We with the for you to follow events andxios follow on twitter axios. Our first guest, sophia dickens, started a Small Business. She will be joining us from orange county, california. She created eQ Entertainment. And the brand q wonder, a curriculum that helps people learn at home, which suddenly is in a lot more demand. Thank you for joining axios. Thank you for having me, mike. Mike how is california . I wish i was there. It is stunning, but it is outside the window, so not quite enjoying it like i used to. Mike sophia, you got the idea goteQ Entertainment, you this idea from a college class, which i think Small Businesses start with, just a germ of an idea. Tell us about it. I remember being blown away as a student at harvard by 40 ands of data, that social emotional learning, not academics, was at the core of success. There wasnt anything out there that made it fun and easy for parent teachers and kids, so i took that 40 years of data and translated it and built the q wonder show that has a liberty guests on it, if all online curriculum, and we also have an app for athome use. Mike you promised you would not quiz me, but one of the skills you teach is problemsolving. What is an example of how Q Entertainment and q wonder what attack the problem, based on research, as opposed to how we may have been taught back in the day . Sophia in a lot of ways through our Education System we teach kids exactly what to think, as opposed to how to think. And it is important because there is so much insecurity about what the teacher job market will look like for them, that we teach them problemsolving skills like growth mindset, teaching them to focus on the process as opposed to the result. That will keep them from having a little feeling and help them to grow further, it will help them take more risk. Kids have to be comfortable, and that takes practice. Mike what is a quick example of that . A problem and how you might attack it . Sophia one problem that kids deal with is delayed gratification, they want something in front of them and they want it now. We are the same as adults. But it is literally the difference between prison and lifelong success if you do not solve that problem. With impulse control comedic in practice it by using distraction techniques. That is something that we teach, we have a fun episode with Michael Strahan where he and a monkey are happy they dont eat the Cookie Contest and Michael Strahan wins because he has learned to distract himself, these are things we can teach kids every day. With when you are working parents, who suddenly have have who have suddenly become voluntary homeschoolers in many cases, whats going on across the world right now. In this moment what have you learned as a Small Business person for parents who have become educators question mark we have all become educators, yes. Institutional inertia doesnt allow the educational system to evolve with the times, so this has done something that politicians have never been able to do, disrupt a decadesold format of how we teach our kids. So you think thats good, right . Its an opportunity here. Are going toarents have a blank sheet of paper to customize their kids education. That could be scary, but either way, education is never going to be the same. The quicker we acknowledge that, the better off we will be there. There are a lot of jobs that will come back, they will be replaced by automation. Lookse we dont have that into the future, but we know is we need to teach her kids emotional intelligence. Emotionals intelligence. These are the Critical Skills we have to teach our kids. Able to help kids master those skills. Sophia dickens, you are in the same boat as so many entrepreneurs. Ou try to get a ppp loan tell us your experience, tell us what happened. I think the u. S. Economy is made up of almost half, half of the economy is made up of businesses that are small, that are under 10 employees. Hundreds of thousands got stuck in the queue. We were with one of the larger banks waiting for a ppp loan and we got stuck. It sounds like the online total wasnt working properly for a good portion of the week. I heard this happened with another major bank as well. So, now we have gone with a smaller bank, read on the process, and it kind of feels like we are subject to a lottery system here. So, that must be very frustrating for other entrepreneurs who are watching. What are some of your survivors survival skills, coping skills . Its a matter of the same things that we are talking to our kids about, growth mindset, being innovative. One, we have to shed the idea of who we thought we were as a company or business before this happened and we have to adjust, start innovating, think what are the need to out there now and how can we add value to a world that has completely reset . We have a viewer question for you. Talking to your friends, businesses, how many weekend months do these businesses have to stay afloat given that current stayathome order iross so many states . Dont have an optimistic answer there. The government has been patting themselves on the back for filling a onemonth hole in the economy and taking two months to do it. We will see a lot of