-month accelerator for women-led businesses.
• Aviatra Accelerators (formerly Bad Girl Ventures, Inc.) trains and mentors female entrepreneurs in Ohio.

These are just a few examples of the many accelerators available specifically for female entrepreneurs. It's important to do research and find the one that best fits your business.

And women-only accelerators aren’t your only option. A few of the most successful seed-stage investors happen to be accelerators who have a proven track record of supporting women-led businesses. The following are leading the pack:

• Y-Combinator
• SOSV
• Innovation Works
• HAX
• 500 Startups

Mentorship programs for women founders.

Mentorship can be a game-changer for entrepreneurs, especially for women who may not have as many role models or connections in their industry. Luckily, there are numerous mentorship programs and networks specifically designed to support and connect female founders.

• SCORE provides free business mentoring services to all entrepreneurs, but also has a dedicated Women’s Entrepreneurship Program with specialized resources for women.
• Springboard Enterprises offers a variety of programs and events for women-led businesses, including mentorship networks.
• Astia provides mentoring and access to investors for female entrepreneurs in high-growth industries.

• The Boss Network offers online resources and networking opportunities for professional women of color.
• EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women provides education, resources, and networking opportunities for high-potential women entrepreneurs.
• The Next Women hosts events and offers mentorship and resources for female entrepreneurs in Europe.

• The Vinetta Project supports women-led businesses through mentorship, pitch competitions, and funding opportunities.
• WBENC certifies women-owned businesses and provides resources and networking opportunities.

Venture capital for women-owned businesses.

It takes money to start a business, and it unfortunately often takes more effort for women to secure that money. If you look at the $130 billion paid out in venture capital in 2018, businesses owned by women only accessed 2.2% of the pie.

Despite the bad press and dismal statistics, there are VCs committed to supporting women on the road to success.

Here are some notable examples:

• Fika Ventures: Eva Ho and TX Zhuo lead this California-based seed fund. If your business involves automation, data, or AI technology, they’ll be particularly interested in chatting with you.
• Urban Innovation Fund: As the name implies, this firm offers seed capital to entrepreneurs who will improve cities with their ideas. Sector examples include housing, education, transportation, and recreation.
• SoGal Ventures: Led by Elizabeth Galbut and Pocket Sun, SoGal Ventures has an international presence and often invests in innovative technologies that solve problems.
• 500 Startups: If your business is in the retail, fashion, or beauty industries, you should consider 500 Startups. This global VC firm is dedicated to investing in businesses led by women and other historically marginalized individuals.
• Glasswing Ventures: Aside from having an absolutely gorgeous name, Rudina Seseri’s firm is always on the lookout for startups with great AI solutions.
• Halogen Ventures: This early-stage VC fund invests in consumer technologies that push the limits of what’s possible. They’re known for giving ample support and development resources to the businesses they fund.

Small business loans and grants for women.

Securing a small business loan or grant can be a game-changer for women entrepreneurs, providing vital funding to help their businesses grow and thrive. This section will explore some of the loan programs and grants available to women.

SBA loans.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several types of loans designed to assist businesses with various needs. SBA loans are provided by lenders like banks and credit unions, and they are guaranteed by the SBA. This means if a business defaults on the loan, the SBA will cover the majority of the lender's loss. SBA loans are available for most business purposes, such as to purchase equipment, inventory, or real estate, to acquire a business, or to provide working capital. These loans are known for their lower down payments, flexible overhead requirements, and no collateral needed for some loans.

Business line of credit.

A business line of credit is one of the most flexible forms of financing. With this type of financing, you have access to a certain amount of money (the credit limit) that you can draw from as needed. You only pay interest on the funds you use, and once you repay the funds, they become available again. This is great when you need cash for emergencies or unexpected expenses.

Small business grants for femal entrepreneurs.

Small business grants can be an even better resource for women business owners. Essentially, a grant is free money that you don’t pay back, ever (unlike a small business loan or credit card). So, you’d guess these grants would be extremely competitive—and you’d be right! But each small business grant is unique and has its own set of requirements, so you never know when you’ll be the most qualified candidate.

