U.S. direct lending activity is starting to see some signs of life, though volume remains depressed as borrowers and their private equity backers tread cautiously.

When starting a business, you may have the option to either go it alone or form a business partnership. Both options have advantages and disadvantages, and the best one for your business depends on your unique situation. We spoke with business owners and legal experts to map out what you should consider when evaluating a business partnership opportunity.

Working from home (WFH) has become a fixture in workforce policy and talent management. For those companies intending to make WFH permanent or semi-permanent, it may be helpful to modify recruiting and hiring practices for remote workers.

As businesses consider safely reopening, companies have been awakened to the possibilities of working from home on a larger scale. Necessity is the mother of invention, but moving the workplace to a home office setting permanently may introduce new challenges while solving others.

Market share is the percentage of total sales in an industry generated by a business or product. If you have a large market share, your business is likely pretty successful.

Economic uncertainty has increased for most middle market companies, with many owners weighing whether to sell their business. Even during this difficult time, some want to sell sooner rather than later, driven by concern about future prospects, the emergence of liquidity issues, or just because they’re ready to move on.

Take a deep breath: After weeks of enduring the pandemic’s economic challenges, middle-market leaders should take a step back to consider the transition to the new normal. Whether we see a dramatic reopening of business in May, as the president has suggested, or a later restart with a more gradual transition, this is the time to prepare.

The trend of community bank M&A will likely take a twist in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as new challenges will reveal additional vulnerable targets, FIG sector advisors said. However, deal activity may not pick up until the end of the year as banks will take time after the financial markets stabilize to assess loan book damage, they added.

Another day, another surprise for the economic forecasters: a record 6.6 million people filed for unemployment last week. Oxford Economics in an email called it an “incomprehensible jump” that may be “the new normal.”

Shrouded in uncertainty and panic, COVID-19 is an ominous “gray rhino event” which, while not unanticipated, was ignored, and has significant social and economic impacts. With industries in crisis, markets plunging, and doomsayers predicting an economic catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, what can a middle-market business do to survive?