small 30inesses fail in the next to 60 days and it will be tough, it wont be a matter of weeks or months, this will be a several year process and we are going to have to start really reinventing ourselves and looking to see how we can help each other. A sobering message, but thank you for sharing your story. We always finish with one fun thing. Sophia dickens, one fun thing for you, you recently took a ski trip where you skied longer than i have skied in my life. Did a 56 mile ski trip in sweden, in arctic conditions, following in my dads footsteps, like a 500yearold tradition. I am trying to rally my friends to do it again in the upcoming year. This was how many miles, how long it take . It took about 10 and a half hours. And that was a workout . Its always a workout. [laughter] sophia dickens, thank you for t andng us about eqtainmen q wonder. We wish you the best of luck to your business. Thank you. Now we have a view from the. Op second segment thank you, mike. I am joined here by alex chris, who is the gm of intuit quickbooks. How are you doing . Great, jim. Thanks for having me. You have an amazing lens into the economy and this moment. , you touch arole lot, huge chunk of the selfstarter Small Businesses in the country. Why would i come to you and what do you do for them . Over 6 million Small Businesses in the u. S. We pay one in 12. We have a breath right now. The beauty of my books is that we are the source of truth for your business. We can see your cash flow, the money in, the money out, your payroll, everything is in one place. If you are a Small Business that is selfemployed and you are desperate trying to figure out how much time you have left, but the cash flow is looking like, how you will be able to pay your employees, we are able to consolidate that information to give you the insights that you need. Thats critical for being a part. F this ppp program coming up so much of it is about gathering the right data and being able to have the data for forgiveness if you are able to get through. What is your advice to Small Business owners trying to become a part of the ppp program . Put more money into the federal government. Obviously some companies have been able to get it, others have really struggled. What have you learned about helping people navigate it . The amazing thing about Small Businesses is that they are incredibly resilient. I talked to Small Businesses every day and they are figuring out how to be a part of an online world or sell their goods in a virtual environment. But we have to help them basically by time right now. If they are scrambling, trying to figure out how to make the cash flow extend, we know from our Small Businesses that many of them dont really have a month or two of cash flow available. So, without these kinds of helping hands through Something Like a loan or a ppp program, they are going to go out. My advice would be to continue to pivot, do what you naturally do. Figure out how to keep your business running and look for help as well. Seeink that we are about to the second round of the Program Launch and there will have to be more around that. Dont be afraid, dont be thinking it is out of reach for you. There are folks out there like the books who will help you to get up and running and apply for one of these loans. How many more rounds do you think the federal government will have to do a visa loan guarantees for Small Businesses . Through two of them we have 600 billion allocated for the program, given that you had an insight into what companies are facing, how much more do you think the federal government is going to have to put forward . Im not sure, but i think we will have to reconsider how we progress. As we saw in the first round, even with the carveout from the second round, the folks getting the loans are the larger Small Businesses. The average loan size in the last round was 200 and 45,000. We are seeing customers coming in to talk about what they need to cover their payroll. 20 to 50 employees are getting the loans, where the vast have less than five employees. Those are the ones that structurally need it. The system is a really set up for it right now. Banks are there to cover the smallest. That is why we started the quickbooks capital business to begin with, they were underserved. They were not the ones that thanks cover. Its not just about putting more money in, its going to have to be as we move forward thinking how we work with players like quickbooks, that have the data and the algorithms to be able to approve and serve the smallest there,l businesses out the truly underserved, making sure those dollars are flowing to the Small Businesses. What else should or could the federal government do to help Small Businesses . Every politician says they love Small Businesses. What can the government to above and beyond the ppp program . To help the Small Business that you were just talking about . Someone who might only have 5, 10, 15, 20 employees . I think the government is doing an amazing job. The money flowing in is exactly what they need, but they need to think about the structure. We need to think about how they leverage the folks like us that have data that is above