Although there are a ton of available grants, a few focus specifically on women. These grants are definitely worth looking into:

• Amber Grant awards $4,000 each month to a woman-owned business
• The Cartier Women’s Initiative awards grants and coaching for women-led businesses in their early stages
• IdeaCafe Grant has a $1,000 grant for startups and young businesses
• GrantsforWomen.org provides a comprehensive list of grants available to women entrepreneurs.

• FedEx Small Business Grant awards grants and other resources to small businesses with a compelling story and potential for growth.
• The Halstead Grant offers a $7,500 grant and other opportunities to jewelry designers.

Educational programs for women.

Knowledge is power, and there are plenty of programs educating women to become the most powerful entrepreneurs in the world. These are just a couple of the incredible resources available for female entrepreneurs.

Women’s Business Centers

Beyond loans, the SBA has a few different programs to help female small business owners learn to run a business, secure financing, and create valuable networks. The SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) manages a network of Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) across the entire U.S. There are more than 100 of these centers giving women entrepreneurs a fighting chance by providing management training, technical assistance, certification courses, consulting, and much more.

NAWBO Institute

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the unified voice of more than 10 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. With the NAWBO Institute, women get access to online virtual courses to learn best practices, network, and ultimately get ahead of the curve. The best part is that you can learn at your own pace and focus your attention on growing your business while studying on the side.

Despite the vast challenges female entrepreneurs face, the rate of women-owned startups has been growing close to double that of their male counterparts in recent years. Although these incredible resources don’t completely erase core obstacles, they take a big step in alleviating the hurdles female small business owners face along their entrepreneurial journeys.

Why would anyone want to lock their small business down into a business structure? Just the term “structure” might be enough to give some entrepreneurs the heebie-jeebies. After all, modern folks value flexibility. It’s why so many of us own personal vehicles instead of relying on public transportation, why we prefer to book hotel rooms with free cancellations, and why we don’t purchase lifetime subscriptions to streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. We enjoy the freedom afforded by a variety of choices and want to be able to reverse course on decisions whenever the need arises.

This love for flexibility extends to our professional lives. While workers in prior generations often chose a career and stuck with the same company for decades before ultimately claiming their pensions, many Americans now experiment with various options and avoid being tied down to 1 company. This approach often means freelancing for your entire career or taking a meandering journey through the entrepreneurial jungle.

The benefits of a malleable career include fewer constraints on your creativity, pursuits, and accomplishments. If you can dream it, you very well might be able to do it.

“In my case, when I worked as a writer in my full-time job, I was only writing about my beat—articles and features,” explains entrepreneurial guru Mukti Masih. “When I started freelancing, I learned blogging, which was quite different from in-depth articles that I was used to. Thereafter, I co-founded a video production company with my brother so I got the exposure to script and screenplay writing. I have also written scripts for audiobooks, website content, copies for ad films and TVCs, product descriptions for e-commerce websites, white papers, and e-books. I am quite sure, a few jobs down the line wouldn’t give me the freedom to write all these kinds of things.”

At the same time, there’s something to be said for structure in the business world. And there are compelling reasons to set your small business up as an entity. Here are some benefits to consider:

• Tax savings
• Growth opportunities
• Financing qualifications
• Personal liability protection

It’s also worth noting that when you set up your business as an entity, you don’t completely surrender your flexibility card—you may actually have the opportunity to change structures if necessary.

Setting the stage for your business structure decision.

Some business decisions bring limited consequences. For example, let’s say you decide to put most of your marketing budget toward a Facebook campaign. After running your ads on Facebook for a few weeks, you might decide that you’d get a better response on Instagram. No big deal: you simply discontinue the Facebook campaign and then start advertising on Instagram. The cost is minimal, and there are no long-term complications.

It’s a different story when it comes to your business structure, however. While there might be the possibility of switching your structure down the road, you certainly won’t be able to hop from one to another like you would in the social media advertising example given above.

“Of all the decisions you make when starting a business, probably the most important one relating to taxes is the type of legal structure you select for your company,” explains a business report from Entrepreneur. “Not only will this decision have an impact on how much you pay in taxes, but it will affect the amount of paperwork your business is required to do, the personal liability you face, and your ability to raise money.”

You might be wondering which structure is ideal for small business owners—and there’s no boilerplate answer. Your best match will depend on a wide range of factors, including your business model, your industry, your growth goals, and your patience for procedural red tape.

