Business

Nike Generates $3 Billion in Market Cap After Siding with Kaepernick

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Lately, we’ve seen a number of brands becoming increasingly political. While companies supporting or siding against political parties and politicians aren’t a new thing, never before has our country seen this type of social branding. It’s so strong that a single move, pulling a product from development, actually increased the market cap of that company.

Usually when a product gets pulled, there’s a potential impact to someone’s health or they simply discontinue making it in favor of something else. In this instance, one person spoke out and said a pair of shoes might be damaging to some people, as it represents a time of white supremacy and slavery.

The shoe was the Air Max 1 USA, which revealed the Betsy Ross 13-star flag. The flag itself was from the Revolutionary War, back when the U.S. only had 13 colonies (hence the 13 stars). The flag itself has no connection whatsoever to slavery and white supremacy and was made during a time when America wasn’t even a country.

It was May of 1776, several months before Independence would ring out. George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris asked Ross to make a national flag. Ross, who was a widow and worked hard to keep her upholstery business going, agreed. Each colony had their own flag, many of them similar to the British flag considering many colonists at that time still considered themselves English citizens living in America.

A Connection to Slavery?

Fast forward to 2019 and social awareness is all the rage. As America neared the 4^th of July holiday, 243 years since the Betsy Ross created her flag, Nike decided it would create a shoe that showcased the original Ross flag design, the circle emblem with 13 stars. Colin Kaepernick, Nike’s major sponsor and outspoken former NFL player, said Nike should get rid of that shoe because it brings us back to a time when there was slavery in America.

As a connoisseur in modern-day America, where having a social conscience is part of doing business, Nike agreed and immediately pulled the Ross flag shoe. It created a lot of controversy, just days before Independence Day. The right was especially infuriated, seeing this as an attempt to tear away all history, even if it doesn’t specifically relate to slavery at all.

While the move certainly could have backfired, it would seem as if it was the right financial move for Nike. They gained 2% bump in stock value, which equals around $3 billion in total market value. That means Nike is now worth $136.38 billion.

“What I’m beginning to learn about Nike,” Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank told TMZ Sports, “they know how to take controversy and blow it up into advertising.” O’Leary is right. When Nike first decided to sign Kaepernick, they saw an additional $43 million worth of additional media exposure as a result of their new ad with him as the new face of the company.

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Business , Real life

After a year of investigations and months of negotiations, the Federal Trade Commission has officially decided to punish Facebook for their multiple privacy violations. It was announced last Friday that the mega social media website will have to pay a $5 billion fine. This is the largest fine any company is ever received, but there’s a good reason for that.

The US tech industry does a lot for the US economy. It employs many thousands of people and helps to advance our country and civilization as a whole. For this reason, Facebook and many other companies in Silicon Valley have mostly been unregulated. There haven’t been too many rules set to help protect the privacy of hundreds of millions of Americans who use their websites.

While Silicon Valley is indeed unregulated for the most part, the US government has shared its intention of pushing back a bit. Some presidential candidates, like Senator Elizabeth Warren, I’ve talked about breaking up the major tech companies. They’re raking in billions of dollars while violating the trust and security of the American people.

While this FTC fine is the largest ever given to any company in the history of our country, it’s being done to set a precedent. It’s getting word to other social media websites that they better fix their privacy issues right now. If they don’t, that even larger fines may be levied in the very near future.

The Impact of Facebook

Full details of the fine and have been released as of yet. Neither Facebook nor the FTC has come out with any comments either. The Justice Department still has to get together and review the terms of the fine, so it isn’t 100% official just yet. There are still a lot of different questions that need to be answered regarding social media and the law that protects the privacy of its users.

The decision they’re trying to make is understanding whether Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg can be held personally liable if the company itself violates the privacy of its users. A lot of it has to do with Facebook’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election. The fight really began as a result of political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica obtain information from millions of people improperly.

The data was taken and sold without the knowledge of Facebook users. While some users did give their permission and voluntarily downloaded the app that collected personality information, it also collected the same information from their friends without permission. This led many to wonder exactly how much power Facebook has been whether they enforce any privacy policies that all.