and beyond what can be relied on. Credit models that allow us to approve and lend to the smallest of Small Businesses, working handinhand with us so that we can put those dollars to use. I think that throwing dollars into a system that was already set up to help the larger businesses isnt going to get the job done. You are an entrepreneurial guy yourself. As we depart here, what have you learned throughout the course of your career that you can pass on Small Business owner looking for wisdom as they try to navigate these Tumultuous Times . Anex before quickbooks i was entrepreneur and i remember the darkest day of my startup was the day i wasnt sure i was going to be up to make the next payroll. Your insides are gnawing at you. You lose sleep. But you know that you are scrappy and it is on your shoulders. My advice to these Small Businesses is that there are willing to help you. At quickbooks we have 5000 folks that live and breathe every morning trying to figure out how to help you. Give us a ring, we will figure it out. Dont, dont be afraid to ask for help. Thank you for that smart and insightful conversation. We will turn it back over to mike allen. Think you, jim, alex, and axiost for making this Virtual Event on Small Businesses and a path to recovery possible. Welcome back to my home in arlington, virginia. Like so many people, this was my home and now it is my home office. We appreciate you joining us earlier today. With Suzanne Clark, president of the u. S. Chamber of commerce. Im joined now by Suzanne Clark, president of the u. S. Chamber of commerce, the Worlds Largest business organization. She has been in the trenches, i got to know her when she was running her own company as president and coo. She has a ba and mba in georgetown. Madam president , welcome to axios. Thank you. Suzanne, Congress Just replenished the money in the Payment Protection Fund to help Small Businesses stay in money. His round number two going to be thats a good question, mike. We hear from Small Businesses across the country every day. Some of them in tears. They cannot get over the impact on their family, their community, on their customers. Are Glad Congress got this done, but no, it wont be enough. And they cannot start working on the rest the next round fast enough. We spend all day talking to businesses of all sizes. Talking to Small Businesses, whats the most common thing that you hear . The most common worry that they find . First of all its just staying afloat, you know . They know firsthand what a job means to a family and a community. What it means to health outcomes. They are very concerned. They worry about their support in the community. Their Little League teams and their philanthropy. They are very concerned about staying safe, keeping their employees safe, and frankly, just staying afloat. They are also worried about how they reopen in a way that is safe and sustainable. These rounds were not enough, what is needed . Say congress were to get started right away, how much would be enough . All, i think they are going to have to do at least another 250 billion. But what is really going to mean enough is free enterprise. This isnt going to be government aid and assistance for ever. We have to help the people in real pain right now and then and safely reopen so that americans have access to their paychecks again. Isdo you feel that america on the road, or do you worry about the road we are on at the moment . Well, its hard as a human not to be worried. Look at the scale of the Public Health crisis and the scale of the economic crisis. Its tragic. So of course we are all worried. Business owners in the business community, when you are worried, you get to work. Thats what makes the worry better. That means phasing in a gradual reopening based on geographies that are safer, industries that are safer, following the right guidelines so that you can really help. We know that it fell off a cliff quickly when it closed down and as you reopen more slowly, we know the demand comes back relatively quickly and businesses want to be there to meet it. I hear you saying that your friends and business are pushing an anxious to reopen. Anxious about reopening, too, right . Chamberhave seen in the from the top forward is that we are looking at number one, essential services have to be in place. Day care and transit have to be in place if anyone wants to get back to work very good number two, the right equipment. Testing and tracing but also ppe. Thermometers, masks, hand sanitizer, training on all of those things. Third, the regulatory guidance. Follow osha guidelines, cdc guidelines, what does it mean . And making it clear. They are also concerned about litigation risks. This is an imperfect time and there is no playbook. While businesses are anxious to reopen for their families and employees, they want to make sure that when they do it, they do it properly. Thats interesting. What is the litigation risks that worries the Business People that you talk to . One of the things about return to work is that it is returned to life, places of worship, places where you can celebrate earth days, charities and philanthropy, etc. Its not just traditional