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Monday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Coronavirus keeps declining as all of South Florida opens for business
The pace of new COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to slow in the state on Monday as all counties in Florida entered Phase 2 of restrictions designed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus virus. An additional 1,736 new cases were reported statewide, the lowest increase since June 10 when 1,371 were reported, according to the daily update from the Florida Department of Health. More from the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Small Business Advice
Survival guide for the retailer
Question: The talking heads seem to feel that the economy will bounce back once a vaccine is discovered for Covid-19. As a small retail operation how should I position myself to take full advantage of the eventual return to a possible new normal?
Answer: Your question is very timely. SCORE counselors, Steve Spiro and Doug Carleton have just recently produced the “Survival Guide for the Retailer in a Post-Covid 19 Economy.”
Read Gray Poehler's full column here.
With no help from Washington in sight, layoffs in Central Florida keep piling up
In the spring, as the new coronavirus began to spread throughout Central Florida, companies began shedding employees and Congress rushed in to provide some short-term relief. Not knowing how severe the outbreak would become and how long its grip on the tourism-dependent region would last, executives hoped things would go back to normal soon. But the layoffs haven’t stopped, and the calls to Congress for more help for the jobless and for the hotels, theme parks and other businesses that employed them have gone unanswered. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
COVID-19 is taking a ‘frightening’ toll on Miami-Dade’s arts and culture groups
For the Frost Museum of Science, the first of Miami-Dade’s major cultural institutions to reopen in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, a salvaged summer season was supposed to be something of a grace note in a lost year. It didn’t quite work out that way. When the museum opened in June, administrators were hoping to recapture enough summer traffic, usually the highest of the year, to steady its capsizing finances. But a resurgence of infections in July and August, strict capacity limits and many families’ continued reluctance to risk exposure — even with well-publicized safety protocols — kept ticket sales at just a quarter of the level of the summer before, CEO Frank Steslow said. More from the Miami Herald.
Sales and Marketing Advice
How to conquer the fear of selling and close more deals
When it comes to selling, most business owners and entrepreneurs feel anxious and unprepared. Anything that smacks of selling stresses them out. Yet, if you can’t sell, if you can’t persuade, you’ll struggle to grow your company. The good news is with a simple and effective step-by-step process to follow, you’ll spend less time selling and get better results with less stress. Read Ron Stein's full column here.
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Out of the Box
Florida city repeals 13-year ban on saggy pants
It was one of South Florida’s most unusual, constitutionally questionable laws: a ban on the wearing of “saggy pants” at city buildings and parks throughout Opa-locka, later expanded to include all public spaces. Now, after 13 years, the law will soon be no more. The Opa-locka City Commission voted Wednesday evening, 4-1, to repeal both the original 2007 legislation and a 2013 ordinance that said women, not just men, could receive civil citations for wearing pants that exposed their undergarments.
» More from the Miami Herald and the AP.
Business Profile
PODS founder develops new “fetchable storage” concept
When Pete Warhurst founded PODS in 1998, he hit on a portable-storage innovation that has since become commonplace. The Clearwater company was purchased for $451 million in 2007 by the investment firm Arcapita, which sold the company eight years later for more than $1 billion to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Warhurst now has come up with a concept he calls “fetchable storage” that’s available through a company he founded in Tampa called Red Rover.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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