The Corporate Culture of the Aasgaard Company

[Southpaw]

I work at a community bank and we’ve done a couple hundred apps so far. Prioritization is really first come first serve. In practice, this means “small” businesses with $50MM in sales were able to get in line first because they have accounting staff to put together the docs ASAP. Businesses with a few million or less in sales are having a harder time with documentation, causing us to go back and forth with them to get their app right.

Rip is correct on SBA incompetence. If you can’t hack it at the DMV the SBA is waiting for you with open arms. Normally they do $20B in volume a year (and with terrible service) and now they are trying to do $350B in a few weeks.

Step 1 of this process is just getting people approved for the loan. How SBA administers the forgivable part (step 2) is yet to be seen, will likely be a paperwork nightmare.

[David Kirkham]

I work at a community bank and we’ve done a couple hundred apps so far. Prioritization is really first come first serve. In practice, this means “small” businesses with $50MM in sales were able to get in line first because they have accounting staff to put together the docs ASAP. Businesses with a few million or less in sales are having a harder time with documentation, causing us to go back and forth with them to get their app right.

Rip is correct on SBA incompetence. If you can’t hack it at the DMV the SBA is waiting for you with open arms. Normally they do $20B in volume a year (and with terrible service) and now they are trying to do $350B in a few weeks.

Step 1 of this process is just getting people approved for the loan. How SBA administers the forgivable part (step 2) is yet to be seen, will likely be a paperwork nightmare.

Southpaw is right here. I just went through the process myself. I have a customer who actually just received about a million dollars, already deposited into his bank account so it is real. The paperwork isn't that hard to do at all, but it is first come first serve so I am doubtful there is much left. Then again, I keep very tight books so it took me 30 minutes or so for the initial paperwork.

Most of the time was spent (a hour or so) going back and forth with the bank a few times (quoting the text of the law, page and line) to get them to apply for the right amount. The bank emailed back today and said they hope it funds in the next week or so. We'll see.

[AndrewLewis]

At the end of the day, the government is going to do what it wants, and they've already change their minds on the reading of the SBA loans. This isn't even mentioning the impossible promises they've made (we'll get you the advance three days after application approval) and will continue to make.

My concern on these grants is that, in a year, they will change their minds again on what they meant and anyone who applied and got the grant will get hosed by something they didn't foresee getting changed.

[mpalios]

Two questions:

1) I read on the website the difference between a SS gym, and a SS Affiliate gym. But I'm still unclear on the difference. Is an Affiliate open to ANYONE for monthly dues, if they want to workout on their own and not pay for coaching if they don't want it? And an affiliate may have dumbbells, kettle bells, etc? More familiar looking to the general public? And a SS gym, I'm actually paying for the gym AND the coaching bundled? no dumbbells/kettlebells/etc.

2) This whole mess...I am unclear how it has impacted your gym's income. Do people STOP paying their monthly dues to your gym because they can't work out? I'm not questioning how difficult this is; please don't misinterpret. I'm more curious the logistics behind it.

(I'm a VERY small business owner that has not been significantly impacted. I have no 'dues', so I'm trying to learn here.)

[Yngvi]

At the end of the day, the government is going to do what it wants, and they've already change their minds on the reading of the SBA loans. This isn't even mentioning the impossible promises they've made (we'll get you the advance three days after application approval) and will continue to make.

My concern on these grants is that, in a year, they will change their minds again on what they meant and anyone who applied and got the grant will get hosed by something they didn't foresee getting changed.

Yes, that is my concern too. As others have stated, the banks in practice are processing and issuing loans on a first come, first serve basis. However, the letter of the law provisions the democrats rammed into the bill state that minority, women-owned, veteran-owned and business that have been in operation for under two years must be prioritized.

The law also makes certain that loans will only be backed by the federal government and forgiven if the have adequately followed the law as interpreted by the bureaucrats at the SBA. The amount to which they back the loans may depend on future court decision and election outcomes. Or the whole law could be struck down as unconstitutional, which would be even more of a mess.

[Ray Gillenwater]

two questions:

1) i read on the website the difference between a ss gym, and a ss affiliate gym. But i'm still unclear on the difference. Is an affiliate open to anyone for monthly dues, if they want to workout on their own and not pay for coaching if they don't want it? And an affiliate may have dumbbells, kettle bells, etc? More familiar looking to the general public? And a ss gym, i'm actually paying for the gym and the coaching bundled? No dumbbells/kettlebells/etc.

2) this whole mess...i am unclear how it has impacted your gym's income. Do people stop paying their monthly dues to your gym because they can't work out? I'm not questioning how difficult this is; please don't misinterpret. I'm more curious the logistics behind it.

(i'm a very small business owner that has not been significantly impacted. I have no 'dues', so i'm trying to learn here.)

Hi mpalios-

1) To be an affiliate gym owner, you (the owner) must be an SSC. The gym design and operations are at the discretion of the gym owner, including equipment (such as DBs & KBs), dues, coaching, and general policies. A franchise is different in that it can be owned by anyone that has the skill-set, passion, and capital that's required to open a Starting Strength Gym and in that our offering, design, real estate selection guidelines, software, marketing, processes, systems, etc are all standardized. SS Gyms have group training options, semi-private training options, and key-card access options. We do not have DBs and KBs since they aren't a part of the program.

2) When Covid in the US started to become a national news topic, we had a handful of members put their group training memberships on pause. When small businesses were ordered to close, significantly more members began to put their memberships on pause. We've stopped the bleeding temporarily, but our franchise owners will be in debt because of this. Details on what we're doing are here. Without the incredible support of our members, several of the gyms would not have been able to make payroll this month. The silver lining of this is that we've learned how important we are to the lives of our members - and the unsurprising but nice-to-see-in-action answer is that we are very important to them.

If you are having trouble figuring out how to navigate this financial situation for your small business and you think the discussion would help other small business owners in the community, feel free to post details here and I'll do my best to provide useful input. If it's something outside of my area of expertise, I'll seek pro advice pro in the relevant field and post their response here.

For everyone reading: If there is a gym or an SSC that’s helped you in some way, now would be a good time to check in to see if you can help them. Keep an eye on the store for a way to support The Aasgaard Company directly. I've spent a few grand on seminars and a few hundred dollars on books, but the value that Starting Strength has contributed to my life is considerably more than that. I know many of you feel the same way and it will feel good to help make sure that TAC doesn't have to make damaging cutbacks.