businesses. Schools are worried about litigation risks. Its an imperfect situation. For example, we are asking ceos to operate during an unprecedented time. After years of saying dont discriminate on the basis of health and age, now we are saying protector vulnerable population. When we say keep health data you need to we say make something public so that we can trace the people have the virus or understand who has immunity. When there is a whole new playbook, unfortunately there are a small number of plaintiffs who go hard to look for liability. They are already organizing against Health Care Workers and device manufacturers. What do you advise businesses when they are getting conflicting advice and even direction from the white house and even different governors . Them advise them to help understand where the conflicts are so that we can be a conduit in between. , we can seee sit every side, every sector, every geography. We can talk to the white house, the statehouse, and local Health Officials to coordinate and collaborate. A lot of people at every level of government is trying to do the right thing, but totally unprecedented areas or collaboration, the more cooperation is better. We say to businesses, be clear about your questions and concerns. We have task forces based on geography that can help, but we also know that the challenges with consumer Country Companies will be different than, say, an office or industrial company. Anything we can do to get questions and concerns in one place to guide policy leaders and business leaders, we want to do. When you talk about high density businesses, like a french bistro, right, or an office is this like the chamber or a manufacturing business, how much does that have to do with the chronology of who gets to open back up . Expert andm not an we will listen to the Public Health experts about when to open back up. When you think about the distant differences and how, we have already seen that it is easier for Smaller Stores to have guidelines and how they distance. You and i both spent time in arlington, virginia, and that Small Business has figured out how to block out the space so that you can go and give them some business, right . Yet the bigger you are, the harder that is going to be. Some of it is based on size, but some of it is based on sector. We know that these businesses are going to require more aid and a longer bridge to get back to good health. Its going to be a while before inple are comfortable being really big crowds. Suzanne, we have a viewer question from san francisco. They say what about the next generation of entrepreneurs . Someone 20 to 45 and wants to start a business . How do you tell them to start one now . What do you tell them . Its a great question and something i think we are all concerned about. How do we make sure this doesnt kill risktaking for a generation. As many smallp businesses afloat as possible so that there are positive stories coming out of the other side of this. When we get to the other side, there will be a time for learning. What did Different Countries and cities due to help entrepreneurs . What worked and what didnt . Incubating, looking for entrepreneurs who are trying to do the right thing. Business. K, start a we are hopeful. We know that there is pentup demand. We know that it ends, unlike crises, we know when to get back to the house. The hope is that they do it fast enough that they have good stories to tell the other side and we come together, government, nonprofit, academia, venture, etc. We always end the newsletters with one fun thing, we like to ask our newsmaker one fun thing. Yourerstand you celebrated wedding anniversary in captivity . We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in captivity. Our daughter made us a big sign, we helped a Small Business and got takeout. I will say, we treated ourselves, left the kitchen and went to the dining room. So, we went out to dinner. Happy anniversary and Suzanne Clark, thank you for joining axios. Welcome back to this axios Virtual Event. I guess thats the coronavirus workout, kitchen to the dining room. Thank you very much, Suzanne Clark. Mike allen, cofounder of axios. Our next guest is senator tim scott of south carolina, a member of the senate Small Business committee. He grew up the son of a single mom in north charleston, south carolina, a graduate of palmetto his ownuilding business. Senator scott, welcome to axios. Thank you, mike. Good to see you again. Tell us about the business that built when you were doing honest work. [laughter] certainly back in the good worked with a few Allstate Insurance agencies, building them from scratch, as well as a Real Estate Company from scratch as well. I was part of a Franchise Organization for a janitorial cleaning company as well. I love it and this is where my heart has been for the last several years and it is one of the reasons i have enjoyed being in the public service. I understand the pain and the misery that comes from being a business owner. Yesterday called out in President Trump hospira daily briefing, not always good. But for you it was, said you were doing a fantastic job on youropportunity agenda and opportunity