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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2020/04/03/virtual-cooking-classes-can-enhance-your-homebound-experience/?sh=3e4870606a2e
Top Online Cooking Classes During Your Homebound Experience
Top Online Cooking Classes During Your Homebound Experience Virtual cooking classes can help you master new culinary techniques. America's Test Kitchen You can make the most out of your homebound experience by learning new skills in the kitchen. Top chefs from around the world are now offering virtual cooking classes designed to enhance your existing culinary skills, or to help you develop kitchen skills that you never knew you had in the first place. No matter your culinary experience, you can find a class that can make your time at home a much more enjoyable experience. Here are some of the best online cooking classes. ckbk is often compared to Spotify for Cookbooks. ckbk ckbk ckbk is a digital subscription service bringing together hundreds of the world's great cookbooks, including more than 85,000 recipes. It is often compared to Spotify for Cookbooks. ckbk's digital collection of tried and tested cookbooks is the perfect antidote to sometimes unreliable internet recipes, and they have seen huge growth in usage in recent weeks. Sourdough bread has rapidly gone from cult to mainstream, and they have authoritative works for beginning bakers and experts alike. They're also seeing an interest in comfort food classics. There are professional titles from the Culinary Institute of America, and reference content including On Food and Cooking. To support the needs of home cooks, ckbk has launched We Can Cook Through This - an initiative offering 30 days free and unlimited access to ckbk with no strings attached. America's Test Kitchen offers a free two week online trial. America's Test Kitchen America’s Test Kitchen’s Online Cooking School MORE FOR YOUIs The Covid-19 Vaccine Mandatory For Travel?Italy Introduces Covid-Free Islands To Save Summer TourismHawaii’s Vaccine Passport Is Slated To Roll Out By Summer The highly acclaimed America’s Test Kitchen offers 200 videos of their on-air talent such as Bridget Lancaster as well as over 5,000 photos. You can choose to personalize lessons and track progress and learn one-on-one with an expert instructor to receive guidance and feedback or you can work on your own. Their "Ask the Instructor" feature enables members to send a private message to instructors. Through the Test Kitchen’s unique instructional approach, you’ll learn the hows and whys behind innovative techniques and classic recipes, all broken down step-by-step. The chefs offer recipe lessons, technique lessons and cooking basics. These classes can be broken down by level of difficulty, ingredient type and recipe type. The catalog ranges from braising, weeknight meals to weekend projects. They have a 14-day free trial membership which will provide complete access to the online cooking school. Chef Ted Fondulas brings a wealth of experience to the courses. The Chef & The Dish The Chef & The Dish Since 2016, The Chef & The Dish has been offering private, one-to-one cooking classes with chefs around the world, all through video conference.  With top chefs based in Italy, Spain, Thailand, Singapore Brazil, New Orleans and more, you get private coaching, personalized tips, and share stories as you whip up an amazing meal together. Make pasta with a chef watching and coaching you from Italy, or Pad Thai with a chef sharing stories from Thailand. Chef Ted Fondulas started his restaurant career at the age of five frying baloney and cooking minute rice on the radiator. He and his wife, Linda, opened Hemingway’s Restaurant in Killington, Vermont which eventually received critical acclaim. He is host to New England inspired cooking classes. The Chef & The Dish is more than just a cooking class. It’s virtual travel. In these classes you’ll make a new friend on the other side of the world. A Rouxbe Raspberry Smoothie Bowl is an online favorite. Rouxbe Rouxbe According to Ken Rubin, Chief Culinary Officer, the goal of Rouxbe is to teach people of all abilities to become more comfortable and cook the foods that they want to eat and should eat. The online programs use intuitive learning technology, premium culinary video content and support from leading chef educators to teach skills and help you overcome obstacles. Rouxbe is focused on foundational culinary and next-generation techniques versus recipes with the goal of actually teaching you to cook versus teaching you to follow a recipe. The videos and instructional content build upon each other so the user has a good base before going to the next lesson. Students are assessed and given feedback from Rouxbe’s leading chef educators who are readily available to assist students via the online interface. Rouxbe is designed in a flexible way that allows individuals to learn at their own pace, at any time and from any device. The Happy Cook introduces students to a variety of recipes. Happy Cook The Happy Cook The Happy Cook offers a variety of real time cooking classes via streaming that range from hands-on to demonstrations to cookbook discussions. Acclaimed chefs from some of the top restaurants in Charlottesville, Virginia, along with popular authors and celebrity chefs, cover such topics as ethnic cooking, technical classes and baking. Learn how to make authentic Empanadas with Chef Soledad Liendo. The menu features Argentinian beef empanadas, cream of spinach empanadas, mini corn and cheese empanadas. Or try your hand at Classic Potato Gnocchi with Spring Pesto with Chef Ian Redshaw, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. The menus consists of Ricotta Gnudi (delicate ricotta gnocchi) served with Cavalo Nero, Pecorino and Poppy Seed. What's In Your Fridge? is a new Fest class. Fest Fēst Doing its part to help those in need, Fēst is donating 100% of each class profits to the Food Bank of New York City. The website is a virtual resource to equip you to become a great home cook, and is a collective of chefs, bakers, pastry makers and sommeliers who teach guided, live video classes. Chefs can video call their customers and guide the customer from pulling any tools/ingredients out, all the way until the dish is plated. It's a fun, fool-proof way to cook. The customer doesn't have to be alone in their kitchen, the more hands to help prep and cook, the merrier. They do not offer any cooking or demos, instead they're focused on helping you to improve your culinary techniques and to troubleshoot if cooking adjustments need to be made. They've launched a new class "What's In Your Fridge?" Customers can email a photo of the ingredients they have and chefs will come up with the recipe for class ahead of time. Tolosa Poletti Vineyard is part of the online experience. Tolosa Winery Virtual Wine Tasting at Tolosa Winery Tolosa Winery will be launching virtual tastings via social media and on their website. They will be selling tasting kits to include: wine, tasting notes and tech sheets. They plan to offer these kits to local hotels as well, so their guests can enjoy a piece of local wine country in the comfort of their hotel room. Tolosa Winemaker Frederic Delivert is working with the Estate Hosts to create a virtual winemaker-guided tasting that can be accessed from the comfort of your own home. Rosewood Inn offers a cooking lesson titled Anasazi Recipes. Rosewood Inn Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi Executive Chef Peter O’Brien at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi has created a mini Instagram TV episode with a cooking lesson titled “Anasazi Recipes.” Viewers can follow along as Chef O’Brien prepares The Anasazi Restaurant’s signature dishes. He prepares dishes that make people feel good and have a taste of Santa Fe. Follow along on Instagram @rosewoodinnoftheanasazi as he demonstrates how to make the Talus Wind Ranch Pork Osso Bucco.
027955b1dbd5a5ce64bf6698537ef99f
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2020/09/03/will-there-be-a-ski-season-this-winter/?utm_campaign=TopLine%20Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=2&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_W5XGakCyUgr_YjsnpJIWHToBPIRSvXIqD3r6RRUvVmWJhwtwxx37jx_s2A_CmOH5r0a5UB_SyB8lpATdQisucEG6a-A&utm_content=2&utm_source=hs_email
Will There Be A Ski Season This Winter?
Will There Be A Ski Season This Winter? Skiing is an ideal activity for social distancing. Vail Resorts Ski and snowboard enthusiasts throughout the country seem to have one thing on their minds these days. Will there be a ski season this winter? After all, the uncertainty that has plagued the country over the last six months can surely spill over into the winter months. For the millions of ardent skiers and boarders, the possibility of not being able to enjoy their sport is a hard pill to swallow, and ski resorts have been flooded with calls and emails wondering what their status will be come November, often the opening day for many ski areas. According to ski officials the answer – although it comes with several disclaimers – appears to be, “Yes, there will be a ski season this winter.” Obviously no one can predict what will happen several months from now, but ski resorts are cautiously optimistic that they will open as planned, albeit with a whole new set of guidelines in place. Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts Andrew Maguire Photo LLC Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, says, “It goes without saying that operations at our 34 North American resorts will abide by all local regulations, but for us, that’s just where safety begins. Since the beginning of this crisis, we have made a commitment to all of our stakeholders that we will operate in a way that puts safety first and uses the insights we have gleaned from operating so many resorts around the world. This often means choosing to go above and beyond what is required in order to do our very best to provide you peace of mind.” You can read his full statement here. Vail offers a sense of tranquility and solitude. Tomas Cohen MORE FOR YOUPhotos: Egypt’s 3,400-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’ Is Unearthed From Desert SandsU.K./U.S. Travel: Carriers Push For Air Bridge To Resume In May Due To Vaccination SuccessIsrael To Open International Travel To Vaccinated Tourists In May The 34 resorts are focusing on three things this season: the safety of their guests, employees and community; having a successful season start to finish; and prioritizing pass holders. “It has been our goal to design an approach that can remain in place for all of the 2020/21 season,” says Katz. “We do not want to be caught off guard or find ourselves needing to make reactionary changes. Striving for consistency will provide our guests, employees and communities with as much predictability as possible this season, which we believe is worth the extra effort.” Key changes outlined in the plan include: Guests will be required to wear face coverings to get on the mountain and in all parts of resort operations, including in lift lines and riding in lifts and gondolas. To maintain physical distancing on chairlifts and gondolas, they will only be seating related parties (guests skiing or riding together) or: two singles on opposite sides of a four-person lift; two singles or two doubles on opposite sides of a six-person lift; or two singles on opposite sides of our larger gondola cabins. Ski and ride school will be offered and on-mountain dining will be open, but with changes to help keep guests safe. The mountain access will be managed to ensure guests have the space they need. As such, the Company announced a mountain access reservation system and limits on lift tickets to prioritize its pass holders. “For the vast majority of days during the season, we believe everyone who wants to get on our mountains will be able to. However, we are not planning for the majority of days, we are planning for every day of the season,” said Katz. “We want to provide assurance to our guests that we will do our very best to minimize crowds at all times – be it a holiday weekend or the unpredictable powder day. We believe this approach will help ensure a safe experience for everyone, while prioritizing access for our pass holders.” Details on the pass holder reservation system can be found here. Deer Valley offers an abundance of wide open spaces for skiers. Deer Valley Resort Deer Valley, Utah, plans to open on December 5 for the coming 2020-21 winter season. The operations teams are busy developing plans with the primary goal of helping to keep guests and staff safe. The Adventure Assurance Program enables all 2020-21 Deer Valley Season Pass products to be bought with confidence as eligible 2020-21 pass holders will be able to defer the use of their unused pass and elect to exchange it for a credit of the purchase price paid to be applied toward their purchase of any single 2021-22 Deer Valley winter Season Pass product. Additionally, if Deer Valley is unable to operate the pass holder will receive a proportional credit towards the purchase of a 2021-22 Deer Valley Season Pass. Sun Valley captures brilliant sunshine throughout the year. Sun Valley Resort Sun Valley Resort, Idaho, plans to open as scheduled this upcoming 2020/21 Winter Season. “The health and safety of our employees, guests and community remain paramount,” explains Bridget Higgins, Director of Marketing & Public Relations. “We are following guidance and scientific expertise from the CDC, Idaho Department of Health and Blaine County Health Department to help amend winter operations to allow for a safe ski experience.” The resort is currently working through their winter operations protocols, following the guidance from the CDC, Idaho Department of Health and Blaine Country Health Department. Sun Valley Resort has implemented new protocols and procedures to their summer operations, and they are taking learnings from those departments to help adjust winter operations. Higgins says, “We are committed to following all state and local health orders and will continue to adjust our operations and safety protocols as needed. The health and safety of our employees, guests and community are paramount.” Sun Valley Resort will open 380 acres of new terrain and a brand new high-speed quad chairlift this winter which will allow for more skiing and social distancing while skiing on Bald Mountain. You can learn more here. Shredding the powder at Taos. Taos Ski Valley Taos Ski Area, New Mexico, is planning for skiing and riding this winter, and is working closely with industry peers, local state and county officials, health leaders, and local residents to create a winter plan, including season pass and package options that offer value and choices, even in these uncertain times.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2020/12/02/solo-female-travel-survey-seeks-10000-responses/
Solo Female Travel Survey Seeks 10,000 Responses
Solo Female Travel Survey Seeks 10,000 Responses Mar Pages at Mount Everest Base Camp. Solo Female Travelers Two female travel companies, Solo Female Travelers and SheFari, have partnered to launch the largest-scale global survey ever conducted for the solo female travel niche. The brands have created two online questionnaires: one for women who have traveled solo, and one for those who have not, which will be open to global participants until Dec. 9, 2020. The goal is to collect 10,000 responses. “The purpose of the survey is to give a voice to women who travel on their own – or wish to – while identifying top preferences, interests, fears, and motivations surrounding solo travel,” explains Mar Pages, co-founder, along with Meg Jerrard, of Solo Female Travelers. “Despite women booking over 80 percent of travel and a growing interest in solo travel, little comprehensive research has been done on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors.” She adds, “The survey results and insights will be shared publicly in an effort to inform, advise and help shape the travel industry’s products and services to better reflect the solo female travel consumer.” Pages has visited over 115 countries during her travels. Solo Female Travelers Solo Female Travelers is one of the first global communities of women who travel solo and counts over 72,000 solo female travelers from all over the world. In building the community the founders envisioned a space which would thrive on a diverse range of world views, perceptions, and opinions, and have achieved a supportive and empowering space where women can come for inspiration, travel advice and safety tips, and to robustly discuss current issues, share stories, experiences and connect with other female travelers. MORE FOR YOUPhotos: Egypt’s 3,400-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’ Is Unearthed From Desert SandsA Flight Just Set A Record For Positive Covid-19 Cases — Here’s Why That Will Not Happen In The U.S.Harry Potter New York Slated To Open On June 3 SheFari connects women through transformative journeys, from unique retreats to unforgettable group adventures. Ideal for solo travelers, SheFari trips offer a variety of activities and styles created for intrepid women. Pages is a former telecommunications strategy consultant and ex-Googler turned online entrepreneur. After 15 years in the corporate world, she founded Once in a Lifetime Journey, a luxury and out of the ordinary travel portal that specializes in exclusive hotels, unique destinations and the least visited countries. She also advises travel businesses on social, influencer and digital marketing campaigns, bridging the gap between brands and content creators. She is a long term expat from Barcelona currently residing in Singapore. She has visited over 115 and is on a quest to travel to them all. Jerrard travels to undiscovered corners of the globe. Solo Female Travelers Jerrard is an Australian journalist, founder and editor of Mapping Megan, a niche adventure travel blog with a focus on cultural immersion, authentic discovery and incredible journeys. She visits off-the-beaten-path destinations to cover corners of the globe which still remain relatively undiscovered. Having visited over 50 countries across all seven continents, she has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about what the world has to offer. For more information on how to circulate the survey or to guarantee your receipt of the results, reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] Co-founder Meg Jerrard in Antarctica. Solo Female Travelers
3f358ee2520dd72b94a84218a5e328cd
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2020/12/03/discover-the-alluring-holiday-spirit-of-greenville-south-carolina/?sh=47dfc40559cb
Discover The Alluring Holiday Spirit Of Greenville, South Carolina
Discover The Alluring Holiday Spirit Of Greenville, South Carolina The Festival of Trees is an annual holiday tradition. VisitGreenvilleSC Although most people associate the December holiday with season snow-covered landscapes, sleigh rides and decorated snowmen in front yards, towns throughout the south never fail to offer up their own version of festive holiday activities. Perhaps most notable is Greenville, South Carolina. Reminiscent of a Hallmark movie, Greenville goes all out for the holidays with tree-lined sidewalks that twinkle with Christmas lights, Santa’s motorized sleigh glides down Main Street with an elf in tow, and ice skaters enjoying an outdoor rink that's a mini replica of Rockefeller Center. What’s more, Christmas carolers harmonize throughout the streets as dozens of giant trees are dressed for the annual Festival of Trees competition throughout town. While this year may look different from former festivities, there will be no shortage of holiday cheer in Greenville with unique shopping opportunities at shops like OP Taylors Toy store, Poppington's and the Greenville Soy Candle Company. With an average December temperature of 55 degrees, visitors will enjoy the outdoor holiday festivities, Christmas Pop-Up Shops and Christmas Essentials Market. There’s no shortage of holiday activities throughout Greenville. VisitGreenvilleSC Ice on Main, which runs through Jan. 31, will be made to limit capacity with date-specific, timed entries at the ice rink and enhanced health and safety guidelines, while the Main Street Essential Market – Holiday Edition – will be held Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec.12. Shop fresh and local essential grocery items while still maintaining health and safety guidelines. Market vendors will feature seasonal produce, specialty items such as honey, fresh pressed juices, pasta/salsa, along with festive handmade crafts, holiday baskets and more. Based on the classic holiday movie, The Upcountry History Museum will host White Christmas: The Exhibition, a 2,000 square-foot exhibit featuring original White Christmas film costumes props, sheet music, cast member’s personal memorabilia, archival materials and replica backdrops. MORE FOR YOUSaudi Crown Prince MBS Pressed The Louvre To Lie About His Fake Leonardo Da Vinci, Per New DocumentaryWhy Vaccine Passports Would Be More Popular If We Just Called Them Something ElseItaly Introduces Covid-Free Islands To Save Summer Tourism Don’t miss the Very Merry Local Christmas Market in Travelers Rest, only minutes from Greenville, where bows of evergreen drip from the eves, and hot cocoa, hot cider and delicious food truck fare are waiting to be sampled. Carols carry in the brisk air, soft wool encircles a whirring spinning wheel, and once again you will be reminded of the timeless rhythm of the season. Be sure to bring the little ones along as Santa will be making an appearance. The 35th annual Festival of Trees will feature decorated trees lining the entrance way of three hotels in downtown Greenville, giving visitors and community members the chance to experience the magic of the holidays. View trees through December at Courtyard Marriott Downtown, Embassy Suites by Hilton - Riverplace, and Hyatt Regency. Greenville is one of the south’s most festive holiday cities. VisitGreenvilleSC Greenville Poinsettia Postcards feature more than three dozen eight-foot tall seasonal outdoor greeting cards all over Main Street Plaza decorated by local students and non-profits. Other holiday events include a Virtual Christmas Tree and Plaza Lighting, a Main Street Window Decorating Contest where shops and restaurants get into the holiday spirit by decorating their windows for the season. Count down with Mayor White at the Night of Lights on Dec. 4 as officials light the Greenville Christmas tree and surrounding plaza décor. On Dec. 5 Santa will visit Chimney Rock State Park, a rock climbing attraction, to train for his big night of deliveries. There’s no way Santa could make it down so many chimneys without practice. What better place to prepare and stay in shape than on one of the world’s largest chimneys at Chimney Rock State Park? This performance is socially distanced with seats groups of four. VisitGreenvilleSC Celebrate the holidays Dec. 18-20 with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Hosted by local television personality Megan Heidlberg, the annual “Holiday at Peace” program will feature special guests including Greenville native and superstar soprano Karen Parks and all your yuletide favorites. The International Ballet on Dec. 20 for the 2020 Nutcracker Tea Party will look a bit different this year. Your ticket will be in the form of a gift box packed with all the goodies you'll need to be a guest and celebrate with them virtually. Juniper is surrounded by the city’s downtown skyline. AC Hotel Greenville Visitors to Greenville next year will be able to enjoy Juniper. Set to debut in early 2021 on top of forthcoming AC Hotel Greenville, the rooftop restaurant and venue will be a destination for drinks and dining, and will offer multiple high-energy zones, handcrafted cocktails and unparalleled views of downtown Greenville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. From its historic location and distinct menu, to the thoughtful design and local artwork, Juniper will celebrate and pay homage to Greenville. Surrounded by the city’s downtown skyline and the splendor of the Blue Ridge Mountains and serving inventive cocktails in a contemporary and spacious setting, Juniper promises an experience completely unique to the Upstate. Celebrate the holiday season southern style in Greenville. VisitGreenvilleSC
d271bdbb63491be6a97a91a2f206f033
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2021/01/23/this-years-most-highly-anticipated-hotel-openings/?sh=7f6ca9ea7fee
This Year’s Most Highly Anticipated Hotel Openings
This Year’s Most Highly Anticipated Hotel Openings The scheduled opening of Margaritaville Resort Times Square is spring. Margaritaville Resort Times Square Despite challenges never faced before by the hospitality industry, new hotels will be opening throughout the world this year in anticipation of a pent-up desire to travel. Here are some of the world’s most exciting hotel openings. The eco-certified resort features wellness treatments and nature experiences. Club Med Seychelles Club Med Seychelles, Republic of Seychelles The private island of Sainte Anne in the Republic of Seychelles will see their very first resort in February. Nestled along the preserved Marine National Park, Club Med Seychelles will be the newest Exclusive Collection resort from Club Med, the pioneer of the all-inclusive concept, with luxurious accommodations matched with high-touch, personalized service as guests explore the virtually untouched destination through glass-bottomed kayak rides, snorkeling experiences and locally-inspired cuisine. The eco-certified resort will also feature a wide range of wellness treatments and will offer nature experiences like marine conservation and turtle nesting. Palacio Provincial offers a pristine setting with scenic vistas. Palacio Provincial MORE FOR YOUThe Promise Of International Travel: April EU Travel Restrictions, Covid-19 Test Requirements, Quarantine By CountryPhotos: Egypt’s 3,400-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’ Is Unearthed From Desert SandsHawaii Travel Restrictions Have Been Updated Palacio Provincial, San Juan, Puerto Rico Palacio Provincial is a new posh property that offers travelers an ultra-stylish home base for discovering the rich traditions of Old San Juan. The hotel features 43 guest rooms and suites, all with a modern approach to technology, comfort and indulgence. Providing views of Old San Juan and San Juan Bay, hotel guests can soak up the Puerto Rican sunshine with lite bites and hand-crafted cocktails on the property’s rooftop pool and terrace space. Other on-site amenities include a unique open-air dining concept and beautiful, intimate event spaces for small group gatherings or weddings. The resort will be committed to locally inspired programming. Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas, San Diego, California Located in one of Southern California’s most iconic coastal towns, Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas will deliver authentic experiences in a beachfront setting. Defining barefoot luxury, the resort will feature 130 coastal and garden view rooms and suites. The resort will be committed to locally inspired programming and also feature an oceanfront pool, signature restaurant showcasing the finest sustainably sourced ingredients, more than 28,500 square feet of expansive, distinctive indoor-outdoor meetings and event spaces, and Spa Alila, a world-class spa and wellness experience that will infuse the ocean’s healing attributes. Chef Wolfgang Puck will oversee food and beverage concepts. Pendry West Hollywood Pendry West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California Located at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Olive Drive in the center of iconic Sunset Strip, Pendry West Hollywood will feature 149 luxury guest rooms and 40 Pendry Residences by Montage Hotels & Resorts. Guests and residence owners will have exclusive access to hotel amenities, including multiple food and beverage concepts driven by world-renowned Chef Wolfgang Puck, a rooftop pool and bar, a screening room, bowling alley, Spa Pendry and fitness center, as well as a curated art collection. The Cloudveil will draw upon the town’s signature Western style. The Cloudveil The Cloudveil, an Autograph Collection Hotel, Jackson Hole, Wyoming Set to open this spring as the only hotel on Jackson’s historic Town Square, The Cloudveil will draw upon the town’s signature Western style. Located at the gateway to the Grand Teton National Park, one hour south of Yellowstone National Park, The Cloudveil will boast: 100 guest rooms and suites; a European bistro-style restaurant and bar helmed by Gavin Fine and Fine Dining Restaurant Group; an expansive rooftop terrace overlooking Jackson’s Town Square and Snow King Mountain; a tranquil outdoor pool and garden; a state-of-the-art fitness center. The hotel will offer resplendent views of the Caribbean Sea. SLS Cancun sbe, SLS Cancun, Cancun, Mexico Expanding its SLS hotel portfolio with the debut of a new hotel in an entirely new global destination for the brand in Cancun, Mexico, SLS Cancun will feature 45 rooms with breathtaking views of the Caribbean Sea, elegant Italian-designed interiors by Piero Lissoni, premiere beachfront access and imaginative Argentinian fusion cuisine by Chef Jose Icardi. Hotel Dryce will reinvent an old dry ice factory. Visit Fort Worth Hotel Dryce, Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth entrepreneur Jonathan Morris will showcase his first boutique hotel in an old dry ice factory in Fort Worth’s Cultural District directly across from the new Dickies Arena. Morris, who also owns the Fort Worth Barber Shop and is hosting a new TV show on Magnolia Network next year, is keeping Fort Worth locals in mind. The modern 21-room hotel will include a trendy lobby bar-café hybrid meant to be a gathering place for residents and visitors alike. The hotel has an art grant with Fort Worth art gallery Art Tooth to exhibit local BIPOC artists’ work throughout the hotel. The aesthetic will feature comfortable luxury. Rock House Rock House, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Debuting as a response to the all-inclusive beach resorts typically found in the Caribbean, Rock House will be a cliffside hideaway, offering guests privacy and space through spacious studio suites and single-family homes. The aesthetic at the five-star property, envisioned by AD100 designer Shawn Henderson, will be comfortable luxury, highlighting and protecting the landscape’s breathtaking natural elements. Amenities will include a serviced beach club jetty reminiscent of those in Europe that will stretch into the Atlantic Ocean; a secluded private beach; a signature restaurant perched atop a cliff; and the largest infinity pool in Turks and Caicos. The property features 129 spacious, tailored guestrooms. The Valley Hotel The Valley Hotel, Birmingham, Alabama The Valley Hotel, a Curio Collection hotel by Hilton, will be Birmingham’s newest luxury hotel, located in Homewood, a bucolic neighborhood known for its picturesque tree-filled landscape and charming shops, restaurants, bars and galleries. The property features 129 spacious, tailored guestrooms with nine luxury suites that evoke the relaxed sophistication and vibrant environment of Homewood throughout the color scheme, design elements and thoughtfully selected furnishings. The hotel offers upscale amenities, including a fully equipped fitness center and an inviting, communal lobby experience.
877b199ffde4586916d980a4c72d7d5f
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2021/01/24/these-caribbean-resorts-are-welcoming-back-visitors/?sh=32a184313f43
These Caribbean Resorts Are Welcoming Back Visitors
These Caribbean Resorts Are Welcoming Back Visitors Caribbean Resorts offer the red carpet treatment for visitors. Oil Nut Bay The Caribbean Islands have long been resilient. The 30 diverse destinations that make up this idyllic resort paradise have considerable experience in managing disruptions and risks, which has been demonstrated time and time again through hurricanes and other natural disasters. At long last, many of these resorts have re-opened their doors with strict safety guidelines in place and are once again welcoming guests with their renowned red carpet treatment. Oil Nut Bay offers pristine ocean views. Oil Nut Bay Oil Nut Bay, British Virgin Islands This picturesque hideaway perfect for travelers seeking a serene and socially distanced vacation is accessible only by boat or helicopter. Located on Virgin Gorda in the coveted North Sound region, it’s entirely surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Private villas custom-built into the island’s topography designs meld cutting-edge, modern elements with natural elegance. Nightly villa rates range from $550 to $9,550 per night. Amenities include: a beach club with three pools and a swim-up bar; wellness center with gym and two tennis courts; equipment for kayaking, sailing and snorkeling; Nut House Kids Club; world-class dining options; and two heli-pads. Don’t miss the “Rum Bible” in the Pavilion Restaurant, featuring 52 different rums (a different one for each week of the year) sourced from all over the Caribbean. Guests can relax by the pool at this exquisite resort. Exclusive Resorts, Grand Cayman MORE FOR YOUSaudi Crown Prince MBS Pressed The Louvre To Lie About His Fake Leonardo Da Vinci, Per New DocumentaryVolcanic Eruption On St. Vincent In The Caribbean, And The Amazing Sole Survivor Of Mt. PeleeMatt Gaetz’s Travel Records Don’t Do What He Claims They Do Exclusive Resorts, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands An elite vacation club, Exclusive Resorts offers 14 private villas at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. The family-friendly, ten-person homes are located in a private gated community on the famed Seven Mile Beach, offering amenities like private plunge pools, fully-equipped chef-grade kitchens, oversized terraces and al fresco dining areas, along with private golf carts to explore the resort’s 20,000-square-foot spa and waterpark. The hotel features 23 luxury rooms with private terraces. Hotel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf Hotel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf, St. Bart’s The first Caribbean property for the renowned Barrière Group features 23 luxury rooms comprised of cottages, suites, bungalows and loft accommodations, each with their own terrace and personal plunge pool. Providing the security of enhanced social distancing options, the hotel features elevated wellness experiences such as entirely private Pilates, yoga, aqua biking sessions and outdoor activities like sailing, snorkeling and local excursions (such as visiting the Gustavia fish market with the chef to select provisions for that evening’s dinner). Indulge in Biologique Recherche services at the Diane Barrière Spa or in-room, and dining at Le Fouquet’s (the Michelin-starred Chef Pierre Gagnaire restaurant made famous in Paris) and Shellona (the popular beachside restaurant serving refreshing, Caribbean-infused bites). Attentive service is a hallmark of Club Med resorts. Club Med Club Med Cancún, Cancún, Mexico Club Med, the pioneer of the all-inclusive resort concept, offers guests exclusive access to the only resort in Cancún with three private beachfront spaces. Book a stay in the recently expanded Aguamarina family oasis area, featuring 120 oceanfront family rooms, exhilarating water games at the dedicated family pool and a fun-filled agenda of weekly outdoor activities for families to bond and create memories as part of the new Amazing Family programming. For added R&R, indulge in private oceanfront massages on the beach or enjoy a variety of refined, locally inspired cuisine. A pristine beach area awaits guests. Club Med Club Med Turkoise, Turks and Caicos Nestled into the pristine Grace Bay Beach, this newly redesigned adults-only and all-inclusive resort offers a romantic getaway with freshly renovated deluxe oceanfront guestrooms with private balconies, an enhanced wellness area, new wine cellar with premium spirits and an unlimited variety of land and water activities like sailing and snorkeling. Relaxation is the name of the game at Altamer Resort Anguilla. Altamer Resort Anguilla Altamer Resort, Anguilla Altamer is a serene slice of paradise where you’ll find amenities exclusive to the world’s most luxurious resorts, provided in the comfort of your own private villa. Your booking at Altamer comes with your own personal butler, daily housekeeping and bespoke laundry services. Your personal butler can arrange an extensive list of concierge services including (but not limited to) a private chef and in-suite or ocean-front massages. Sugar Beach boasts an unmatched beachfront location. Sugar Beach Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort, St. Lucia The property offers a private way to travel to St. Lucia through a partnership with XO Private Jet Travel. Experience a privatized festive season in the comfort of one of the sought-after villas overlooking the views of the famed UNESCO World Heritage-listed Val des Pitons. Take in unmatched beachfront location and enjoy the activities, along with any private in-room dining experience.