The thing is, Facebook promised the FTC back in 2011 that it would never share data with any third-party companies without the consent of the users. They made this agreement with the FTC after it was found that Facebook was purposely deceiving the people about their own privacy practices

A Drop in the Bucket

While this is the largest fine ever levied against any company, many critics say it’s only a drop in the bucket for Facebook. In fact, they made over $15 billion worth of revenue in the last quarter alone. A $5 billion penalty is nothing to them it may feel as if Facebook can decide to continue violating user privacy.

If all that’s going to happen to them as they get a slap on the wrist, what rules do they really have to follow? Over 2 billion people across the world use Facebook, which generates many billions of dollars every year. Social media marketing is prevalent among many tens of thousands of businesses which uses Facebook for their own success.

“They can issue a really big fine, which is just a parking ticket,” Matt Stoller, a fellow at the anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute, recently told WIRED. “We don’t think a fine matters. We need a structural solution here.”

In a letter to the FTC in early May, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) argued that the FTC should “compel sweeping changes to end the social network’s pattern of misuse and abuse of personal data.”

“Personal responsibility must be recognized from the top of the corporate board down to the product development teams,” the letter read. “If the FTC finds that any Facebook executive knowingly broke the consent order or violated the law, it must name them in any further action.”

The reality is, the critics are right. $5 billion is nothing but a parking ticket; a drop in the bucket. If they really want these mega companies to protect the privacy and rights of the citizens, the government needs to institute a real change and comprehensive reform. A “small” fine like that does nothing to really push for change, but gives the illusion they’re actually doing something.

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Business

In today’s marketing world, convenience is king. As the digital world is taken over, it is impacted a lot of industries and businesses that couldn’t compete with the more convenient technological advantage. Look at Blockbuster and how it went out of business once Netflix found its way into the American home. Why go to the video store when you could stream thousands of movies and TV shows right from your couch?

Once Amazon became a staple, we found we can order everything that we want online, including some groceries. Ordering online has become so convenient, that saved us time and money from going to the physical store to buy gifts and other products. It looked as if Amazon can completely destroy the age of the department store at Sears and other major retailers have gone out of business.

In fact, Amazon was even giving Walmart a run for its money is the number one retailer in the country. But Walmart decided that it wasn’t going to accept defeat. They decided they were going to go back to the drawing board and find a way to out convenience Amazon. They revamped their website in a strategic way that brought them back into the fight.

Now, Walmart is leveraging their stores in a way that Amazon cannot. Walmart already has a network of stores in nearly every community in the country. If you do not find it convenient to walk into a Walmart and go grocery shopping, they’ll bring the groceries to you. The best part is, they’ll do everything for you.

Convenience Wins

Going grocery shopping can be so inconvenient. It takes time and energy to shop for an entire family. Most people would rather be doing something else with that time. But last Friday, Walmart announced that they would now be allowing customers to order their groceries online. Not only can they or their groceries online, but Walmart worker will literally drive to their home and deliver that food to their homes.

Not only will Walmart workers drive and deliver groceries, they will put your groceries away into your fridge and cabinet. Food and groceries make up approximately half of all of Walmart’s sales. By offering this service, they do something Amazon cannot do as they simply do not have the network to do it.

Walmart spent the last five months piloting this program in New Jersey to see if it would work. They now decided to expand it and to other cities across the country, like Pittsburgh and Kansas City. There is a small fee for making grocery deliveries, but it is unknown as of yet exactly how much we would have to pay for direct in-home delivery.

It gets even better. If you made a purchase from Walmart and need to make a return, you can leave that return on your counter in the Walmart employee will take it back to the store with them so that you can receive your refund. So, while the battle of convenience rages on, we all win!

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Business

Prime Day is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated sales days of the year. It’s almost kin to Black Friday, but it’s in the middle of the year instead of the end. And out of every other sales event Amazon has, the 2019 Prime Day was the biggest in the company’s history. There are at least two reports from experts who estimate that Amazon sold as much a $6 billion worth of goods over the extended Prime Day sale.

