We are still shipping all orders
After almost a month of emergency operations, during which we have continued to ship all orders, our Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan came through, which should buy us at least another several months of continued operation! I will get to more about that later in this post, but first, here is a summary of how we have gotten this far:
- 22 March 2020 – initial COVID-19 impact update and appeal for donations after the first week of emergency operations, when I thought complete shutdown of Pololu operations was imminent.
- 29 March 2020 – update after two weeks:
- We are still operating, with every order shipped! – with tips on how to check stock and look for similar products on our site
- Thank you to everyone who has donated – with extra details about how donations help beyond immediate dollar value
- Landlord/building situation – detailed explanation about how we ended up in the building we are in and why we cannot expect any immediate help from the landlord
- SBA loans/stimulus package – some thoughts on emergency loans we are applying for
- Outlook and plan for now – generally still applicable now (13 April)
- How you can help
- 6 April 2020 – update after three weeks:
- Thank you for your continued donations
- Employee update – with details about how we are supporting our employees
- Pictures of life at Pololu
PPP loan extends our ability to keep operating at least a few months!
The main big news for us is that our Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan went through, which should guarantee that we can meet our minimal expenses for at least a few months even if we had to completely stop operations in Las Vegas. This also gives us some breathing room to plan a month or two down the road instead of just day to day or week to week. One of the main questions facing us regarding the loan is how much of it will remain a loan and how much might be forgiven. It looks like our options range somewhere between these two extremes:
- Continue keeping expenses to a minimum. This might reduce how much of the debt is forgiven, so we’d get hit by big loan repayments starting in about six months. On the plus side, we’d at least have the money to work with. And if some longer-term disaster recovery loan comes through and could absorb this loan, that would at least stretch out how quickly we have to repay the money. As it stands, everything would have to get repaid within about two years.
- Spend as much of the money as possible (on qualifying expenses, mostly payroll). This might get more of the debt forgiven, which is obviously a plus. On the other hand, we’d be out of money sooner, with no guarantee of when we might be able to get more. And it would be especially bad to end up with the money spent but still be on the hook for repaying it.
The exact rules for what will be forgiven are still getting clarified, so this is adding yet another level of uncertainty that makes any decision making difficult. Still, after four weeks of scrambling to have a plan for the next day and then the next week, it feels like a luxury to be able to even be talking about next month, even if we do not know when more people will be able to start going back to work again.
What’s clear is that while a loan might buy us some short-term time, we still need to figure out a way to operate profitably with the various restrictions that are likely to stay with us even as states and countries begin reopening their economies.
 |
Pick and place machine maintenance, 9 April 2020. |
|---|
Thank you for your continued donations
Capillary Tube Manometer Pressure Gaug,Capillary Tube Manometer Pressure Gauge,Plastic Pipe Manometer,Capillary Tube
ZHOUSHAN JIAERLING METER CO.,LTD , https://www.zsjrlmeter.com