39ac7cdd6b9efe9dfb4f3b2fe6d613dc
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2021/02/09/neighborhood-to-watch-southside-chattanooga-tennessee/?sh=4c5cb8fa13f3
Neighborhood To Watch: Southside Chattanooga, Tennessee
Neighborhood To Watch: Southside Chattanooga, Tennessee Kinley Chattanooga Southside will incorporate a modern design. Kinley Chattanooga Southside Steeped in military history, Chattanooga, Tennessee, was a crucial city during the American Civil War due to the convergence of multiple railroads. After the war, the railroads fueled the city’s growth into one of the southeast’s largest heavy industrial hubs. Southside Chattanooga is a specific neighborhood in the downtown area located right outside the main corridor. The Southside area is the focus of creating a sustainable urban neighborhood with various housing options, parks, restaurants, retailers, grocers and small businesses. There’s always something happening in Chattanooga’s Southside. Chattanooga Market is always bustling with activity. Chattanooga Market Stroll through a bustling neighborhood that’s teeming with art, shopping and culinary experiences that are unlike anything else in the city. The wide variety of restaurants will please any discerning palate. Widely recognized as one of the top public markets in the country, Chattanooga Market features over 50 farms bringing a variety of produce, meats and cheeses to the market each week and over 130 artisans offering their unique crafts, arts, farm-fresh goods, and so many other locally made specialties. Live music is a staple at Chattanooga Market with local and regional musicians on stage for two free shows weekly plus food vendors galore for hungry shoppers. Chattanooga is steeped in whiskey history. Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery MORE FOR YOUSaudi Crown Prince MBS Pressed The Louvre To Lie About His Fake Leonardo Da Vinci, Per New DocumentaryWhy Vaccine Passports Would Be More Popular If We Just Called Them Something ElseThe 27 Most Active Volcanoes In The World And What Could Erupt Next Chattanooga Whiskey is making the first legal whiskey distilled in Chattanooga in over 100 years. Come learn about the history of whiskey in Chattanooga, the story of Chattanooga Whiskey and the process of making whiskey including the crafting of the exclusive Chattanooga Whiskey Tennessee High Malt Bourbon. From fresh Peruvian ceviche bowls to wood-fire dishes prepared on traditional Argentine grills, State of Confusion brings Chattanooga a flavorful and fun setting to savor and enjoy delicious food, featuring winter igloos on the patio. Main Street Meats is serious about good food. Main Street Meats Amanda and Chef Erik Niel own the restaurant and butcher shop Main Street Meats. Part neighborhood butcher shop, part restaurant and bar, it’s become a favorite for locals and a must-hit spot for visitors to Southside. Kenny’s Southside Sandwiches is a new eatery offers fast casual breakfast and lunch with fresh, local, house made ingredients. Wildflower Tea Shop & Apothecary is Chattanooga's premier tea and herb shop. Featuring a wide variety of organic and biodynamic teas and herbal tisanes-to sit and enjoy with us or to take home. You'll also find bulk herbs, essential oils, crystals and a variety of hand-crafted herbal remedies. Impressive works include Star Center by Linda Howard. Sculpture Fields Explore the Chattanooga Choo Choo, located in the Southside District, which has been undergoing major renovations and additions of new restaurants, bars, attractions, shopping and entertainment. New additions include: Frothy Monkey, STIR, American Draft, Regan’s Place, Westbound Bar, Gate 11 Distillery, Refinery 423, Sweetly Southern, Back Stage Bar, and the relocation of The Comedy Catch. Station Street, formerly an alleyway, was renovated to become pedestrian friendly, provide patio access to the restaurants and entertainment venues, and provide an outdoor space for special events. Station Street recently became the 11th street nationwide to allow on-street consumption of alcohol (only from businesses adjacent to the street). Discover the 33-acre Sculpture Fields at Montague Park curated and designed by world-renowned artist John Henry. The park is filled with 27 large-scale sculptures by artists across the country including Mark di Suvero, Linda Howard, John Clement, Jesús Moroles, Neltje, and many more. This non-profit outdoor museum also includes sprawling walking paths for outdoor recreation, beautifully landscaped gardens, special events, free parking, restrooms, and plenty of green space for yoga, flying kites and picnics. The park is dog friendly. Hours: Dawn to dusk. Main entrance is on Polk Street (between Main and 23rd Streets). The new hotel will feature both rich colors and earthy tones. Kinley Chattanooga Southside Kinley Chattanooga Southside, a new hotel designed by Vision Hospitality Group, is slated to open this spring. Kinley is taking a modern approach to all things Chattanooga, incorporating design inspiration from local makers, featuring rich colors and earthy tones representing the surrounding natural landscape of the region. Each stylish room features amenities accommodating the modern traveler’s unique needs and wants. Directing guests to the innovative “uncheck-in” desk, the forward-thinking hotel embraces people, nature and art, the fabric of Chattanooga’s laid back, genuine vibe. “Kinley Chattanooga Southside is designed to be the living room of the neighborhood, fostering sincere relationships between guests and the surrounding neighborhood and city,” says Michael DiMaria, General Manager at Kinley. “Our centralized location coupled with the hotel’s southern charm and design features will empower guests to explore their sense of adventure and discover Chattanooga’s outdoors and indoors.” The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel stands as the beacon of history in the heart of downtown Chattanooga. For years this property used to be a Terminal Station and welcomed thousands of travelers during the golden age of railroads. Today, Terminal Station stands as part of the world-famous Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. Guests can overnight in beautifully restored authentic sleeper cars, once reserved for only the wealthiest of passengers during the railroad era. Bike Chattanooga provides an enjoyable way to sight see. Lou Cindy It’s easy to get around Southside via Bike Chattanooga with bike stations in Southside District; $8 daily pass or $15 three-day pass. Downtown Free Electric Shuttle at South Station can be found next to the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Chattanooga has long been known as one of the south’s most charming cities where visitors are welcomed with wide smiles and open arms. Southside Chattanooga plays a major role in upholding this reputation.
711e0179823ec0e0c74a6cf3f080ea83
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2021/03/02/the-worlds-most-romantic-places-to-propose/?sh=34cbad22308e
The World’s Most Romantic Places To Propose
The World’s Most Romantic Places To Propose Luxurious resorts offer romantic proposal packages. Paul Lehane Not unlike the movies of Hollywood, the real world is bursting with romantic settings that range from over-the-top lavish to discreetly intimate. As such, there is no shortage of destinations that offer someone the opportunity to pop the question in a very special way. From a proposal concierge to a customized romance package, opulent hotels and resorts are ensuring that this special day is one that couples will always cherish. Here are the world’s most romantic places to propose. Pop the question with a luxurious bathtub proposal. Paul Lehane Adare Manor, County Limerick, Ireland As one of the world's most romantic hotels and the setting of over 100 proposals every year, Adare Manor has officially launched a brand new ‘Beyond Everything’ Proposal Menu. The Adare Manor team works their magic to create the dreamiest of proposals, with all menu selections available to experience straight from castle grounds. Included are a Grandeur Guestroom Proposal complete with an opulent floral and candle lit display in one of Adare Manor’s striking suites, a private cinema viewing complete with your favorite romantic film, a unique Bathroom Proposal with romantic rose petal bath or a horse drawn carriage with the perfect picturesque proposal spot. Adare Manor has a Proposal Concierge dedicated to ensuring the most romantic proposal straight out of a fairy tale. Very special and unique proposals often occur here. Hotel MetropoleMonte-Carlo MORE FOR YOUPhotos: Egypt’s 3,400-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’ Is Unearthed From Desert SandsHawaii Travel Restrictions Have Been UpdatedThe Promise Of International Travel: April EU Travel Restrictions, Covid-19 Test Requirements, Quarantine By Country Hotel MetropoleMonte-Carlo, Monaco Home to alluring historic streets of the old town to the glitz and glamour, the principality of Monaco provides a movie scene backdrop for a couple’s most unforgettable milestone. Making the proposal process a completely seamless one, Hotel MetropoleMonte-Carlo offers a dedicated Million Euro Proposal package that begins with a private jet ride to Monaco, a couples massage at Spa Metropole by Givenchy and a luxury shopping spree in Monaco complete with a personal shopper. The Suite Carre d’Or penthouse is decorated with rose petals and 1,000 candles on the terrace. After a private dinner at one of the hotel’s fine dining concepts, a plane with a “will you marry me” banner flies overhead, timed to the proposal. Dazzling views of the Pacific Ocean await guests. Aqua-Aston Hospitality ESPACIO, The Jewel of Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii Few places inspire as much romance as the islands of Hawaii, the perfect backdrop for the ultimate proposal. He or she can propose at the rooftop infinity pool of ESPACIO, The Jewel of Waikiki, an ultra-luxury boutique hotel, where dazzling views of the Pacific Ocean and Honolulu skyline will accompany the ultimate question. Couples can reserve the elegant rooftop space for romantic evenings complete with white-glove butler service and private chef from the hotel’s Japanese-French tasting concept, Mugen, which will even select a rare champagne from the restaurant’s $5 million wine cellar for a toast to the newly engaged couple. A Romance Package includes two free spa treatments, luxury SUV or sedan rental, daily in-suite breakfast, and a bottle of Caymus Cabernet. Cycladic Architecture is featured at the hotel. Iconic Santorini Iconic Santorini, Imerovigli, Greece An opulent cave boutique hotel (reopening in April), Iconic Santorini is an idyllic venue for romance. Each enchanting residence captures the spirit of the caldera, where traditional cave accommodations combine the finest in contemporary amenities and Greek styling. Situated on a spectacular hillside setting literally carved from the historic caldera wall, this haven of tranquility offers peace and breathtaking views of the sea. The lovely Iconic Suite is the perfect choice for lovers. This sublime residence features a separate bedroom and lounge area, full bathroom with shower, charming indoor jetted plunge pool, private pergola terrace with table seating, dedicated sun loungers, as well as an outdoor jetted plunge pool overlooking the azure waters of the Aegean. A Bliss Pool Villa is a perfect respite for romantic couples. Jerome Mondiere Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay, Morocco Located on the Northern coast of Morocco just steps away from Tetouan, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay is a luxury all-pool villa resort that blends romance with exotic Moroccan charm and provides complete relaxation with its understated Mediterranean vibe. Couples can look forward to a myriad of romantic activities in and around Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay, all of which are ideal for popping the big question. These include engaging cooking workshops, romantic bike rides through the hills and forests around Smir Lake and a romantic dinner enhanced by soft candlelight and torches while private staff discreetly serve a refined four-course meal beneath a crystal clear blanket of stars. Couples are treated to lovely views of the harbor. HarbourView Inn, Charlestowne Hotels property HarbourView Inn, Charleston, South Carolina Regarded as one of the most romantic cities in the world, Charleston’s intimate cobblestone allies and secluded gardens make for an enchanting getaway for those looking for a romantic proposal. HarbourView Inn offers couples an intimate approach to a bed and breakfast with the features of a luxurious boutique hotel complete with a private rooftop flanked by views of the harbor and famed Pineapple Fountain. Couples can experience charming amenities inspired by one of Charleston’s favorite love stories, The Notebook. Embark on a fairy-tale getaway with Allie & Noah's Timeless Romance Experience, where love birds can relive the movie scene-by-scene in actual filming locations with one-of-a-kind experiences at Charleston’s most whimsical landmarks A romantic picnic lunch in Central Park. The Mark Hotel The Mark Hotel, New York City The scene of countless romantic movies, Central Park offers love-struck men and women the perfect venue to pop the question. Ideally situated on a tree-lined street near the park, The Mark Hotel offers guests a lavish experience the moment they step through the doors. World renowned Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his staff will personalize a Central Park picnic lunch for couples, which can result in a proposal of marriage. Indulge yourself in luxury at Twin Farms. Twin Farms Twin Farms, Vermont Romance is always in the air Twin Farms, an adults only retreat nestled in one of Vermont’s most pristine settings. Couples can opt to cozy up indoors and take a soak in the Aviary cottage’s in-bedroom natural stone tub situated beside a field stone fireplace; stargaze from the Chalet cottage (telescope included); piece together the world’s most expensive puzzles, Stave Puzzles; request an in-room multi-course dining experience for two courtesy of Executive Chef Nathan Rich and his team; or wind down with with a private couples massage in-room. With six private slopes on-property, couples can have the trails all to themselves and take their pick of snowshoeing, downhill skiing or cross-country skiing. Head out to Copper Pond for a quiet day of ice skating, or warm up with a slopeside picnic and hot chocolate in the new Adirondack lean-to. A hot air balloon proposal takes couples to new heights. The Resort at Paws Up The Resort at Paws Up , Greenough, Montana The luxury wilderness retreat and home of glamping boast 37,000 acres of spectacular scenery, gourmet cuisine, rustic Wilderness Estates, adventure galore, and a cozy ranch atmosphere that together creates the ultimate charming setting for a proposal. Propose during a private hot air balloon or helicopter ride with champagne mimosa toasts and cozy blankets overlooking Glacier National Park's snowy mountains, one of the most undiscovered and untouched of America's national parks. Couples can enjoy crystal clear turquoise waters. Mount Pahia Mount Pahia, Bora Bora, French Polynesia What better place in the world to propose than the dream location of Bora Bora? While the destination is known for its pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise waters, one hidden gem is that it provides excellent hiking trails. For adventurous couples, start the day with a hike and surprise your partner with a romantic proposal atop an iconic summit in The Islands of Tahiti, Mount Pahia, surrounded by coral reefs and hibiscus blossoms and the sound of cascading waterfalls in the background. A truly unforgettable experience for couples who are ready to embark on a new chapter.
b26f8144f707a7a31fafddbc588f37c3
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogersands/2021/03/09/spring-skiing-should-be-fabulous-at-these-ski-resorts/
Spring Skiing Should Be Fabulous At These Ski Resorts
Spring Skiing Should Be Fabulous At These Ski Resorts Spring skiing brings out the best in everyone. Deer Valley Although the usual festive spring skiing activities such as sloppy slaloms and mountain scavenger hunts will be toned down dramatically this year in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines, there are still plenty of reasons to enjoy what is sure to be an epic spring skiing experience. With record snowfalls in many parts of the country, skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy the sport well into April, and beyond at some resorts. In addition to great snow conditions, most ski resorts offer special spring skiing packages which usually begin mid March. These ski resorts are sure to have excellent spring skiing conditions. Deer Valley offers wide groomed terrain. Deer Valley Deer Valley Ski Resort, Utah Deer Valley hosted the freestyle moguls, aerial and alpine slalom events during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and has terrain that is suited for all levels of skiers. It is well known for wide, meticulously groomed trails. Spring skiing here usually begins in early March when they host skiers from all around the world. The resort recently came out of a storm cycle that dropped over three feet of snow in one week. Due to an early closure last year, skiers are extra hungry for a great spring ski season, which is tentatively scheduled to end April 11. Special spring ski packages are offered. Stratton has received more than ten feet of snow. Stratton Mountain Stratton Mountain, Vermont From its distinction as the highest peak in southern Vermont to its quaint Village at the base of the slopes, Stratton exudes personality. In the midst of an exceptional snowfall season (almost 11 feet of snow thus far), spring skiing at Stratton is sure to bring out the best in everyone. What makes this season even more special is for the past few weeks snow has come in the form of two small storms a week constantly refilling the trees, smoothing out trails and keeping the conditions ideal, no matter what type of terrain you enjoy. No specific closing date has been announced yet. Special spring ski packages are offered. Check here for additional savings. MORE FOR YOUSaudi Crown Prince MBS Pressed The Louvre To Lie About His Fake Leonardo Da Vinci, Per New DocumentaryThe 27 Most Active Volcanoes In The World And What Could Erupt NextMatt Gaetz’s Travel Records Don’t Do What He Claims They Do Colorful ski clothing is often worn during Spring skiing. Jeremy Swanson Aspen Snowmass, Colorado Comprised of four distinct mountains, guests can spend a week here without ever skiing the same terrain twice. At Aspen Mountain you can ski down the same runs that have hosted World Cup finals, and Snowmass offers the choice expert terrain to the long blue groomers and impressive beginner facilities for newcomers. Aspen Highlands avoids the spotlight, which is perfectly fine with the locals and in-the-know skiers and riders who tackle its uncrowded slopes, while Buttermilk has become an icon for freestyle riders and skiers. Scheduled closing date is April 18. Special spring ski packages are offered. Spring skiers often enjoy bright sunshine. Corey Seemann Vail Ski Resort, Colorado Vail, a venerable ski resort of massive proportions, recorded over four feet of snow in February alone. Vail has over 5,100 acres of skiing and riding open with deep coverage across all of its legendary Back Bowls, where expert skiers come to test their mettle. With 53% of all terrain labeled “advanced,” Vail is a mountain that provides plenty of challenges for even the most experienced skier. Scheduled closing date is April 11. There are smiles all around during Spring skiing. Sunday River Sunday River, Maine Featuring eight interconnected mountain peaks, Sunday River boasts 870 acres of terrain and 53 miles of trails. Snow enthusiasts are skiing and riding across all eight peaks with plenty of snow on the groomed trails and the natural terrain. Guests have been practicing their tailgating set-ups by booting up at their cars this winter, and there should be a vibrant tailgate scene this spring. Estimated closing date is April 24. People who purchase a season pass for next season and pay in full during the spring sale can begin using their pass as early as mid-March to ski through the end of the current season. Breckenridge will stay open through May. Andrew Maguire Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado Boasting the highest lift-served terrain in North America, Breckenridge offers something for all levels of skiers. The quaint, eclectic town of Breckenridge is comprised of real locals and real characters, from ski bums to history buffs. Thanks to a base elevation of 9,600 feet above sea-level and usually an abundance of spring snow, the resort typically offers great late season skiing and riding conditions. Anticipated closing date is May 31. Some great deals can be found here. Skiers can find plenty of powder at Stowe. Stowe Stowe, Vermont It’s been a cold, snowy winter throughout Vermont with forecasts for some excellent spring skiing at Stowe, an iconic ski resort located in a quintessential New England town. Skiers come to Stowe to experience 116 trails of pure excitement. You may know Stowe for its famous “Front Four” (four double-black diamond trails), but Stowe also offers some of the longest and most enjoyable intermediate cruisers in the East. With an hourly lift capacity of more than 15,500 passengers, skiers spend more time on the mountain and less time in lift lines. Sun Valley is known for its bluebird days. Ray J. Gadd Sun Valley, Idaho Celebrities flock to Sun Valley to not only soak up the brilliant sunshine but to experience one of the world’s most celebrated ski resorts. Upon arrival you can go car-less with free town and resort-wide buses, all equipped with ski racks. Spring skiing season here normally starts around March 15. However, with its famous sunny skies and bluebird days, even mid-winter can feel delightfully spring-like. With a current base of 89 inches and 110 inches at the summit, all 120 trails are open. Estimated closing date is mid April. Check out these special packages. There's plenty of room for everyone at Northstar. Northstar Northstar, California Having received more than a dozen feet of snow thus far. Combine this with the fact that March is usually one of Lake Tahoe’s snowiest months, and Northstar is on track for one of its best spring skiing seasons ever. Northstar offers 3,170 skiable acres and 100 trails, 60 percent of which are designed for the intermediate skier. From curated boutiques to world-renown gear companies, discover Northstar’s premiere shopping locations throughout the Village. Expert skiers love the bumps at Elk. Elk Mountain Ski Resort Elk Mountain, Pennsylvania Since 1959 Elk Mountain has been offering some of the best skiing in the east with trails cut from the natural fall line of the mountain. Located in the Endless Mountains, Elk resembles a smaller version of skiing in Vermont with wide trails groomed to perfection along with endless bumps on the Tunkhannock slope. Having received a substantial amount of snow thus far, Elk is primed for one of their best spring seasons in history. No official closing date has been announced but there is still plenty of excellent skiing left in the season.
15cb33064f76a50053156a8299260c49
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/07/30/leaders-need-to-realise-that-there-is-more-to-empathy-than-saying-you-care/
Leaders Need To Realise That There Is More To Empathy Than Saying That You Care
Leaders Need To Realise That There Is More To Empathy Than Saying That You Care Ed Miliband, leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, is certainly attracting a lot of attention (for example, here and here) over his recently-announced attempt to present himself as a different sort of political leader. As a man who is not renowned for his admiration of business, he might not appreciate this, but in his attempt to present himself as having empathy with voters he is following a trend growing popular with his counterparts in the corporate world. Leave aside the obvious difficulty for those drawing millions in pay and benefits to truly understand the plight of those struggling to get by on much less, this approach has obvious appeal at a time when “business casual” dress codes and other signs of informality give at least an impression of classlessness in the workplace. However, anybody who has witnessed the problems encountered by those used to wearing sober suits when they have to adopt chinos and golf shirts will realise that being “one of the boys” is harder to pull off than it might appear. Herein lies the heart of Milibrand’s problem. There have been suggestions that he has latched on to the idea of being empathetic as a counter to the popular depiction of him as being “weird”. There have been widespread criticisms of his voice and body language, while much has been made of the gawkiness on display while campaigning earlier this year, when he made rather a mess of attempting to eat that workingman’s favourite the bacon sandwich. So it is hard to see how Miliband can overcome his geeky image by seeking to give the impression that he understands “ordinary people”. Moreover, just using a word like empathy, which is hard for many to understand fully, could easily compound the problem, as he himself has reportedly acknowledged. Indeed, it could be that Miliband himself does not truly understand the notion of empathy. As Christine M. Riordan, professor of management at the University of Kentucky, wrote in a Harvard Business Review blog earlier this year, listening is a key aspect of empathy. And this is listening in its widest sense, meaning picking up all sorts of signals rather than just words. “Sensitive leaders pay attention to what others are not saying and probe a bit deeper. They also understand how others are feeling and acknowledge those feelings,” she wrote. Like other politicians, Miliband likes to talk and has a view of the world – a vision, in business parlance. Indeed, earlier this week a political commentator took him to task for also seeking to show his “difference” by favouring “big ideas” over “image-based politics”. But, just as business leaders are finding in this fast-moving environment that having a vision is not enough, so a politician cannot rely on a view of the world. Especially if, as the commentator above indicates, voters are less keen on ideas than many politicians think. Just a generation ago, people in Britain at least voted much more along tribal lines – with few exceptions, in keeping with the class they saw themselves as belonging to. Television, and the adoption of US-style personality politics, blurred the lines a little. But things stayed pretty much the same until recently, when voters around the world woke up to the idea that politicians did not have all the answers. Nowadays, as any business leader would tell any politician who cared to listen, things are much more complex. People want to be led by people they think have an understanding of both them and of what is going on in the wider world around them. The successful leader – whether in business or elsewhere - is much more a reflection of the people he or she is leading than a traditional boss. Big ideas – or visions – are less important than a sense that the person or people you are lined up behind has what it takes to guide them through tricky times. Moreover, because the image-makers have been around so long and ordinary people have become used to them – in business as much as in politics – it is arguable whether image is as important as is thought. Authenticity is a dangerous word to use around politicians, but probably no more so than for business leaders. And corporate chiefs are starting to find that being genuine, honest and indicating that they have some sort of life or hinterland outside the job is paying off in their relations with increasingly questioning employees and other stakeholders. In which case Miliband might be on to something. But he, like the business leaders before him, needs to understand that this empathy thing is not a quick fix. It will take effort and commitment if it is not to be seen as just the sort of image-based politics he professes to be rejecting. As part of this, he must realise that it is not up to him to announce that he is going to be empathetic. The people will decide whether he really feels their pain – and has what it takes to ease it.
ebf997804f7c8ab08992fa9fc4c98f1a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/09/29/leadership-lessons-from-a-humble-pope/
Leadership Lessons From A Humble Pope
Leadership Lessons From A Humble Pope Since his election 18 months ago, Pope Francis has won widespread acclaim from inside the Catholic Church and beyond. Indeed, at a time when the world’s leaders have generally been found wanting he has shown what an effective leader can do. He has reinvigorated an organization under attack on a variety of fronts and in so doing inspired many others, including those with no links with the church at all. Moreover, he has done it while abandoning much of the pomp and ceremony associated with his predecessors and indeed many other leaders. It says a lot about his appeal that a book recently published by the American Management Association, Lead With Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis, is written, not by a devout Catholic but by a Jewish writer who is best known for his books about the management style of long-time General Electric boss Jack Welch. But then the author, Jeffrey A. Krames, points out in his prologue that – as the son of Holocaust survivors – he sees Pope Francis as “the twenty-first century’s answer to the twentieth century’s most malevolent mass murderer”. Krames is also alive to the irony of the chronicler of the successes of one of the most handsomely rewarded business executives ever now turning his hand to the pronouncements of a man who is especially focused on reducing the imbalance in wealth between the richest and the poorest. But he insists that Welch and Pope Francis would agree on the principle that one of the hallmarks of any leader is how he or she leads by example. Here, then are those lessons. Lead with Humility. Pope Francis believes that humility is a particularly powerful leadership quality. Business leaders can emulate him through such means as abandoning their corner office for a cubicle alongside other employees and ending excessive spending on lavish lunches and other corporate perks. Smell Like Your Flock. This is a much-quoted Pope Francis directive that means immersing yourself in whatever group you are leading. The Pope was known as “The Bishop of the Slums” for the time he spent in Buenos Aires’ poorest districts and business leaders can apply the principle through such practices as Managing By Walking Around and spending time really getting to know employees. Who Am I To Judge? Just as Pope Francis says he does not see it as his role to judge those different from others, so business leaders should – instead of judging their employees – listen to them, assess them and focus on their strengths. Don’t Change – Reinvent. Pope Francis has sought to move the Catholic Church away from its fixation with dated ideology. Business leaders need to do the same by keeping their organizations relevant, maintaining the greater good by getting rid of people who do not espouse the values of the business and focusing on reducing bureaucracy. Make Inclusion a Top Priority. The Pope has stressed the importance of open dialogue and communication, and in industry leaders can take a similar line by including employees in decision making. Avoid Insularity. Pope Francis has always made it clear that he does not think he can achieve everything on his own. In fact, he took the unprecedented step after he was elected of asking the crowds gathered to greet him to pray for him. Among the ways that business leaders can avoid insularity are by looking outside the organization to see if things can be done differently and seeking advice from outsiders as well as ensuring that people in different departments understand what their colleagues elsewhere contribute. Choose Pragmatism over Ideology. This is perhaps the oddest lesson to be gleaned from a church leader. But looking at things and deciding on what to do on their individual merits is at the heart of the Pope’s approach. For business people, this means embracing the real world rather than lamenting one that has passed and being prepared to try new ideas and approaches. Employ the Optics of Decision Making. For all his professed humility and championing of the underdog, Pope Francis has become an accomplished practitioner of organizational politics. He knows that how leaders decide is as important as what they decide. Many effective business leaders know this too. The decision-making process can be improved through such means as always making a priority of people decisions, not rushing key decisions and taking care to make decisions that advance the leader’s strategy. Run Your Organization Like a Field Hospital. Pope Francis sees a key role for the Catholic Church in “healing the wounds and warming the hearts” of the faithful. This is an encapsulation of his belief that the church should be involved in the nitty-gritty of people’s lives. And business leaders can follow the approach through ensuring employees spend time on the front line – with customers, potential customers and suppliers; encouraging managers to be available for those for whom they are responsible; and decentralizing decision making. Live on the Frontier. Pope Francis urges not just his clergy but all people to widen their experiences by spending “time walking on the periphery” so that they understand the reality of other people’s lives and so avoid the risk of being “abstract ideologists or fundamentalists”.  Business leaders need to do the same – and also encourage their employees to follow suit. Confront Adversity Head-on. Pope Francis went through many struggles on his way to the top of his church. Business people, too, can learn to turn adversity into an advantage. Doing this requires confronting adversity head-on rather than pretending it is not there. Pay Attention to Noncustomers. From the start of his period of office, Pope Francis demonstrated a willingness to reach out beyond church goers. As Krames writes, “He wants to bring people closer to God regardless of religion, race and sexual preference.” Business leaders should have a similar goal. Without forgetting existing customers, they must reach out to outsiders – what the management thinker Peter Drucker called noncustomers – in order to be successful. Pope Francis has sought to do this by embracing social media. Business leaders could do worse than follow suit.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/10/08/prison-gangs-and-the-crisis-of-trust/
Prison Gangs And The 'Crisis Of Trust'
Prison Gangs And The 'Crisis Of Trust' Thanks to the staggering success of Freakonomics,we have all become used to the idea that economics can explain all sorts of everyday – and not so everyday – situations. Entertaining and thought-provoking as Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s work is, however, it can in reality only account for part of the story. Not everything can be explained by “the numbers.” Although they have tended to be somewhat overshadowed of late by the widespread fascination with economics, political and social science have an important role to play in helping us understand the increasingly complex world in which we find ourselves. A powerful example of this is to be found in a fascinating book recently published by David Skarbek, a lecturer in political economy at King’s College, London. The Social Order of the Underworld: How Prison Gangs Govern the American Penal System (OUP) challenges the popular view that the gangs exist purely to promote racism and violence. Instead, he says, they have grown up as a means of providing a form of governance where old systems were found wanting or where there was really no organization at all. Although the book centres on the penal system in Skarbek’s native United States, particularly California and Texas, it does – as the author points out – provide important lessons for Britain and other countries taking a US-style approach to incarcerating more prisoners in larger institutions. As someone with an interest in development economics, Skarbek also indicates that the model of outlaws filling the vacuum created by ineffective official institutions is relevant to those countries around the world struggling to impose order on chaos. The essential argument is that gangs have risen to a prominent place in US prisons because of the rapid rise in the prison population in recent years and fundamental changes to the make-up of that population. In the early years of the twentieth century there was a “convict code”, which set out how prisoners should behave towards one another. It worked because the population was small enough for individuals’ reputations to be widely known. If somebody transgressed the word could spread quickly. The rapid rise in the prison population brought this to an end because the prison system became too big for such an approach to be effective. This is not to say that the need for governance was diminished. On the contrary, a system of rules was more necessary than ever – for a variety of reasons. First, many more of the prisoners were violent and so likely to cause trouble within the prisons. Second, the prison population – thanks to wider demographic changes – became less homogeneous, meaning that the previous “norms” of behaviour were not adhered to. Third, many of the new prisoners were younger – and so more challenging of authority. Fourth, the officials charged with keeping order were finding it increasingly difficult to do so. Fifth, the inmates were proving themselves to be increasingly accomplished at carrying on illegal business within prisons, with drugs a particularly lucrative market. Skarbek writes: “As the convict code became ineffective, violence increased, and inmates sought new ways to protect themselves, their property, and the underground economy.” The answer was the now-notorious gangs. Likening them to the various mafias that have sprung up around the world, Skarbek describes how these groups have developed sophisticated hierarchies of a sort that would not look out of place on a corporate “org chart”, such is their determination to protect both their personnel and their illicit trading. There are lessons, of course, for policy makers. Skarbek makes a case for a re-examining of the trend of putting ever more people in ever larger facilities, for instance. But there is also plenty of cause to have a close look at the leadership of the prisons as well as such matters as the recruitment and rewarding of officers, since it cannot be desirable that gang chiefs seem in many cases to be able to be as active in illegal transactions while behind bars as they were before. Meanwhile, leaders in all sorts of areas – from business to government – should perhaps ponder the dangers of creating power vacuums and consider that favourite principle of economists – unintended consequences. Interestingly, Skarbek’s book includes a lengthy discussion of the role of trust in markets and of how the growth of gangs has in part been a response to the difficulties of knowing whom to trust as prison communities have grown. This situation is, of course, analogous to the troubles that have been seen in financial markets as they have become increasingly global in recent years. But it goes much further than that – as is illustrated by another book recently published by Oxford University Press, Trust – A History by Geoffrey Hosking. The book explores the background to what has been described by many as the current “crisis of trust” and suggests that society needs to adopt more traditional more traditional approaches to trust or risk becoming ever more distrustful. With the activities of some of the large technology companies giving rise to concerns about privacy, Hosking, a professor at University College, London, is making a timely contribution to an increasingly important debate about business’s role in society.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/10/31/leaders-need-to-decide-when-to-co-operate-and-when-to-go-it-alone/
Leaders Need To Decide When To Co-operate And When To Go It Alone
Leaders Need To Decide When To Co-operate And When To Go It Alone Android, the smartphone operating system that emerged almost from nowhere as a rival to Apple’s iOS, is perhaps the best known example of “open innovation”. Others are Linux, the software platform to which Android owes so much, and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. But, while Linux and Wikipedia can be seen as groups of community-minded technologists, Android is at the heart of one of the most intensely-fought battles in contemporary business. Essentially, all smartphones run on either iOS or Android. To many, the decision to co-operate in order to compete with Apple probably looks like a simple result of the intense competition in mobile phones leading the players in the market to share a platform rather than spend millions coming up with slightly different versions of the same thing. But it is in fact part of a wider trend. Business thinkers and consultants are increasingly convinced that an open approach should be much more mainstream than it is. For example, Tim Rowley, professor of strategy and organizations at Toronto University’s Rotman School of Management, has collaborated with two INSEAD academics, Henrich Greve and Andrew Shipilov, to produce a book, Network Advantage (Jossey-Bass), which argues that companies can use alliances and partnerships to outpace rivals. A similar case is made by forecaster Bob Johansen and business developer Karl Ronn in their recent book, The Reciprocity Advantage (Berrett-Koehler). They describe how the conference company TED expanded its reach and influence by allowing users to stage local versions of the event and how an organization like the Global Food Safety Initiative has managed to encourage companies to share science, standards and practice with others on the basis that food safety is a shared goal rather than a competitive advantage. The book comes with an endorsement from Tim Brown, president and CEO of the design consultancy IDEO, which has itself established OpenIDEO as an open innovation platform designed to create a global community that can tackle large problems for social good. Since most leaders would think that coming up with new products or services ahead of competitors is at the heart of business, it is fair to say that they would struggle with the notion of opening up the process of coming up with these ideas to those outside the organization. But, as these and other commentators suggest, competition is so intense that there might be more risk in not sharing than in keeping it all to yourself and hoping that the others do not get there sooner or come up with something better. Leaders increasingly need to make judgements about which aspects of their business offer a unique advantage and which could be enhanced by input from elsewhere. This is not about hiving off to specialists such “non-core” activities as logistics or payroll. It is about deciding where a company’s real strengths lie. To Van Lindberg, vice-president of intellectual property at the managed cloud company Rackspace, this amounts to the latest example of the idea of “comparative advantage” described by the eighteenth-century thinker Adam Smith. Just as countries and individuals concentrate on what they are good at, so should companies. Now more than ever, suggests Lindberg. Lindberg’s intervention comes as his company seeks to win support for greater use of open sourcing in “the cloud”. Given widespread concerns about the security of placing data in a hard-to-understand storage facility outside a company’s control, he may have a bit of a job. But next week, developers, users and administrators of cloud software will gather in Paris for the latest summit of the OpenStack Foundation, one of various forums that Rackspace has supported over the years with the aim of encouraging open innovation. And Lindberg hopes this will help create further momentum. In the meantime, though, he warns that leaders need to have a better understanding of what is involved. One fallacy, he says, is that “open sourcing” is like a fairy dust that can be sprinkled over a problem to make everything all right. People need to be given a reason to participate in a project and they need to feel that they are going to have an impact, he adds. He also agrees with those who believe that many organizations are struggling through a failure to understand where their real strengths lie. But, perhaps most important, executives need to realise that open sourcing, the cloud and associated concepts are not purely technological issues that reside in the technology departments of companies. “A lot of people don’t understand that fundamentally open source is a market, a marketplace of ideas,” he explains. Traditionally, of course, business leaders have known that the way to succeed in such a situation was to keep your thoughts to yourself until you were ready to launch what in today’s parlance might be called the “killer app”. Now, it looks like the stakes are so high that only a very few can afford to go it alone.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2015/01/21/how-to-handle-the-move-from-function-chief-to-general-manager/
How To Handle The Move From Function Chief To General Manager
How To Handle The Move From Function Chief To General Manager When an organization loses its way, there are almost inevitably questions about its leadership. And these, just as predictably, tend to focus on such matters as whether the leader in question was too charismatic or not charismatic enough, whether her or she had managed to convey their vision and whether the strategy they had decided upon was correct or even achievable. Often, though, the problems are more basic. For all the time, effort and money spent on leadership development, many executives find it difficult to make the leap from being a functional expert to becoming a general manager. Kevin Kaiser and Michael Pich, professors closely involved with the Transition to General Management program at the INSEAD business school, have collaborated with writer I.J. Schecter to produce a book that seeks to address the problem by putting fictitious managers in the sorts of situations that befall their real-life counterparts and then helping them find their way out. The result is Becoming A Top Manager (Jossey-Bass), a concise handbook that is neatly split into three sections – “Managing the Business”, “Managing Others” and “Managing Yourself”. As if this breakdown is not sufficiently direct, the authors begin with a list of “key success factors for transitioning to general management”. Even if they do not make it through the whole of this relatively short book, anybody who is about to make or who has just made the move from running a department to a wider role could do worse than digest this list. As Kaiser, Pich and Schecter write, “The transition to general management is a change indeed, and it requires serious mental and emotional effort.” After all, as they point out, it often involves unlearning much of the knowledge that has been acquired over many years. Encouragingly, the authors do not suggest that the current environment requires special attributes. Being effective requires the same things today as it will require tomorrow: “the willingness to lead, the openness to learn and an unwavering commitment to creating long-term value”. At the heart of the change is an acceptance of the complexity and scope of running a whole business as opposed to part of one. The success factors identified are: Questions are more important than answers. Managers of departments commonly attribute their success to their knowledge and experience. As a result, they become used to having the answers. But a general manager cannot have all the answers. It is more important to be able to ask the right questions. Trust is key. When they move from their functional roles, managers lose the shared identity they have had with the people who work for them. Moreover, general managers sometimes have to make decisions that may not seem to be in the best interests of their old departments. To ensure that there continues to be open and honest communication it is essential that the manager demonstrates fairness, openness and genuine respect. Beware of your expertise. Because successful functional managers often attribute their success to their specialist knowledge or expertise they can be tempted to rely upon it as they move into a wider role. This may lead to them not acknowledging the importance of other parts of the business and so compromise their ability to have a genuine appreciation of the whole organization. Value is not earnings. Or market share. Or share price. Or ... Moving into general management involves shifting from short-term to long-term thinking and from thinking about a single area of responsibility to considering the impact on the entire organization. Successful general managers resist the temptation to oversimplify the job by focusing on a few narrowly-defined short-term performance indicators and instead maintain integrity by looking at the long-term, organization-wide impact of any acts or decisions. Business is about serving customers. Every decision in business must be based on serving customers and doing so in such a way that the organization makes enough money to survive. Since other companies are focused in just the same way it follows that any discussion not centered on the customer and efficiency needs to be reframed. Bias has no place in sound decision-making. General managers need to be aware of the biases that affect us all and so be vigilant in mitigating their impact – by such means as forming diverse teams, soliciting independent opinions, collecting wide-ranging data, reframing questions and assigning and rotating the role of playing “devil’s advocate”. Morale counts for everything. The general manager does not really do anything. Instead, their role is to create the environment in which people are motivated to do good work. It is important that the general manager seeks regular feedback to ensure that he or she has a style that is motivating people and always looks for ways of maintaining high morale. They should not forget the role of fun in this. Success depends on teamwork. In addition to building morale, thegeneral manager is responsible for ensuring that people work well together in teams. The difference between high-performing and low-performing teams is the general manager’s responsibility. Learning comes from trust and fairness. Business is always a challenge. So it is essential that all team members are involved, motivated and working in a co-ordinated way. They are only going to be always looking for fresh opportunities and solutions if they perceive that the workplace is fair in all its dealings and that there is a sense of collective trust. It is up to the general manager to reinforce these perceptions and to be watchful for anything that might undermine them. “Practice time” is critical. The general manager must actively look for ways of building experimentation and learning through feedback into the day-to-day business. If he or she can build into the daily management of the business a culture of continuous learning through small-scale experimentation they will be rewarded with motivated teams and a productive organization. No doubt, others might have other priorities. But it looks like Kaiser, Pich and Schecter have come up with a valuable start. And if they have helped convince organizations that effective leadership is not all about vision and strategy then so much the better.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2015/02/19/hsbc-claims-remind-us-banking-is-still-not-fixed/
HSBC Claims Remind Us Banking Is Still Not Fixed
HSBC Claims Remind Us Banking Is Still Not Fixed For all the hullabaloo over the allegations surrounding the role of HSBC in the tax affairs of scores of wealthy individuals, it is important to remember that the sort of behaviour being alleged is hardly new. As long as countries around the world compete for business through their tax rates, there will be people eager to take advantage. Politicians of all stripes talk tough on “tax dodging”, closing loopholes and the rest. But in the end – apart from a few headline-grabbing measures – they do little about it. What is more serious is that the involvement of a leading bank leads once again to questions about our financial institutions and the people who run them. Leave aside for the minute the general point about business failing to live up to the aspirations its leaders set themselves when they gather at places like Davos. This is well dealt with in a column in the Financial Times by Andrew Hill. The real issue that is – even after all the turmoil caused by the Financial Crisis – banks are showing that they appear to still have some way to go to complete the rehabilitation they dream of. Stephen Platt, a leading expert on the criminal abuse of financial services and author of the recently published book Criminal Capital (Palgrave Macmillan), is convinced that the problem lies in the types of people and behaviours that thrive in these businesses. “Ultimately, it comes down to ‘what are the characteristics that are most highly prized in the organization’,” he said in a recent interview. In other sectors that are good at making money and managing risk – for example, aviation – the characteristics that are prized in finance are selected out, he added. The aviation industry policy is the result of the realisation a few years ago that aircraft were still having accidents even when they were mechanically sound. Research indicated that the accidents were the result, not of systems failures, but of behaviours exhibited by the crews. Consequently, human factors were introduced to the selection process so that would-be pilots, for example, have to score highly in certain human factors areas as well as demonstrate clear technical flying ability. The finance sector could “learn a lot from other industries,” said Platt emphatically. There has been a lot of talk about changing the way that people in finance are remunerated as a way of changing behaviour. But this is to forget that the targets of such action are skilled at financial innovation and so are likely to work a way around this as they have with other attempts to curb their practices in the past. Far more important, in Platt’s view, is dealing with the competence of those leading finance businesses. Unlike their counterparts at firms of lawyers, accountants and other professionals, those at the top of banks and related businesses are not required to demonstrate expertise. There are examinations they can sit and courses to attend, but they are not compulsory. To be fair, there have been initiatives. For example, in the UK, the Banking Standards Review Council, set up in the wake of recommendations by former FT editor and head of the CBI Sir Richard Lambert, has recently appointed a chief executive with a remit to help banks meet the three requirements of commiting to a continuous improvement in culture; setting standards of good practice; and reporting on their progress each year. However, while the body has the backing of the Bank of England, critics point out that compliance with its code of conduct is not mandatory. Platt claims that financial institutions have tended to be treated more beneficially than other sectors – for the simple reason that they are so important to how the world works. But this, of course, surely means that there should be higher standards here than elsewhere. And it is hard to argue with his belief that the way to achieve that is not by codes of practice and commitments to improve but with a tough, competence-based regime that rewards excellence. “Where you assess competence you get a meritocracy. Where you don’t you get a club,” he said. But at the heart of such an approach would be an evaluation of what qualities are required for the proper management of organizations so central to everybody else’s lives. A lack of competence and of an appreciation of the human factors did not matter so much half a century ago, but they certainly do now, Platt argues. “We have got to start by thinking about the sorts of people we allow to steward these organizations.”