Of course, everyone loves a great deal. While Amazon sold more than $6 billion worth of goods, is also estimated that purchasers also saved about $1 billion by jumping right into these amazing deals. Amazon itself has said that this year’s Prime Day was “the largest shopping event in Amazon history.” They made it so by expanding the day an additional 12 hours, extending well into the July 15^th and 16^th.

Amazon says that they’ve sold over 175 million items over those two days. That 75 million more items to be sold last year. Among the top sellers for 2019 include a lot of Amazon-branded products, like the Kindle Fire, Echo Dot, Fire Stick, and many other devices that use their signature Alexa voice-enabled technology. It wasn’t just a boon for Amazon though. Third-party sellers who took part in Prime Day topped $2 billion in sales, up from $1.5 billion last year.

It’s important to note that Amazon does not list or disclose any final sales numbers. Rather, these numbers are based upon metrics and compiled by Wall Street analysts who give their best estimate based upon sales. Most of these estimates found that Amazon had topped all expectations they had for the event. Prime Day fans certainly took advantage of all the amazing deals. They bought everything from pressure cookers to TVs and mattresses.

Amazon’s Overall Numbers

Many analysts expected that Amazon would probably make close to $6 billion during Prime Day. This is about $2 billion higher than the sales last year, which is a lot of money in a good indication of how well the economy is doing. Were still many months away from Christmas, but it being July had no impact on stopping anyone from pulling out their credit card.

“Even before final sales estimates began rolling in, Prime Day 2019 was expected to be the biggest shopping event in Amazon’s history, surpassing Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the previous Prime Day,” CFRA analyst Camilla Yanushevsky wrote in a note last week.

“We believe Prime Day services three primary purposes for Amazon: (1) generating significant volume at a seasonally slow time of the year; (2) driving incremental Prime subscriptions; and (3) providing valuable free advertising,” Loop Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba wrote in a note Monday, prior to the end of Prime Day. “We think Prime Day will also provide an opportunity to highlight Amazon’s recent introduction of free one-day delivery for Prime members.”

Amazon released a statement about the addition of new Prime subscribers who wanted to take advantage of the event: “(we) welcomed more new Prime members on July 15 than on any previous day, and almost as many on July 16 – making these the two biggest days ever for member signups.”

“Overall, we believe Amazon’s Prime Day(s) shopping event achieved key goals of promoting the Prime membership program with fast delivery, as well as increasing penetration of Alexa-enabled voice and other smart home devices,” Baird’s Sebastian wrote in a note Wednesday.

Written by adminJuly 18, 2019

Business

Yesterday, we wrote an article that talked about how convenience is king. The company that can offer the best convenience is often going to win the sale. The article discussed how Walmart is moving to in-home grocery delivery, even to the point of putting your groceries away for you. This is a major convenience that most people could use in their busy lives.

There are other conveniences that we often take a lot of advantage of. One of those options is free two-day shipping when we make a purchase on Amazon or Walmart. We love that free two-day shipping because it means we get our package sooner. If it’s one thing we don’t like to do, it’s waiting for something we bought to arrive.

This is an advancement that continues to grow. Other companies are trying their best to catch up with Amazon by also offering free two-day shipping. Of course, with Amazon you are required to have a Prime subscription. As these other companies catch up, Amazon is forced to make some major decisions of their own. They need to stay ahead of the game any way they can.

That’s why in May, Amazon announced that they would soon be offering one-day and same-day delivery. It’s a race to see who can offer the most convenience to their customers by building the better network and getting packages to them the soonest. Walmart is following suit by also offering one-day free shipping. Target is also starting to do the same.

The Major Cost of Fast Shipping

While we certainly enjoy having this convenience at her disposal, and companies fighting for our attention makes life easier for us, there’s a major disadvantage to the environment that happens when we try to rush our purchases to our homes. This is a major cause that most people don’t even realize when I order something online. This is leaving companies to walk a fine line between giving customers what they want and being careful.

“The time in transit has a direct relationship to the environmental impact,” says Patrick Browne, director of global sustainability at UPS. “I don’t think the average consumer understands the environmental impact of having something tomorrow vs. two days from now. The more time you give me, the more efficient I can be.”