These details, and many more, are best distilled through a business plan. This document outlines why you’ve started your business, how you’ll structure it, how you’ll run it, and where you want it to go.

If you’ve already assembled these details, putting a business plan together is merely a process of assembling your research and goals into a centralized place. For those who have yet to begin, you’ll want to start with some crucial questions. Here are some examples:

• What do I want to accomplish with my business?
• What problems does my business solve for customers?
• What is my mission statement?
• What are the financial projections?
• What are the financial needs?
• What makes my business different from the competition?
• What did my competitor analysis reveal?
• What did my industry analysis reveal?
• What did my marketing analysis reveal?

Each question you answer will provide the information needed to build your plan. The process takes time, so don’t expect to cobble together a plan over a single weekend. As you can see from the questions above, conducting the competitor analysis and other research required could easily take several weeks. Put the time in so that you can get the best results out.

“Research and analyze your product, your market, and your objective expertise,” explains the Houston Chronicle. “Consider spending twice as much time researching, evaluating, and thinking as you spend actually writing the business plan. To write the perfect plan, you must know your company, your product, your competition, and the market intimately.”

Completing your business plan is a major accomplishment. It will guide all your subsequent business decisions, such as how to structure your business. Additionally, it’ll serve as a representation of your vision and abilities as you seek financing (more on this later).

Choosing the best structure for you.

Armed with the information from your business plan, you can choose a structure that aligns with your goals and maximizes your financial strategies. The 6 main options chosen by small business owners are general partnership, limited partnership, sole proprietorship, corporation, S corporation, or a limited liability company (LLC). Each has unique strengths and limitations, so let’s take a look at the highlights:

1. Partnership

Also known as a general partnership, this structure is a great option if you’re going to share ownership with other individuals. Each of the partners in these entities has an equal stake, helping to run the operations and sharing the burden of financial liability. If problems arise and the business incurs debts and losses, the partners would all be on the hook from a personal perspective. This means that assets such as homes, vehicles, real estate, and inventory could be in jeopardy.

One of the biggest reasons small business owners choose partnerships: it simplifies your tax situation and can save you money. With this structure, you can take advantage of “pass-through” laws that mean your business doesn’t have to pay taxes on profits and losses. Instead, those profits and losses pass through to the personal taxes of each partner.

Another benefit: partnerships are simple to form, and there aren’t too many costs associated with the process.

2. Limited partnership

This structure shares a lot of common DNA with partnerships, as they’re both fairly easy to set up and the costs are modest. Additionally, limited partnerships also qualify for “pass-through” laws, making tax season more enjoyable—you can simply account for your business’s profits and losses on your personal taxes and potentially save a lot of money in the process.

The chief difference is that limited partnerships allow for a hierarchy among the partners. Rather than everyone sharing in the profits, having a voice in decisions, and sharing liability for losses, some of the partners can serve in an investor role, where they don’t take on personal liability for the business.

The clear advantage here: partners can take on a role that aligns with their priorities, whether that’s a full-fledged seat at the table that brings higher risks and rewards or a safer position that comes from the “limited” role.

3. Sole proprietorship

For those who like independence and flexibility, a sole proprietorship is the next best thing to freelancing. This type of entity is convenient to set up and is one of the most inexpensive options available—no wonder it’s the most popular business entity in America.

As the name implies, sole proprietorships are intended for business with 1 owner. If you have partners involved, you’ll have plenty of other viable options, such as a partnership, limited partnership, corporation, S corporation, or limited liability company (LLC). Given the independent nature of a sole proprietorship, there are no business agreements to wrangle or outside approvals to seek.

The risks and rewards of a sole proprietorship are high-stakes. All profits come directly to you, but if things go south for your business, you alone will be liable for debts and losses. Personal assets could be at stake in these situations, including if you’re sued.

The tax arrangement for sole proprietorships is similar to partnerships, as the profits and losses pass through to your personal taxes. In the eyes of the government, you and your business are a single entity. The good news: sole proprietorships have low tax rates.

4. Corporation

While sole proprietorships create a structure where you and your business are a single entity, corporations essentially put a rock wall between you. This legal separation offers liability protection if your business struggles, preserving personal assets. Your house, ranch, Winnebago, or boat will be safe from anyone seeking compensation.