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2015/02/28/great-leaders-act-before-they-think/
Great Leaders 'Act Before They Think'
Great Leaders 'Act Before They Think' In business, as in other walks of life, great emphasis is placed upon thinking before acting. Only after careful consideration of the options can the right decisions be made, goes the theory. But is this necessarily correct? Herminia Ibarra, a professor specializing in leadership at INSEAD, believes that it is not. When it comes to leadership, the way to produce the change of mindset required to become a better leader is to act differently rather than just think about it. In fact, acting differently is more likely to make you think differently. As she writes in her just published book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader (Harvard Business Press), “We only increase our self-knowledge in the process of making changes. We try something new and then observe the results – how it feels to us, how others around us react – and only later reflect on and perhaps internalize what our experience taught us. In other words, we act like a leader and then think like a leader.” Ibarra, who has made something of a name for herself by challenging the current vogue for “authenticity” in leadership, cites plenty of historical evidence for her approach. Aristotle, she says, observed that people become virtuous by doing good things, while there is extensive social psychology research showing that people change their minds by first changing their behavior. But still there is allegiance to the notion of changing from the inside out. Why? Ibarra believes it stems from how leadership is studied. Researchers “all too often”, she says, identify high-performing leaders, innovative or authentic leaders and then set out to study who they are and what they do. “Inevitably, the researchers discover that effective leaders are highly self-aware, purpose-driven, and authentic.” But there is little information on how they got that way, so would-be students have little to go on in order to develop themselves. Perhaps the answer lies in leaders becoming a little more sure of themselves. After all, others must have some faith in them, or they would not have been appointed in the first place. Ibarra suggests that leaders act like leaders by such means as proposing new ideas, making contributions in areas where they do not necessarily have expertise or connecting people to worthwhile goals. By behaving like leaders in this way they are likely to be recognized as such and so develop reputations that will lead to them getting bigger jobs. And so a virtuous circle would be started. In keeping with the trend for coining phrases that are plays on old ones, Ibarra describes this cycle of acting first and thinking later “outsight”. It is the core of her book, she says, and is an especially important principle at a time of transition, for the simple reason that events may not allow a period of introspection and investigation (in which insights usually emerge) before action. This makes sense, not least because it seems obvious that a true leader can no more announce that he or she is authentic then a brand can. Authenticity is an attribute bestowed upon leaders and brands alike by those with whom they come into contact. So perhaps we should be giving more credit to leaders who act fast and decisively.
910e00e8d58713acb925899c2d2f0033
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2015/06/30/business-leaders-challenge-international-aid-with-commerce/
Business Leaders Challenge International Aid With Commerce
Business Leaders Challenge International Aid With Commerce A month that has seen newspaper reports of UK Government aid money being spent on apparently frivolous projects and the arrival in London of Microsoft founder Bill Gates to urge young people to help eradicate poverty through the Global Citizens initiative looks a good time to assess how wealthy industrialized countries go about helping their counterparts in the developing world. There does seem to be a shift away from the assumption that aid is the preserve of governments and NGOs such as Oxfam and Save the Children. Partly that is down to a realization that, even with globalization helping poorer nations by giving their citizens access to markets in the developed world, the scale of the problem is too great for the public sector and charities to combat on their own. But there is also an increasing questioning of whether just giving aid really helps – and a corresponding willingness to test the notion that business might provide more effective solutions. One of those taking this approach is Leila Janah. The founder of Sama Group earlier this summer told the annual Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford conference at Oxford University’s Said Business School how using business as a lever for social impact can change the relationship between the government of a developing country and its people. Governments that are highly dependent on overseas aid tend to answer to the donors rather than their people. However, that can change if a business such as Sama – which helps individuals in poorer countries do basic computing and similar tasks for companies in the industrialized world – becomes involved. Once people have a job and start paying taxes they start to take more of an interest in how their country is run and so demand that their leaders become answerable to them, she says. Her approach is not without its critics – notably in developed countries, where some say she is assisting with the export of low-level jobs (an idea she dismisses as nonsense) and others suggest she is just teaching people to become drones (her response is that the basic jobs people start with serve as an entry point just as assembly-line positions did for factory workers in previous generations). But she is adamant that this sort of initiative can have a bigger impact than fair trade in commodities such as coffee because – thanks to technology – it is relatively easy to connect people in the developing world with companies in industrialized nations – and so achieve some progress on making good on the promise of globalization. Technology is also at the heart of a program announced earlier this month by the UK-based business software company Sage. As an organization focused on serving small and medium-sized businesses that has grown in a decentralized manner around the world, it believes it has a “unique understanding” of the issues in the countries in which it operates, says Ivan Epstein, chief executive for Africa and Asia. Epstein is also the chairman of the just-launched Sage Foundation, which has been set up to oversee the company’s philanthropic efforts around the world. “It is really, really important to give back to the communities where we do business or where we reside,” he says. The formal structure – there will be directors of the foundation covering each of the territories where the company operates and the company is committing to a 2+2+2 formula akin to that associated with fellow software company Salesforce.com, whereby 2% of employee time (5 days a year), 2% of "free cash flow" (notionally equivalent to revenues from the non-profit sector in the 2014 financial year) and two Sage products will be offered to charities, social enterprises or non-profit organizations – is new. But Epstein and his colleagues insist that this is really a continuation of existing practice and not just a PR gimmick. Lee Perkins, Sage UK and Ireland managing director, says: “So many companies treat Corporate Social Responsibility as a tick-box exercise which completely misses the point. Lots of Sage employees are already involved in volunteering and grant programs –we’re extending and building on this.” Like Janah, Epstein is convinced that commercial expertise can make a crucial difference by stimulating growth and so raising employment rates. He also acknowledges that it makes sound business sense for Sage to offer its assistance in this way. If people learn to use Sage software on courses in schools and colleges, say, they are more likely buy it when they leave and start their own businesses. As a billionaire who has long since moved away from the day-to-day running of the business that has given him his wealth, Gates can afford to take a wider view. But in bringing a business analysis to the world’s problems, he and his wife, Melinda, have  with their foundation seemingly not just filled a gap but also set some kind of template. If, as Janah suggests, enterprises like hers are part of a growing trend then the days of unfocused aid programs could be over and business might be able to show that it can really be a force for good.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2019/05/30/how-effective-managers-set-their-employees-free/?sh=10b5948a67e0
How Effective Managers Set Their Employees Free
How Effective Managers Set Their Employees Free U.K. retailer John Lewis Partnership is one of a range of companies honored in this year's WorldBlu... [+] awards for democracy in the workplace. (Photographer: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg, © 2019 Bloomberg Finance LP A few days ago a varied group of people was gathered in a London office. Drawn from a range of businesses in different sectors, they nevertheless had a commonality. In the words of Traci Fenton, founder and chief executive of the global certification company WorldBlu, the link was "psychographic, not demographic". All shared a mindset that business needs to be less about fear and command and control and more about transparency and accountability. What drew them together was that all had been named winners of WorldBlu's latest annual Freedom-Centered Cultures awards. Announced earlier this month, the awards recognize companies around the world that have succeeded in financial terms through building workplace cultures around the principles of organizational democracy. The 33 companies in the 13th annual awards range from well-known names such as the U.K. retailer John Lewis Partnership, the online shoe retailer Zappos and the maker of the WD-40 lubricant to the rather less famous Wisconsin software company Widen, the U.K. digital marketing agency Reddico and the IT training company Happy. Miranda Ash, WorldBlu's chief of community, was especially encouraged by the number of companies from outside the U.S.. In particular, there were several winners from Romania, a country that has a poor record for democracy, as well as some from Haiti, India and Russia, Any company that has been in operation for at least a year, has at least 10 employees and enjoys annual revenues of $1 million or more is able to apply. But they must demonstrate a commitment to a democratic approach to the workplace — although this can take various forms. Reddico's head of operations Luke Kyte explained that the company had the usual facilities associated with businesses of its type - table tennis tables and the like - but it was felt that, while the business was doing well, "something was missing". A Net Promoter Score survey designed to assess loyalty came up with a disappointing score and was followed by several months of working out the issues that needed to be resolved. It turned out, says Kyte, that these largely centred on "pointless management things". The response was to start from scratch and make "everybody accountable for themselves, their time and what they do". The result has been immediate. The Net Promoter Score has hit world-class levels, while revenues are breaking revenues and the workforce is set to grow from 24 people now to about 50 by 2021. Kyte stresses that taking this approach is not necessarily easy, though. Businesses have to be prepared to part company with people who do not fit the new culture. At Happy, a tough period led founder Henry Stewart to the view that — rather than become more hands-on, as is the usual response — he should get out of the way and allow others to make decisions. He says this has led to an improvement in performance. Stewart also advocates allowing employees to choose their own managers, on the basis that those who are suited to the role will be sought out and those who are not will — probably to their relief — be left alone to do the technical work that they prefer. This idea of the manager being a role to which some are more suited than others is covered in a monumental new study from the analytics and advisory company Gallup. Simply titled It's The Manager, the book by Gallup chairman and CEO Jim Clifton and the company's chief scientist, workplace, Jim Harter, is designed to be a ready reference book to help executives deal with business issues as they arise. But along the way it seeks to dispel a number of business myths. For example, it cuts through all the discussion about what it takes to be an effective leader - the ability to create a vision, to think strategically, to build internal and external networks and the rest — to set out two basic traits. Successful leaders, it says, know how to bring multiple teams together and how to make great decisions. This desire to get to the bottom of what makes the best leaders is crucial because as the book's subtitle makes clear, Gallup believes that the quality of managers and teams leaders "is the single biggest factor in your organization';s long-term success". In a recent interview, Harter explained this thinking. Most of what employees learn about the company they work for and its goals and aspirations flows through their managers. Indeed, in many cases the leaders' reputations depend on the work of managers since they are the ones with the direct contact with employees. This direct contact means that they can either enhance leaders's attempts to drive though initiatives or they can undermine them by not implementing them properly or even making it clear that they are not in favour of the programs. For this reason, says Harter, "organizations really need to develop the manager experience." Part of this centers on the need to change the role of the manager from boss to coach. But, vital as this shift is, there are other factors making the role of the manager more challenging than it has been before. More diversity in the workforce, more remote working, more blending of work and home life, the expectation among employees of greater flexibility are all issues with which modern managers have to contend on top of mastering digitization, supply chains and the rest. "Managers have to be particularly good at communicating with people," says Harter, who wants more effort put into developing this vital cog in the business wheel. Pointing out that managers often fall into the role through having made a good individual contribution to the business and having been around for a long time, he says that neither of those is particularly linked to a natural ability to manage people. While feeling that managers are "both born and made", Harter says the important thing for organizations is how they go about picking future managers and how they then develop them. Even the supposedly natural ones can be made better, he says, adding: "They'll learn very quickly."
c3dd15b689d9b2f5f505aba615cebd55
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2019/10/30/how-leaders-can-adjust-their-organizations-for-rapid-change/
How Leaders Can Adjust Their Organizations For Rapid Change
How Leaders Can Adjust Their Organizations For Rapid Change Co-founder Jack Ma gives a speech at a function to mark the 20th anniversary of Alibaba Group in ... [+] Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, last month. Alibaba is one of the companies used as a model for reinventing the organization described in a new book. (Photo by Jin Liangkuai/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai via Getty Images) Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images Most leaders realise that — unless they are heading successful start-ups — that their enterprises are ill-equipped to deal with the frequent and rapid changes that characterise the current business environment. As the struggles of once mighty household names — especially in retail — attest, longevity is no guarantee of survival. Indeed, it appears to be a predictor of trouble. The problem is that knowing you have an issue is one thing, knowing what to do about it is quite another. It is all very well consultants and academics describing the challenges facing organisations. Chances are those in charge are only too well aware of them. Nor are these leaders likely to react too well to being urged to ape younger, cooler companies that appear to have little in common with their own. (See my recent post Leaders Need To Break Free Of Fads ...) Yet it appears that those darlings of the management gurus — the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google in the U.S., Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent in China and Supercell in Europe — may offer some worthwhile lessons after all, provided they are couched in a reasonable language that managers have some chance of understanding and converting into actions. This is where Reinventing The Organization (Harvard Business Review Press) comes in. Written by Dave Ulrich, a highly respected academic at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and consultant who in 2012 won many of his lifetime achievement awards for being the “father of modern human resources”, and Arthur Yeung, an expert on organization in China, the book provides a six-part model “for reinventing your organization with the principles and tools that we have found work for some of the most dynamic companies in the world today.” The idea is that this “framework for reinvention” enables “any leader in any kind of organization, especially a so-called legacy organization could adapt them.” MORE FOR YOUHow This Company Has Beaten Tesla With The World’s First Autonomous Electric TruckIs President Lopez Obrador Destroying Mexico?Our Brains Need Breaks From Virtual Meetings At the heart of it is the notion of the “market-oriented ecosystem”. While admitting that it is “a bit of a ‘clunk’ phrase,” Ulrich and Yeung believe it is an accurate description of what they are getting at. This focus on the market is certainly long overdue: we are all familiar with, and frustrated by, dealing with organizations that seem more concerned with their internal systems than with serving their customers. But it is not easily achieved by businesses that have not started out that way. As the authors write, “If you want an organization that acts more like a market-oriented ecosystem, many of your assumptions need to change.” In particular, leaders have to realise that this new organization does not achieve results through efficiencies, alignment or capabilities. Instead, the key is participation in a broader network of teams and partners, internal and external, that allows faster response to changing conditions. The six dimensions of the framework are: Environment. Very successful companies appreciate and anticipate trends and changes in their business context. Strategy. Successful leaders do not just look for market share. They also anticipate and create market opportunity and they know how to allocate resources to create strategic agility to capture these opportunities. Ecosystem Capabilities. Cutting-edge companies win by taking advantage of and sharing information about each person or team’s knowledge and other strengths and so become truly customer-centric, innovative and agile. Morphology. The most successful companies have created new organizational forms that enable their talent to capture market changes and opportunities nimbly, generate ideas quickly and experiment. Governance Mechanisms. The best companies make the ecosystem truly connected and collaborative by sharing culture, performance accountability, ideas, talent and information. These mechanisms guide and reinforce the mission, vision and operations of the business. Leadership At All Levels. Successful organizations build leadership at all levels so that people actively take initiative. Ulrich and Yeung maintain that by “understanding and systematically addressing these six dimensions, leaders in any organization can create and scale an organization that serves customers, continually innovates and agilely responds to opportunities and challenges.” That looks a little optimistic — even for a human resources champion such as Ulrich. But he and Yeung are certainly throwing down the gauntlet.
58178f7453348ea6ff41cfc081d117a9
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2019/11/30/leaders-need-to-keep-business-focused-on-human-purposes/
Leaders Need To Keep Business Focused On Human Purposes
Leaders Need To Keep Business Focused On Human Purposes Any change in the way business is run must balance the interests of owners of shares with those of ... [+] other stakeholders, including employees, customers and the wider community. (Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg) BLOOMBERG NEWS Earlier this week, far-reaching proposals for a shake-up of companies were published in Britain. They came not in the election manifesto of the Labour Party but in a report from a group led by a prominent business school professor under the aegis of the British Academy, the U.K.’s national academy for the humanities and social science which has been running its Future of the Corporation program since 2017. The latest report, Principles for Purposeful Business, builds on last year’s initial document, Reforming Business for the 21st Century. Rather than prescribing certain actions, the document from Professor Colin Mayer of the Said Business School, Oxford proposes eight principles for business leaders and policymakers that set out how business might deliver on purpose while accommodating a range of business models, cultures and jurisdictions. The principles are: Corporate law should put purpose at the heart of the corporation and require directors to state their purposes and demonstrate commitment to them. Regulation should expect particularly high levels of engagement, loyalty and care on the part of directors of companies to public interests where they perform important public functions. Ownership should recognize obligations of shareholders and engage them in supporting corporate purposes as well as in their rights to derive financial benefit. Corporate governance should align managerial interests with companies’ purposes and establish accountability to a range of stakeholders through appropriate board structures. They should determine a set of values necessary to deliver purpose, embedded in their company culture. Measurement should recognize impacts and investment by companies in their workers, societies and natural assets both within and outside the firm. Performance should be measured against fulfilment of corporate purposes and profits measured net of the costs of achieving them. Corporate financing should be of a form and duration that allows companies to fund more engaged and long-term investment in their purposes; Corporate investment should be made in partnership with private, public and not-for-profit organizations that contribute towards the fulfilment of corporate purposes. That all sounds fair enough. As the latest report from the Future of the Corporation project acknowledges, “purposeful business has become more mainstream” in the past couple of years. But well thought out and thorough as they are (as you would expect from an academic of Prof Meyer’s standing), the principles will not necessarily bring about the changed approach to business that those involved in setting them out and many others crave. Just how difficult it is to bring about such fundamental change — even when there is general acceptance that the existing system is not performing as it should — is demonstrated by the experience of Mark Goyder. He founded the London-based think tank Tomorrow’s Company back in 1996, in the wake of the corporate scandals and collapses earlier that decade. Although the organization has received plaudits from many and has paved the way for a redefinition of directors’ duties in the U.K.’s company law and also played parts in such areas as the development of the U.N.’s Principles of Responsible Investment, it remains relatively unknown. MORE FOR YOUIs President Lopez Obrador Destroying Mexico?Emotional EQuity: How Leaders Use Empathy To Inspire Successful TeamsManage Your Boss With “The Rule Of Three” Goyder seems to acknowledge this. In Entrusted: Stewardship for Responsible Wealth Creation, a recently-published book, he and co-author Ong Boon Hwee, chief executive of Stewardship Asia Center, Singapore-based leadership center, write: “We were all supposed to have learnt our lesson after the global financial crisis. There is now an abundance of codes, guidelines and ‘comply or explain’ regimes. More countries have instituted new rules, reporting requirements and auditing standards. Company reports are now much longer and more detailed. But have we achieved anything by doing this?” As the research papers that support the reports from the British Academy’s reports indicate, a big part of the problem is that — for all the agreement that something needs to change — it is complex and resistant to easy solutions. Goyder and Ong certainly do not see the approach they are advocating — stewardship — as simple. “Stewardship is a systemic concept and its power lies in its ability to help address systemic issues. Wealth creation is a team game. Its best fruits come from the synergistic contribution of entrepreneurs, employees, managers, boards, asset managers and asset owners,” they write. At a recent event in London to promote the book, Goyder explained: “Owners should have a stewardship mentality and stewards should have an ownership mentality. Stewardship needs to be a joint activity between the owners and the managers of the business.” Inevitably, there is a lot in common between this notion of stewardship and Prof Mayer and co’s principles. Neither advocate is calling for business to be curtailed in the ways being demanded by some politicians. Both see it as playing an essential part in solving many of the problems, from social inequality to climate change, that are currently confronting the world. But both are seeking to help it heal itself and become more centered on meeting human needs. It is to be hoped that enough business leaders really take note and — most important — do something positive in response to the challenging ideas being put forward because the alternative would be bad news indeed. More than ever, the world needs the energy, inspiration and ingenuity of business — provided it is focused on responsible wealth creation.
8ada87b938a0b19eee2bd0f7ce2fec50
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2020/02/28/why-middle-managers-need-a-hug/
Why Middle Managers Need A Hug
Why Middle Managers Need A Hug Middle managers often suffer from stress and other health problems as a result of being burdened by ... [+] too many often conflicting tasks. Getty Middle managers are having something of a moment. Long criticized for a range of ills from resisting change to not challenging senior executives’ dictats, they have lately been attracting a certain degree of sympathy. The latest example is a report from the U.K.’s Institute for Employment Studies (IES) that suggests that line managers need better support. The Squeezed Middle: Why we should be hugging and not squeezing line managers says that organisations looking to reduce sickness absence and stimulate productivity should pay more attention to an increasingly put-upon section of the workforce. This ties in with other research into the area. For example, in a 2017 Harvard Business Review article based on a paper submitted to the Academy of Management Review, Eric Anicich and Jacob Hirsh pointed out how being simultaneously the “victims and carriers of change” within an organization, receiving strategy prescriptions from their bosses above and having to implement those strategies with the people who work beneath them, led to middle managers often finding themselves stuck in between various stakeholder groups, which could produce “relentless and conflicting demands.” Anicich and Hirsh add: “On the emotional side, conflicting roles lead to increased feelings of stress and anxiety, reflecting the tension between incompatible social expectations. Physically, the high stress levels that accompany such conflicts are risk factors for a large number of health problems, from hypertension to heart disease. As if that weren’t enough, conflicting roles can disrupt cognitive performance and the ability to focus on a task without getting distracted.” So, while middle managers are often the first point of contact for employees who have mental or physical health problems, they themselves are often suffering similar symptoms. Indeed, the IES report cites further research showing that employees managed by line managers with poor physical and psychological health were also likely to report health problems. MORE FOR YOUVeriff Secures $69 Million Funding To Grow Identity Verification BusinessVerizon Business’ New CRO: The Secrets To Growing A $30B BusinessLawsuit Challenges Biden Administration Covid-19 Visa Policies But being caught between the demands of senior management and the needs of those reporting to them is not the only cause of middle managers’ stress and unhappiness. Increasingly, line managers are performing tasks previously associated with human resources or personnel departments — carrying out performance management and appraisals and dealing with rewards, learning and development and training. On top of this, middle managers also increasingly implement discipline and grievance procedures and handle budgetary responsibilities. They also face pressures from external clients, needing to maintain a suitable level of customer or client satisfaction, present a positive brand and be aware of competition, says the IES. Research by the CIPD, the U.K.’s professional body for HR and people development, has suggested that 40% of organizations reported inadequate lack of training of line managers and that 26% of organizations did not prioritize line management training. But Zofia Bajorek, author of the IES report, argues that rectifying this “training gap” is not going solve the problem. “There is still an increased bandwidth of tasks and this reduction in both time and support to complete them can lead to managers feeling ‘dumped upon’. As a quick fix, line managers may just complete measurable outcomes, letting the more complex and time-consuming ‘people management’ duties fall to the wayside,” she says. The HBR article referred to an analysis by Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School of Business of the computer game industry that found that the behaviour of middle managers accounted for more than a fifth of the variance in revenue, while the Boston Consulting Group surveyed thousands of employees about the drivers of success in their enterprises and concluded that middle managers were a “neglected but critical group.” Bajorek added: “Organizations need to recognize that ‘good line management’ matters – and how employees are managed is crucial to organizational success. More thought may need to be given into how line managers are recruited or promoted (taking into account both personal and technical competencies); employers need to be very clear about good line management skills, what good behavior in the organization should look like, and provide appropriate support to managers to obtain these.”
f67c0ed6df693ae4ebfce10a3b8d557f
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2021/02/28/resilience-is-the-key-for-leaders-in-professional-services-firms/?sh=5681524e3f24
Resilience Is The Key For Leaders In Professional Services Firms
Resilience Is The Key For Leaders In Professional Services Firms The U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivers his Budget on Wednesday. (Photo by ... [+] Justin TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Most attention during the pandemic has — understandably — focused on the death toll and hospitalizations of those hit by the virus. News outlets have also detailed the economic cost, which in the U.K. will likely be laid bare in the Budget on Wednesday, stemming to a large extent from supporting those who have been unable to work from home. However, it needs to be remembered that — while not entirely immune from the effects of the disease — people forced to work from home have had problems of their own. True, these may pale besides sickness and a lack of money. But they are real all the same. As Tom Lavin, director of marketing operations in the London office of the global law firm White & Case, pointed out, people “were, if anything, busier” than before the pandemic. Being thrown into a way of working that many were not familiar with had led some to become frustrated that they were not performing at their best. The firm already had mental well-being programs in place, but when Lavin heard London Business School professor Lynda Gratton talking on the radio about resilience and productivity it was, he told a recent webinar hosted by Gratton’s Hot Spots Movement, “a light-bulb moment.” What particularly struck Lavin was the importance of transitions — the shifts between people’s working and personal lives that, prior to the pandemic, typically just happened on the commute between home and office. Working from home and having to juggle a multitude of activities, ranging from home schooling children to carrying out household chores, meant that the number of transitions had multiplied, with resulting strains on the individuals concerned. It is a problem familiar to Beatriz Sanz Saiz, Madrid-based data and analytics leader at EY Global Consulting. A single mother of three, she said she had to learn to manage her time so that she could lead her team effectively and still have the thinking time on which the success of her role depended. Admitting that at the start she tried to do everything, as it became clear that the restrictions would not go away quickly she learned to get help, through hiring somebody to school the children and creating time in her schedule for herself. “I got rid of all the internal stuff,” she says of the back-to-basics approach she took to establishing a new agenda with her personal assistant. This need for a balance between energy-draining activities, such as solo work and Zoom meetings (which participants almost uniformly regard as more tiring than their face-to-face counterparts), and energy-building activities like team-building workshops and creative work is another important theme that the Hot Spots Movement has identified as a means for boosting resilience. A third theme is the need to maintain networks — both within and outside the organisation — that have been threatened by the pandemic and the trend towards isolation. MORE FOR YOUManage Your Boss With “The Rule Of Three”By The Numbers: Meet The 30 Under 30 Europe Class Of 2021This One Quick Morning Habit Makes You A Better Leader, New Study Says There is also general agreement that reaction to the restrictions associated with the pandemic differ according to individuals’ personalities and the type of work they do. Sanz Saiz says that the lockdown has been especially difficult for people in professional services firms since they typically enjoy moving between tasks and clients and do not like routine. “We need to stay curious and creative and we have to be more open-minded,” she adds. At White & Case, Lavin’s colleague, Matthew Fuller, head of business development for the Americas and EMEA, adds that one of the key aspects of the pandemic has been the need to adapt to different phases — from the initial shock and crisis, though taking stock, looking to recovery only to be pushed back by the second wave and taking stock again and looking ahead to what the “new normal” might look like. In a global firm, different offices have been in different phases and that has had to be acknowledged. Now, as the vaccination roll-out gathers pace, the return to office work is likely to take place at different rates, with people’s enthusiasm for going back to old routines dependent on their own circumstances. The result is that leaders have many more challenges ahead as they work out what the hybrid workplace will look like for organisations and individuals alike. Resilience will continue to be key.