It was in 2017 when UPS found out that the e-commerce boom was forcing them to decrease the number of packages it will drop off per mile. Making deliveries is certainly more efficient we can pack more stuff into a single truck. But our demand for fast shipping forces more trucks on the road to better coordinate the different things that we buy.

Insufficient Routes

If you can imagine for a second how much it costs for you to order to products. Both of those products are completely different places. One may be much closer to you and the other clear across the country. It is in Amazon’s job to coordinate getting both of those products at the same time and within shipping parameter you chose.

This is very expensive for the shipper to do. We don’t often understand these costs because those costs aren’t being transferred to us. They’re offering free shipping as a means of keeping our business, which means we don’t have a true understanding of the full financial and environmental impact it truly has.

“There are some companies that can absorb the cost,” Jaller says. “One of them — it’s one of the largest ones — has been absorbing the logistic cost for a while. And it’s in the billions of dollars per year.” Of course, the company mentioned here is Amazon. They can eat the costs, still offer free shipping, but improving on that is going to require that they improve their infrastructure.

That’s exactly what Amazon is doing. At the same time that they’ve announced their free one-day shipping, they’ve also announced an $800 million investment into improving their logistics infrastructure. That means more trucks on the road, more fulfillment centers closer to population centers across the country, and even improving their drone delivery service.

Amazon’s Statement

When asked whether Amazon was harming the environment by offering free one-day shipping, they said no. In fact, they believe by improving their logistics and revamping their shipping process, they can give their customers what they want while at the same time protecting the environment. They made a statement about this.

“Prime Free One-Day is possible because we’ve been building our network for over 20 years,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “This allows Amazon to work smarter based on decades of process improvement and innovation, and to deliver orders faster and more efficiently.” And that is the ultimate goal. Fixing the problem so it doesn’t harm the environment.

There are a few other proposed solutions, including letting customers feel the full impact of their decision. If you want the fast shipping, having to brunt the cost of it will make more people choose differently. One option, as one of the largest retailers in Mexico tried, was revealing the environmental impact of their two-day shipping.

They had a green option available and the two-day, but the two-day showed how many trees would need to be cut down to fulfill their order. They found that 52% of people chose the green option when confronted with the impact of their decision. While it might work to some degree, convenience will continue to be king. But should we pass on the cost of this burden to customers? Would we be willing to give up convenience if it helped the environment?

“If they paid the true price of that delivery, they would ask themselves if they really needed it sooner,” says Goodchild. “I think that the fundamental idea of really paying for what it cost in terms of traffic congestion and emissions is something we don’t do right now. The more we did, the more balance there would be in what people are asking for and what people are willing to buy.”

Written by adminJuly 16, 2019

Business

As the head of your company, your job is valuable. You make all the creative decisions and take care of the day-to-day operations. But sometimes, you get a bit busy. Not only are you in charge of all the high-value stuff that keeps the wheels rolling, but there’s also administrative tasks that often get you behind.

If you find yourself too busy to take on all that tasks required, that can be a good thing. You’re growing. But it also means you need to hire someone to take on the extra burden so you can continue to head up doing what you love to do.

The only issue is, hiring a virtual assistant is like hiring any other employee. There are good ones and bad ones. When it’s good, a virtual assistant can be an incredible member of your team. When they’re bad, they can set you back in both time and money. So if you want to find a rock star virtual assistant, here are several tips that can lead to a successful hire.

1) Make sure you’re ready to hire someone.

A lot of virtual assistant disasters happen because the business owner wasn’t truly ready. They wanted some help, but had a lot of expectations for their new assistant to come in right away and know the job. If you can’t afford to take the time to properly train them, what exactly can they do? You’re handcuffing them to a few menial tasks. Have a good idea of what you want them to do. Take notes on your daily activities so you can easily decide what should be outsourced and what shouldn’t.

2) Have a training system in place.