Of course, it takes a lot more effort and paperwork to create a separate entity. Corporations can be complex, and the setup costs are substantially higher than many of the other options on this list.

Another potential drawback of corporations: you might be required to pay business taxes twice (as if tax season wasn’t already difficult enough). The first payment would be state and federal corporate income tax. If any business earnings were given to shareholders in the form of dividends, you would then need to pay personal taxes for those payments.

5. S corporation

Perhaps you find the sophisticated nature of corporations intimidating. Much like how limited partnerships are a more user-friendly version of partnerships, there’s an option called an S corporation that provides more flexibility than a corporation.

S corporations offer a similar degree of personal liability protection, which is obviously a major benefit. If your business incurs debts or losses, you’ll be considered a separate entity and won’t need to worry about anyone coming after your personal assets.

Where S corporations differ: you can add more shareholders than in a corporation. This makes it easier to attract investors. Also, you won’t need to deal with the same complications when tax season rolls around. Your business’s profits and losses will pass through to your personal tax return, which is always the easiest method.

While S corporations are more streamlined than corporations in many ways, they still bring their fair share of challenges. You will be required to hold meetings for your directors and shareholders and keep detailed minutes from each of these meetings. Your shareholders must also be allowed to vote on key business decisions.

6. Limited liability company (LLC).

While sole proprietorships are the most popular business structure in America, LLCs might be the most beloved. This structure merges some of the best perks from corporations and partnerships into 1 entrepreneur-focused entity.

An LLC advertises its liability protection right in the name. This is a big deal for small business owners who have no interest in a structure that doesn’t shield them on a personal level from business debts and losses.

Another big benefit of LLCs: your business earnings and losses are handled on your personal tax returns. This pass-through arrangement is simple to handle, but it also means that you will owe self-employment tax. Be sure to plan on self-employment tax as the year progresses, so that you won’t be caught by surprise when you receive your tax bill.

You can have an unlimited number of shareholders in an LLC. And unlike a corporation or S corporation, you won’t need to deal with all the red tape associated with shareholder meetings and distributing meeting minutes.

As you can see, there are plenty of nuances to consider with each of these business structures. Your unique situation might immediately rule out some of the options, but you should consult with a tax professional to identify the structure that will best serve your needs and set you up for future success.

This is also a prime time to meet with your mentor and get an insider’s take on the situation. An experienced mentor can alert you to red flags and offer tips for streamlining the setup process.

Business structures and financing.

As mentioned earlier, a substantial benefit of structuring your business is that you can boost your credibility and qualify for financing. Considering the fact that financing is an essential source of capital for most of America’s small businesses, this element of the decision shouldn’t be ignored.

Your business’s financial needs will vary wildly based on your industry. If you have a consulting business, you might be able to operate out of your home and only have moderate costs associated with your operations. On the other end of the spectrum, you might have a restaurant or construction business that would typically require a business location, utilities, equipment, supplies, insurance, licenses, permits, and other various expenses.

Based on the intel in your business plan, you can home in on the amount of money your business needs and the timeline to acquire it. You can then work with your mentor to identify the best financing option for your needs. Popular examples include: 

1. SBA loans
2. Business term loans
3. Short term loans
4. Business lines of credit
5. Merchant cash advances
6. Commercial mortgages
7. Accounts receivable financing
8. Business credit cards

You should also research other sources of capital. Many entrepreneurs prefer microloans because they’re easier to acquire, though the dollar amounts are typically much smaller. Some of the most reliable microloan providers are Kiva, Opportunity Fund, and Accion.

Another possible option is a business grant. This is one of the most challenging of all funding sources to qualify for, but the fact that the money is free certainly helps to justify the effort required to pursue them. Look for federal grant opportunities at Grants.gov, then check out some private sector options from the Halstead Grant, Amber Grant, Idea Café Grant, and National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE).

Whether you’re applying for a business term loan or scoring a grant from the federal government, your business structure will be an important part of your resume. The fact that you’ve set up your business as an entity shows how serious you are about its performance. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an LLC or S corporation or sole proprietorship—the point is that you’ve followed the necessary steps to legitimize your business in the eyes of the government and/or private lenders. And that seal of approval can really boost your odds of getting approved for financing and ultimately reaching the goals you outlined in your business plan.