0ad508cd8b6ef4de78cf24d501a3debf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2021/03/31/why-rising-to-the-top-is-a-lot-harder-than-it-appears/?sh=3d99fa9c3e70
Why Rising To The Top Is A Lot Harder Than It Appears
Why Rising To The Top Is A Lot Harder Than It Appears The U.K.'s Houses of Parliament, home to many people who would be regarded as members of the elite. ... [+] (Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Having worked as a headhunter, executive coach and chairman of a non-governmental organization, Douglas Board has had plenty of exposure to people who run things. So you might expect his book, Elites, to be a simple guide to how to make it or a description of the traits and characteristics of those at the top. Instead, it is something much more interesting, and controversial. For all that time in this rarified atmosphere has convinced him that all is not well there. In particular, he fairly comprehensively debunks the notion that modern workplaces are meritocracies where anybody can expect to reach the top, or at least close to it, through those old virtues of hard work, pleasing superiors, impressing customers, taking responsibility and continuing to learn. Instead, borrowing from the Harry Potter books of J.K. Rowling (he makes clear that neither the author herself nor anybody associated with the franchise has endorsed his book), he calls those at the summit (the elites) “wizards” and those striving below them “muggles” with a “muggle crust” composed of those who are closest to the summit but prevented from reaching it by a different sort of glass ceiling to the one usually referred to in the context of women not breaking through to senior levels. He explains that he adopted the term muggle crust because he saw the group concerned — in which he includes himself — as being at risk of being burned out or congealed. It is important to remember that the muggle crust does not consist of people who would be considered failures. Their job titles typically begin “head of” or “director of”. And they will often be well paid. “But normally you won’t find these individuals’ names and photographs in their organisations’ annual reports. They are too busy backstage working out how to deliver the promises made by the names and shiny faces which do appear. It can be heroic work. It’s also unsung and dangerous.” Those Board sees as elites, or wizards, are people who are right at the top of their field or activity. They can be managing a large company, running a country or even performing music or sport at a high level. What unites them is not just that they are all highly talented individuals, especially gifted at what they do, but that they somehow below to a sort of club, what he calls a “village-like community in which all are known or known of.” Although some of rituals he ascribes to this club can be a little hard to understand, there is no denying his central point that, while hard work and the rest of it might elevate an individual from ordinary muggle to a place in the crust, making the extra step, to join the elite, requires something quite different and is a lot harder to achieve. The paradox Board identifies is that, although elites are set apart (which explains why when they fail in one role they often quickly pick up another so that they remain in the elite and have in recent years attracted so much distrust) they are actually often a lot more ordinary than the people just below them, who are often doing extraordinary things. So, how to correct this wrong? Board has a few suggestions. An obvious starting point, he says, is wizard selection. Decisions on who becomes a wizard need to include outsiders as well as “villagers” who will work together in an accountable process focused on the qualities sought and how they can be demonstrated. MORE FOR YOUForbes Announces 2021 Under 30 Summit Kickoff, Presented By Rocket Mortgage, To Celebrate A Decade Of Under 30Forbes Unveils 2021 Midas List Spotlighting The World’s Top 100 Venture CapitalistsExclusive: Black-Owned Tech Company Yappa Raises $3.5 Million To Combat Online Harassment Once selected wizards will need mentoring by experienced wizards. New wizards will need the introductions to other wizards and help in establishing their profiles that will enable them to gain the air of magic that true wizards possess. But it is also important that existing wizards not block opportunities by staying in place too long. Board points out that good governance already prevents people remaining on individual boards for too long. He suggests that it could be worth limiting the total amount of time that an individual could spend on the largest boards. Those with genuinely valuable insights could be available as advisers or consultants. But above all there needs to be a change in mindsets. Those in the muggle crust need to be encouraged to believe that they can go even further than they already have and not to settle for what they have achieved. But there also needs to be a broader change in society to make leadership less about make-believe and more about mutual respect. And, as ever, that is about our education systems, and how, rather than creating opportunity, they can stymie it by imposing limited expectations on the many while giving the few the impression they can do what they want. It is Board’s belief that there is hope, even without such major and unlikely change. First, he stresses that the muggle crust is full of talented leaders, managers and professionals who are often “clearer-eyed and less self-congratulatory than their wizard bosses” and, as such, are “hidden heroes” with the potential to make things better. Second, he says that “the wizards’ game” depends on other people not understanding how it works. By shedding some light on it, he hopes that society in general will become less respectful of elites and more so of everybody else.
3a269a53e07ad4c0ccc31e96008e30e6
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2016/12/07/zoning-reducing-american-productivity-and-making-the-poor-poorer/
Gallup: Zoning Is Reducing American Productivity And Making The Poor Poorer
Gallup: Zoning Is Reducing American Productivity And Making The Poor Poorer Gallup has released a report called, No Recovery: An Analysis of Long-Term U.S. Productivity Decline that explains that even with modest job and productivity growth post-recession, the productivity of the country is down overall. A big part of the reason for this stagnation and decline is because of the disproportionate growth in costs and decline in value in education, health care, and housing. The Gallup report tells the story that many of us have been repeating for years: we need more housing options. But local governments in fast growing cities have resisted housing production with zoning regulations. What’s happening with housing that’s affecting productivity? The Gallup report argues makes the case that Americans are paying more for less, spending an average of 28 percent on housing costs compared to 19 percent over thirty years ago. Part of this is the size of units is getting smaller, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people are choosing to live in smaller spaces with higher per square foot costs. The Urban Land Institute produced a report on micro housing, A Macro View on Micro Housing,  that found many people chose smaller space because while the square foot cost of housing for smaller units is higher, over all rent is less. From Urban Land Institute Report, Macro View on Micro Units, Page 24 But the Gallup report lays the real blame squarely on local elected officials and the influence of incumbent homeowners that constrain supply with aggressive zoning. The core problem with the housing market is that it is not allowed to function as a market at all. In a healthy market, an increase in demand for a product leads to a greater supply and prices stay the same. In housing markets, demand increases as new households are formed, which results from natural population growth and immigration. The problem is that new supply is massively restricted, leading to inflation (Page 98). Americans are facing, especially in cities, is housing scarcity that is pushing up prices and consuming their incomes. The money lost to higher prices is money not saved, not invested in new ventures, or education, or meeting other needs. People want to live and work and cities because that’s where the opportunity is; but the report found that zoning is making it harder for new people to live in cities. Here’s a devastating indictment of zoning (emphasis mine): Local zoning boards and planning agencies have almost complete discretion over what gets built where, and they are under intense political pressure from homeowners’ associations and other groups to block development in high-priced, low-density areas for cultural and economic reasons. Culturally, homeowners clamor to preserve what they regard as the “character” of their communities, by which they mean things like traffic, the race and social status of their neighbors, and environmental amenities like green space and scenic views. Additionally, homeowners have strong economic interests in restricting the supply of housing in their neighborhood for two reasons: having more people, especially people with young children, requires a higher tax rate on property, and even more fundamentally, greater housing supply in their neighborhood lowers the value of their unit relative to the prevailing scarcity. Thus, even as housing prices increased, U.S. population density actually fell from 2000 to 2010 for metropolitan area residents as newer housing units were pushed further out into the distant suburbs (Page 99). But here’s what Gallup doesn’t say: progressive political rhetoric and policies blaming developers and building owners for higher prices provides the political cover to enact these kinds of measures that actually hurt poor people. And this is truly the scandal of the last three decades, that incumbent single-family homeowners have used the suffering of poor people to argue for policies that benefit their own financial interests while making life worse for people with the fewest dollars to spend on housing in the city, the very people that they claim to be worried about. Gallup says it isn’t done but will be producing more detailed ideas on solutions. The housing solution will have to require that local politicians and officials stop implementing policies that appear redistributive at the expense of developers and landlords, but that only make things worse for people seeking housing (see Seattle Mayor Murray's Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning scheme). Ironically the fees and taxes wrung out of the production of much needed housing will only raise its price, funneling the money raised into a manifestly inefficient system of housing production. As Margaret Thatcher famously pointed out, all these apparently socialist policies using taxes, fees, and zoning do is make the “poor poorer” while ensuring current homeowners see themselves get richer and richer.
73a4781008724ab96f657cb2c1361440
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2017/10/30/policy-makers-need-to-believe-in-competition-in-the-housing-market/
Policy Makers Need To Believe In Competition In The Housing Market
Policy Makers Need To Believe In Competition In The Housing Market (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) “What did you know and when did you know it?” I always thought of this formulation as about politics not knowledge and certainly not economics. But what people know and don’t know in an economy plays a central role in how decisions are made, particularly in understanding the relationship of price to supply and demand. This relationship is even more critical in understanding housing prices in markets experiencing lots of growth and demand for housing products. The economist that should come to mind when considering knowledge is Friedrich Hayek, a central figure in contemporary classical liberal economic theory – or neoliberal economics as it often derisively termed. Especially helpful in accessing his thinking on this topic is a 1968 essay called, “Competition as a Discovery Procedure.” I found this helpful after a conversation with an elected official about housing. When I explained that regulatory costs were adding to supply difficulties and thus to increasing prices in the face of rising demand, she agreed; but she said, essentially, that to relieve that regulatory burden would result not in lower prices, but more profit for developers. “But competition,” I said, “created by increasing supply means that eventually sellers would use the margin of lower costs to beat the seller on the other side of the street.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say except, “It’s called the ‘Invisible Hand!’” hardly something that would appeal to a left leaning politician. However, competition is part of a “discovery procedure,” a spontaneous and non-linear process that “consists to a great extent of the ability to detect certain conditions – an ability that individuals can use effectively only when the market tells them what kinds of goods and services are demanded, and how urgently.” The broad perception among housing consumers is that producers of housing set prices. They don’t. If housing proliferates because of increased production they will have to lower their prices. How do they know when to do this? It’s impossible to say according to Hayek. The situation is somewhat like agreeing to play a game based partly on skill and partly on luck. The rules of the game ensure that at the price such that each individual’s share is left more or less to chance, the real equivalent of each individual’s share, depending partly on chance, becomes as large as possible. In modern terminology we can say that we are playing a non-zero-sum game whose rules have the objective of increasing the payoff but leave the share of the individuals partly to chance. Hundreds and thousands of decisions made by consumers, regulators, and producers in a market based on their knowledge of the moment, and those decisions begin to influence other decisions by other players. Potential tenants walk away from an apartment. Real estate professionals advise clients. Renters scour Craigslist. Tenants move. Buyers get picky at closing. All of this ends up getting reported as average housing prices, a number which gets compared to reality by people reading breathless media reports about “skyrocketing rents” or “falling prices.” But average prices are hardly a useful gauge since they are both after the fact and they fail to tell the whole story of those who found bargains and those who overpaid. As Hayek points out, In that obscure image of reality we call statistics, in aggregates and averages we unavoidably summarize many things whose causal meaning is very diverse. People find this unsatisfying and rather than control costs believing reducing them gives producers of housing an unfair advantage over consumers, governments try to control prices by increasing regulation or taxing the production of new housing because they believe more housing production will lead to more profits. Like the elected official suggested, “you’ll make more, but you’ll keep the price the same!” When people and policy makers are doubt people in a market can make knowledgeable decisions based on price, and that an abundance of a product doesn’t lead to more profit but more competition, then their decisions will end up “protecting some groups of people from having to descend from the absolute or relative lifestyle they have heretofore enjoyed.” When it comes to housing markets, that means homeowners who gain a windfall from the increased value of the scarce product they already own.
478936e0944fddb2105ea43a0a70a1e5
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2020/03/09/i-quitanother-housing-provider-gives-up/
“I Quit!”Another Housing Provider Gives Up
“I Quit!”Another Housing Provider Gives Up Andre Shashaty explains why regulation is making him give up providing housing. Affordable Housing Finance Andre Shashaty has had enough. After years as a small-scale housing provider, he’s getting rid of his 22 housing units in Northern California. The long time real estate professional gave it his all, trying to make his rental housing work in one of the most harshly regulated housing markets in the country, California; a state the ironically beats its chest all the time about its “housing crisis.” Shashaty turned in his resignation through a post at Affordable Housing Finance, saying, “I quit!” Shashaty starts out saying, “I have spent five years as owner and operator of 22 units of workforce housing in Sonoma County, Calif. I tried to do reasonably well while doing good: Make a modest income while offering quality housing for a very diverse group of working people, including some Section 8 tenants.” Housing providers, even in the non-profit space, are not mental health professionals or even necessarily the best real estate people. Many of the housing providers who have the most affordable rents are smaller operators. Managing rental property is real work, a job, for many of the people who provide housing. A story in the New York Times about the life a small landlordchronicles this work. “ The Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord advocacy group, says 70 percent of its 25,000 members are small-property owners, who own one or two buildings with no more than 48 apartments in each building. Of the one million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, the association estimates that such landlords own 650,000 of them. Small landlords ‘provide the most affordable housing stock in New York because they’re under rent stabilization,’ said Joseph Strasburg, the association’s president.” MORE FOR YOUFlying With Cash? You May Lose It All To Law EnforcementWhy Illinois Is In Trouble – 122,258 Public Employees Earned $100,000+ Costing Taxpayers $15.8 Billion Despite PandemicThe Extraordinary Naivete Of The Democrats’ Economic Planning So how are these housing providers — called “amateur” landlords in some places— rewarded for their work? Shashaty says, “I no longer have any desire to be a housing provider in California. The politicians have beaten me down with their constant attacks on landlords. Because California has failed to produce enough housing to satisfy the increases in demand from the jobs created here, my fellow small property owners and I are now Public Enemy No. 1. The statewide rent control law passed last year, which comes on top of myriad local measures to regulate us, showed just how little our work is valued in this state.” The bizarre vacancy tax being proposed in Los Angeles is but one example of the regulatory overreach that assumes the absolute worst motives from housing providers, like keeping units vacant at a loss just to make their prospective customers suffer more with higher rents when they have no other choice. This isn’t true. What is true that such regulations punish housing by adding a needless cost; housing providers only succeed with steady occupancies and low turnover. As Shashaty points out, this limits housing supply, boost costs and prices, and then its providers who get blamed. More rules, regulations, taxes, fees, and fines follow as does scarcity and higher prices. And who’s to blame? People who own and operate housing of course! I spoke with Shashaty who said the problem is politicians who run governments without any concerns about the unintended consequences of seemingly helpful laws. Shashaty told me that he predicts all the laws, like ones complicating evictions, will drive more people like him out of the business. “The regulation of evictions means that only very tough managers can make a go of it. I speculate here, but I predict very detailed leases with all sorts of prohibitions and possibly a surge in the use of video monitoring of public spaces. I would expect consolidation of ownership among bigger companies that have economies of scale and will have legal departments that can churn out evictions efficiently.” This consolidation effect, larger companies with the scale and resources to absorb losses and increased risk won’t help residents — it will drive up costs. I call it the Taco Bell and taco truck problem. When governments impose rules intended to punish profitability they think is present in housing, they hurt small businesses and reward big ones. Make expensive rules on how to make and run a taco business, Taco Bell still be fine. But your local taco truck will disappear. And who had the political power? Not housing providers. Shashaty rightly points out that “Providers have zero political power. Politicians are beholden to tax paying homeowners who don’t want poor and minority people or even working people to find housing in their districts.  Now legislators are pretending to care about the plight of those with huge housing cost burdens by attacking providers to get political points while achieving no meaningful improvements.” We should all regret Shashaty’s departure. “It was hard work to provide housing these last five years. Now it's impossible. It takes far too much work to be compliant, and there's too much legal and financial risk for even innocent missteps.” Shashaty doesn’t want pity. He’ll be fine, he says, investing his money elsewhere. But he warns thousand will follow him. He warns, “ Housing conditions will deteriorate, and the more rents are restricted, the worse it will get. The flight of capital away from California will bring a new era of urban decay, and years from now, people will wonder why it was allowed to happen.” Shashaty is right. The race toward the bottom has begun. Will anyone wake up to this? It’s hard to say. Part of the answer is whether politicians or a politician of the future, as things get worse in housing markets, can charmingly repackage what we already know is true — more housing makes housing easier to get and keep for everyone — as some kind of innovation. Until then, we’ll do what we can and mourn who and what we’re losing.
8a760381fbbca9e9576873c54aae1fbc
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2021/03/02/housing-debate-shows-why-capitalism-needs-no-defense/
Housing Debate Shows Why Capitalism Needs No Defense
Housing Debate Shows Why Capitalism Needs No Defense LOS ANGELES - 1942: A movie still of (L-R) Unidentified, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Humphrey ... [+] Bogart and Ingrid Bergman on the set of the Warner Bros classic film 'Casablanca' in 1942 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) getty Yesterday I pointed out that for the left, ideology trumps facts when it comes to the relationship between housing prices and housing supply. The left refuses to acknowledge the benefits to consumers from competition in a market with few constraints. As I’ve posted before, the left is predisposed to see price as a social construct, something set and determined by individuals rather than fluctuating as part of negotiations between buyers and sellers. This stubborn contention is a roadblock, but it also illustrates why there are few market oriented advocates for real increases in housing supply. I hosted a three part training session for small housing providers from around the country. The topic was how changing the narrative about housing would help shift policy. My contention has been and remains that there are two factors driving daft housing policy in the country. The first is the stubborn resistance on the ascendant left about where price comes from and the second is the perception that rental housing is all about passive income; the only work attendant to owning and operating rental property is depositing the rent checks every month. But a third element that keeps the country locked in a self-imposed housing “crisis” is a complete lack of interest by conservatives in the housing issue and willingness by developers to bribe their way beyond bureaucratic gate keepers to get their permits. I explore this in more detail in a post titled, “Esta es La Mordida.” I touched a bit on the “conservative” problem in a long and meandering post about conservative identity. Why is there so little intellectual foment in favor of the market? Why do “conservatives” simply ape what they think are conservative views with knee jerk opposition to taxation and opposition to “big government?” Why do left-leaning academics and flashy efforts to promote a non-existent “eviction crisis” proliferate while so called conservatives sink millions of dollars in to issues like abortion and gun rights? My hypothesis is that what we call capitalism and what I prefer to call value exchange needs no defense. What I have found is that developers and housing providers when confronted with regulatory roadblocks find ways around them. At first there is outrage: “How dare they ban eviction!” and “No credit checks! That’s insane!” Then, somehow, they all manage to figure out how to operate their businesses anyway. MORE FOR YOUNew Mexico Bans Qualified Immunity For All Government Workers, Including PoliceDid PayPal Just Make Cryptocurrency The Cash Of The Future?Taxpayers Beware Of The Global Minimum Corporate Tax A perfect example is mandates for inclusion of rent restricted housing in new development, the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ) scheme. At first, developers slap their foreheads about a per square foot fee on their product. They oppose it. Some even claim, “This will push us out of this market!” Then developers start bargaining on the fee that will wind up laundered by the government and in the pockets of non-profit developers. Once the fee seems reasonable, they capitulate, and the fee regime takes effect. From the perspective of everyone watching, life goes on, housing gets built anyway. This validates the position of politicians: the opposition was just hype and worry about lost profits. What really happens is that developers reset their expectations for land costs, debt coverage, and assumptions on rent. Ironically, what makes this possible is that demand continues unabated, rents stay high and thus rationalizes the fees. Individual developers could care less about rising inflation across the market; in fact it is the basis upon which they are able to keep building. Higher prices for consumers mean there is enough money sloshing around to keep projects profitable and absorb fees. Purists like me ask, “Where’s the outrage?” Then in walks Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault from Casablanca. Captain Renault is not an intellect or a man of principle. Renault is a rational actor unlike the more romantic figure of Victor Laszlo. We didn’t need Ayn Rand to point out that human beings act like Louis Renault while wanting to be Victor Laszlo. In fact, in many ways, society is structured to allow us to be Renault while feeling like Laszlo. The excellent book by John Murray Cuddihy, “The Ordeal of Civility,” points out how Jewish intellectuals like Marx and Freud pointed this out precisely; the Christian-Capitalist vision of society is to not only allow the contradiction, but to hallow it. The notion that price is a construct is poppycock. It simply isn’t true. That’s why the left has written book after book arguing points like “housing is a human right” as justifications to impose inflationary fees. While producers of housing might burst onto the scene now and then claiming to be “shocked, shocked to see gambling going on here” they soon enough find an accommodation with the regime and fade away, counting their money as they go. I find this both frustrating and edifying. If I really subscribe to the notion of the Fable of the Bees, the “invisible hand,” and spontaneous order, how could I be anything but satisfied that value exchange continues no matter what the left tries to impose to create “equity.” Yet, the Richard Blaine in me wants to do the “right thing;” so instead of getting the girl I always seem to end up walking away with Louis. Oh well. We’ll always have Paris.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2021/03/03/left-and-right-should-agree-abolish-parking-requirements-for-housing/?sh=6ea43d872a23
Left And Right Should Agree: Abolish Parking Requirements For Housing
Left And Right Should Agree: Abolish Parking Requirements For Housing Kumbaya moment: Both left and right have principled reasons to end mandates on parking. getty Imagine two fired up Americans on their way to a protest, one from the left, a socialist and one from the right, a Trump supporter. These two people have their signs in the back seat. The guy on the left is listening to protest songs, the guy on the right maybe a tribute to Rush Limbaugh. As they close in to the site where they’ll be yelling at each other – with masks and a safe distance of course – there’s a problem: they can’t find a place to park. They guy on the left will blame the greedy capitalists building high rises for the rich with no parking, the guy on the right would say the same thing. For a brief moment left and right would come together: Make them build parking! Cities across the country, as they’ve grown after World War II, have increasingly struggled with parking issues. In less dense single-family neighborhoods, a parking spot in front of a house on the street came to be seen as an entitlement; free parking in front of a single-family home is still viewed by some as sacrosanct. In downtown cores, it was assumed that people would do their shopping in the mall rather than battle for parking in densely populated areas. Creating parking with housing and retail as a mandate in land use codes became common. Usually these requirements took the form of arbitrary ratios, like 1 stall per unit or some percentage like .75 stalls per unit. Planning practitioners would tell you that there was some method behind these ratios, but in the end it was guess work. How much parking would be needed depended on supply and demand. But parking ratios became, like all ratios usually do, a political statement. Developers seek lower ratios because it allows flexibility and is less expensive. Angry neighbors opposing new housing wanted the ratio as high as possible to kill projects with costs or to make them infeasible – and to insure their own convenience. This shimmering moment of unity I described above comes in spite of the fact that both left and right have principled reasons why mandating parking for housing is a bad intervention. On the left, the argument is that parking – especially “free” parking – induces driving. If I can find a place to park easily everywhere I want to go, then I’ll drive rather than use alternative forms of transportation. This, of course, generates more carbon emissions. There are volumes written about this, but generally speaking, people on the left should oppose parking mandates. On the right, parking mandates are a plain disruption of the value exchange in the market; buyers and sellers should be able to determine how much parking is needed. Sometimes buyers want a parking stall and are willing to pay for it, other times people with no car or a willingness to take their chances on the street don’t want parking. Builders will meet parking demand if it exists, and if it doesn’t why require producing something nobody wants and adding costs to housing? MORE FOR YOUSanders Proposal Brings Medicare Closer To The Brink Of CollapseNashville Is The Health Services Capital – Here's Why This Explosively Growing Region Is More Than Music City USAWe Need To Be Ready For Student Loan Payments To Resume In October This debate flared up recently in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood in Nashville, where a microhousing project has locals upset. As in any argument, true intent and motive are a mystery, but the pattern for this project is familiar. Neighbors don’t like the project and are using parking to argue against it. Here’s a neighbor quoted in the coverage by WKRN, It’s a growing neighborhood. We are going to have people moving here, we are going to have new developments, that’s awesome. I love that, but when it starts to displace like our parking and effect that…we’ve got a lot of crime, I would suspect it will also bring more crime if there are cars lining these streets. That’s where I get a little concerned and more than a little concerned,” she explained, concerned especially when she saw the plans for the proposed development in the corner. “They are taking a less than half an acre lot and building a big development on it. It’s going to house 39 units, micro apartments.” More cars on the street mean throngs of thieves will arrive in the neighborhood to smash windows and steal things. Once they’re in the neighborhood that knows what they’ll do next! It’s an absurd argument, but very human. Find the desired outcome then put arguments underneath it, especially scary and catastrophic ones. It’s what we’ve described before as “frontlash,” the panic that ensues when things are about to change. Parking is expensive. You can read our efforts to persuade the City of Bellevue, Washington to maintain reduced parking mandates, especially around transit (see below). This means lower production costs and lower prices for consumers. And less parking and more accessible retail and commercial use nearby means cars aren’t needed as much and that can’t be bad for the environment. In the end, both left and right should be able to gather round the fire to sing Kumbaya about abolishing parking mandates. If only they could find a place to park!
0986ef4792f6c2dfad819778bb411feb
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2021/03/22/stop-playing-games-with-rent-relief/?sh=64ef4e2b446a
Stop Playing Games With Rent Relief
Stop Playing Games With Rent Relief Bud Abbott laughing and Lou Costello with hand on chin sit together in a scene from the film 'Bud ... [+] Abbott And Lou Costello In Hollywood', 1945. (Photo by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images) Getty Images One of my favorite Abbot and Costello routines is really a Lou Costello routine. The duo owe back rent and Bud Abbot tasks Costello with conning their way out of paying. It’s worth watching if you haven’t seen it. Hilarious. Very funny. That is unless you are one of thousands of housing providers or families in the United States who are looking at rising balances of unpaid rent. For those people, the schtick is all too familiar. States are playing bureaucratic and political games with much needed assistance, just like Costello. But as of today, $25 billion set aside to reduce unpaid rent — unpaid as a result of government interventions to stop the spread of Covid-19 — isn’t funny it is an unfolding tragedy. State and local governments simply don’t know how or want to efficiently get the money where it needs to be. States need to involve lenders and create a program that is more like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). In conversations I have all across the country there is growing frustration with the inability to connect the big package of relief to people who need it. In Hawaii, I’ve heard that the limits on overhead to 10% makes standing up a distribution – which includes screening and processing application as well as getting the money to the right person – cost more than that. In Ohio, housing providers don’t know where the money is coming from. In Washington state, a county worker says that the money hasn’t showed up yet although that county believes they are ready once state government shows up with the cash. And still, everywhere, the media keeps pushing headlines about an eviction “tsunami” instead of asking the question of “where is the money?” What’s funny in an ironic way, is how foot-stomping socialists and so-called progressives say they want to redistribute wealth, taking money from “the rich” and giving it to “the poor.” They seem to be very good at the “taking” part, but really bad at the “redistribution” part. What the growing rent relief debacle is showing is that if given their way, their policies would end up doing very little distribution. Currently the scheme is to send money to state governments, then state governments put out requests for proposals, then local governments and non-profits apply for the money. Contracts have to drafted up, reviewed, then approved, and signed. Then local government has to do the same with dozens of non-profits. MORE FOR YOUFlying With Cash? You May Lose It All To Law EnforcementDid PayPal Just Make Cryptocurrency The Cash Of The Future?New Mexico Bans Qualified Immunity For All Government Workers, Including Police All along the way, the river of cash is slowly evaporating. Each and every hour spent on cramming cash through systems expressly designed to not spend money and to add requirements based on outliers – mistakes or glitches in the system that might result in someone getting paid that shouldn’t – create more and more overhead. Then once the money does arrive, in Washington State anyway, the goal is not to pay rent. Instead the funds are intended to Prevent evictions. Target resources to very low-income households who are unemployed. Promote equity in who is served, with a focus on equity for groups of people who historically have not been provided equitable access to rent assistance and those who have disproportionately been impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak: Latinx or Hispanic, young adults, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. One staff person at the state level in Olympia said that the money was not going to be use as economic relief but as a social program. In other words, the aim of the money was to address issues related to race and equity, not paying the rent. The state of Washington, now that they have a hold of the money, is not spending it on rent relief but on trying to solve racism. They’ll now fail at two things, instead of just one. And that isn’t all. The Commerce Department is bound by a bill passed by the legislature to use a formula that “must include the number of renters in a community, unemployed persons and direct federal awards.” This formula has no relationship whatsoever to who actually has overdue rent, something that the state has failed and refused to measure. So instead of quantifying the problem then getting funds there as quickly as possible, the formula is based on unemployed people and number of renters. Why would we guess about who owes rent? Why not just let people who owe and are owed rent apply for the money? Finally, the legislation appropriates “$365 million for a variety of housing-related items, including rental assistance.” A variety of housing-related items? And the state was allotted over $500 million for rent assistance from the $25 billion; where’s the rest of the money? Washington State’s Commerce Department and Governor’s office makes Lou Costello look like an amateur grifter. They have refused and failed to figure out how much unpaid rent there is in the state, skimmed more than $150 dollars off the top and then vaguely said what’s left will pay for “housing related items?” Like what, new furniture? The way this should have been done is to put lenders and financial institutions in the picture just like the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) did. We’ve proposed a simple fix to this that the Treasury Department seems to have no problem with. I call it the Rental Assistance Advance Program (RAAP). Community lenders and financial institutions will act as Community Action Agencies to facilitate quick receipt of rent relief for residents and housing providers. Housing providers will make a claim to their bank or local lender for the total amount of unpaid rent owed to them because of Covid-19 interventions creating loss of income. Lenders will advance the unpaid balance to the housing provider and the provider will notice the resident their rent is paid Lenders will apply for grant funding under the T-RAP program in their state including any eligible overhead Upon payment of the grant from the state to the lender, the lender will notice the housing provider that the issue is resolved. If the grant is rejected, the lender will make attempts to cure the application and if unsuccessful, can convert the advance of unpaid rent or any unapproved portion to a low interest loan The lender can charge the housing provider up to 5 % of the advance if it is successfully resolved for any additional overhead. If state governments really want to help resolve economic challenges of poor people who are disproportionately people of color, they would just pay the rent! We can make the distribution of rent relief more efficient if state and local governments get out of the way and allow banks and credit unions to work with their customers to get a tally of unpaid rent, put the money in their accounts, and settle the details later.