It’s been proven that having a system in place makes businesses run more smoothly. Yes, you’ll have to take more time up front to develop that system, but once it’s in place, you’ll save time and money in the long run by having it. You create it once and hand it off to others to train in your stead.

3) Hire like you mean it.

The truth is, a virtual assistant might be one of the most important positions in your company. The sad thing is, you might run into a lot of bad ones. So don’t set aside ten minutes for a Skype call before hiring someone. If you were going to hire a big time web developer, do you give them a little attention before bringing them on board?

No. You’ll take the time, review their qualifications, see past work, among other things, to make sure you’re not wasting your money on a hack. And as I said, there are plenty of bad workers out there who will set you back and lose you money if you don’t take the hiring process seriously.

Hiring a virtual assistant can potentially be the most important position in your company. If you have someone else to take on the administrative jobs, it can potentially change everything, especially if you have more time to create and do what you do best. Take your time, do your research, develop a system, and hire the best virtual assistant you can find.

Written by adminJuly 11, 2019

Business

It’s been more than 10 years since the Great Recession, are the good times coming to an end?

We are in the longest bull run in the American economy since WW2. Historically it is only a matter of time before the market recedes. As the unemployment rate bottoms out at 4%, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke predicts the government’s current fiscal stimulus package will boost the current economy but might send us “off the cliff in 2020”.

Many investors today are unaware of alternative options for investment that are not ties to the stock market. These options should be considered as new additions to portfolios to stem the ebbs and flows of the broader economy.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Here are 5 strategies to consider when looking at putting your money elsewhere other than the stock market:

1) Rental and Seasonal Properties

The high costs of home ownership have led to a boom in people renting properties, so purchasing a second property can be a great way to boost your finances.

Rental investments can be a quick way to generate returns. The downside will be having to be a landlord and handle maintenance and tenants, but there are property managers for that.

It’s also a good way to build equity especially if you’re in a market that has a high demand for rentals and vacation properties. You would also have to set up your own payback model to recoup your investment.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: High
Investment required: Moderate ($20,000 to $100,000)
How: Self-research

2) Commercial Property

The approach to this is similar to that of rental properties, but in this case, you are buying into properties like a strip mall or a one-two star hotel. The initial investment is steep, and there will be the issue of screening potential partners for reliability and expertise.

But the potential returns mitigate the risks, as you are looking at a 6% to 12% return based off your initial investment of time and capital as compared to the 1% to 4% return on the single family home.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: Moderate
Investment required: High ($250,000+)
How: Self-research

3) Franchise chain

Consider investing in a single franchise or a few successful chains, like a Subway. The franchise investment could earn you a 15% to 15% return on investment if the growth trends continue the way they have been for the past year.

To get started on this, sign up for a franchising trade show. The potential drawback is that for your investment to be worthwhile, you may have to purchase more than one franchise, which means a larger initial investment and additional time spent finding the right partners.

Set-up: Difficult
Time commitment: Moderate to high (if self-run)
Investment required: High ($50,000 to $1 million)
How: Self-research

4) Peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding

These online platforms enable borrowers to connect with a wide range of lenders including yourself instead of having to rely on banks for financing. The borrowers are usually individuals or small businesses. generating a return of 8% to 12% on average.

By industry expert estimates, the industry is rapidly expanding. Most platforms focus on consumer lending, and you have to keep up to date with credit cycles and interest rate fluctuations.

Set-up: Easy
Time commitment: Short
Investment Required: Low ($5000+)
How: Online platform

5) Alternative Lending

If you’re looking for an easy investment that requires less time and energy spent, look no further than specialty finance products. Examples such as real estate, commercial loans and even certain legal settlements can yield upwards of 8% to 20% returns.

In the past, these investments were reserved for investors with ultra-high net worth and large banks. Nowadays, platforms like YieldStreet offer investment opportunities to retail investors in real estate, litigation financing and consumer lending.

Set-up: Easy
Time commitment: Short
Investment required: Low ($5000+)
How: Online platform

Start Today

There are many diverse options that exist outside the stock market for the savvy investor to get into. The only obstacle is to learn about them in online marketplaces and then start immediately.