The sprawling and tech-fueled California economy performed a grand experiment with its freelance and gig workforce in 2020—but now they’re overhauling that experiment in a big do-over. 

The state enacted the landmark independent contractor law AB 5 on January 1 this year, requiring that many companies hire freelancers and independent contractors as employees with benefits. But freelancers trying to work under AB 5 found that the well-intended law created unexpected nightmares for millions of self-employed Californians it was intended to protect, with many freelancers being laid off.

A new “clean up” bill (AB 2257) removes many of those limitations and exempts several industries from freelance employment requirements, as the San Francisco Chronicle explains. Certain industries are no longer required to give full-time benefits to independent contractors, and there are now carve-outs for specialized lines of work, including translators, florists, event planners, and other independent contractors whose bread-and-butter is one-time or occasional jobs. 

Notably, writers and photographers were only allowed to submit 35 or fewer pieces to one publication per year under AB 5. That limit caused many of them to lose significant income, but they’re now exempt under this new bill.

The original AB 5 law was intended to force companies like Uber and Lyft to offer their gig workers employment benefits. That requirement of them is technically still in place, but California is suing those companies to get them to comply. Meanwhile, the tech companies are pushing a November ballot measure to get themselves exempted from this employment law too. (DoorDash, Lyft, and Uber have poured nearly $200 million into that campaign, making it the most expensive ballot measure in California history.)

The full text of AB 2257 describes which industries are exempt from the employment benefits requirement, but it’s not the easiest bill to understand. It’s based on a 2018 California Supreme Court case that determined one can only be classified as an independent contractor if they meet 3 specific criteria.

How California Defines ‘Independent Contractor’

That 2018 decision is the backbone of both AB 5 and the new AB 2257, and it says that one cannot be an independent contractor unless each of these 3 benchmarks applies to the work they do for a certain company:

1. The worker is free from the hiring company’s control and can work when or where they choose 
2. The work they perform is not the hiring company’s main area of business 
3. The worker conducts their own independent business and is free to do the same work for other companies

But AB 5 still mandated paid sick leave, workers’ comp, and unemployment insurance that many companies found impractical to provide to occasional freelancers. Thanks to AB 2257, freelancers in the following fields no longer have the burden of those requirements—but a few of these industries have exceptions where contractors still must be classified as employees.

Which Professions Are Exempt From AB 5  

Certain specialists like dentists and lawyers were always exempt from AB 5. But the new version broadens that exemption to independent contractors in these fields:

• Translators and Interpreters
• Freelance Writers
• Copy Editors
• Photographers, Photo Editors, and Illustrators
• Consultants
• Auditors
• Landscape Architects
• Inspection Underwriters
• Youth Sports Coaches
• Caddies
• Wedding or Event Planners 
• Videographers
• Narrators
• Cartographers
• Appraisers
• Foresters
• Songwriters, Musicians, and Composers
• Musical Engineers
• Record Producers and Musicians’ Managers
• Radio Promoters
• Manufactured Housing Salespeople
• Loss Control Analysts
• Newspaper Distributors
• Newspaper Carriers
• Competition Judges

There are now more than 100 lines of work where people can fully freelance under California employment law. The California Globe has a full list of AB 5 exemptions and AB 2257 exemptions.

But some of these exempt fields have specific exceptions, where certain types of workplaces are still required to hire these specialists as employees.

The AB 2257 Videographer Exception

Videographers are exempt from the employment requirement under AB 2257 but only in certain circumstances. Specifically, videographers for TV stations and motion picture studios are still expected to be hired with benefits. But writers and photographers now worry that the videographer exception could ensnare them too, as more video requirements become part of their job duties in the digital media era.  

The AB 2257 Musician Exception

Musicians and songwriters are also now exempt under AB 2257. But the new law stipulates that musicians must still be hired as employees if they play for symphonic orchestras or organizations that regularly put on shows in front of big audiences, like Broadway-style theaters.

And musicians take their role in the gig economy seriously. After all, they came up with the word “gig.”