a2ec5d1536ae3037b95398a206c05e44
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/08/13/why-institutional-investors-are-dominating-small-business-lending/
Why Institutional Investors Are Dominating Small Business Lending
Why Institutional Investors Are Dominating Small Business Lending It was about seven years ago that the economy dipped into a deep recession and the ensuing "credit crunch" made it difficult for small business owners to secure capital. Startups had a particularly difficult time because banks became insistent on having two to three years' worth of financials before they would make loan decisions. Naturally, budding entrepreneurs had no such documents. Banks essentially closed the door on small businesses. However, when one door closes another one opens. Alternative lenders jumped into the marketplace and, by using technology, they made quick funding decisions. They were willing to provide capital at a time when traditional lenders would not -- although they would charge steep rates for the privilege. Eventually, online marketplaces such as OnDeck, Lending Club, and Biz2Credit created online platforms to connect borrowers and lenders, and non-bank lenders began to see opportunity for solid returns by entering the small business lending arena. There is a bit of irony that large institutional investors are becoming a force in lending to the little guys. However, it is a smart move as the availability of vast amounts of data that online platforms can collect is now used to mitigate risk. Thus, default rates are low. In earlier times, family funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, and mutual funds might not have been bothered in small loan amounts, but things have changed. According to the July 2015 Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, Institutional lenders approved 61.7% of funding requests last month, up from 61.4% in June. This percentage far outpaces the approvals of big banks (22.4%), small banks (49.2%) and credit unions (42.9%). Your chance of getting a loan from the traditional lenders is less than 50%. Institutional investors are becoming a bigger part of the market, which can be seen by recent changes in business models from several large online balance sheet lenders. For example, Biz2Credit started offering commercial real estate backed loans for institutional investors to purchase. Some of our peers in the industry recently signed multimillion dollar purchase commitments or credit facilities with institutional investors. Institutional investors operate with fewer government regulations than banks do, they are able to act more freely. These financial organizations rely on their own insights, and do not need tight government oversight. This fact serves both the lenders and the borrowers well. Further, institutional players, such as pension funds and insurance companies, have vast sums of money to invest. By making it relatively easy to secure money and only slightly higher interest rates than banks charge, they quickly have become market-changers in small business lending.
cfacb5a3770662d846fd8c28d20b62be
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/09/10/latino-owned-businesses-finances-and-impact-on-economic-growth/
Latino-Owned Businesses: Their Finances And Impact On Economic Growth
Latino-Owned Businesses: Their Finances And Impact On Economic Growth While small business loan applications submitted by Latino entrepreneurs grew 18% in the past year, Latino business owners face significant hurdles in securing financing. They still lag behind in the necessary factors needed to secure financing such as annual revenue, credit scores, age of business and operating expenses. A study released today by Biz2Credit that analyzed the financial performance of more than 1,000 Latino-owned businesses with less than 250 employees and less than $10 million in annual revenues, found that the: • Average annual revenue for Latino-owned businesses was $68,540, trailing slightly behind the figure of $70,641 for non-Latino-owned businesses (although an improvement from the previous year) • Average operating expenses were significantly lower at $18,334, contrasted with $24,857 for non-Latino businesses. Often family-run, owner-operated businesses. They cut down on staff and keep their expenses low. • Average age of Latino businesses was younger at 22 months vs. 25 months for non-Latino businesses (lenders prefer to fund longer established businesses) • Average credit score for Latino-owned businesses applying for loans was 603, compared to 614 for all others • Top 5 states for Latino-owned small business loan applications were: Texas (16.4%), California and Florida tied at (15.7%), New York (9.1%) and – for the first time – Georgia (3.0%) (All five states represented 60% of the loan requests made by Latinos in the past year.) While it is a positive sign that increasing numbers of Latino-owned businesses are seeking funding, they still need to catch up in many areas. Because their businesses often are younger and smaller in size, they need to pay attention to their cash flow and also build a solid credit profile. Additionally, Latino-owned businesses have an overconcentration in industries that lenders consider risky: landscaping and construction, which are both seasonal, and retail. Certainly, the heated discussion surrounding Mexican immigrants has a negative impact on business owners. Lenders have less experience in lending to Latinos, and people often have a fear of people and things that are less familiar to them. Certainly. the frequency of negative messages about this ethnic group is not helpful. Meanwhile, Latino borrowers have less experience in working within the banking system. They often have to overcome language and cultural barriers, as well. Thus, despite the accomplishments of Latino business owners, they still have to work harder than others to prove themselves. Diversifying the range of businesses and getting into growing sectors, such as healthcare and technology, will bold well for Latinos. They will be able to better service the needs of a community that will become larger in terms of size and earning power. The success of companies owned by Latinos is critical to the economy's long-term health, since they are one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. With 43% growth since 2007, at some point in the not-so-distant future may surpass non-Latino businesses. At a time when immigration policy is at the forefront of our national consciousness, the performance of Latino-owned companies is important -- no matter which side of the political debate you support. It is a topic that will likely dominate the discussion during the 2016 Presidential Election. Also on Forbes: Gallery: The Best Cities For Hispanic Entrepreneurs 10 images View gallery
0890c29a2ef8e7f9d0d30629241d00bf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/09/16/the-case-for-raising-the-credit-union-lending-cap/
The Case For Raising The Credit Union Lending Cap
The Case For Raising The Credit Union Lending Cap Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have introduced the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act into the U.S. Senate. The legislation would increase the credit union member business-lending (MBL) cap for credit unions from 12.25% of assets to 27.5%. This legislation is long overdue. Now with more digitization as well as impending interest rate hike, credit unions will need to invest resources and show more commitment for this bill to make a material impact in credit unions increasing their market share in the small business lending space. As the economy emerged from the Great Recession, credit unions helped fill the void when banks were slow to approve small business loan requests. The credit unions were willing to lend, and the banks weren't. According to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, which has tracked approval rates of banks and other lenders since 2011, credit unions started approving more than half of the funding requests they received in April 2011. The approval percentages climbed for nearly a year and reached a high of 57.9% in March 2012. Since reaching that peak, approval percentages have slowly but steadily declined at credit unions. The negative slope occurred for two reasons: firstly because many of the more highly capitalized credit unions had reached their MBL cap of 12.25% of their assets. Many of the more aggressive lenders were shackled by this regulation when they could have been making more loans. Secondly, credit unions did not invest heavily in technology that would have enabled them to make quicker and better informed loan decisions. While alternative lenders and, eventually, banks put money into enabling potential borrowers to apply for funding online, credit unions were slow to do so. Part of the decision-making process likely was to avoid the investment because the MBL cap had already been reached. Approval of the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act would remove this hindrance. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) estimates that passage of the legislation would enable credit unions to lend an additional $13 billion to small businesses nationwide and help in the creation of more than 140,000 jobs. These figures are quite significant. Both CUNA and the National Association of Federal Credit Union (NAFCU) support the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act. CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle called it "common sense legislation," and he is right. Further, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet spoke at NAFCU’s 2015 Congressional Caucus and explained that the agency wants to see more credit unions involved in small business lending. By helping entrepreneurs gain further access the capital they need to succeed by easing restrictions on credit unions, small businesses to grow, create jobs and boost the economy. Raising the arbitrary credit union member business lending cap will make a positive impact on small business growth. Its enactment will increase the options for the small businesses to get access to capital, which good news for borrowers, lenders, and the economy overall.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/09/28/immigration-trends-and-the-future-of-entrepreneurship/
Immigration Trends And The Future of Entrepreneurship
Immigration Trends And The Future of Entrepreneurship A Pew Center report tied to the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which literally changed the face of immigrants to the United States, projects that if immigration trends continue as they are, by 2065, the U.S. will have 78 million immigrants. The act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on October 3, 1965, and helped open immigration to natives of countries beyond Europe. In the three decades after the enactment of the law, America saw more than 18 million legal immigrants -- more than three times the number from 1935-65 -- enter the country from other parts of the world such as Latin America, the Pacific Rim, and South Asia. Small businesses line Bagley Avenue in the Mexicantown neighborhood of Southwest Detroit, Michigan.... [+] Photographer: Bryan Mitchell/Bloomberg Currently, the U.S. has one-in-five of the world's immigrants, the most of any country. According to the study, during the half century (1965-2015) since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Mexican immigrants represented 28% of the total newcomers to America. During this timeframe, immigrants, their children and their grandchildren have accounted for 55% of U.S. population growth, and they added 72 million people to the nation’s population as it grew from 193 million in 1965 to 324 million in 2015. Immigration from Mexico and other Latin American countries has been strong and only recently has been challenged by immigrants from Asia. However, Hispanics are still expected to represent 31% of foreign born entrepreneurs. The nation’s Latino population is its largest minority group, numbering more than 53 million, or 17.1% of the U.S. population, in 2013. According to Pew's report on Latino groups, Mexicans are by far the largest origin group at 34.6 million, thereby comprising 64.1% of all U.S. Latinos. Puerto Ricans are the second-largest Latino origin group (9.5% of all U.S. Latinos), followed by Cubans and Salvadorans, who each make up just under 4% of the Latino population. Biz2Credit's annual Latino small business study examined the volume of Latino small business loan applications in the past 12 months. Applications grew 18%, which indicates the ambition in the pursuit of the American Dream remains high. However, Latinos are lagging behind in important financial factors, such as average annual revenue and credit scores. In his recent visit to America, Pope Francis made the first-ever papal address to the U.S. Congress and touched on a variety of subjects including his sentiments on immigration. “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility,” the pontiff said. “Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by your legislative activity, to grow as a nation.” Fueled by the candidacy of Donald Trump, who has been outspoken about the influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico, immigration reform has become a hot button issue. What is often overlooked by politicians who are outspoken against immigration is the positive impact that foreign born people continue to bring to this country. After all, historically, immigrants have been the driving force of success in America, and they are essential to the continued growth of a great nation. Biz2Credit will host “The Changing Face of Small Business Owners” webinar on Wed., October 7 at 3:00 p.m. EDT and examine the latest research on Latino entrepreneurship, as well as advice from small business experts and entrepreneurs. To register for this presentation, click here.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/10/02/how-to-get-a-loan-if-your-business-is-hit-by-a-natural-disaster/
How To Get A Loan If Your Business Is Hit By A Natural Disaster
How To Get A Loan If Your Business Is Hit By A Natural Disaster A bull dozer builds sand berms on the beach in preparation for Hurricane Joaquin. (Photo by Andrew... [+] Burton/Getty Images) All eyes are on Hurricane Joaquin along the Eastern Seaboard as the storm gathers strength. Homeowners and business owners up and down the Atlantic coast are preparing for the effects of what is expected to be the most powerful storm since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Although it may not directly hit the continental United States, the Category 4 storm is likely to cause significant flooding in a number of states. Three years ago, Sandy caused billions of dollars in damage to residential and business areas, particularly along the Jersey Shore and Long Island, New York. Nearly 20,000 small businesses in New Jersey experienced losses of more than $8 billion, according to the U.S. Economics and Statistics Administration. After Sandy hit, the Small Business Administration (SBA) approved $2.4 billion in low-interest disaster loans to thousands of business owners who needed to rebuild. If your business suffers economically from a natural disaster and needs funding to return to operations, the SBA offers two types of disaster loans: Business Physical Disaster Loans Should a natural disaster damage a business’s physical location, eligible business owners can qualify for up to $2 million in funding through the SBA to help restore operations A Business Physical Disaster Loan can help restore building or property damage, make improvements, or replace equipment and inventory. Interest rates for this type of funding are capped at four percent if a business cannot obtain credit elsewhere and at eight percent for a company has obtained credit from another lender. Economic Injury Disaster Loans Even if a business survives a natural disaster physically unscathed, the impact of a storm on the greater community will hurt cash flow. For example, Hurricane Katrina, which impacted much of Louisiana and Mississippi, left many families devastated economically. What hurts customers also hurts a business, too. When cases such as this arise, a business may qualify for an SBA-backed Economic Injury Disaster Loan. These loans are available at four percent interest rates and provide qualifying business owners an opportunity to fund their economic shortfalls of up to $2 million. Business owners who find their companies hurt by Hurricane Joaquin -- or any other natural disaster -- should take the following steps: • Assess the damage, take pictures and make videos to accompany insurance claims. • Understand your insurance policy and contact your agent with any questions to determine what is covered and what is not. • File your insurance claims quickly; many policies require that claims are filed within a specific time frame in order to be compensated for any losses. • FEMA offers assistance with filing insurance claims, landlord issues, and other legal problems for business operating in places that have been designated federal disaster areas. • Determine if you are satisfied with the insurance company's resolution. If not, look for a new insurer. • Continuously backup all records. This is a good practice not only in times of disaster, but also throughout the year. • If you previously lost revenue because you did not invest in a generator, don't make the same mistake twice. Buy one so that you have it before the next storm hits. The Atlantic hurricane season lasts until November 30. Before disaster hits, know what your financing options are. As the Boy Scouts say: Be Prepared.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/10/24/the-value-of-personal-branding-for-small-business/
The Value Of Personal Branding For Small Business
The Value Of Personal Branding For Small Business When did business people become “a brand”? Donald Trump. Mark Cuban. Jay Z. For 30 years before he became a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump built his name into a symbol of high end luxury and his personna as a guy who could get tough jobs done. He has always been a media darling, but as he now runs for the White House, he is in our consciousness nearly every day. Perhaps it’s the age in which we live: always on, always available, and always ready to spring into action. And along with availability, there’s a hi-tech, hi-touch approach to business that leads to the creation of a Personal Brand. It really puts the “I” in “me,” allowing people to share their hopes, dreams, goals, and objectives to their immediate peers. Many times, the larger world that is suddenly more approachable from their electronic devices. We can approach personal branding from both sides of the coin. There are those who follow a pattern similar to newsmakers we see in the media every day: headline-grabbing, gossip-swirling, tabloid-spinning personalities who comment on everything and anything. But to truly make your mark for your small business, brand yourself as someone who contributes to the community. If your family has been in the business for generations, you will find yourself upholding a reputation as well as carving one out for yourself. This is easily accomplished by remaining involved in all the things your family has been doing: chamber of commerce, local school board, and community activist, if needed. The latter are the ones that your neighbors, customers, and colleagues will appreciate. New to town? Become known as a “good business citizen.” Give generously to local causes; those that mean the most to you and your employees. Participate in local events (where you gain the added benefit of exposure). And provide time, goods, or services to those in need. Brand yourself – and by extension your small business – in a good light and the time and effort will pay off handsomely in the long run. Continuously improving your personal profile now, in order to enjoy future returns, is well worth it personally and professionally. So, start making your name a community staple, and watch customers turn to your small business.
5898569e6a1c098b946c5f11f36ea67a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/10/30/the-first-secret-of-growing-a-successful-business-read-your-balance-sheet/
The First Secret Of Growing A Successful Business: Read Your Balance Sheet
The First Secret Of Growing A Successful Business: Read Your Balance Sheet How big is small business? There are an estimated $4 trillion worth of companies owned by Baby Boomers, who are retiring or selling in near future). Further, economists predict that 40% of U.S. population will be in business for themselves because there won't be jobs for them. What will they be doing? Running small businesses and creating jobs. Although this is good news, the sobering fact is that while more businesses are opening up, failure rates are accelerating. Nearly 50% of companies fail in 4 years, businesses are replacing them at a much slower rate. According to Dawn Fotopulos, the author of the acclaimed book, Accounting for the Numberphobic: A Survival Guide for Small Business Owners, the reason is because they are not equipped to succeed. Fotopulos, an entrepreneur in her own right and small business expert has helped thousands of small companies thrive. Her goal is to empower small business owners to meet their full potential, and she says that it starts with "teaching them how to read their balance sheets and learn the business of running their firms." "I can't tell you how many people don't understand that cash flow is the reason why you are in business." Many business owners dread looking at the numbers and make excuses. They convince themselves that they don't have time or believe "That's what the accountant is for." Such willful ignorance is a recipe for failure. Artwork entitled '$,' by artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster, as well as Andy Warhol's 'One Dollar... [+] Bills, 1962' (L) and 'Two Dollar Bills' (C), at Sotheby's auction house in London on June 8, 2015. (Photo credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images) I tell every entrepreneur I meet that "no one else is as invested in their company" as they are -- not employees, customers, vendors or investors. Many times, they will focus on the things they good at: practicing their trade and marketing their business, while overlooking the reason why they started a company in the first place: to make money. For many people, particularly small business owners who may not have gone to college or who simply never had an aptitude for numbers, financial statements can be intimidating. Meanwhile, being able to read and understand them are critically important. "If you don't know how to read them and understand their implications, you cannot possibly steer your business successfully," Fotopulos asks her clients. Part of the challenge for any entrepreneur is learning to know what you don't know. 1. Am I charging enough for my products/services? 2. How do I keep a good cash flow going, especially when I have to invoice my customers? 3. Am I making an enough profit on my product/service to cover my expenses? This fall, Fotopulos is launching a free series of three-webinars designed to demystify the financial aspect of running a small business. Her "Unlocking the Secrets" series, which launches on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 3:00 p.m. EST, is geared to help small business owners generate more profit, improve their cash flow, and plan for future, sustainable growth. Aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners who have been running their companies for some time must understand that cash is as vital to a business as blood is to your body; without it flowing, you cannot survive.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/11/25/tips-for-staffing-during-the-holiday-shopping-season/
Tips For Staffing During The Holiday Shopping Season
Tips For Staffing During The Holiday Shopping Season With the holiday shopping season ahead of us, business owners who did not plan well in advance may be scrambling trying to find seasonal workers. Companies that don't have years' worth of operational experience may encounter this issue if they haven't staffed up yet. Hiring seasonal workers requires having preparations in place months ago. Seasonal workers are indeed a cyclical expense; plan for them. Business owners should plan and have working capital in place to order holiday inventory, ramp up marketing efforts and hire and train staff. Seasonal workers must be trained well -- especially if they are in the front lines with the public. "It is better to not have a person than to have the wrong person in a sales position," says Steven Lindner, partner, The Workplace Group, who has been in the recruiting industry for two decades. "With retail, having a person that is not a good customer contact will cost you sales. It's a little different with people who are behind the scenes filling boxes." As the holiday season approaches many of the roughly 50 retailers at the job fair including Banana... [+] Republic, J.Crew Factory, Victoria's Secret and Calvin Klein are starting to hire people for seasonal work. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Training often starts in early to mid-November. Often, seasonal workers train for two weeks, but some positions require training 5 weeks in advance. For instance, companies that take phone orders and catalog orders want to make sure they hire people who know how to process the requests properly and perhaps up-sell the customers. Lindner says that for seasonal hires, it is best look for people who want to work part time. In some cases, they already have another job and just want to supplement their income, perhaps to buy gifts during the holidays. One way to ensure quality hires is to build an alumni group that will come back again. Let people know that you can offer income they can count on and invite them back next year. Lindner advices thinking of season hires as a scalable workforce and suggests keeping them engaged throughout the year. One suggestion is to extend their company discount even after their seasonal position has finished. "Consider giving them a token gift. Send them  newsletters with updates, including new product offerings. Find ways to keep good workers engaged with your company; a little investment this year can produce better results next year," Lindner says. "Identify the individuals who are excited about your brand and who care about packaging the order correctly. Let them know that doing a good job today means more work tomorrow." Finding a good worker for during this year's holiday season means that if you can retain them, next year you will spend less money to find good help and less time training. "Think of seasonal workers almost as interns. If they do a good job, invite them back next year, and if they enjoy the experience, they will want to come back," Lindner says. "If you find someone who is a real gem, you might want to find a way to hold onto them, but that's hard if your company doesn't have the budget to fund the position." Planning is critical for the success of any business. Know in advance that you won't recoup your investment in seasonal workers until next 60 or 90 days when you get paid for all the holiday orders. It's necessary to have smart financial planning and good cash flow throughout the year to do it efficiently.
236538f8a25b6b3e04e23bed4b5d8ae1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/11/30/three-lessons-from-cyber-monday-for-small-business-owners/
Three Lessons from Cyber Monday for Small Business Owners
Three Lessons from Cyber Monday for Small Business Owners The holiday shopping season has officially launched with Thanksgiving Day openings, and Black Friday "doorbuster" deals, and Small Business Saturday. This weekend, more than 151 million people shopped from Thursday through Sunday and generated more than $8 billion dollars in revenue for retailers, according to the Adobe Digital Index, an analysis of thousands of businesses throughout the country. Additionally, more than 120 million consumers are expected to shop from the convenience of their homes and their devices on the 10th anniversary of Cyber Monday, according to an estimate from the National Retail Federation. Last year, Cyber Monday online revenue reached $2.68 billion, a nearly 20% increase over the totals in 2013. Sales are expected to top $3 billion this year. An employee collects items for customer orders at the Jet.com Inc. fulfillment center on Cyber... [+] Monday (Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg) The online shopping evolution goes further; more than one-third of these purchases were made via mobile devices, a new record, as this platform gradually emerges as the go-to option for consumers because of its increased convenience and security. Cyber Monday should not be a one-shot deal for small business owners. In fact, the tactics that work today can extend into the rest of the holidays shopping season and even beyond. Here are three ways: Target customers with exclusive offers – Doorbusters and other exclusive limited-time offers account for 40 percent of sales during Thanksgiving weekend. No matter how big or small your business is, consumers enjoy getting value out of their purchases. While smaller shops may not be able to offer price cuts on hot items like the large retailers do, they can use exclusive offers to sell inventory that may be in excess. Perhaps one of the reasons there are still high levels of a particular product left in stock is because the price is too high. Take the opportunity to move it. This works not only for Cyber Monday, but throughout the year. Increase focus on mobile compatibility – With more than one-third of all purchases made during Thanksgiving weekend were made on smart phones and tablets. In fact, mobile devices themselves are among most popular items requested this holiday season. With this in mind, one of the first questions small business owners should ask is, undoubtedly, "Is my business mobile ready?" If the answer is no, you may be missing out on engaging consumers and losing out on important sales. Fortunately, there are many companies that specialize in the development of mobile platforms, so you don’t need to be a tech geek to capitalize on a critical component of your business. Consider it as a wise investment in the future growth of your company. Keep pace with the changing times, otherwise competitors will notice and subsequently take advantage. This is an important consideration now and throughout the year. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images) Announce new product/service launches – Consumers love new products, especially in this day and age and what better time to introduce something new than the holiday season? Be Craftful, a boutique arts and crafts gift store in downtown Fanwood, New Jersey embraced the Thanksgiving weekend by launching five new product lines featuring some of the hottest items this season on Small Business Saturday, an observation created by American Express and designed to encourage the customers’ support of small companies. New offerings keep shoppers coming back throughout the year. Whatever your business does this holiday season, make sure that you are considering the mindsets of consumers and where the retail market is going. Fewer people are willing to be among the hordes of shoppers ready to run through Wal*Mart during the wee hours of Black Friday -- especially when the very same deals often can be had online, in advance, from the convenience of home or at a cafe while sipping lattes. Mobile represents the future of retailing, savvy business owners will figure out how to get shoppers to take the road that leads to their stores and web sites.
fb653663a9974c79f0ea69c2c34d325b
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/12/09/whats-ahead-in-small-business-lending-in-2016/
What's Ahead For Small Business Lending In 2016?
What's Ahead For Small Business Lending In 2016? When we look back at small business lending in 2015, bigger has been better for entrepreneurs in search of capital. Along those lines, higher interest rates could ultimately be even better news for business borrowers. Why is this so? Higher rates will make is more attractive for big banks to ramp up their small business lending portfolio to an even greater extent. According to my company's latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index, the percentage of loan applications approved by big banks reached 22.8%, which marks a post-recession high. If the Fed approves an expected interest rate hike during its meetings on Dec. 15 and 16, the action would make small business lending more attractive for larger banks. Approval percentages could go above 25% next year if higher rates -- meaning more profit for the lenders -- become reality. Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, stands on stage after an Economic Club of... [+] Washington discussion. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg Meanwhile, institutional investors have become important players in the small business lending market. Last month, they approved 62.4% of loan requests. Alternative lenders, smaller banks and credit unions are granting loan requests at decreasing rates. Small banks, which make an impressive amount of SBA loans, are now approving less than half of the applications they receive. In 2014, they typically approved more than 50% of requests. When banks make fewer loans, they make less money. In today's competitive atmosphere, community banks are struggling to compete. Many borrowers continue to look elsewhere for funding. Big banks and institutional investors, which are making loans via online marketplace lending platforms, are able to make quicker decisions at more attractive rates and terms for borrowers. Marketplace lending platforms, as well as the financial companies that have joined them, are benefitting from the substantial investments they have made. Biz2Credit sees almost half of all loan applications are made via mobile units. Smaller banks and credit unions, which often have not kept up with technological innovations, miss out on deals because their application processes take longer. In the case of credit unions, many times they want a borrower to come in, become a member. Credit unions are also still hampered by the government's failure to increase the member business-lending (MBL) cap from 12.25% of their assets to 27.5 %. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are constantly on the go. In fact, they often conduct their financial transactions after hours and during the weekends. Fewer and fewer entrepreneurs are dealing with their funding issues during "bankers' hours." Who is borrowing? With low cost of capital and plummeting oil and gasoline prices, Americans are spending, but in different ways than before. What are consumers spending their money on? They are not so much acquiring things, but rather are spending their money on experiences. They are traveling more and spending money in restaurants. Hotels are mushrooming up across the country -- and not just in traditional tourist places, such as New York, which has seen an influx of boutique hotels. The hospitality and restaurant industries have done well in these solid, but not quite robust, economic times. Construction has done well in these places, and IT companies continue to thrive. What's next? Expect marketplace lending to thrive. Institutional investors, in search of higher yields, are seeking returns in small business financing. Big banks are putting money into these platforms, as well. In fact, we are seeing convergence in which banks are increasingly investing in vehicles to make loans to small businesses -- even in amounts ($100,000 to $250,000) that typically were not worth their while before. Through these investments, big banks can make money on loans of smaller amounts. Personal relationships are becoming less important than they used to be, and loyalty becomes a thing of the past for Millennials. They don't have decades-long relationships with banks. They want the best deals, and they want them fast. Their mobile devices, a source of instant gratification in many ways -- from texting to news gathering -- are now a tool to efficiently conduct business. Traditional banking has less meaning for people who have grown up making cash withdrawals from a machine. In fact, they are less reliant on cash at all and are apt to swipe a card for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So it should come as no surprise that they conduct business transactions from their phones. Look for consolidation in the banking industry. Big banks long had an advantage with the number of branches they owned. Some will close, and new ones will be smaller in scale. Brick-and-mortar buildings are expensive to maintain, especially in places like New York and San Francisco where real estate costs are so high. Further, we can expect consolidation in the banking industry. There are too many banks right now. Smaller ones may close or get eaten up by bigger ones. Which ones will fade away? The ones that have not made adequate investments in financial technology. Either they will close of be bought by bigger banks that have the infrastructure to fold them into a bigger network.
9c3eb638a3cf21a29f692b5a774b1a94
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/12/14/four-simple-steps-to-improve-your-cash-flow/
Four Simple Steps To Improve Your Cash Flow
Four Simple Steps To Improve Your Cash Flow Cash flow is the life blood of any small business. We all know it, but we don't all live it. Many small business owners focus on the "fun part" of what they do. Countless entrepreneurs start their companies so they can pursue their passion and utilize their talents.  That's a primary reason people pursue business ownership.  Successful entrepreneurs enjoy the hunt: increasing customers and growing sales revenue. Let's face it, landing a big, new contract can be exhilarating. Making the sale frequently becomes the easy part; finalizing a deal at terms that make your company profitable, billing clients in a timely fashion, and collecting money in full is often easier said than done.  It can be tempting to cave into a tough negotiating prospective or existing client. His job is to buy at the lowest cost possible. Meanwhile, your goal is to negotiate the highest price you can get. I've repeatedly encountered business owners who are too willing to discount their goods and services. This can quickly put companies into a cash crunch. Further, time lags can be devastating. Clients who pay on 60, 90 or even 120 days (often the case for doctors waiting for payments from insurance companies), take their toll on business owners. As accounts receivables climb higher and higher, on paper, a company might looks profitable, yet in reality, the business could be drowning. Staff has to be paid, rent payments become due, and inventory has to be replenished.  While money goes out the door, it may not be coming in fast enough and in sufficient quantities. Here are four tips to keep in mind when seeking to improve cash flow: Establish payment terms -- not only the price but when you expect to be paid. Bill your customers -- if you don't bill them, they won't pay you. Keep on top of your receivables -- know how much you are owed. Call every customer whose invoices are past due -- don't wait until it's too late. Admittedly, these are not the fun parts of running a business. Restaurateurs love to cook, show off their creativity, and engage their customers. None of them want to chase after customers who do not pay their tabs. If much of this advice sounds like common sense, it is. Yet according to business growth guru Dawn Fotopulos, the author of the award-winning book, Accounting for the Numberphobic: A Survival Guide for Small Business Owners, far too many business owners are not focusing enough on making their firms as profitable as they can be. "Far too many small business owners do not know how to read their balance sheets, chase unprofitable accounts, and are too lackadaisical in chasing payment for their work," Fotopulos explains. "They have to understand that without cash flow, their companies will not succeed. The reason you open a business is not to generate sales, but to make money on those sales -- and do it promptly to ensure steady cash flow. Fotopulos is offering a webinar on Wednesday, December  16, at 3:00 p.m. (EST) to help small business owners "Unlock the Secrets" of how to improve their cash flow. It is free, but requires advance registration. She offers tried-and-true methods of improving cash flow, generating profits and building sustainable growth.
699047982b569671190c75b8052950b1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2015/12/23/branch-banking-system-changes-will-continue-in-2016/
Branch Banking System Changes Will Continue In 2016
Branch Banking System Changes Will Continue In 2016 A new survey released by bankrate.com found that nearly 40 percent of Americans have not visited a bank or credit union branch in at least six months. Some 45 percent reported visiting a bank or credit union in the past 30 days (ATMs were not included in these figures). The propensity to have visited a branch ranged from 41% for Millennials to 48% for those ages 50 to 64. While that tells us that 6-in-10 people still are visiting branches, the need to go into them is declining. Small businesses increasingly are turning to online bill pay, and traffic to small business lending platforms is growing by leaps and bounds. Typically, loan applications are completed during evenings and weekends when small business owners have more time to focus on aspects other than operations. Having the ability to make financial transactions such as paying bills or transferring funds electronically has saved entrepreneurs valuable time. Increasingly, these transactions are being conducted by tablets and smart phones, particularly among younger, tech savvy individuals. An important reason for this evolution in finance is that online banking is more secure and user-friendly than ever before. With just a few clicks, users can pay their monthly bills or transfer thousands of dollars in funds between accounts while avoiding a trip to the bank. Mobile apps such as Biz2Credit’s BizAnalyzer™ allow borrowers to easily access and manage their credit scores on-the-go. Further, the tool offers advice to help improve their financial portfolios and thus increase the odds of securing a loan. Big banks continue to work diligently to integrate technology on their platforms to streamline the loan approval process. Advanced algorithms enable financial institutions to grant loan requests with a higher rate of success while placing even heavier weight on past credit history. Meanwhile, small banks and credit unions that have limited online accessibility -- or none at all -- find themselves falling behind in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Marketplace lending platforms and the emergence of institutional investors in the industry have drastically changed the small business finance landscape. Earlier this year, JP Morgan Chase announced that it will invest more heavily in technology and reduce its number human tellers. We can expect fewer branches and less people working in them down the road. I expect other banks are likely to follow. Ultimately, this will translate to the closings of more bank branches nationwide in large part because of the efficiencies of technology, but also because of high real estate costs in cities and an increased propensity in entrepreneurs utilizing online banking opportunities. While people still are in the habit of visiting bank branches, there is no doubt that the banking system is evolving. Just as holiday shoppers flock to the internet instead of crowded malls for the speed and convenience of consumer transactions, Americans are embracing use of technology for their financial needs. Not everyone has or will give up the experience of visiting a brick-and-mortar store or bank branch as the bankrate survey found, however the trend of using technology for financing needs is apt to continue in 2016 and beyond.