If you would still like to talk to a professional the Financial Helpers are always ready to assist you.

Call Now 844-332-2079

Written by adminJuly 8, 2019

Business

For the past few years, it would seem as if Amazon got all the great press. Every holiday season, they took a larger chunk out of the pockets of retail stores. They were winning the war and forcing several big names to decide to close their doors for good.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, wasn’t going to sit back and let it happen. They saw their own profits start to dwindle and decided to jump in the online market to compete. And compete they did!

One retail expert was quoted by Fox Business as saying that Walmart has finally put an end to Amazon’s dominance. Not just by revamping their ecommerce, but also through updating their stores.

We’ve previously reported that one of the main reasons why Amazon was able to put Toys ‘R Us out of business was because they weren’t able to catch up. Their stores were outdated and they had no online game. Walmart read the signs and decided to do something about it.

At the end of the day, Walmart has lower prices. When you can do the same thing as your competitors, but do it cheaper, you’re going to win. Simple as that.

Putting a heavy emphasis on its newer, better website, Walmart was able to bump sales up 33% in the first quarter of this year. They also acquired other online retailers, such as Jet.com and Flipkart, to help increase their visibility in countries like India.

It’s not just online sales that have been bolstered. Reports reveal that more Americans have been flocking to the stores with in-store sales rising 2.6% as well. According to Burt Flickinger, managing director at Strategic Resource Group, it’s all about American Patriotism. Walmart knows its customer base and is winning them over.

It’s All About Patriotism

“They are winning on patriotism. You’ve never seen so much patriotism in terms of action alley. There are U.S. flags on every shelf, every merchandising aisle. It stimulates pride and people. They are buying more and Walmart is laying waste to the rest of U.S. retail,” he said.

“Walmart is going to beat Amazon on land and with Flipkart and with Jet, Walmart’s going to start winning even more online.”

It remains to be seen how this will all play out. It was all but a sure thing that Amazon would eventually edge out all competitors and take the number one retail spot, but defeating Walmart won’t be that easy.

Now with Amazon raising the prices of Prime as much as 20%, even after recording record-high profits, it might just be enough to get people off the computer and back into brick-and-mortar…especially if the prices are right.

As we come off the July 4th holiday, you’d think of the fireworks, parades, and BBQs, but Walmart is also a part of that small-town community charm while Amazon is still just a website. Maybe there’s room for both to fight head-to-head, but Walmart certainly has come back from behind.

Written by adminJuly 2, 2019

Business

As baby boomers inch closer to retirement, and Gen Z starting to find work, we can get a good look at how the trends are changing in the workplace. Right now, there are 5 different generations, each with a unique culture and drive. Watching these new patterns emerge will give us a good glimpse at what to expect for future generations.

A lot of these new trends involve a growing number of people who work from home. They’re working longer than ever before, delaying retirement, and leaving office jobs behind entirely. The advancement of the internet has allowed for more possibilities at home. Let’s take a look at the 5 current workplace trends of 2019.

1) We’re Less Loyal to Our Employers

According to new data from salary.com, the employee turnover rate in America was higher than it’s ever been. The number, currently at 19.3%, has been growing in the past few years. Korn Ferry did a survey of businesses and found that most of those surveyed (93%) stated their biggest problem was retaining new hires.

This is a big deal. Companies will spend millions looking for and training new talent. Having a high turnover rate costs a lot of money, so more companies are improving their salary and benefit packages to attract and keep workers. The problem is, the economy is doing really well job wise currently. That means people are less afraid to quit if they’re not happy where they work.

“Competitive benefits and salaries are table stakes to attract top talent, but creating an environment where employees are given interesting work and recognized for their efforts will give them a reason to stay,” says Korn Ferry VP Neil Griffiths. “Unhappy employees will not go above and beyond the basic requirements of their job, even if they are well paid.”

2) More People Are Working Remotely

According to CareerBuilder, at least 70% of employees around the world spend at least one day per week working remotely. 53% work away from the office at least half of the week. A lot of companies are learning they can save money and make their employees happy by allowing for a mobile workforce. As a result, they experience a boost in productivity and growth.