Gig Economy Regulation Sentiment Is Growing

Regardless of what happens with Lyft and Uber’s big-money November state ballot measure, a national movement toward gig economy regulation may be growing. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has spoken in favor of AB 5, as has his vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris. If they win the 2020 presidential election, expect a Biden administration to promote some form of freelance employment regulation. 

The passage of this fix-it bill indicates that California considers contract employment law to be a work in progress, and the state is likely to alter it again if legal challenges are successful. The state is trying to figure out how to regulate potential exploitation of app-based drivers while still allowing freelance specialists to flourish under non-traditional employment. The weak COVID-19 job market is likely to draw more Californians to the freelance market, but lawmakers think it's time for the gig economy to face the music.

Just a few short years ago, the words “craft beer” didn’t mean much to anyone beyond true connoisseurs. Ordering a beer on tap meant choosing an option from only a handful of companies, regardless of where you went. That’s because brands as varied as Bud Light, Blue Moon, Rolling Rock, Miller Light, and Michelob Ultra are all owned by 2 companies: Anheuser-Busch or MillerCoors. 

Today, the worldwide beer market represents $522.3 million in 2020, and it’s expected to grow annually by 9.4% through 2023. The biggest beer consumers? Unsurprisingly, it’s Americans— projected to purchase $101.8 million’s worth of beer in 2020. 

These same names—particularly Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns Budweiser, Stella Artois, Corona, and Modelo, among others—represent 60% of the beer market today. While revenue for AB InBev declined due to COVID-19 this year (-17.7% in Q2), they’re still posting healthy profit margins.

These big brands controlled almost 90% of the global market back in 2012. Yet in the face of stiff competition from Goliath-sized companies with even larger marketing and advertising budgets, small breweries are thriving in 2020. 

How have these small businesses taken back market share? 

The craft brewing explosion.

Today, ordering a beer at a bar (remember bars?) presents you with any number of options, influenced by your geography and the philosophy of the bartenders and staff. You’re just as likely to find names like Dogfish Head, Allagash, Harpoon, Odell, Bell’s, and Russian River on a beer and wine list as you are Budweiser.

The rise in craft beer drove this change, defined by the Brewers Association as small operations (6 million barrels of beer or fewer annually) and independently owned (less than 25% of the brewery is owned by a member of the beverage industry that’s not a brewer.)

 “At the end of the day, the craft beer movement was driven by consumer demand,” Bart Watson of the Brewers Association told The Atlantic in 2017. “We’ve seen 3 main markers in the rise of craft beer—fuller flavor, greater variety, and more intense support for local businesses.” 

But taste isn’t the only reason small breweries continue to grow. From 2008 to 2016, the number of breweries in the US sextupled, with their workforce nearly doubling—even during a time when beer consumption itself declined. But the best indicator of success? 76% of microbreweries opened since 1980 have stayed in business—a rate unheard of in the restaurant industry, which sees 59% of restaurants failing within 3 years.

And the industry’s still growing. 1,000 new breweries opened in 2019, bringing the total active number in the US to nearly 7,500. Here are 3 ways the best craft breweries have become successful:

1. Embracing the entrepreneurial spirit.

Running a small business takes belief in yourself and your product, and craft breweries are no exception. Like any entrepreneurial endeavor, opening a brewery takes guts—and a willingness to make the leap into the unknown. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to trust my instincts,” Alix Peabody, founder of female-centric Bev, told Forbes. “It’s so important to surround yourself with experience, but at the end of the day, the vision is yours, and the choices are yours.”

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in new operations, just one of many challenges facing small businesses today. “The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge for us as we worked toward our launch,” Caitlin Braam, the founder of Yonder Cider and The Source, told Forbes. “As a person who loves a good timeline and keeping to it, it’s been a challenge to hit our goals and marks due to something that is completely out of our control. It’s been a serious lesson in patience and being flexible.”

2. A customer-centric approach to taste.

Craft beer isn’t just something to order on a menu—it’s part of an experience, with tasting rooms, restaurants, and hop-on-hop-off tours becoming destinations for locals and travelers alike. At many breweries, customers can taste new small batches, offer feedback, and participate in the process. 