zones. The news, senator scott, hes having you be part, inviting you to be part of an effort to focus specifically on underserved communities being impacted by the coronavirus. Can you give us a sneak peek about what you would like to see happen . I would say that there are two major for the underserved community. We have rural hospitals that have shuttered over the past several years. If you listen to Lindsey Graham in south carolina, our Rural Communities really do need to have these strong, healthy support systems, including the ability to connect from a technological standpoint. Those major areas, health care and Technology Connections in the rural areas and urban areas, its the issue of stubborn, persistent poverty, tackling that, it can be, they both benefit from opportunity zones that question, benefiting differently, but they both do. We are going to try to tackle the innercity poverty that has persisted in our communities. We cannot forget that our Rural Communities need the type of connectivity that is critical for their education. This last big class of the several weeks is a strong indicator that we are not there yet and we are up we will make progress there as well. Housing, as always, working with secretary carson, its always an important part of the equation. Hes obviously a health care expert. Senator, a few minutes ago Suzanne Clark told us that the businesses that she talks to make it clear that even with this bill the senate just past for the payroll protection act, its not going to be enough. How feasible is it for there to be another replenishment of ppp . I wouldt know that have a lot of confidence in seeing that happen between now and may the fourth, just one week from this monday coming. I expect we will all be back in washington on monday, may 4 and if that is the case we will start and arduous process of identifying the sectors that tod assistance, then go back the drawing board. That will probably be a more painstaking process to identify. Here we need to add more value no question, my understanding is that some had the tpp utilized at 50 billion a day. If thats true, 6. 5 weeks later those resources are gone. The good news is the 1. 6 million that were used, the businesses that use the First Tranche helped about 30 million employees. In the second round hopefully we , helpingabout the same as many as 20 to 25 million employees. P, i will start calling it that. What i am hearing you saying is that it will take a while, but there is no question that there is more help on the way for Small Businesses . No question. We know we have not met the needs yet. Some we cant meet, frankly and some we probably shouldnt even strive to meet. Some things are just a part of the Business Cycle that have to be taken into consideration when you go into business. There are some ways government can mitigate the concerns over the challenges that Small Businesses will face coming out of this and make. Those issues we should focus on, strategize around, and then send things to the marketplace. We will do that. If you think about the triple p program, thats only one facet of the needs. You have got the exposure that comes with bringing employees back and customers in. Those are liability issues that im not sure we know how to meet that need. 9 11 is one of the places we may go with that conversation. Testing is another need for the marketplace. When you think about the importance of what comes in the future in trying to get people back to work, getting customers indoors, its more than money. We will have to have a serious round of conversations around liability exposure and testing. Like probably a lot of viewers you are spending a lot of time on skype and zoom, you had a Teletown Hall the other night with 6500 people on it. As you talk to your Small Business constituents, whats the number one fear or plea that you hear from them . Is not the friend of Small Business. I used to say that when i was a Small Business owner, good regulations are great, bad regulations are not that great, and certainty and brick ability are whats necessary to be successful in my business. Many Small Businesses feeling like they are beating against the unemployment benefit. It is costing thousands of jobs around the nation, and when i hear from him, frustrated business owners, its the fact that they are unable to bring back employees without creating angst in the system. I also hear a lot about liquidity and margins. Depending on the business you are in, the fact that in some , you have to pay your make mortgage but your tenant doesnt have to pay rent. Theres a forbearance issue. , i hear auth carolina lot from retail restaurants, hotel rooms, those three major tranches come from very different parts of our Economic Activity and engine and they are really important to us and they are not hitting on all cylinders right now. Maybe not on any cylinders. A very hard conversation, very tragic worries unfolding in this great country. To try to end on a higher note, because i know, senator, in general you have been cheerful over the years, we have had a lot of fun conversations. Thing,ng with one fun senator, you like jazzy socks. I do, im not going to