“People from Seattle to Singapore, London to Lagos no longer need to spend so much time in a particular office,” says IWG CEO Max Dixon. “We are entering the era of the mobile workforce and it is hugely exciting. Not just for individual employees, but for businesses too,” said Max Dixon, CEO of International Workplace Group.

3) Job Markets are Becoming Increasingly Competitive

As stated previously, it costs companies money to hire and retain happy workers. In order to bring in the right talent, companies need to ensure they are as competitive as their competitors. Even now, as the unemployment rate drops to historic levels, companies are fighting over a worker shortage.

4) Americans are Working Longer

One of the strongest trends we’ve seen are people who are pushing off retirement. Many workers feel as if they haven’t saved enough. MarketWatch has stated that this isn’t a new trend. The number of people pushing off retirement has grown since the ‘80s. Employers allow it so they can retain some workers.

We’re living longer and are healthier once we reach that age. 80% of employers are supportive of their employees working past retirement age if they feel they need to. 72% say they believe their workers will stay on past the age of 65, especially as programs like social security begin to fade away and insurance becomes more expensive.

“People are living longer than in any other time in history, which is putting a strain on Social Security and intensifying shortfalls in personal retirement savings,” says Catherine Collinson, president of TCRS. “Therefore, many workers envision working past traditional retirement age. However, their ability to do so is highly dependent on the support of their employers.”

5) Dress Codes are Changing

A study done by OfficeTeam found that half of the managers they spoke with said employees are wearing less formal attire than they previously did. In another bid to improve employee satisfaction, bosses are easing up their dress code a bit. A comfortable worker is a happy worker and they’ll be less inclined to leave. 31% of workers said they’d rather work for a company that has a more casual dress code or no dress code at all.

“Employees should take their cues from company guidelines and what others in the office are wearing. Some industries, for example, are more formal than others,” says Brandi Britton, a district president for OfficeTeam. “A casual dress code doesn’t mean that anything goes. Staff should always look professional and project an image that reflects positively on the business.”

Written by adminJuly 2, 2019

Business

Summer can be a rough time of year for some smaller businesses. It really depends on location and whether you have a large tourist population. If you don’t, then summer can be a struggle. School is out and for several months, a normal schedule doesn’t exist. Families leave for vacation, trips to the beach, or go to camp.

Because the normal schedule is disrupted, it can slow down a small business who is already trying to grow. You don’t have to take this slowdown laying down, either. There are things you can do to improve your business while preparing for the rest of the year. Here are 3 things small businesses can do to overcome the summer slowdown:

1) Slow Times Aren’t Necessarily Bad

If you have times of the year when you’re really busy, having a slower season isn’t necessarily bad. It gives you, your employees, and the business as a whole time to catch your breath. Catch up on inventory. Do some upgrades to the building. You have the time to learn new ways to revamp your marketing. Convince your staff to use their vacation time during these months.

By using this time to prepare, you’re rested and ready to go for when the busy season kicks into gear. The last thing you want to do is go into it unprepared. So, lean into this time and take advantage of the opportunity.

2) Look at New and Innovative Marketing Techniques

There are plenty of ways to boost business during the summer months. If you run a restaurant, consider buying a food truck, having outside events, or sponsoring a catered party. Look for new ways to expand your horizons a bit. Reach out in new and fun ways. You can even change your business model slightly.

One great way to expand business during the summer is to promote summer events. Do promotions that draw large crowds. Buy a smoke pit and have a BBQ. Put together a weekend or sidewalk sale. Whatever it is you chose to do, draw your audience to you and build brand awareness.

3) Fill Seasonal Needs

There are a lot of businesses that cater to the needs of the people during different seasons. For example, you’ll have a landscaping company that mows lawns and does landscaping in the spring and summer also remove snow in the winter. They have figured out how to relevant all year long to serve the people of their community.

If you suffer a severe shortage of customers during the summer, find a way to stay open. Do something else. Change up your business model. This is a great time to get creative and make extra money rather than just closing shop until it gets busy again. It might even help to talk with your employees about ideas they may have.

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