 “Businesses that incorporate their consumers into the R&D process will find that’s a wonderful way to build loyalty because they take pride in being part of the decision,” said Sam Calagione, founder of popular craft brewery Dogfish Head. They trial every new batch within their Delaware brewpub before rolling it out nationally. 

Just as important, brewery owners seek out flavors and styles that they can’t find in the market. “I wanted to create this product for moms like me,” Amy Wahlberg, founder of PRESS Premium Hard Seltzer, told Forbes. “Taking inspiration from my favorite pre-kids cocktail of choice, a vodka press, I turned my kitchen into a mixology lab. The hard seltzer category didn’t exist when I first began pitching PRESS to distributors and retailers.”

3. Small breweries supporting each other.

Small breweries are partially successful because of their tight-knit community. “The craft brewing renaissance is part of the hippie dream of the ’70s, so I think there is some built-in idealism,” Caglione told CNBC. Whether it’s creating new custom flavors, cosponsoring community events, or partnering for more behind-the-scenes business collaboration—like banding together to switch operations to hand sanitizer at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis—breweries take care of each other.

Breweries like Boston Beer Co., owner of the popular Samuel Adams range of beers in Boston, offer loans to other small businesses. “We’ve provided startup loans to over 30 craft brewers,” Jim Koch, Boston Beer Co.’s founder, told CNBC. “This is counterintuitive to most people. Why would you help your competition? Craft brewers help craft brewers because we believe…there is still so much room for craft beer to grow.”

“By and large,” says Calagione, “we all help each other and share ideas, do events, or make actual beers that are collaborative. It’s about the love of beer, not money.”

Passion for your product is only 1 ingredient for building a successful business like the top craft beer breweries in the country. Taking risks, listening to customers, and collaborating with other, similar companies is their recipe for success.

Every entrepreneur knows the importance of pitching to clients. If you want to grow what you do, you’ve got to show what you do. But knowing the significance of something and putting it into practice are 2 separate things—so every company, from fledgling upstarts to global brands, needs to practice the art of the pitch. When you get complacent and sloppy, the results can be disastrous.

The perfect example of a company “sleeping on the pitch” came in 2013, when Nike prepared to make NBA star Stephen Curry an offer to serve as a brand ambassador. You’ve likely heard of Nike, considering they accounted for over 90% of the basketball sneaker market at that time.

Yes, Nike is one of the most dominant brands the world has ever seen. But that didn’t prevent them from making one of the most boneheaded pitches in history. To set the stage, Curry really liked working with Nike. He was a long-standing partner and had many positive things to say about the company.

"I was with them for years," recalled Curry in an ESPN report. "It's kind of a weird process being pitched by the company you're already with. There were some familiar faces in there."

Numerous Nike officials greeted Curry and his father, former NBA player Dell Curry, as they entered the meeting room to discuss the upcoming deal. Once seated, however, Curry was treated to what ESPN described as “something hastily thrown together by a hungover college student.”

The trouble started when one of the Nike officials mispronounced Curry’s first name. Note to those who make pitches: Do NOT refer to people by the wrong name. This rule is particularly relevant when the person you’re pitching is a current business partner.

The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back came when the Nike officials reached a slide in the PowerPoint deck that didn’t use Curry’s name at all. Instead, it featured the name of NBA star Kevin Durant, indicating that this pitch had been copied and pasted from an earlier pitch to Durant.

Shocked and disgusted by Nike’s clumsiness and disrespect, Curry signed with rival brand Under Armour. Nike was then left to consider how they’d bungled what should’ve been a slam dunk of a pitch.

Crafting the Perfect Pitch

“When you're growing and developing a business, you'll likely spend a lot of time presenting pitches to potential corporate partners,” says Forbes. “However, every business is different, and every pitch should be too. Depending on the company you’re pitching, you’ll want to adapt and tweak your presentation to ensure you're sending a message that resonates with that particular business leader. It may take effort and research, but it will pay off in the long run when you land partnership after partnership.”

Let’s look at some other ways you can take a regular PowerPoint pitch deck and turn it into a business-catching machine.