raise my leg up to give you a look, but im always making my selves in my shoes like a little better, a little lighter. Socks are dirty, but they are cool. Ive got some hot pink socks on right now, its all good. Besides the hot pink, which gets the most comments when you take them out and about . Interesting, back in the old days when we were able to bring kids into the capital, they all wanted to see my socks. They were far more important if you are under the age of 20 as a legislative priority. Anything that is a happy sock or a pink sock, it got a lot of attention. They seemed to like patterns, those were very popular. Patterns that were multiple colors. The heel is one color, the tow another color. So, whenever you can throw some color in their, the kids seem to be excited about that. Relates to making sure that my soccer game is good. Senator, thank you for leaving us with a smile to go and thank you for joining us on axios. Take care. Thank you, senator. Now we have the why it matters segment with jim. You are so good at synthesizing conversation. I wonder what your take away has been from this axios Virtual Event on the path ahead for Small Businesses. I think you got a great glimpse into the extraordinary challenges facing Small Businesses. Talking andre interviewing, but im a ceo of a Small Business, this is our Second Company and in the trenches, everything they described israel. I have worked 18 hour days and im not saying im a hero, im just saying that that is a reality and for a lot of people wheres her to the edge, maybe they could go out of business in a couple of weeks, its an extremely stressful and difficult situation. Its one thing if you make a dumb business decision or didnt read the market right. Its another when you are running a company and you get hit with a virus that you had nothing to do with. You didnt shut your restaurant or close your laundromat. The state did, the locality did,. He virus did you have to react to it. Unfortunately i think you will lose a lot of businesses through all of this and it is going to take a long time for the country to rebound from it. I think the senator was right, they are going to come back and there were probably will be many more legislative packages, whether it is stimulus or replenishing the loan program. Way they can hold on, especially if this drags on. Like i said, listen, we are only a month and a half into this, you will need more action. This could go on for three or 4, 5, 6 months. It could costs a lot of money and you may feel a lot more pain. That will be the gut check for the country. Jim taylor is giving me the hook in my year. But something you have advised other Small Businesses for years thinking about how we conserve other entrepreneurs who are watching, Something Interesting about your company, the over communicating internally. Virus, putting that into practice, what can you say about the health for someone else running a Small Business . Nothing damages or brings down the nerves and the stress better than just communicating. Being superduper honest and transparent with your employees about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Everythings a wreck. Even the people or doing good, its a wreck, crammed into a small house, eating the same meals, sitting in the same clothes. Everybody is in a bad place right now. If you can communicate, communicate, communicate, show empathy, it will pay back. It the best and we can do, communicate until we annoy the hell out of ourselves. Jim, thank you for living your advice. A great ceor being to axios and thank you all for joining this Virtual Event. I would like to continue this conversation. I have two great newsletters every day. You can come right back into it to getn up at axios. Com my newsletters. And those of my colleagues. We would like to thank into it for making these great conversations about Small Business possible. Thank you to the axios event. Eam for todays doubleheader i will see you on axios. Com. Washington journal prime time, especially evening edition of washington journal, with a special response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our guests is a president of the anxiety and Depression Association of america, joining us to talk about covid19 and Mental Health in the u. S. For those directly and indirectly affected by the disease. Then, the head of the International HumanitarianGroup Partners in health, will be on to talk about the scope of the pandemic in developing nations. Program, danthe meuser talks about how the pandemic has been felt in his district. Join the conversation, tonight at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan has roundtheclock coverage of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. And it is all available on demand, at cspan. Org coronavirus. Watch white house briefings, updates from governors and state officials. Track to spread throughout the u. S. And the world with interactive maps. Watch on demand any time, unfiltered, at cspan. Org coronavirus. People want to give their editorial comments. I think this, i think this. Lets just start with the facts. Just the facts, maam, thats what we do. Joe friday, get to know