669a4ac3f6e9b0c2585fe73783630274
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/01/05/three-tips-for-non-profit-organizations-seeking-capital/
Three Tips For Non-Profit Organizations Seeking Capital
Three Tips For Non-Profit Organizations Seeking Capital Non-profit organizations, just like their for-profit brethren, often find themselves in need of capital to further their missions. Museums, theaters, and other arts organizations undergo capital campaigns in order to preserve and promote culture. Hospitals need funding to expand into larger, state-of-the-art facilities. In some instances, organizations can tap into the resources available through wealthy board members who can help the organizations stay afloat. They can either make donations or offer loans. This can be tricky if the organization has conflict-of-interest policies that could be violated. If a loan is obtained, the terms must be spelled out, as with any other lender. Non-profits can also approach banks and non-bank lenders. Obtaining a loan can be a challenge, depending on the organization's profile, history and financial standing. Lending can be done and organizations may be able to put up collateral such as property and accounts receivable against which funds can be borrowed. "A non-profit organization must be run with the same type of fiscal diligence that a for-profit business requires," says Nathan Sklar, the founder of the Manhattan-based Comprehensive Kids Developmental School (CKDS), which provides specialized services to children with developmental disabilities. Sklar, who is also an accountant, knows well the challenges of trying to secure financing for program expansion. Recent studies indicate that instances of autism are greatly on the rise; 1-in-45 children are now diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, according to the latest government research. Along with this upsurge comes the need to provide specialized educational opportunities. "When we needed funding to increase the number of classrooms and serve more students, it was very difficult to get a loan. Numerous banks turned us down," explains Sklar, who ultimately was able to secure a $1 million line of credit from a community bank. "Fortunately, we were able to prove the viability of our program model and how we are able to sustain it." How is Sklar and other non-profit directors able to secure funding? By keeping the following things in mind: 1) Prove the Organization Fulfills a Need in the Marketplace Just as any consumer product company must explain how its product can fulfill a need in the marketplace, so must a non-profit prove its worth. In the case of CKDS, the organization outlines the increasing incidence of children who need specialized services for which school districts are obligated to provide and pay for. A museum can estimate how many people are expected to attend a "blockbuster" art show. Attendance will generate revenues from admission and gift shop purchases. 2) Have Sound Financials It is critical for non-profits to demonstrate that they are fiscally responsible. Banks and other lenders are in business to make money and won't provide capital to any organization that is unlikely to be able to repay its debts. Thus, it is imperative to be financially prudent, to keep accurate records, and to prove to prospective lenders that your organization will indeed be able to pay back its loans with interest. Have current financial statements, recent tax returns, and accurate cash-flow projections available. Be sure to present a realistic repayment plan that won't overburden the organization's operating budget. Explain the causes and timing of short-falls that cause the organization for find a short-term solution to a funding gap. 3) Use Technology to Get the Best Deal This is the advice I give to any company in search of funding. Gone are the days of going from bank-to-bank and filling out reams of paperwork with little chance of getting a loan. Modern funding platforms like Biz2Credit can streamline the process by helping companies organize and upload documentation and finding viable lenders who are willing to make loans. Banks are not the only sources of capital these days. Micro lenders and CDFIs have a mission to help organizations that may be underserved. Accion, for example, is a nonprofit microlender that helps members of the Latino community fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams through loans as small as $700. Since opening its doors in 1991, Accion has provided more than $132 million in capital and helped to create and sustain over 73,500 jobs within local communities. In some cases, non-profits might need money for cash flow. For instance, a short-term loan from an accounts receivable lender may be the most logical source of capital if times are lean before the holiday season when many people conduct their end-of-the-year charitable giving. An advance can help a non-profit survive until it becomes flush with cash following the so called "giving season" when donors traditionally are more willing to open their hearts and their wallets. If this information sounds similar to the advice I frequently give to small business owners, that is indeed correct. Not every entrepreneur is going to be able to grow a business to be a corporate giant. Some business owners are satisfied doing what they love and making enough money to earn a living. In some years, for-profit companies won't generate a profit. However, having a valuable product or service, running a fiscally sound organization, and making use of technology can help organizations secure the funding they need to grow and thrive.
0a78ce90145046c6a6bce6544367dd89
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/01/13/rating-the-obama-years-for-small-business-growth/
Rating The Obama Years For Small Business Growth
Rating The Obama Years For Small Business Growth US President Barack Obama smiles as he arrives to deliver the State of the Union address. (Credit:... [+] NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Among the items President Obama highlighted as part of his legacy in the State of the Union Address and thereafter will be the slow, albeit steady, growth of the economy over the past five years. When he took office in January 2009, the economy had bottomed out; the auto industry was in trouble and experts were debating whether some financial institutions were "too big to fail." The implication was that if a bank is too big to fail, the government could step in and bail it out. Dodd-Frank was passed in July 2010 resulted in greater regulation of banks following the subprime mortgage crisis by requiring banks to reduce high risk-taking. An unintended result is that banks tightened the spigot on loan-making, and as a result, small businesses found it hard to secure capital. In June 2011, approval rates at big banks were in the single digit range. The numbers steadily improved; by 2014, they were granting two-of-ten funding requests. Meanwhile, alternative lenders took advantage of technology and filled the void for many companies by providing quick, albeit high cost capital. Eventually, institutional investors, lured by the attractive margins, jumped into small business loans via marketplace lending platforms, including Biz2Credit.com and others. Lending to small businesses may never again reach the pre-recession frenzy of the mid 2000s when banks and other lenders were approving more than half of the requests for funding -- sometimes to individuals who were less than creditworthy. The financial crisis corrected a market in which credit may have been too free flowing, just as the mortgage lending market had been. According to the Biz2Credit’s December 2015 Small Business Lending Index, an analysis of more than 1,000 loan applications on Biz2Credit.com, approval rates at institutional lenders (62.5% of funding requests granted) and big banks (22.9%) improved to new post-recession highs last month. What's happening? Increasingly, international funds are seeking higher yield investments and getting into the game. Institutional lenders have reduced the risks on these types of investments through digital algorithms that have automated the loan approval process. Meanwhile, global investments are becoming more mainstream. With the weakening of emerging markets and strong value of the U.S. dollar, I  anticipate more international funds to enter the small business finance mix. Big banks continue their aggressive approach to lending to small businesses. With the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike, there is more incentive than before to grant loan requests. Banks don't make money unless they lend. Higher interest rates make it attractive for them to do so. Technological advancements have streamlined the loan application process and lessened the chances of default. Small banks are approving funding requests under the robust SBA loan program that reduces the risk assumed by lenders. These are low-risk, low-reward types of loans and have resulted in the increased entrepreneurship. On Jan. 7, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet testified before the House Small Business Committee and reported during fiscal year 2015, the agency reached historic levels of lending under its flagship 7(a) program. "We reached $23.5 billion in gross approvals, a 22% increase in the number of loan approvals, and a 23% increase in the dollar value of those loans, compared to FY14," Contreras-Sweet reported. “It’s not just the overall numbers that were up.  We were able to target businesses with the greatest difficulty accessing capital.  The dollar value of our 7(a) loans was up 22% to women, 23% to minorities and 103% to veterans." During his State of the Union address last night, President Obama boasted that "We're in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs, the strongest two years of job growth since the 1990s, an unemployment rate cut in half." Many of these positions have been created by startups and other small businesses. Entrepreneurship has grown during the Obama Administration, often out of necessity (as was the case during the recession) and because of the growth in technology, which has spurred growth not only in the banking, IT, and biomedical sectors, but also for firms that work with government agencies that handle security and economic development. "In some parts of our country, we have unemployment rates as low as 2%. New York City’s unemployment rate, as of November 2015, was hovering at 4.8%. Outside of the oil and gas companies and firms that service them, every head of human resources and recruiting I speak with is hiring for 2016," says Steven Lindner, executive partner of The WorkPlace Group, a Florham Park, NJ-based firm specializing in talent assessment and acquisition. "We are actually in a talent crunch right now." Naturally, the current economic climate is not without peril. However, the past few years of the Obama Administration have been prosperous ones for entrepreneurs on a number of measures. It is why Americans continue to dream big and why foreigners seek to come here to pursue the American Dream of business ownership.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/01/22/three-ways-to-trim-the-fat-and-get-financially-healthier-in-2016/
Three Ways To Improve Your Financial Health In 2016
Three Ways To Improve Your Financial Health In 2016 Slimming down as a resolution should not only apply to waist lines. Small business owners should take the month of January as a time to plan for the entire year and see where belt-tightening can take place. Don't Take Every Assignment Taking on more work usually means making more money, but it worth it? Not always. It is possible to take on more assignments and actually make less profitable. Small business expert Dawn Fotopulos suggests being more judicious about accepting new work, opting for the ones that are less labor intensive and thus more profitable. "Examine your costs. If you have to hire additional staff to take on an assignment, it eats into your margins. Perhaps doing a smaller job at less money -- and less cost -- makes better economic sense," said Fotopulos, author of the award-winning business book, Accounting for the Numberphobic: A Survival Guide for Small Business Owners. "It's all about cash flow. Managing it means generating revenue and managing costs." Keep Track of Accounts Receivable When entering contract negotiations, be sure to include price and payment terms in the agreement. Even more importantly, be sure to invoice promptly. Dawn Fotopulos estimates that only one in ten small businesses invoice in a timely manner. "If you want to get paid, invoice the customers who owe you money. That's why you are in business," Fotopulos emphasizes. "Monitor your receivables every month and contact late-paying clients by phone. It is critical to cash flow -- and a company's success -- to collect payment for work done and goods provided. Don't be shy about it." Lower Your Cost of Capital Despite a small interest rate hike by the Fed in December, lending rates remain quite low. If you currently have high interest loans, consolidate them. If you have been steadily paying down debts and building a better credit rating, you very likely could qualify for loans at lower rates. Renegotiating the terms of small business debt can save significant amounts of money. Now is a good time to do it. Running a profitable business means both increasing revenue and cutting costs. Dawn Fotopulos will offer advice on how to increase cash flow and run a more successful company in a free webinar, Build a $ Million Business on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 3:00 p.m. EST.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/01/29/could-bernie-sanders-be-the-best-small-business-president/
Could Bernie Sanders Be The Best Small Business President?
Could Bernie Sanders Be The Best Small Business President? With the Iowa caucuses approaching on Monday, February 1, and the New Hampshire Primary following a little more than a week later on Tuesday, February 9, the U.S. Presidential hopefuls are elbowing each other to present themselves as the best candidate for small business over the next four years. Among the key factors for small business owners are the candidates' stances on The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), which Democrats support and Republicans denounce. Several have suggested a desire to repeal the legislation. Minimum wage is another political hot potato; the Democrats tend to favor increasing the minimum wage, currently $7.25/hr., to $15/hr., while Republicans maintain that raising it will actually cut jobs and damage small businesses. Most favor lending incentives that open the free flow of capital to entrepreneurs. Here's a look at the leading candidates in both parties and their prospects for small business owners Democrats Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders make the case for why they'd be the best President for small business. Sanders, in particular, makes an interesting argument. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his wife Jane Sanders wave to the... [+] crowd during a campaign rally at the Burlington Memorial Center, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Burlington, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, says that he has long pushed policies that help small businesses, encourage entrepreneurship, and foster innovation. Sanders supported the Small Business Jobs Act, which created a $30 billion lending fund designed to spur smaller banks to make loans and increased the limits on the amount that companies could borrow under SBA lending programs. Sanders believes that the government has not done enough to support growing companies. "Small businesses take out loans so that they can improve and grow their businesses. Low interest rates on these loans can help businesses pay them back quickly while maintaining good cash flow, expanding the overall domestic economy, and creating more jobs," Sanders maintains. He believes the U.S. "has long been a world leader in entrepreneurship and innovation, which in turn are the engines that drive our economy" and supports "increasing access to education and training, and reforming the way we bring workers into the U.S. in order to ensure that they are not being exploited to meet the needs of businesses who want to attract and retain the most talented foreign workers." The Vermont senator also has proposed educating the work force by making public colleges and universities tuition free. Whether he could set up a plan that would pay for all of this is unclear. Previously, Sanders proposed a "Robin Hood" tax on Wall Street. Sanders also supports a $15 federal minimum wage, which many owners of small companies believe would put them out of business. Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton has famously boasted that she will be "The Small Business President." Her three-point plan is to: 1. Launch a national effort to cut the red tape holding small businesses back. 2. Provide targeted tax relief for small businesses and simplify tax filing. 3. Give small businesses—in particular, minority and women-owned businesses—more access to the financing and new markets they need to grow. "Small businesses all over the country are ready to grow and hire, and entrepreneurs are ready to venture out on their own—if they can just get that next loan, enter a new market, or have one fewer form to fill out," Clinton says. I concur with her sentiments. Onerously long loan application forms that have to be submitted on paper (and often in person at a bank or credit union) is too archaic for the 21st century. Technology on platforms such as Biz2Credit, OnDeck, and others have made the loan application process online platforms. Clinton vows to leverage the best ideas from the private sector and government to give small-business owners access to financing to grow, and, in the process, create jobs. She says she will do that in part by "easing burdens on community banks that provide credit to small-business owners and families looking to invest in their futures." without compromising protections for consumers or introducing new risks into the financial system. Hillary has pledged to defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) against Republican efforts to repeal it and wants to lower out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and deductibles. She is a supporter of raising the minimum wage to $12/hr. and of strengthening overtime rules. These positions may put her at odds with many small business owners. Republicans The Republicans have traditionally been the party of laissez-faire regulation, smaller government, fewer taxes, and more emphasis on the private sector to grow the economy. your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving, of course, is in the mix because of his success as a businessman. Carly Fiorina is also highlighting her experience as a CEO, although her support among the electorate is miniscule, according to recent polls. your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving, president and chief executive of Trump Organization Inc. and 2016... [+] Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally in Muscatine, Iowa, on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving Frontrunner your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving's candidacy is largely based on his success as a businessman, and he frequently cites his book, The Art of the Deal, on the campaign trail. The billionaire real estate mogul burnishes his negotiating skills and sells it as his distinct advantage over his opponents, most of whom have spent their entire careers in the public sector. He has built a reputation as a man who gets things done, often through the force of his personality. Many small business owners aspire to be as successful as the famed builder. Trump favors simplifying the tax code and wants to lower taxes to "help the small businesses that are the true engine of our economy." He believes raising the minimum wage would hurt America's ability to compete. He told Fox News: "Whether it's taxes or minimum wages, if they’re too high, we’re not going to be able to compete with other countries." The flamboyant billionaire has called Obamacare "a disaster." However, Trump does not have an unblemished record as a businessman. Twice, he rebounded from the brink of bankruptcy. He's not exactly a rags-to-riches story either. Trump famously said he started out with a "small loan of a million dollars" from his father. Ted Cruz Ted Cruz is a proponent of regulatory reform and believes that too many small businesses are being crushed by encroaching regulations. Cruz would pass the REINS Act, which would make Congress accountable to vote on any major cost-inducing regulation. "We need to get the government out of the way so the people can do what they do best — innovate, expand, and create new jobs," Cruz says. The Texas senator is among those calling for repeal of Obamacare. He believes America needs to enact reforms that make healthcare personal, portable, and affordable. Specifically, he wants to expand Health Savings Accounts, and delink health insurance from employment, which many small business owners would applaud. Cruz is "adamantly opposed" to President Obama's plan to raise the federal minimum wage to more than $10/hr. and believes that increasing it would cause job losses on a wide scale. Jeb Bush Jeb Bush believes small companies are overburdened by taxes. "Small businesses – the engines of job growth – have had their tax rates rise under President Obama and now face rates of over 40 percent," says Bush, who wants to reduce tax rates to ensure businesses have the incentive to invest, hire and expand in the U.S. "Cut taxes for working Americans to provide an immediate increase in take-home pay and encourage more people to find a job." The former Florida governor opposes raising the minimum wage, but goes further in calling for elimination of it altogether. Ben Carson Like Trump, Dr. Ben Carson is a political outsider running on his private sector experience. He knows full well the challenges of the healthcare system from a patient and practitioner standpoint. Carson calls mom and pop small businesses the "Real Strengths of America." "Our current tax system reduces incentives for entrepreneurial ventures and investment, and at the same time inhibits the growth of a vibrant economy. Unless drastic reforms are made, the American people will continue to suffer the consequences," Carson says. In October during a Republican debate on CNBC, the surgeon blasted the high cost of regulations for small manufacturers. Carson vows to reform the tax system and would make it a priority to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare. In November, the candidate did an about-face and came out against raising the minimum wage. He previously had supported it. Marco Rubio Marco Rubio wants to reform the tax code, reduce regulations, modernize our immigration laws, and repeal and replace Obamacare. "We need to even out the tax code for small businesses so that we lower their tax rate to 25 percent," Rubio says. In a debate on Fox News, Rubio said: "If you raise the minimum wage, you're going to make people more expensive than a machine. Here's the best way to raise wages. Make America the best place in the world to start a business or expand an existing business." The Florida senator wants to repeal and replace Dodd Frank, which he said is "eviscerating small businesses and small banks." He claims that over 40% of small and mid-size banks that loan money to small businesses have been wiped out since Dodd-Frank was passed. Since first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Rubio has served on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Carly Fiorina, former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. and 2016 Republican presidential... [+] candidate. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Carly Fiorina Like your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving, the former CEO of HP highlights her experience as a business leader. She recently addressed the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) that she favors lowering taxes and reforming government regulations. "We are slowly crushing the entrepreneurial and risk-taking spirit of this nation," Fiorina says. " If you look at our economy, big business is doing great, but small business is not." Fiorina believes Dodd Frank has hurt small businesses because community banks curtailed their lending. She has called for the tax code to be simplified and wants to reduce regulations. Unfortunately, her message does not seem to be resonating among voters. She has failed to climb above two percent in recent polls conducted by Quinnipiac University, Fox News and CBS.
7f45c7508bde0befa1ed6cac67878fd1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/02/05/155/
Brands Can Promote Themselves Even If They Don't Have Super Budgets
Brands Can Promote Themselves Even If They Don't Have Super Budgets Bottles of Budweiser (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File) The Super Bowl has become not only a sports championship game, but also a highly anticipated event for the advertising industry. In fact, CBS even produced a TV show about the greatest ads ever to air during the game. On Monday, there will be post-game analysis about the big hits and missed opportunities -- I'm talking about the commercials, not the football contest between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. However, most businesses cannot afford the prices of advertising during the game. CBS is charging $5 million for a :30 spot, in large part because of the huge audience that will tune in for the contest. “The Super Bowl is a large investment, not only in dollars but in the ability to produce something amazing that people will really appreciate and remember," says Jon Paley, chief creative officer and managing partner of The Vault NYC, an advertising agency and production company that has created spots for Chevrolet , ESPN , and Amazon, as well as growing brands, such as Eastbay. In other words, a lot is riding on less than one minute of airtime. According to Paley, if an advertiser chokes, the company not only wastes its investment in the media buy and in the creative and production costs, but can actually significantly devalue its brand. "That scenario scares off many small brands that can’t afford those risks," Paley adds. Edgy, nimble brands look to the web to get their message out. When done right, a spot can be seen by millions of people for far less money than what advertisers will pay this weekend. In fact, according to Statista.com, a leading statistics company on the internet, the number of digital video viewers in the U.S. topped 200 million, and it will surely go higher. Digital ads can be incredibly cost effective, and when something goes viral, it's free. Another advantage is that you can reach a fine target, and the results are measurable. Increasingly, advertisers are abandoning print media for digital, which provides opportunities for sharing and creation of buzz around their spots. Reaching the cherished young male demographic is not easy, what cuts through is edginess and visual creativity. The Vault has created a series of ads focusing on high school-age athletes for footwear and sports apparel brand Eastbay. What about the little guys? Small businesses that do not have a budget for TV ads can still take advantage of marketing opportunities related to the big game. Bars typically run viewing parties, game-day specials that they promote on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram. Pizzerias, such as Nick's Pizza in New Jersey, may offer discounts on package deals (pizza, six-foot hero, wings, etc.) related to catering deliveries. Savvy marketers create their own video channels on YouTube or, at the very least, put up videos on other social media. In other words, you don't have to spend millions of dollars to get millions of hits.
afae905c622c091f9575f91a75424ce8
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/02/15/reasons-why-foreign-investors-are-entering-the-small-business-credit-market/
Reasons Why Foreign Investors Are Entering The Small Business Credit Market
Reasons Why Foreign Investors Are Entering The Small Business Credit Market Large foreign companies and U.S. small businesses: now there's an economic "Odd Couple." Foreign investors are looking for opportunities for growth, and a previously unlikely haven for them was the U.S. small business credit market. However, banks, VCs, and institutional investors from oversees are increasingly looking to invest in the small business marketplace. While this would have been an unlikely scenario just a few years ago, times are changing rapidly. The volatility of global stock markets, the strengthening dollar, and weakness in emerging markets are contributing factors. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the mortgage crisis, money left the U.S., but after several years of steady growth, foreign money is starting to come back. A security officer carries a bag of money into vault at the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) Hanoi branch,... [+] Vietnam. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh) Investors from across Asia are looking to the America's shores for investment opportunities. Normally, they would buy U.S treasury bonds as a safe haven. With the strong dollar, Asian investors are buying up dollar-backed assets, in part because hedging costs are low. Because of the solid fundamentals of the U.S. economy -- including the lack of dependence on oil from the Middle East and other volatile regions, the dollar is expected to get stronger in the coming year. The dollar offers little risk compared to the risks of local currencies, especially in Asia, and China is a big reason why. China's economy is slowing down. Meanwhile the other countries in Asia are tied to it. I am seeing a flight of capital from China and Korea and other places, as investors look to relocate their money. Things have come full circle in many ways. For years, investors tied themselves to the China growth story. However, we are starting to see a reverse flight of capital. This is good news for small businesses in search of capital. According to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, the monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com, loan approval rates at banks both large and small in January 2016. Additionally, loan approval percentages at credit unions fell to an all-time Index low. Meanwhile, institutional lenders and alternative lenders experienced an uptick in loan approval rates. This is caused, in part, because traditional lenders got cautious. Turbulence in the stock market and plummeting oil prices in the last month have resulted in a level of uncertainty for lenders. While the demand for small business loans held up, approval standards tightened. When there is uncertainty in the market, mainstream lending institutions are less inclined to take risks on loans. Loan approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) declined to 22.7% of funding requests in January, a drop two-tenths of a percent from December 2015. Lending approval rates at small banks dipped slightly to 49% in January, from 49.1% in December. Credit unions approved 42.2% of loan applications in January, down from 42.3% the month prior. In all of these categories, rejections outnumber approvals. Yet, approval rates at institutional lenders continue to climb, improving to 62.6% from 62.5% in December. Since I began examining this category of lenders in 2014, institutional lenders have yet to experience a setback month. They do a great job at minimizing the risks of borrowing requests through advanced algorithms, and they are always on the prowl for higher yield investments. With growing uncertainty in global emerging markets, I expect institutional lenders to remain active in small business lending. In the coming months, I anticipate that increasing numbers of them will be based overseas.
039457b70418d340760f46df33184f22
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/04/23/reasons-why-minority-business-owner-optimism-is-sky-high/
Reasons Why Minority Business Owner Optimism Is Sky High
Reasons Why Minority Business Owner Optimism Is Sky High The challenges for minority entrepreneurs securing the capital necessary to start and grow their business ventures has been a struggle historically. It has been more than 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Immigration and Nationality Act, which ultimately changed the demographics of the U.S. population. This was just one of many landmark decisions during America’s civil rights movement. Immigrants from Latin America and Asia, like the Europeans who arrived on America's shores decades before, are risk-takers by nature. They come here hungry, willing to work and quite entrepreneurial. Yet often they encountered language and cultural barriers that hindered their ability to secure financing and start businesses of their own. Minority-owned small businesses have a total economic impact of $400 billion and are responsible for more than 2.2 million jobs in America, according to a recent economic impact report by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. As an immigrant entrepreneur myself – emigrating to America in 2002 – I can attest to the challenges that minority small business owners face on a daily basis, which is one of the primary reasons that inspired me and my brother, Ramit, launched Biz2Credit in the first place. Initiatives for minority entrepreneurs have been implemented during the Obama Administration and particularly so under SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, an immigrant herself. These programs, along with an economy that steadily rebounded from the Great Recession, have contributed to an optimistic outlook for immigrant and minority entrepreneurs. U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the Small Business... [+] Administration, in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2014. Contreras-Sweet is charged with finding ways to help small businesses, which have helped lead the way to economic recovery, Obama said. Photographer: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg In my company's recent survey of 1,500 minority-owned businesses, we found high optimism. More than three-in-five minority entrepreneurs view the American economy’s potential growth favorable, while nearly 80 percent of the respondents of the survey expressed a great deal of confidence in their companies and strategies moving forward. How confident are you about the future health of your business? • Very confident: 57.5% • Somewhat confident: 19.3% How confident are you about the overall direction of the US economy in the next year? • Will grow faster than before: 21.9% • Will maintain its current expansion: 38.3% • It will slow down a bit: 22.1% • The economy is headed for a recession: 13.1% • The economy will stop growing but not contract: 4.6% About one-third of respondents identified securing capital as their biggest concern. Despite progress, minority business owners face challenges including bias and not having a long track record of business operations or credit history. My advice to them is three-fold. 1. Look for Special Funding Opportunities The SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program offers assistance to minority small business owners that range from one-on-one counseling to assistance in accessing government contracts. Through countless partnerships with non-profit organizations, the SBA serves as a resource to entrepreneurs of all different backgrounds. For example, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP are among the many associations that work together with the SBA to improve entrepreneurship. Microlenders and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) provide small loans to companies that do not qualify for traditional bank loans. It is part of their mission to help minority entrepreneurs secure capital. 2. Remember that Accounts Receivable Does Not Equal Revenue This advice applies to any business, regardless of the color or ethnicity of its owner. accounts receivable is not the same as revenue. You can't count your chickens before they are hatched. I frequently tell small business owners to be prompt and diligent in collecting their money. It's the reason for being in business in the first place -- and you can't pay employees, vendors or other financial obligations without having cash in hand. Convert accounts receivable into cash. Bill promptly and follow up with people who owe you money in order to be paid in a timely manner. This will make your cash flow better and ultimately help your situation if you ever want to borrow money to expand your business. 3. Find a Mentor Reach out to fellow minority business owners who are doing well. Seek their advice. In most cases, they will be flattered to be asked. Another valuable resource is SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), an organization comprised of volunteers who offer their experience, business acumen, and mentorship to entrepreneurs. While SCORE serves any small business owner, its volunteers place a special emphasis on minority entrepreneurs. Reach out to the local SCORE office to find out what seminars, classes and other resources they offer. Today, minority entrepreneurs have better access to capital than ever before as America becomes more diverse. Online digital loan applications have helped make playing field more level and have increased the speed at which entrepreneurs can secure capital. Resources, organizations and individuals are willing to help. We may indeed be living in the best times ever for minority business owners.
40839412d7a590e55dab7ee72d24f253
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/05/22/three-fintech-developments-that-benefit-borrowers/
Three FinTech Developments That Benefit Borrowers
Three FinTech Developments That Benefit Borrowers FinTech firms disrupted the small business credit marketplace by developing technology that streamlined the lending process and sped up the loan-making process to 21st century standards. As it has done for just about all other industries, technological advances resulted in a great reduction of paperwork and the ability to apply for funding during "non-banking" hours. This has benefited both borrowers and lenders tremendously. In many ways, a perfect storm led to the FinTech revolution. Traditional lenders, such as banks and credit unions, took a cautious route towards digitization. Thus, non-bank lenders came in and stole their market share. Technology enabled borrowers on one coast to obtain loans from regional banks on the other coast. Processing times were cut and interest rates were at historic lows. Meanwhile, Americans became accustomed to shopping for everything online -- including financial products. Founder/CEO of Lending Club, online leader Renaud Laplanche speaks on stage at Tribeca Disruptive... [+] Innovation Awards - 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival) The industry was new, and things moved rapidly. Credit became more readily available than it had since the mid 2000s. For the most part, this has benefitted small business growth as entrepreneurs got the funding they needed. At the same time, yield-hungry investors moved into small business credit market. In many cases, they offered longer-term products with attractive interest rates and are competitive with banks, particularly for smaller-sized companies seeking more modest loans. In the past couple of weeks, we have seen some downside of a booming industry. Some firms got greedy and charged exorbitant rates to people who may not have been so creditworthy in the first place. At the same time, the problems of Lending Club, Prosper and OnDeck have been well documented. My belief is that in this relatively new industry, there are growing pains. The conditions that led to the rise of FinTech are marketplace realities that are not going away. Some realities may be changing, but the industry will thrive. Here's why: Millennials are in love with mobile and other generations have embraced it, too. We shop online, get weather reports, communicate with family and friends, and conduct business on cell phones and tablets. Millennials have grown up in such a world, and the rest of us are following their lead. The finance industry is not going back to nine-to-five hours. People are more transactional than ever before; they want to skip the chit-chat with the bank tellers and managers and get things done quickly. Most small business owners are time-strapped. Technology makes things easier for them. Despite looming interest rate hikes ahead, entrepreneurs will still seek capital. The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are still sound. Fuel prices have crept up, but remain comparatively low. The dollar is strong. Hiring experts tell us that the economy still seeks experienced workers. Entrepreneurship is not going away. Additionally, higher interest rates make it more profitable for conservative lenders to open up the purse strings. When lending is profitable, banks will provide capital. Meanwhile, less scrupulous non-bank lenders will not be able to continue charging astronomically high rates when money is available from more reasonable sources. The industry is already retooling While alarmists are calling for a "borrowers' bill of rights" and calling for intervention, the reality is that the industry is working. Businesses are getting funded and growing, and lenders are being rewarded with profits. That's how capitalism works.  The companies that make mistakes are paying the price. Borrowers should not fear the recent developments. They will continue to get solid funding deals through FinTech firms, as well as traditional lenders. No one is going back to 1950s' banking practices. It is still a good time for borrowers. Costs are lower for lenders and for borrowers. Money is available. Loans can still be processed more quickly than ever before. Under-served communities have benefitted and minority-owned and women-owned businesses continue to grow. The lenders that stumbled will correct their mistakes, and the ones that don't will pay the price. Small businesses create jobs and drive the economy. To do this they need funding, and the financing innovations of the past few years have helped companies to get that funding and to thrive. We should not forget this or try to over-regulate a system that is mostly working well.