1. Ask plenty of questions in advance: You need to be a sponge during the time leading up to a pitch, soaking up every possible piece of information that could make your presentation better. This is best done through direct questions to the client. Learn everything about their business model, core values, and leadership style. Most importantly, identify the problems they’re currently facing.
2. Offer solutions: When you understand the strengths and weaknesses of a client, you’re uniquely able to offer solutions to their problems. This is how you showcase your value and get them to take the action you desire.
3. Be personable: Friendliness goes a long way in your pitches. You don’t have to be cheesy, but look for ways to show the human side of your business. This might mean you include photos of your team in the pitch. Better yet, include childhood photos. As long as this “personable” content is relevant, it will help to break the ice with its warmth.
4. Outline a killer strategy: It’s easy to write a great line for a pitch. What’s harder: developing a convincing strategy that encapsulates your entire presentation. Show them how solid your strategy is by including specifics such as tactics, timeframes, and results tracking.
5. Be prepared for remote presentations: Times have changed—you won’t be making many in-person pitches in the near future. So take this time to master your chosen video conferencing software, whether it’s Teams, Zoom, or something else entirely. Rehearsals are crucial for identifying potential technical difficulties and finding remedies to apply in real time.
6. Make your final impact statement truly shine: A great intro really sets the tone for a successful pitch—but don’t neglect the factor of recency bias. Once you’ve concluded your pitch, the last 3 things you said are going to be among the 3 most memorable elements to the client. Thus, you need to make sure your value and strengths come through crystal-clear in your pitch’s closing moments.

Is it possible to be pitch-perfect? No. There will always be aspects of a presentation that could’ve gone better. But when you put effort into crafting a pitch that clearly articulates how well you understand the client and wish to make life better for them, you’ll see undeniable results.

As if there already weren’t enough sales-related challenges facing America’s small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, another potential crisis is looming on the back end of their operations. Supply chains are failing for a multitude of reasons, but the result is often the same: the strain pushes already fragile small businesses to the brink of failure.

How vulnerable is your business to supply chain disruption? That depends on factors such as your industry, size, and business model. But if you’ve followed the recent trend of streamlining your inventory, you may face an extremely bumpy road ahead. Maintaining a lean inventory is an efficient way to run your business, but it also reduces the margin for error when deliveries stop arriving.

“Small businesses that have been weakened by years of extended payment terms now have to deal with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic,” explains a supply chain analysis from the Harvard Business Review. “In addition to the precipitous falloff in demand and mandated shutdowns caused by the pandemic, outstanding invoices are not being paid. Their situation is precarious.”

While none of us know exactly how this pandemic is going to play out, it’s obvious that more difficulties are on the horizon. Even if a vaccine were miraculously released to the global population tomorrow, there would still be a transitional period as businesses struggle to get back on solid ground and reconfigure their processes.

So what can you do when your supply deliveries are late due to delivery issues or operational problems with your supplier? Here are a few ideas:

1. Keep Your Supplier Relationships Strong 

It’s important to stay in contact with your suppliers and let them know you value the relationship. When you’re a loyal partner rather than a faceless contact, you have a better chance of becoming a priority when things become difficult for the supplier.

2. Watch for Issues Proactively 

It’s always easier to anticipate solutions to a challenge than to come up with answers in the heat of the moment. Make supply chain forecasting a priority so that you can prepare better for what lies ahead.

3. Communicate With Your Business Partners and Customers 

Many business owners put their heads down and suffer in silence when their supply chains fail them. By bringing your partners and customers into the conversation, you stand a better chance of maintaining relationships and avoiding damage to your reputation. Remember, perception is reality. Let them know the realities you’re facing—this way, they won’t form inaccurate perceptions regarding your business.

4. Utilize Inventory Management Software 

5. Learn How to Track Shipments and Report Delays 

If you’ve stayed in contact with your suppliers, you’ll be able to ascertain quickly when a delay is out of their hands. In these cases, it’s important for you to file a report with the carrier immediately so you can get the issue on their radar. Basically, the squeaky wheels are the only ones that get oiled when strain exists throughout the delivery service’s operations—so squeak as loudly as possible.

Even in the best of times, supply chain complications will arise—and the events of 2020 have only exasperated this fact. But if you anticipate and navigate supply chain disruptions, you’ll be better able to manage inventory and fulfill your orders. It’s a delicate balance, and there will be continual need for rebalancing—but this approach will help you to keep your operation moving in a positive direction.