Partnerships and Negotiations

Last week, we wrote about the importance of locking arms during the COVID-19 outbreak as the medical and economic damage mounted. 

As we all adapt to a new reality of remote work, isolation, and safety precautions, many small business owners are also being forced into difficult conversations that often involve negotiations. Whether it is with employees, suppliers, vendors, or customers, the COVID-19 outbreak has thrown a wrench in the otherwise normal flow of business owners' relationships.

We've written about negotiating deals in issues #9 and #29, and would also like to draw your attention to the Harvard Law piece below on crisis management in negotiations. The HLS piece presents a useful framework for negotiating win-win partnerships in the midst of crises using a patient, long-term mindset. The framework focuses on establishing ground rules prior to a crisis, controlling emotions in the midst of a crisis, and working patiently towards a solution that strengthens the relationship after the crisis. 

These are essential points to keep in mind for small business owners who wish to solve problems in a manner that is supportive of a long-term relationship. 

In the same vein, Permanent Equity is launching Safe Harbor, a new platform for small and medium-sized businesses that can responsibly utilize $3,000,000 or more in capital during these turbulent times. We take negotiations with potential partners very seriously, maintain confidentiality throughout the interaction, and work towards a long-term mutually beneficial partnership:

"Stylistically, we have zero interest in loan sharking, or being a necessary evil. Long-term, win-win relationships have and always will be our objective. When we structure a deal, we want it to be fair, equitable, and profitable for everyone, creating greater opportunity in which everyone shares. There are no hidden agendas or hidden fees. We want deals to be simple and straightforward."

If we can help you think through strategic negotiations with a counterparty or you would like to discuss how Safe Harbor could benefit your business, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

What is Crisis Management in Negotiation? (Harvard Law School)
+ "Prepare for the crisis... Establish ground rules... Confront emotions head-on... Don't rush the process... Strengthen the relationship."

Permanent Equity launches a partnership with small and medium-sized businesses (Safe Harbor)
+ "Professionally, Permanent Equity exists to support small and mid-sized businesses, and the need for immediate help is increasingly clear. Even the best of businesses -- big or small -- are not built for rapid and sustained decreases in revenue. Forecasts are becoming irrelevant. Receivables are being stretched. Strong balance sheets are already wearing thin. Supply chains are breaking down. Layoffs are becoming inevitable and commonplace. It’s a tsunami."

The real-time impact COVID-19 is having on small businesses and workers (Homebase)
+ "At Homebase, we are in a unique position to see this impact happen in real-time and want to make this data publicly available so that governments and communities can understand and support the people who are most impacted."

Digital Payments Soar Amid Coronavirus Restrictions (Wall Street Journal)
+ "In Italy, one of the first countries to order residents to stay home in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading, e-commerce transactions have soared 81% since the end of February, according to estimates by McKinsey & Co."

Amazon wants to hire 100,000 new workers to meet coronavirus demand (The Verge)
+ "Amazon is looking to hire 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers to meet increased demands for shipments as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the company announced on Monday. It will also increase the hourly pay of workers employed in these positions by an additional $2 in the United States through April. As more Americans stay indoors to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak, they’re turning to e-commerce stores like Amazon to purchase groceries and household supplies."

Amazon Prime delivery delays are now as long as a month (Recode)
+ "On Sunday, customers and Amazon merchants posted on social media platforms saying certain nonessential items were showing April 21 delivery dates, even though they were listed as in-stock and shipping with Amazon’s Prime express shipping service. During normal times, Amazon Prime deliveries typically arrive in one or two days in the US. Now, some Prime deliveries for in-stock items are showing five-day delivery promises on the lower end, but those waits are as long as a month on some items."

The Wing is a women’s utopia. Unless you work there. (The New York Times)
+ "“I was the connector, the friend, the therapist, the mother, the sister, the live-in coach,” one former employee says. “I was treated like a human kitty-litter box.” Another says: “We were ‘the help.’” When staff members tried to exercise their membership privileges, on breaks or after their shifts, members would hand them dirty dishes or barge in on them in the phone booth. Some screamed at employees about crowding in the space and cried over insufficient swag. A common member refrain was that it was anti-feminist not to give her whatever perk she desired."

The incredibly simple reason working from home may be here to stay (Fast Company)
+ "For some offices, those reservations may be institutional. Managers who believe employees are more productive at the office are now testing that hypothesis at scale, or will soon have to, and companies that value their office culture will have to try replicating it virtually. Along the way, they may find that remote work isn’t as detrimental as they thought. But there’s also a more mundane reason that working from home could become a lasting option for office workers: Companies are finally investing in the technology they’ve always needed to make remote work possible."

The Waffle House Index just hit a code red (The Hustle)
+ "Usually, the Waffle House Index is used during natural disasters… During Hurricane Katrina, the most damaging hurricane in US history, Waffle House closed 107 locations across Louisiana and Mississippi. In this case, many of the 418 closures were clustered in the Midwest and the Gulf Coast regions. The company said it was seeing few customers and “rapidly losing the ability to offer enough work hours” to its employees."

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