74abaf05471b342cdd86914c8de14e5a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/05/28/four-cash-flow-tips-for-seasonal-businesses-as-summer-unofficially-begins/
Four Cash Flow Tips for Seasonal Businesses as Summer Unofficially Begins
Four Cash Flow Tips for Seasonal Businesses as Summer Unofficially Begins Although summer solstice does not occur until Monday, June 20, Memorial Day Weekend traditionally serves as the “unofficial start of summer.” Temperatures are heating up after a mostly cool and wet May in the northeast to heat up, and more than 38 million Americans are expected to travel for the holiday to the beach, barbecues, and other outdoor destinations with Memorial Day weekend gas prices at its lowest numbers in more than a decade. Travelers are estimated to spend a total of $12 billion during their road trips this summer, up more than 1 percent in the last year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. For seasonal businesses, now is the time to make money. For landscapers, ice cream shops, hotels and restaurants along the shore, commercial fishermen, and souvenir shops, now is the time to make money. Ice cream in containers at Wall's Old Fashioned Ice Cream in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe... [+] Raedle/Getty Images) Here are some tips for seasonal businesses to survive: Put money away for a (cold) rainy day When cash is coming in, the temptation is to spend it. The time to manage cash flow smartly is when times are good because when times get bad, it will already be too late. Be disciplined in building up cash reserves. Also, look at your revenue trends: consider whether your company seeing a long-term growth trend or if your company simply having a better year than last year.  Use this information to project into the future so that you can plan accordingly. Remember, while revenues might go up in the summer and then drop in the winter, bills including rent, utilities and other fixed costs will remain constant. Manage your staff The temptation is to over-staff when times are flush. If revenue is booming, giving workers a few extra hours might not seem detrimental. While a business should have enough staff to facilitate smooth operations, seeing workers playing on their phones because there is little else to do is a sign of mismanagement. Always remain diligent in monitoring labor costs, which often are a company’s biggest expense. Diversify No lawns to mow in November? Promote leaf pick-up and gutter cleaning services and/or get into snow plowing. Some seasonal business owners in the north will flock to the south and do something else when the cold weather arrives. If you own a shop that is empty, consider renting out space for events. Secure a line of credit If you are managing your cash flow well and have a history of making payments to your creditors on time, you should be able to open a business line of credit for times when business slows down. Use the line of credit if you need it, and repay it when times are good. However, if a company manages its finances well, the owner likely will not need to use the line of credit. While most people are focusing on the impending arrival of summer, it is important to remember that Memorial Day Weekend is about honoring those who gave their lives while serving in the country’s armed forces. The weekend also serves a reminder to show gratitude to current members of the military, and it’s important also to support them after their service has ended. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has implemented a number of initiatives enabling military servicemen to launch their own enterprises upon returning from their civil duties. Nearly a quarter million American military servicemen will transition back to civilian life annually over the next five years, according to the SBA. Moreover, returning veterans are about 45 percent more likely to start a business than the average American and are responsible for nearly 6 million jobs in the country. “America has a wealth of veteran talent spanning multiple generations,” SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet explained at a National Veterans Small Business Luncheon last November in Pittsburgh. “(The) SBA and our partners counsel, train and mentor more than 200,000 veterans and transitioning service members each year.” Among the most noteworthy resources available to veterans is the SBA’s Getting Veterans Back to Business initiative, a 24-page small business resource guide for military serviceman making the transition to entrepreneurship. The guidance ranges from general small business advice to specific loan programs. Some of the nation’s biggest franchises and businesses were founded or led by veterans. FedEx CEO Frederick Smith served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years (1966-69) as a platoon leader and air controller. After serving two tours in Vietnam, he was honorably discharged as captain before he launched the shipping company in 1971. Last year, it generated $47.45 billion in revenue and 300,000 full-time employees worldwide. Often, the qualities learned in the line of duty help build them into strong business leaders.
c7894bbb7fea0cd2ed76ce4e021e075a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/07/09/june-job-report-eases-u-s-economic-concerns-following-brexit/
June Job Report Eases U.S. Economic Concerns Following Brexit
June Job Report Eases U.S. Economic Concerns Following Brexit The Job Report for June 2016 showed better than expected job-creation numbers, which helped ease some of the potential economic concerns spurred by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Shortly after the June employment figures were announced, stocks – which slumped during the weeks immediately following Brexit – improved considerably. The Dow Jones  rose 173.99 points, the S&P 500 improved 21.88 points, and the NASDAQ jumped 52.08 points. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total number of non-farm payroll jobs increased by 287,000 in June 2016, the biggest improvement since October 2015. The report was better than initially anticipated for the first time in the last five months. A woman passes a "We're Hiring!" sign while entering a clothing store in the Downtown Crossing of... [+] Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) Among the industries that saw the biggest improvements in job growth were retail, which experienced an increase of 30,000 jobs in June. In 2016, the number of jobs created in the sector has climbed to 313,000. This is a good sign because typically employers will delay adding workers until they are convinced that the economy will remain strong, in part, because of the high costs often associated with new hires. Leisure and hospitality added 59,000 jobs in June, following little employment change in the prior month. Restaurants continue to do well across the country. As both gas and oil prices remain low and employment continues to increase, consumer spending is positively impacted. People have become increasingly willing to eat out and spend money on travel and tourism. The Wall St. Journal recently reported that "fast casual" restaurants, grew to $44 billion nationwide in 2015, an 11.5% jump from 2014, according to Technomic Inc., a food-service research and consulting firm. This growth is attributed largely to new restaurant openings. Job creation in financial-related positions improved by 16,000 in June 2016 and has increased by 163,000 during the first six months of the year. This is encouraging as there had been some cause of concern on the potential impact Brexit could have had on U.S. workers in the financial industry. This will be a category to monitor in the next quarter as Britain works closely with America in many areas, especially in the financial sector. Over the past five years, the flow of credit has improved substantially, especially in the small business lending space. The rattling of global markets could threaten the continued growth as banks and other large financial institutions typically tighten their lending spigots when there is uncertainty. The FinTech revolution over the last decade, however, has prepared the financial industry for a potential economic fallout from Brexit. There are more options for small business owners now to get funding than ever before, but the volatility in global markets is worth monitoring.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/07/24/three-small-business-topics-donald-trump-should-have-discussed-at-the-republican-convention/
Three Small Business Topics Donald Trump Should Have Discussed At The Republican Convention
Three Small Business Topics Donald Trump Should Have Discussed At The Republican Convention On the final night of the GOP convention, Donald Trump accepted the presidential nomination for the Republican party in front of tens of thousands in attendance and some 30 million Americans on TV. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses delegates at the end of the last day of the... [+] Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo credit TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images) The billionaire businessman allocated a large chunk of his 75-minute acceptance speech – the longest in four decades – to criticizing the Obama Administration. He also used the platform to take shots at Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. “I have loved my life in business, but now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country – to go to work for all of you,” Trump said during his speech. “It’s time to deliver a victory for the American people. But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past.” It is surprising that a man who came to such fame and fortune as a businessman would devote such little time in his acceptance speech to small business. He focused on crime, ISIS, and illegal immigration and what he perceives as the failings of the Obama Administration. Here are three things that he should have addressed in his acceptance speech that matter to small business owners: How he’d help small businesses The real estate mogul boasts about his business success in his bestselling book, "The Art of the Deal," and in stump speeches. The billionaire claims that the vast sums of money he has made are related to his ability to negotiate good deals. Yet he did not detail how he plans to help the 28 million small business owners in America, which account for more than half of all U.S. sales and 55% of all jobs. “I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones,” Trump insisted. According to DonaldJTrump.com, the Republican candidate wants to reduce America's corporate tax rate to 15 percent. Politicians in Washington have let America fall from the best corporate tax rate in the industrialized world in the 1980’s (thanks to Ronald Reagan) to the worst rate in the industrialized world. That is unacceptable. Under the Trump plan, America will compete with the world and win by cutting the corporate tax rate to 15%, taking our rate from one of the worst to one of the best. Subscribe Now: Forbes Entrepreneurs & Small Business Newsletters All the trials and triumphs of building a business – delivered to your inbox. This lower tax rate cannot be for big business alone; it needs to help the small businesses that are the true engine of our economy. Right now, freelancers, sole proprietors, unincorporated small businesses and pass-through entities are taxed at the high personal income tax rates. This treatment stifles small businesses. It also stifles tax reform because efforts to reduce loopholes and deductions available to the very rich and special interests end up hitting small businesses and job creators as well. The Trump plan addresses this challenge head on with a new business income tax rate within the personal income tax code that matches the 15% corporate tax rate to help these businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers grow and prosper. This is a topic Trump should have discussed further in his RNC address. How he would replace Obamacare Trump pledged to “repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare.” The Affordable Care Act (AKA "Obamacare") mandates that businesses with more than 50 full-time employees, must provide coverage for 95 percent of employees considered “full-time” by the ACA.  Offering health insurance adds a significant cost to small businesses, and many politicians rail against Obamacare. However, a leader does not merely complain; he or she offers solutions. In his speech, Trump said: “Obamacare. We're going to repel it, we're going to replace it, get something great. Repeal it, replace it, get something great!” However, his speech at the RNC was light on details about how he would replace Obamacare with something great. Meanwhile, his website suggests the following reforms, among others: Completely repealing Obamacare. Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to. Modifying the law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. Trump believes that as long as the plan purchased complies with state requirements, any vendor ought to be able to offer insurance in any state. By allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up. Allowing individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system. "Businesses are allowed to take these deductions, so why wouldn’t Congress allow individuals the same exemptions?") Allowing tax-free contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Plans should be particularly attractive to young people who are healthy and can afford high-deductible insurance plans, according to Trump. These funds can be used by any member of a family without penalty. Requiring price transparency from all healthcare providers, doctors and healthcare organizations. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure. If he is to convince small business owners to cast ballots with his name on it, Trump should talk about the specifics of how to cut costs yet take care of healthcare needs. Ways immigration helps this country Trump has famously called for banning Muslims from entering the United States and proposes "building a wall" to keep Mexican immigrants out. In fact, he proposed deportation of the estimated 11.4 million illegal immigrants currently living in this country. This is unlikely to happen. However, immigrants, such as myself, have been part of America’s backbone for centuries. In fact, many of the nation’s top corporations such as Google, Yahoo!, Apple, and PayPal were launched by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Further, in 2010, a study found that more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their offspring. Meanwhile, immigrants were almost twice as likely to start a business in 2014, according to the Kaufman Foundation. “We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people,” Trump claimed, but was again light on the details. In 2012, small business growth was a high priority topic for President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, also a successful businessman. Given the impact small businesses have on the economy, Trump should focus more on helping them achieve growth.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/09/01/international-growth-is-the-next-frontier-for-fintech-companies/
International Growth Is The Next Frontier for FinTech Companies
International Growth Is The Next Frontier for FinTech Companies Since 2010, marketplace loan origination has doubled annually in the U.S. to $12 billion in 2014, according to Morgan Stanley. Over the last three years, there has been a substantial increase in the global involvement of marketplace lending, especially in the UK, China and Australia. Expect this trend is expected to continue. By 2020, global marketplace lending could reach almost a half trillion dollars, Morgan Stanley reports. An Australian one-hundred dollar banknote. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg Data-driven technology has streamlined loan applications for borrowers while expediting the timeline of the process. Time is money, and financial technology can save it. The dynamic of low operating costs and advancements in technology enable marketplace lenders to provide borrowers with access to credit while allowing investors to make better profits on loans with lower default rates. Companies in the U.S. and UK have adopted the technology and the major players in the industry are looking to bring the advantages of FinTech to countries as far away as the Pacific Rim. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that there are 125 million small businesses throughout the world, including 89 million in emerging markets. Cash flow is the lifeline for their success. When companies experience a shortfall in their funds or seeking to expand, they typically opt for a small business loan. Micro businesses (those with less than $100,000 in annual revenue) and start-up companies (less than two years of ownership) experienced the most difficulties securing funding. Thus, opportunity is available for FinTech companies such as OnDeck, which began its international expansion by offering loans up to $150,000 (CAD) to small businesses in Canada. OnDeck is by far the biggest U.S. player to enter the market up north. In 2015, the company also expanded into Australia through a partnership with Commonwealth Bank (ASC: CBA) one of that country's largest banks. Biz2Credit recently finalized a deal with Australian Finance Group (ASX: AFG), one of Australia’s largest mortgage brokering services providers. The partnership will enable AFG brokers to provide small business borrowers with a broader range of options while allowing faster access to capital. Australia is a hotbed of FinTech activity at the moment. Earlier this year, Biz2Credit reached an agreement with Tata Capital, the flagship financial services company of the $108 billion Tata Group, to expand the company's financial footprint in India, and recently partnered with Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s fourth largest private sector bank. India has 48 million small businesses, almost double the number of the United States, according to the Economic Times. China remains a tough nut to crack for U.S.-based FinTech firms, however. According to a report by Tech Crunch, tech-savvy Chinese consumers have readily adopted online banking, money transfers, payments, crowdfunding, lending, and investing via mobile platforms. Further, Alipay, an Alibaba subsidiary, attracted 150 million clients and $93 billion within 18 months. China, as always, makes it difficult for outsiders to enter the marketplace. The UK has a strong heritage in FinTech. According to a recent study by Business Insider, London-based Funding Circle is the leader. The online platform "lets savers lend directly to small businesses, cutting out the banks and offering more favorable interest rates" and has financed more than $1 billion (£650 million)-worth of loans. Meanwhile, back here in the U.S. , it is becoming more common for marketplace lending platforms to partner with international financial institutions that are looking for high yields because of economic slowdowns in several European countries. Indeed the flow of global capital is going both ways, thanks to advances in financial technology.
2ae854d41022b1f36cf69e369733c61b
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/09/13/even-without-interest-rate-hike-banks-must-lend-to-small-businesses/
Even Without Interest Rate Hike, Banks Must Lend to Small Businesses
Even Without Interest Rate Hike, Banks Must Lend to Small Businesses It's like waiting for Godot. In the famous Samuel Beckett play, two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly for the arrival of Godot, who ultimately does not appear. Big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) anticipated that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this summer. Many bankers and economists then anticipated that the central bank would increase rates its next policy meeting on September 20-21. That seems unlikely to happen at this point. Now, a rate hike seems to be on hold indefinitely, and the banks find themselves behind in their targets. They must aggressively pursue loan-making and simply cannot wait forever for the Fed to hike interest rates, even though such a move would increase profits and, presumably, encourage them to do more lending. NEW YORK, NY - A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 27, 2016,... [+] when the Federal Reserve's policy statement caused investors to reassess expectations for interest rate increases in the coming months. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images) Loan approval percentages at big banks improved to 23.3% in August, up two-tenths of a percent from July's figure, according the most recent Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, a monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. It was the sixth time in the last seven months that lending approval rates improved among the larger players. In a year-to-year comparison, big banks are approving funding requests a full percentage point higher than they were in August 2015. Meanwhile, approval percentages at institutional lenders a new high for the index of 62.9% in August. The continued ascent of institutional lenders is related to the attractive terms and the speed by which this category of lender can offer financing. High yields and low default rates enable this category of lenders to approve a relatively high percentage of loan requests. At the same time, small business lending approval rates dropped slightly at small banks to 48.8% last month. Regional and community bank small business lending remains comparatively high compared to big banks. Increasingly, they are becoming more digitally savvy, although not enough of them are making it a top priority. However, right now, money can be borrowed cheaply; conventional rates are lower than SBA loans, which is a popular loan product that small banks utilize. Alternative lenders experienced a decrease in loan approval rates in August, approving 59.9% of loan requests. It is the first time in five years (August 2011) that this category of lenders is approving less than three-in-five loan requests. Alternative lenders -- factors, merchant cash advance companies and other non-traditional lenders -- filled the void for small business lending during the post-recession Credit Crunch. However, in recent years they have lost ground because borrowers no longer have to borrow at any cost. Banks and institutional lenders are offering more attractive terms. As the economy has improved, so does the competitiveness in the small business finance marketplace. Alternative lenders lost their advantage of speed because other lenders invested into digitization and expediting loan requests. Inflation is low, unemployment is at less than 5%, and consumer prices are stable and sometimes dropping. Americans spent $1,100 less on gas last year than in 2014, according to the Oil Price Information Service. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index showed food-at-home prices fell by 1.6% in July from the same month last year, according to CNBC. It's an encouraging time for entrepreneurs, and financing is available.
9ad273e9bfe137446389237751574b48
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/10/12/small-business-lending-remains-strong-at-big-banks-institutional-lenders-ahead-of-next-fed-meeting/
Small Business Lending Remains Strong At Big Banks, Institutional Lenders Ahead Of Next Fed Meeting
Small Business Lending Remains Strong At Big Banks, Institutional Lenders Ahead Of Next Fed Meeting It is appearing more imminent that the Federal Reserve will institute an interest rate hike at its mid-December 2016 meeting, exactly one year after it implemented its first interest rate increase in nearly a decade. The relatively weak economic recovery from The Great Recession (2007-09) was one of the primary causes for these developments, but now we have seen slow, but gradual improvements in the economy. For the fourth consecutive month, job growth improved substantially, according to the latest Jobs Report released by the U.S. Dept. of Labor earlier this month. Total non-farm payroll employment improved by 156,000 last month as the unemployment rate remained at about 5 percent, which most economists consider to be full employment. WASHINGTON, DC: Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen testifies during a hearing before the House... [+] Financial Services Committee September 28, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on 'Semi-Annual Testimony on the Federal Reserve's Supervision and Regulation of the Financial System.' (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) While the Fed’s decision to stand pat on its interest rates was unpopular at financial institutions, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, said in a news conference following the FOMC meeting that the decision "does not reflect lack of confidence in the economy." Three members – Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester, and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren -- of the 12-person panel voted to raise interest rates in mid-September. Banks have been holding out hope for an interest rate increase, and once it does take place, will part with their money more freely once interest rates rise and lending becomes more profitable. When rates go higher, there is more of an incentive for financial institutions to grant loans. This often results in a boost of the economy. At the moment, many big banks are behind on the optimistic lending goals they set for themselves this year and want to close out 2016 strongly. Loan approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) improved for the seventh time in the last eight months in September 2016, according to the Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, the monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. Big banks approved 23.4 percent of loan requests by small business owners, an all-time, post-recession high for the index. Pending an interest rate hike, there is room for improvement for this category of lenders next year, too. Institutional lenders -- credit funds, insurance companies, family funds, and other yield-hungry, non-bank financial institutions – have emerged as major players in the marketplace lending space and granted 63 percent of loan requests, also a new benchmark, last month. This category of lenders offers competitive terms on their loans and has a high rate of efficiency with low loan default rates that are a product of the advanced technology that is integrated throughout the approval process. Meanwhile, alternative lenders, mainly providers of asset-based and cash advance loans have been on the decline over the last several years due to the emergence of institutional lenders and a recovering economy with low interest rates. In September 2016, they approved 59.7 percent of loan requests – down more than 10 percent from its high three years ago. What does this tell us? Business owners are no longer obligated to borrow at any cost and alternative lenders typically charge the highest interest rates. In addition, they are losing their competitive advantage as banks and other categories of lenders are implementing technology to expedite the loan process. Loan approval rates at credit unions (41.3%) and small banks (48.7%) dropped last month, in part, because of their failure to digitize their small business loan application process. The Fed's release pf the minutes of its September 20-21 FOMC meeting should provide some clues regarding if, when and how much the Federal Reserve might increase the interest rates again. Early indications are that this it will happen in December at the central bank's final meeting in 2016, so long as the economy remains steady. Rising inflation and job market strength are two of the biggest factors in their decision. If the Fed does institute an increase, expect that to be a positive sign for lending and small business growth in 2017.
f5171a63fdac872ac9d6a191a558d255
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/11/25/five-ways-to-use-small-business-saturday-to-drive-sales/
Five  Ways to Use Small Business Saturday to Drive Sales
Five  Ways to Use Small Business Saturday to Drive Sales Launched by American Express, the first-ever Small Business Saturday took place on Nov 27, 2010. The promotion encouraged holiday shoppers to support small, local businesses. The event grew as local mayors, governors, the U.S. Senate and President Obama voiced their support of Small Business Saturday. By 2015, 95 million shoppers generated an estimated $16 billion in sales on the day nationwide. Shoppers ride a cable car on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 in San Francisco. American... [+] Express is a proud founding partner of Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to the local businesses that support communities all across the country. (Tony Avelar/AP Images for American Express) This year, Small Business Saturday takes place on November 26. Small business owners can take advantage of the occasion to drive traffic -- and holiday shoppers -- to their stores. Here are some tips to take advantage of Small Business Saturday. Take Advantage of Social Media Use social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to promote your business and any special offers. Incorporate a  hashtag (ex: #smallbusinesssaturday, #shopsmall) when promoting. Invite Local Officials to Shop in Your Store In 2015, President Obama shopped at a local bookstore on Small Business Saturday in Washington, D.C., and elected officials in all 50 states championed the event. Invite the mayor and other elected officials to participate this year. Offer Refreshments Everyone loves a treat. Even something as simple as cookies or candy help bring a smile to shoppers' faces. If your company is in the food business, offer some free samples of items you'd like to push during the holidays.. Co-Promote with Neighboring Businesses Create partnerships with neighboring businesses that will send your customers to their establishments and their customers to yours. Enlist Cause-Related Marketing American Express's "Charge Against Hunger" changed the playing field in 1992. At the time, the credit card company was facing some difficulties with its restaurant partners. Restaurant owners were disputing American Express' fees, which were perceived as high, and were questioning their commitment to merchants and local communities. Therefore the company needed a vehicle to create better relationships with individual restaurants and also to establish links with new ones in the locality. The promotion became a big hit for American Express and the restaurants and set the standard for cause-related marketing ever since. People like to support local businesses -- especially when they know a portion of their spending will help the less fortunate. Small Business Saturday celebrates small businesses and all they do for their communities. I join officials across the country, including SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet is among the supporters encouraging Americans to Shop Small on Small Business Saturday.
0c07947f1810aa58f2611e1a1f73f837
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/12/08/three-ways-sba-nominee-linda-mcmahon-can-boost-small-business/
Three Ways SBA Nominee Linda McMahon Can Boost Small Business
Three Ways SBA Nominee Linda McMahon Can Boost Small Business Just a month after pulling off perhaps the greatest upset in political history, President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet continues to take shape. The latest piece to fall into place is Linda McMahon, best known as an executive with professional wrestling's WWE, who has by selected by Trump’s transition team as the next SBA Administrator. Former Republican Party Senate candidate Linda McMahon speaks to the media at Trump Tower, November... [+] 30, 2016 in New York, after meetings with US President-elect Donald Trump. / AFP / Bryan R. Smith (Photo credit should read BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images) "My 'America First' agenda is going to bring back our jobs and roll back the burdensome regulations that are hurting our middle-class workers and small businesses. To help push our agenda forward, I am pleased to nominate Linda McMahon as the head of the Small Business Administration," Trump said in a statement. “Linda has a tremendous background and is widely recognized as one of the country’s top female executives advising businesses around the globe. She helped grow WWE from a modest 13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees in offices worldwide.” Linda McMahon, 68, and her husband, Vince, grew the Titan Sports from a regional wrestling league in the early 1980s to the international conglomerate it is today. As President and later CEO of the WWE, she handled all facets of the business: negotiating business deals and athlete contracts, developing wrestling merchandise, and starting the company's social responsibility programs, Get REAL (an educational initiative) and Smackdown Your Vote. Upon leaving WWE in 2009, McMahon ran two unsuccessful campaigns for a U.S. Senate in Connecticut (2010 and 2012). Later, she co-founded Women’s Leadership LIVE, a company that educates and inspires women through business ownership, career advancement, and pursuit of leadership opportunities in public service. President Obama raised the position of SBA Administrator to a Cabinet-level position in 2012 when Karen Mills led the agency. She was succeeded by Maria Contreras-Sweet, an immigrant from Mexico who was the Founding Chairwoman of ProAmérica Bank, which serves the small business community in Southern California. Part of the role of SBA Administrator is to be the nation's top advocate for small businesses. Given McMahon's marketing pedigree and experience in the media spotlight, she should be able to fulfill the role well. Here are three ways McMahon can use her experience to bolster small business as the 25th SBA Administrator: Upgrade Technology The SBA still does not allow online applications of loans, which thereby requires small business borrowers to fill out reams of paperwork, which is absurd in an era when people want to conduct transactions on their phones. Further, the organization does not accept eSignatures, whereas many financial institutions do. Maria Contreras-Sweet could have done a better job modernizing. The SBA would benefit from tracking its own loans, examining the performance of the companies that borrowed money through the agency's lending programs, and then devising new and better lending products. Government agencies always seem slow to implement technological changes. The SBA should be in the forefront when it comes to upgrading its analytics. Build Stronger Support Networks for Women In her role as CEO of Women’s Leadership LIVE, McMahon is an advocate for small business and continually promotes entrepreneurship. She co-founded the organization in 2014 to promote leadership opportunities for women by providing them with proven processes and sustainable strategies and by organizing conferences. Maria Contreras-Sweet established the ChallengeHER initiative to empower women entrepreneurs. ChallengeHER teaches female business owners how to compete for government contracts and is part of a broader concept to provide more opportunities to women with federal government contracts. In 2015, for the first time in history, the SBA met the 5 percent goal it set as women-owned companies achieved ($17.8 billion or 5.05 percent) of all federal small business-eligible contracts. I look for Linda McMahon to build upon this foundation and create more opportunities for women. Expand Access to Capital I encourage McMahon to interact more with FinTech players, and change the regulations to allow them to do SBA loans. Small banks have made SBA loans their bread-and-butter. However, many of them still need to upgrade their technology. Small business finance has changed dramatically. The new SBA Administrator should be open-minded to new ways of the small business lending. I have always maintained that the SBA is the country's most effective federal agency. It provides comprehensive information on its website about how to start and grow a company. The agency also facilitates lending through the popular SBA 7(a) Loans; 504 loans, which provide funding for the purchase of fixed assets, such as real estate, buildings and machinery, at below market rates; and the SBA Express program, which offers term loans and lines of credit in amounts from $100,000 to $350,000. When needed, the agency provides disaster loans. It also offers business counseling and mentoring services, and special programs for women, minority and military veteran entrepreneurs. A former professional wrestling executive is an out-of-the-box choice for SBA Administrator. Then again, we should not be surprised; since Donald Trump has been so unconventional as both a candidate and as President-elect. However, Trump's business success in business catapulted him to fame and fortune, and ultimately the Presidency. He has now turned over one of the country's most important jobs to an innovative and successful female entrepreneur. I am rooting for Linda McMahon to succeed.
c477801cb39ec65fb4e4e0c31a3af24b
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2016/12/28/three-reasons-for-small-business-optimism-about-the-economy-in-2017/
Three Reasons for Small Business Optimism About the Economy in 2017
Three Reasons for Small Business Optimism About the Economy in 2017 For the better part of the last 12 months, economists pondered when the Federal Reserve would decide on an interest rate hike. When the time finally came at the Fed's final policy meeting of the year, the increase was just by 0.25%, the first and only interest rate increase of 2016 -- a year that was projected to have multiple rate adjustments. The Fed was nearing an interest rate hike over the summer until Britain voted to leave the European Union, which caused volatility in the global markets. That hindered their decision for several months leading up to the election. Some economists predicted that a Donald Trump win would cause additional volatility in the stock market due to his hawkish policies of reforming current trade policies and largely unpredictable manner of doing business. However, the exact opposite has occurred as President-elect Trump’s cabinet continues to take shape and there is more transparency in how his policies will impact the economy, the stock market has surged with buyers in the month following his election. The Dow Jones has been within striking distance of the milestone 20,000 mark. Steady economic growth factored into the Fed’s decision as the U.S. economy has had six consecutive months of job growth, according to the December 2016 Jobs Report. In addition to the 178,000 jobs that employers added to the economy last month, which is on par with the employment growth rate of 2016, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6 percent, a nine-year low. Indeed there are reasons for continued optimism for small business owners in the new year: 1) Although rates went up, the increase was small, which is good news for borrowers seeking capital. The hike was something for credibility, since they signaled a change for months, rather than actual impact. Lenders are showing signs of opening up the purse strings. The flow of capital is the life blood of small business. Big banks and institutional lenders are approving higher percentages of loan applications, and smaller banks are granting about half of the requests. 2) While the Fed signaled it would raise rates in 2017, the amounts will likely again be small. It is better than being overaggressive, and the rest of the world's economy is not growing. Incremental increases give the Fed the ability to measure impacts. 3) Inflation remains low, despite an interest rate hike and strong consumer spending this holiday season. Meanwhile, loan approval rates at big banks ($10 billion+ in assets) improved to a new all-time post-recession high in November 2016, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, a monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications on Biz2Credit.com. In addition, it marked the eighth time in the last nine months that lending approval rates improved at big banks. Small banks also experienced an uptick in loan approval rates last month, granting 48.8% of funding requests from borrowers. Trump vowed to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, which burdened community banks with massive regulations and has effectively held them back from granting more loans. Scaling back Dodd-Frank in 2017 would be a big win for small banks, which last approved more than half of their loan requests over two years ago. Institutional lenders, which have emerged as major players in the marketplace lending industry are approving an all-time Index high 63.3% of funding requests from entrepreneurs after an increase of two-tenths of a percent in a month-by-month comparison. Credit unions and alternative lenders, however, continued their gradual descent in the marketplace lending totem pole. Credit unions, which are currently approving 41.1% of loan requests, have experienced steady declines in their loan approval rates over the last 18 months. While loan approval rates at alternative lenders (59.2%) have dropped for five straight months. As the book closes on 2016, early indications are promising for 2017. Trump, a businessman inherits a steady but not spectacular economy on January 20, 2017. So far, the impact of his election has seemed positive from an economic standpoint. We will soon see what happens once he is actually in the Oval Office.
561df219f2d79420c87112cc929ada44
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2017/01/03/three-tech-trends-that-will-impact-small-business-lending/
Three Tech Trends That Will Impact Small Business Lending
Three Tech Trends That Will Impact Small Business Lending Optimism seems to be abound, economically at least, with a businessman heading for the White House. The Dow has risen and, despite vocal opposition from opponents on many of his decisions, President-elect Trump has been announcing job creation measures even before he has taken the oath of office. For Wall St. and Main St., exciting things are happening. Banks and FinTech companies are using technological advances to improve access to capital, which is the lifeblood for small business growth. These developments bode well for small businesses in search of capital in 2017. Here are three financial technology (FinTech) trends to watch in the coming months: Customers try out Apple computers in a company store. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence, or AI, refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. AI is causing a transformation in small business lending by improving credit assessment, financial product development, and loan decision-making. For instance, FinTech companies are partnering with online accounting software platforms, and that the data collected is used to target business owners in need of financing. Thus, Artificial Intelligence enables lenders to offer ever more personalized unsecured business loans. In 2017 and in the coming years, its importance will grow tremendously. Convergence While marketplace lending currently accounts a relatively small percentage of the small business loan transactions today, technological innovations are forging partnerships between banks and marketplace lenders that could never have been seen a few years ago. Convergence is on the uptick and this will continue into 2017. Traditionally, banks have been conservative, slow-moving and bogged down in paperwork, but in the 21st century, the lending process has changed dramatically. Marketplace lenders have brought speed, technological developments and lesser burdens of regulation to the table, while banks offer loan products and deposit customers with proprietary data. Combining their strengths enables both banks and upstart FinTech firms to profitably originate and process small loans more efficiently. Borrowers and lenders both benefit. Lenders are able to process transactions more quickly while mitigating risk through big data analysis. For small business owners in search of capital, money can be obtained faster and often at more attractive rates than were offered by alternative lenders, such as cash advance companies. Serving The Underserved Banks are being encouraged to fund minority business owners and ventures in economically disadvantaged areas. Meanwhile, marketplace lenders are in the forefront of providing capital to entrepreneurs and communities where their small business financing needs are not being met. With optimism from the business community and from Wall Street since Donald Trump's election, banks and other lenders are likely to let the cash flow to businesses owned by women, African Americans, Hispanics, and immigrants. These entrepreneurs many times were shunned by banks in the past. The National Federation of Independent Businesses' November index of small business optimism climbed from 94.9 to 98.4  its sharpest surge since 2009. This increase coincided with the election results. No matter who they voted for, jobs and economic growth are important to Americans. A business-friendly administration and evolving technology will mark the first year of Trump's Administration.
051f0a84cbdd55916c934f25eb0ef27c
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2017/10/10/five-requirements-for-securing-an-sba-loan/?sh=7e82bbff3153
Five Requirements For Securing An SBA Loan
Five Requirements For Securing An SBA Loan Despite Donald Trump’s unorthodox approach to the Presidency, one must acknowledge that the economy has been strong since he took office. The September 2017 Jobs Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics put unemployment at 4.2 percent. Trump’s long anticipated tax cut proposal was finally unveiled, which business owners hope will be beneficial to them. The Dow Jones ended September just seven points below its all-time record, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ finished at new heights. All of these factors instill confidence in business owners who are contemplating start-up or expansion financing. These economic realities have resulted in perhaps the most robust environment for small business lending. In fact, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™, a monthly analysis of more than 1,000 small business loan applications, business loan approval rates at banks continue to climb as we approach the fourth quarter of 2017. In September, approval rates at big banks improved two-tenths of a percent to 24.8%, reaching a new high for the index, which has tracked lending figures since January 2011. Regional and community bank lending approval percentages rose one-tenth of a percent last month to 49.1%. Indeed, entrepreneurs seeking small business loans have a better chance now at securing funding than at any other time since the Great Recession hit in 2008. A big factor is that small banks are making millions of dollars’ worth of SBA loans. Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Linda McMahon speaks at National Small... [+] Business Week event in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Nicholas Kamm The name is actually a little misleading; the SBA does not make loans directly to small businesses. Rather, the agency sets parameters for loans that are made by banks, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), microlenders, and others. The backing of the SBA mitigates risk to the lenders and instills confidence that the loans will be repaid. Essentially, an SBA loan is similar to a commercial bank loan, except that it is structured according to SBA requirements and provides lenders with a government guaranty. What does a company need to provide in order to secure an SBA loan? 1. Have a Well Written Business plan Step one in applying for a small business loan is to have a business plan, which outlines the company’s goals, reasons why the business owner believes they are achievable, and a blueprint as to how they will be reached. Elements are: Executive Summary (A one- or two-page overview of the business); Company Overview (outline of the company’s legal structure, location, and history -- if the plan is for an existing business); Products and Services Offered (the “need” being filled in the marketplace); Target Market (the  demographics, geographics and psychographics of the core audience); Marketing/Sales Plan (explanation of how the company will reach its target market); Milestones (success metrics); Management Team (experience of the key players); Financial Forecast; Appendix (images, infographics and other useful information). 2. State the Amount and the Use of Funds Do your research and have a realistic estimate of how much money you need to borrow and how it will grow your business. Be sure to borrow more than enough to cover anticipated costs. When building any business, there will most likely be delays, unforeseen problems, and expenses. Request enough money so that you don’t have to go back to the lenders for a second round of funding. 3. Credit History Banks and other lenders check potential borrowers’ credit scores to determine credit risk and the interest rates they will charge. If a company has a solid history of timely payments, the interest rate will likely be lower. A firm with shaky repayment history may have a tough time securing funding, and if it does, the cost of capital will be higher. A reason that SBA loans are so popular is that the government backing entices lenders to take a chance on giving money to companies that might not qualify for a traditional commercial bank loan. 4. Financial Projections Obviously, for a startup business, the figures are all conjecture. Be able to explain to the lender that you understand the finances of your business. Then, importantly, explain how and when the loan will be repaid. 5. Collateral Having collateral -- assets that can be used to guarantee repayment of the loan -- instills confidence in the borrower’s ability to pay. Collateral can be a home or property, equipment, inventory, or accounts receivable (for an existing business). Businesses that do not qualify for SBA loans or commercial loans still have options. While approval rates among alternative lenders have dropped throughout the year, they did approve 57.0% of funding requests in September. They charge higher rates than other types of lenders because of their willingness to provide funding to businesses with poor credit scores or no credit history at all.
