Gaining firsthand experience with a product she loved, Andreia Arruda worked as a "shakearista" before opening the doors to her own health shake business, Crossroads Nutrition. Arruda has plans for after coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted, including pop-up fitness classes and tables for dine-in seating.

With the challenge of working remotely, it's more important than ever to understand if your customers and employees are satisfied, writes Sumit Aneja, CEO of Voxco. To get a clear picture of your situation, take the time to listen to what's being said online, use key performance indicators for accurate reporting and keep feedback loops open.

This infographic from Grazitti Interactive displays a guide to creating effective buyer personas, offering advice on creating the right personas, why you should include negative personas and incorporating psychographics as well as demographics. The visual also covers humanizing personas and sample sizes.

Senior leaders can work directly with a struggling or overwhelmed manager, using daily or near-daily check-ins to offer support and uncover the key concerns or problems, writes Liz Kislik. Or, especially in larger organizations, executives can have managers and their teams share concerns and refocus on the mission with a short-term "operating plan that can be managed through a daily stand-up process," she writes.

Reflecting on the potential hazards of losing a core employee, Andrew Latham explains the types of insurance coverage available to small-business owners. "If you are the owner of a small business that depends on one or two key people, consider whether a life or disability life insurance policy is a good option," Latham advises.

Succession planning can ease the uncertainty of the many unknowns affecting businesses in 2020, writes Kendall Rawls. She explains the benefits of planning and describes the factors that go into it: feelings, family, finances and federal tax laws.

Strategies created before the pandemic need reevaluation to ensure they still fit with today's conditions and tomorrow's goals, writes Dave Coffaro. "By understanding if the right activities we're engaged in, and effectiveness of strategy execution, leaders can quickly adjust to change outcomes," he writes.

Bank officials say they are still waiting for a response from the Small Business Administration on applications for Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness they've submitted on behalf of clients. About 56,000 applications have been filed since the forgiveness portal opened on Aug. 10, according to the Government Accountability Office, while many borrowers are waiting to see whether Congress will authorize automatic forgiveness of loans less than $150,000.