793134b54253180d5ba55b438457d82c
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2019/06/13/variable-rate-loans-become-more-attractive-for-small-businesses-as-fed-mulls-rate-cut/?sh=48804ad390b5
Variable Rate Loans Become More Attractive For Small Businesses As Fed Mulls Rate Cut
Variable Rate Loans Become More Attractive For Small Businesses As Fed Mulls Rate Cut Big bank approvals of small business loans are as high as they have ever been (at a record high of 27.5%) in the 21st century’s post-recession era, according to the latest Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index™ (May 2019 figures) released this week. Further, almost half (49.9%) of small business loan applications at small banks are being granted. Many of these loans are SBA Loans. Dollar bills 2019 Getty Whether you are a small business owner applying for traditional bank term loans or for an SBA loan, in most cases the funding will be a variable rate loan. What bodes well at the moment is that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell recently signaled that the central bank is looking at recent economic developments closely and may “act as appropriate” to continue the current expansion. Experts are predicting that the Federal Funds rate could drop by three-quarters of a point in the next 12 months and fall to as low as 1.75% from the current target range of 2.25 to 2.5%. In fact, according to a new Wall Street Journal survey, nearly 40% of the 46 economists polled anticipate that the Fed will act in July, while roughly 30% expect a rate cut in September. This news comes even though the overall economy really still is quite robust. For instance, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased in April, the last month reported by the NFIB, to a historically strong level. Profits are still trending upwards, and expectations for sales, business conditions, and credit conditions all improved, according to the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index. Business owners who qualify for traditional term loans should be able to secure funding at very attractive rates from banks. Entrepreneurs who qualify for SBA-backed loans – usually from smaller banks – will likely secure funding at slightly higher rates than term loans but at longer payoff periods. If you have good credit scores, good lending times may get even better. Beth Goldberg, SBA New York District Director, said that SBA has guaranteed nearly $600 million in small business loans so far in FY 2019 in the down-state New York area. "Many small business owners are unaware that they can finance the purchase of their own commercial condo or co-op for as little as 10 percent down with SBA's 504 program. In a robust economy like what we're seeing today, this is a perfect time for entrepreneurs to revisit their business plans and think about if an equity position in their own space is an option going forward." Non-bank institutional lenders, a growing force in the small business lending marketplace, offer similar interest rates to banks and approved 65.5% of the funding deals they were offered in May. Two categories of lenders are still somewhat stagnant, according to Biz2Credit’s research. Loan approval rates among alternative lenders dropped one-tenth of a percent to 57.1% in May, down a notch from 57.2% in April. Because the banks are lending aggressively and can offer better rates and terms, alternative lenders have declined slowly but steadily this year. Additionally, banks tend to receive applications from higher quality borrowers, and they offer lower interest rates because default rates are so low at the moment. Credit unions again stayed at a record low 40.1% of loan applications in May, according to the Biz2Credit Index. Credit unions are looking for ways to expand, including partnering with the SBA on small business loans. According to a recent Federal Reserve report, credit unions are usually not considered the first option for small businesses in need of capital or other financial services. In fact, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the SBA recently signed a deal aimed at increasing SBA lending by credit unions. The two organizations plan webinars and other events in hopes of expanding credit unions’ role in small business lending. Partnering with the SBA is a good step for credit unions. However, they still are lagging in digitization, which hurts them and because Millennials are less willing these days to walk into a credit union and fill out a membership applications; they much prefer to do things on their smart phones. Furthermore, credit unions are still handcuffed by the Member Business Lending cap, which limits their loan approvals to 12.25% of their assets. Until this changes – if it ever changes – credit unions will not be able to make big gains in small business lending. The bottom line is that companies in search of capital have many attractive options right now. If they are ready for startup or expansion funding, now is as good a time as ever.
d81dfa71adfb97e05461882f040f7984
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2020/06/30/which-companies-did-well-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?sh=140112c97409
Which Companies Did Well During The Coronavirus Pandemic?
Which Companies Did Well During The Coronavirus Pandemic? Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the American economy and hit small businesses particularly hard. For instance, the woes of the restaurant industry are particularly well known. In states where indoor dining still has not returned, restaurants have struggled. Some were able to survive the storm better than others. Fine dining establishments cannot provide the same experiences as they do in their own restaurants. After all, who wants their $40 meal delivered in a Styrofoam container? If part of the allure was the experience of actually eating at places like Le Bernardin in Manhattan or The French Laundry in the Napa Valley, that charm cannot be recreated at home. Further, many restaurants generate big profits on markups on cocktails and bottles of wine. This was not possible during the COVID-19 shutdown. Since indoor dining was shuttered in mid-March, meals to-go became the lifeline for many restaurateurs. Takeout and delivery skyrocketed, as people sheltering-in-place sought alternatives to cooking at home. According to Barron’s, services such as DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats gained customers during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some eateries benefited as the community rallied behind them and ordered meals that were then donated to hospital and healthcare “front line” workers. Other restaurants got creative by offering family meal packages, “take-home kits,” and other specials. Many independently owned restaurants took advantage of the PPP lending, administered by the Treasury Department and the SBA. This funding helped keep restaurants alive during the pandemic. Now that PPP is ending, business owners are able to apply for loan forgiveness. Essentially, the money will wind up being a grant from the government. However, it still may not be enough to save restaurants in places like New York City, which still has not fully reopened its economy. Up to 85% of independently owned restaurants could close due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Gyms face unique challenges. How can people who want to exert energy by running on a treadmill be able to do so while wearing a mask? How would gym owners possibly be able to ensure that every member wipes off the equipment they have just used? It will be particularly challenging because a sizable part of gym clientele are young adults who seem less concerned about catching the virus than people age 30 and above. Brick-and-mortar retailers, which have been ceding ground to online retailers for years, lost out tremendously as even shoppers who like to go to malls and browse were no longer able to do so. The ease of online purchasing and shipping proved beneficial not only to those who were accustomed to online shopping, but also for those, like retirees, who previously were less inclined to order merchandise over the web. MORE FOR YOUMeet The Woman Fighting For All Of America’s Main Streets—SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman Seeks To Not Only Recover, But Build Back BetterWhy Your Business’ Attempt To Scale Will Be An Utter Failure (And How To Fix Things)Why 98% Of Small Creative Agencies Are Unprofitable: Part 2 Despite the well-documented plight of some industries, others have been boomed during the pandemic. Online Retailing Online retailers have indeed fared well during the pandemic. Amazon continues to be a juggernaut. While the company’s sales growth has been impressive for the past decade, Amazon received a big boost from the quarantine as consumers could not go to stores to make purchases. On March 12, the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, the company’s stock price closed at $1,676.61. By the end of June, it was nearly $1,000 higher than it was just a few months prior. Workspace Solutions Out of necessity, businesses are increasingly moving to more remote and flexible workforces. According to Gartner, nearly a quarter of CFOs said they will move at least 20% of their on-site employees to permanent remote positions. As workforces go remote, having the right collaborative technology and security have become a top priority for executives. "While many companies viewed it as a short-term response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of companies are realizing that remote work must be part of their long-term plans, as it will enable them to attract the talent they need to operate in the unpredictable business environment we’ll be functioning in for the foreseeable future," said Tim Minahan, Executive VP of Business Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer for Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) a global digital workspace leader that provides computer software and cloud computing technologies to businesses. Zoom became a video conferencing leader during COVID-19. In fact, Zoom’s adoption rate surpassed previous industry frontrunners GoToWebinar and Cisco during the past three months when companies scheduled virtual meetings when it became impossible to host in-person gatherings. Members of the Vermont House of Representatives convene in a Zoom video conference for its first ... [+] full parliamentary online session on Thursday, April 23, 2020, in Montpelier, Vt. The first order of business was to ratify a rule change passed in March to allow online meetings developed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. (Wilson Ring/Zoom via AP) ASSOCIATED PRESS Supermarkets A perfect storm of events helped lift the supermarket industry. Restaurant closures meant that people who normally eat out would instead have to make their own dinners. Even with stay-at-home orders in place, supermarkets remained open as “essential businesses.” People who were out of work tried cooking on their own, and social media was filled with photos and videos of amateur bakers making breads, cakes, and other treats. Prices rose, as people feared shortages, and demand went up. Additionally, food stores did not have to rely so heavily on couponing and other price promotions to get customers in the door. Hand-Sanitizing Products Chicago-based Terraboost Media prides itself as being a “purpose-driven” Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising agency that built a network of more than 72,000 hand-sanitizing billboards that dispense wipes and/or a dose of sanitizer along its advertisers’ messages to consumers entering major supermarket chains, grocery stores, and pharmacies. Terraboost Media hand-sanitizing kiosk at a CVS pharmacy. The kiosk dispense wipes along with ... [+] advertising messages. Courtesy of Terraboost Media During the pandemic, the number of hand-sanitizing kiosks has grown to 90,000 nationwide and is expected to approach 150,000 kiosks by the end of the year. The privately held company is providing hand-sanitizing products for mass transportation and expects to add several colleges and universities as schools look to prepare for the fall semester. Terraboost has had to dramatically increase its production to keep up with demand from its existing customers and others that are looking for hand-sanitizing solutions. “The hand-sanitizing billboards are unlike others; they are totally functional. It’s a win-win for everyone involved: the retailer, the advertiser, and the consumer who benefits from using the wipes,” said Brian Morrison, Terraboost Media’s CEO, who estimates that 126 million people per day engage with Terraboost Media’s hand-sanitizing billboards, resulting in 3.7 billion monthly impressions. “In today’s current environment, people are using them everywhere they go. It’s guaranteed engagement; almost every person uses a wipe. The engagement is almost equal to foot traffic,” Morrison added. “The hand-sanitizing billboards reach a vast audience, and 94% of shoppers have positive opinion of company sponsoring them.” Liquor Stores It is well documented that home alcohol consumption rose during the pandemic as stressed out parents worried about their employment status and the added responsibility of home-schooling their children as they tried to work. Liquor stores were designated as essential businesses, and people starving for socialization began hosting virtual cocktail parties via Zoom. With flexible schedule schedules and many people out of work, cocktail hour did not have to wait until 5:00 p.m. People stocking up at Total Wine liquor store before the nation shuts down due to the coronavirus ... [+] pandemic, Roseville, Minnesota. (Photo by: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Education Images Entertainment Netflix, added nearly 16 million new subscribers during the first quarter of 2020, and its growth numbers more than doubled what the company predicted January. Q1’20 was the largest three-month jump in the streaming service’s 13-year history, as people looked for entertainment options while theaters, cinemas, nightclubs, and concert venues went dark… and still have not fully returned. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 14: A view outside AMC 34th Street 14 movie theater during the coronavirus ... [+] pandemic on May 14, 2020 in New York City. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 303,000 lives with over 4.5 million infections reported. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images) Getty Images
20edb100a14fcfe9f5de1d8987ca7068
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2021/01/29/small-business-owners-of-color-continue-to-face-challenges/?sh=5f9a1a3358aa
Small Business Owners Of Color Continue To Face Challenges
Small Business Owners Of Color Continue To Face Challenges A national poll conducted by Small Business Majority reveals the ongoing challenges minority small business owners are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey underscores the ongoing disproportionate impact of the pandemic on small businesses owned by people of color who already face systemic barriers to accessing financing and business resources. Despite state and federal efforts to provide emergency funding to small businesses, the study found that they continued to experience major losses in revenue. As a result of these revenues shortfalls, many businesses have had to make difficult decisions to stay afloat. About one-third of minority-owned businesses (32%) have had to cut employee hours, and nearly one-quarter (24%) have temporarily closed their doors. Of those who reduced staff at the height of the downturn last year, 60% have not restored their headcount to pre-pandemic levels. James Fugate, co-owner of Eso Won Books, speaks with a customer at his store in Los Angeles. It's ... [+] been a rough year for Black-owned small businesses. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images The study also found that small business owners of color are more likely to have to take drastic steps to stay afloat. Nearly 1 in 4 entrepreneurs of color (Black, Latino, Asian, and American Pacific Islander business owners) may lay off employees permanently in the next few months, compared to 14% of white business owners. The survey also revealed that 18% of Black and Latino business owners say they are likely to permanently close their business, compared to 14% of white small business owners. While many small businesses have been able to access federal relief, some small business owners struggled to navigate funding programs last year. The SBA released a report on PPP loan activity on January 24 that broke out the percentages of loans that went to business owners who were White (65%), Hispanic (14%), Asian (12%), African American (8%), and American Indian or Alaska Native (2%), although the overwhelming majority did not report their ethnicity According to the Small Business Majority study, of those who applied for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), 57% said the application process was difficult, and only 33% received the full amount of the loan they requested. Minority-owned businesses were less likely to receive the full amount requested (27% Latino, 23% Black and 23% AAPI). MORE FOR YOUWhy PPP Loan Applications Are Getting Stuck And How To Keep Yours MovingThe Best Tech Podcasts…And Other Small Business Tech NewsCovid-19 And Gender Equality: Employers Can Help Women From Being Unfairly Punished For Challenges They Face “Applying to federal relief programs has been incredibly complicated from the start, especially for small minority and women-owned businesses,” said Rochelle Smith, owner of Eliteress Beauty in Cypress, Texas. “Small businesses like mine should receive a fair shot at applying to those programs. If my business is denied for this second round of PPP, I’m not sure how I’ll keep my business alive while the pandemic continues to drag on.” The weeks ahead will prove to be even more challenging as small business owners anticipate making further cuts, and more entrepreneurs of color may temporarily close their business in the next three months (32% of Latino, 29% of Black, and 25% of AAPI, compared to 21% of their white counterparts). The vast majority of small business owners (80%) support direct federal grant assistance, which has been proposed in President Biden’s economic relief plan. Black-owned and other minority-owned businesses closed more rapidly than white-owned firms as a direct result of the lack of stimulus funding. According to an August 2020 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, nearly half of Black-owned businesses had been wiped out by the end of April and black businesses experienced the most acute decline, with a 41% drop. Latinx business owners fell by 32% and Asian business owners dropped by 26%. In contrast, the number of white business owners fell by 17%. The Fed found that Black-owned firms were less likely to enter the pandemic from a strong financial position than white-owned firms, with smaller shares of Black firms operating at a profit, having a high credit score, and using retained business earnings to fund the business. Only 42% met at least two of these criteria, compared to 73% of white business owners. “As these survey results make clear, small businesses urgently need Congress to work with the Biden Administration to pass a comprehensive federal relief plan that will put small businesses on a meaningful pathway to recovery,” said John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, a national small business organization that empowers diverse entrepreneurs to build a thriving and inclusive economy. “While temporary solutions to provide emergency funding have provided an important lifeline to small businesses, they need bold measures to see them through the challenging months ahead.” Fortunately for minority-owned businesses, the Biden Administration has made helping them a priority. WILMINGTON, DE - Vice President Kamala Harris (L) looks on as U.S. President Joe Biden (R) delivers ... [+] remarks after he announced cabinet nominees that will round out his economic team. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Getty Images "Our priority will be Black-, Latino-, Asian-, and Native American-owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild," then President-elect Biden said on January 10, 2021. After taking office last week, Biden announced a $1.9 trillion plan that would include flexible grants to aid struggling small businesses. On the campaign trail, Biden promised to provide access to capital for minority-owned small businesses, and backed it up by allowing CDFIs, which help companies in disadvantages areas, early access to the latest round of PPP loans. The program opened to all approved PPP lenders the following week. Thus, we have already seen Biden’s focus on helping Black-owned and other minority-owned businesses. These actions are warranted. According to the Associated Press, “thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s initial coronavirus relief program.” The AP found than many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program. The AP analyzed data from the Paycheck Protection Program released Dec. 1 that showed many minority business owners did not receive PPP funding until the last few weeks of the program, while many more white business owners secured loans much earlier.
49842c95dd3d34eb51802d91daf3eab1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2021/03/05/extend-the-ppp-deadline-to-help-small-businesses-secure-access-to-loans-under-new-rules/?sh=4a95c5f82c00
Extend The PPP Deadline To Help Small Businesses Secure Access To Loans Under New Rules
Extend The PPP Deadline To Help Small Businesses Secure Access To Loans Under New Rules For many of the smallest U.S. business owners, the March 31st deadline for filing for Payroll Protection Program’s (PPP) funding looms large. WASHINGTON, DC (Feb. 22, 2021) -- President Joe Biden announced changes to the Paycheck Protection ... [+] Program aimed at helping small and minority-owned business to qualify for federal loans due to the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty Images Voices from across the industry, including the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), payroll processing giant Paychex, and business associations are calling on Congress to extend the Paycheck Protection Program’s (PPP) March 31 loan application deadline. Last week, more than 100 trade and business organizations sent a letter to federal lawmakers urging them to extend the PPP deadline until at least June 30, 2021. AICPA believes that the federal government can and should provide ongoing support for small businesses and non-profits by agreeing to an extension of the so-called PPP2 lending program. Since the program reopened in January (after the first round of PPP closed on August 8, 2020), more than 2 million loans have been approved for more than $156 billion in loans, being funded by 5,185 banks and non-bank lenders. Overall, the Paycheck Protection Program has put nearly $680 billion into the hands of desperate business owners whose very survival depends on getting these government-backed loans. “We thank Congress for its ongoing bipartisan support of the PPP, which is valuable lifeline to millions of businesses. However, too many small, underserved and minority-owned businesses continue to face serious challenges with the PPP application process,” said Barry Melancon, CPA, CGAM, AICPA president and CEO. “The accounting profession believes that Congressional action now to extend the deadline creates much needed breathing room for Main Street America.” “Since PPP was first launched last year, we have called on Congress and the SBA to ensure the program is reaching small businesses with the greatest need, particularly as too many small businesses owned by people of color and the self-employed were left behind during the first rounds of funding,” said Small Business Majority founder and CEO John Arensmeyer. MORE FOR YOUWhy PPP Loan Applications Are Getting Stuck And How To Keep Yours MovingHow To Actually Make Money On Clubhouse…And Other Small Business Tech NewsDeveloping Business Resilience: 4 Keys To Success In Uncertain Times “Few business owners of color who applied for PPP last year received the full loan amount they requested, and just 7% of the self-employed even applied,” Arensmeyer added. “What’s more, a majority of entrepreneurs of color report they will need loans or grants this year to keep their businesses open.” Right now, there are millions of businesses working on PPP applications that have not yet been submitted to the SBA. The smallest businesses, often minority- or immigrant-owned, have had the most difficulty applying. Many times, they do not have existing business checking accounts at banks or their accounts went below minimum balances because of the effects of government-mandated closures or increased expenses on things like PPE for their employees. Conditions such as these have posed challenges to businesses seeking PPP loans as they are often required by lenders before a borrower can secure a loan from the program. Often, these very small businesses don’t have accountants and lawyers to help them get over such PPP hurdles. AICPA president Barry Melancon, whose 431,000 member organization is the world’s largest association representing the CPA profession, says that there are many PPP issues that must be addressed. “It is well documented that small businesses, non-profits and the CPAs who advise them are experiencing error codes when submitting a PPP loan application. We continue to speak with the SBA about these problems and are hopeful for a solution soon,” added Melancon. “When the Biden administration rightly created a two-week window to prioritize PPP loans for entities with fewer than 20 employees, other larger businesses were confused about how last-minute process changes might impact their applications that are lingering in the SBA’s system,” he added. “A deadline extension would give the SBA more time to process these applications.” President Biden’s two-week period for companies with less than 20 employees to be allowed to apply for PPP loans is helping to ensure that truly small companies can get financial assistance. Many of the smallest businesses seeking to get funding are Black-owned, Brown-owned and women-owned companies. Outreach efforts are underway to reach these business owners, particularly those in low-and-middle-income communities, and areas that have been under-served by the banking industry. Plenty of funding still available Congress authorized an additional $284 billion in funding for PPP2. Right now, after two months, a little more than half of that funding ($156,253,510,068) has been approved. To help move things along, the SBA is providing additional capabilities for lenders to resolve error codes. Unfortunately, a lot of applications are being held up. Right at the start of the program, applicants should have been told that validation checks would take time. The safeguards were put in place by the government to ensure against fraud this time around. Progress is being made, but it is unfortunately taking a longer time than expected for error codes to be resolved. “Almost 90% of the error codes are happening before the applications are submitted to the SBA,” said Eric Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “A lot of the progress is happening manually. However, I am hopeful that we will catch up.” The first phase of error codes is an API validation error code that somehow stops submission of PPP loan applications into the SBA system. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the error codes are happening before the SBA even receives the applications. Next, there are compliance checks. The applications are validated for further review. In some instances, applications are being stopped here and borrowers and lenders are asked for further information. Sometimes the lender can clear the code, and sometimes not. A frequent delay is because additional documentation is needed to prove that an applicant was indeed operating on Feb. 15, 2020. In the third phase, the applicant gets an SBA number (E-Tran) or a “do not approve” category. The lenders can at that point work with the borrowers to resolve the error codes, often by collecting unique and specific documentation required by the SBA for each kind of error code. These error codes are unexpected, and they are causing delays for many borrowers. Sometimes it can take weeks to get approval because of these safeguards put into place to prevent fraud. Progress is being made as lenders work with the SBA, but unfortunately, the program is so popular that there is a logjam. Resolving the error codes takes time, and the SBA still has to provide more definitive guidance for lenders on how to resolve these errors more efficiently. For this reason, Congress should extend the PPP application deadline past March 31. The smallest businesses and self-employed workers need access to capital, but they might not get it without an extension of PPP2. There is simply not enough time before March 31 for the SBA and its 5,000 partner lenders to first implement rule changes required by the administration, second resolve compliance issues and error messages, and of course complete the funding for all approved businesses. The best way to ensure that the little guys get a piece of the PPP pie is to extend the deadline to give applications more time to be processed, approved, and funded.
32325fb93daa6779005adf129dd97eda
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rohitarora/2021/03/25/credit-scores-and-average-earnings-of-women-owned-businesses-rose-yet-loan-approvals-lagged-in-2020/?sh=1904de362c80
Credit Scores And Average Earnings Of Women-Owned Businesses Rose, Yet Loan Approvals Lagged In 2020
Credit Scores And Average Earnings Of Women-Owned Businesses Rose, Yet Loan Approvals Lagged In 2020 Analysis of 40,000 Firms Finds Revenues and Costs Down; Texas and California Are The Top States for Loan Requests from Women-Owned Firms A woman working from home with a laptop computer and bank debit card. Photographer: Hollie ... [+] Adams/Bloomberg © 2020 Bloomberg Finance LP The annual Biz2Credit Women-Owned Business Study found that although revenues dropped for women-owned firms in 2020, their earnings grew, primarily because expenses decreased during the pandemic. The study reviews 40,0000 credit inquiries from across the country for the full prior year (2020) and examined the financial performance of women-owned small- to mid-sized companies in the United States. During 2020, the effects of the pandemic were especially notable for women-owned companies, many of whom are less-well financed compared to men-owned firms. Lower financial indicators among female business owners are indicative of lacking service and attention provided by traditional financial institutions. The analysis examined financial indicators, including annual revenue, operating expenses, age of business, and personal credit score of the business loan applicant. Key findings: Performance of Women-Owned Businesses MORE FOR YOUWhy PPP Loan Applications Are Getting Stuck And How To Keep Yours MovingSBA Opens $16.2 Billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grants ProgramEight Attributes Marketing Professionals Need To Acquire In Order To Build Great Brands And Companies Average Annual Revenue dropped from $384,359 in 2019 to $330,226 in 2020. Average Earnings (annual revenue – operating expenses) of women-owned business grew to $181,770 in 2020 from $107,804 in 2019, largely because expenses decreased from $276,554 in 2019 to $148,455 in 2020. Average Credit Score for female business owners increased from 590 in 2019 to 597 in 2020. Top Industry: Services (except public administration) represented 26% of the women-owned companies in 2020. The percentage of business loan applications from women-owned firms decreased by 2% in 2020, compared to 2019. Comparison of Women-Owned and Male-Owned Companies The study compared male-owned and female-owned business health during the past year, and the numbers underscore a larger problem. Women-owned firms are much less likely to apply for loans. Part of the problem is that, on average, their companies’ earnings were less than half of the earnings of businesses owned by men and their credit scores were lower. Some specifics: Women-to Men Borrowing Ratio: 27% female vs 72% male registrations on Biz2Credit in 2020. Average Annual Revenue Gap: women-owned businesses ($330,226) earned $421,928 less on average than male-owned firms ($716,842) in 2020. Average Credit Score: On an average the credit score for women-owned businesses (597) were 23 points lower than male-owned Businesses (620) in 2020. Average Loan Size for women-owned businesses ($36,981) was 33% lower than the average loan size for businesses owned by men ($55,061) in 2020. Average Age of Business for women-owned businesses 5 years (60 months) was lower than the age of business for male-owned companies 6 years (72 months) in 20. By industry, more than one-quarter (25.8%) of the women-owned companies that applied for business loans during the past 12 months have been in Services (except Public Administration). Retail accounted for 17% of the applicants, followed by Health Care and Social Assistance (9.5%), Accommodation and Food Services (9.2%), construction (6.2%), and Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (5.5%). Texas and California were the states that produced the most applications from women-owned companies, followed by Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee. The average funded amount for women-owned businesses ($39,731) was 36% less than the same for male-owned businesses ($61,958) in 2020. Upon thorough analysis, business-related factors, including lower FICO scores, younger age of business, and higher operating expenses played a more significant role in this gap, rather than gender alone. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Round 2: Women-owned vs. Male-owned businesses In December 2020, Congress appropriated $284 billion for small business COVID relief for a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Biz2Credit examined its data from PPP loan applicants and discovered that 49% of the applicants for PPP Round 2 were women business owners (compared to all SBA lenders at 31%). The average approved amount for PPP Round 2 applicants who identified as women business owners on the Biz2Credit platform was $22,000, compared to $30,000 for those who identified as male business owners. Stickers by Jennifer has taken its business almost fully online during the pandemic. PPP money ... [+] helped owner Jennifer Moore make the conversion after crafting events came to a screeching halt in 2020. Jennifer Moore Jennifer Moore, a self-described “mom-preneur” credits the $20,000 PPP loan she got with Biz2Credit’s help as a “lifeline” that kept her home-based business, Stickers By Jennifer, going. The mother of two kids creates planner stickers that she usually sold at craft fairs and other events in and around Wayne, Michigan. “I couldn’t make money locally, and COVID made it unsafe to travel, so I had to figure out how to run my business completely online,” Moore said. “When selling online, the key is speed. Customers want things quickly. I got new cutting machines; now I’m ready to cut and send out the same day by Amazon Prime.” PPP funding is betting on businesses like Ms. Moore’s that are putting in hard work, adapting to new market realities, and adopting creative solutions, such as making the conversion to becoming an online retailer. The PPP is helping women-owned businesses weather the coronavirus storm.
c4fd1a2e340103476b4bc4dbc612bfe3
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/02/23/starbucks-gives-up-on-its-evolution-fresh-concept/
Starbucks Gives Up On Its Evolution Fresh Concept
Starbucks Gives Up On Its Evolution Fresh Concept Evolution Fresh store in Washington State. Ronald Holden photo. Kevin Johnson isn't even CEO of Starbucks yet (officially) but the outfit he's inheriting from Howard Schultz is shedding brands and stores that aren't part of its coffee-centric mission. The latest casualty is Evolution Fresh, a five-year-old juice-bar concept that may have been ahead of its time. When Starbucks removed its name from its logo in 2011, it was, Schultz said, so that future ventures wouldn't necessarily be tied to coffee. Ironically, Evolution Fresh carried no Starbucks branding or logos whatsoever. This was probably playing it safe. Now that the concept has tanked, it's easier to shut down without the Starbucks baggage. What's more significant is that Starbucks was moving away from a reliance simply on coffee-based experiences (romantically ducking into an Italian caffè in Milan or Torino) and wading instead into that vast market the Italians call benessere: health and wellness. It's worth a cool $50 billion a year. Starbucks insisted this wasn't about pandering to a faddish crowd of self-diagnosed gluten-intolerant young moms. "It's a trend," Arthur Rudinstein told me. He was the Starbucks President for Global Store Development who put this whole concept together in under four months. "Wheat grass? I swear by it. All those anti-oxidants! It's alive with freshness! Let me get you a shot!" He returned with a plastic cup of green stuff. I gulped it down; it was surprisingly delicious. Cynicism aside, Starbucks has been a key element in a cultural shift in American cities. In the space of a generation, coffee shops have become what bars, taverns, diners and private clubs once provided: a third place, between home and work, neutral territory where people can gather. Do the Starbucks Suits know something we don't? Is coffee itself no longer the catnip it once was? If Evolution Fresh provides an alternative to caffeine, then Starbucks will succeed with this transformative concept. If not, well, no harm done. At the heart of Evolution Fresh, which Starbucks bought for $50 million, is a process called cold-pressing. Evolution produces five types of juice (orange, grapefruit, lemonade, apple and tangerine) with a high-pressure process called pascalization that gives it a 40-day shelf life. In addition to the juices, Evolution Fresh offered salad bowls (kale, lentil, buckwheat noodles) and sandwiches. The company managed to open just four locations in five years, and has now pulled the plug on the stores themsevles. The bottled juices, however, will remain on the menu at Starbucks stores. Disclosure: I hold fewer than 100 shares of Starbucks stock
6b52692bdd4fff186a59bfde598d18c8
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/11/02/starbucks-unloads-tazo-will-concentrate-on-teavana/
Starbucks Unloads Tazo, Will Concentrate On Teavana
Starbucks Unloads Tazo, Will Concentrate On Teavana Teavana display in Seattle Ronald Holden Disclosure: As I've noted in previous posts, I hold 200 shares of SBUX. Back in July, Starbucks announced that it would close its Teavana outlets (379 stores, 3,300 employees). Today it revealed it would sell its Tazo brand to Unilever . The Tazo story is fascinating. A Portland entrepreneur, Stephen Smith, created the brand specifically to challenge Seattle's dominance in coffee. He'd already developed Stash Tea, one of the original hippie brands, and sold it to a Japanese company (which continues to operate it out of a Portland suburb). In 1994, Smith was ready to try again. Within four years, he went to call on his arch-rival, Howard Schultz, then the CEO of Starbucks, who responded by having Starbucks take over the company for $8 million. Now Tazo will be sold off to British-Dutch conglomerate Unilever, whose food brands include Knorr, Lipton and Best Foods as well as micro-brands such as Amora mustard and Ben & Jerry's ice cream (acquired in 2000). Tazo is sold primarily in grocery stores and convenience channels. It is offered in formats including packaged teas, K-Cup pods and bottled, ready-to-drink teas. It rang up sales of over $110 million in 2016. It's considered a step up from generic Lipton, however, which explains Unilever's interest. Black tea, makes up about 80% of its portfolio, but there's more money to be made in green, herbal and specialty teas. That explains why Unilever agreed to acquire the assets of the Tazo brand, including its signature recipes, intellectual property and inventory, for $384 million. So now it's sleepy-time and nighty-night for Tazo but a new dawn for Teavana, which becomes the focus for a new, single-tea brand strategy. Starbucks no longer has to worry about its freestanding Teavana stores; as we wrote back in July, they're being shuttered. Noneneless, the tea category in Starbucks stores is growing, globally, by double-digits. The Teavana business is expected to be worth over $3 billion over the next five years. In the past 12 months alone, Starbucks has sold more than $1.6 billion worth of Teavana beverages in Starbucks stores and launched ready-to-drink premium Teavana Craft Iced Teas through its partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev, and it plans to enter the packaged tea category in 2018. "Over the past five years, we have established Teavana as our primary global brand focused on the premium tea segment," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson says. "With our growth strategy for premium tea exclusively focused on Teavana, we are pleased to transition our Tazo business to Unilever. We continue to see significant growth in our tea business through our Teavana brand, and this transition supports our strategy to elevate the premium tea experience for our customers." Starbucks also announced its fourth-quarter and annual financial results today. Notable highlights: Consolidated net revenues of $22.4 billion grew 5% versus the prior year.  Americas comp store sales increased 3%, driven by a 2% increase in average ticket and a 1% increase in transactions Mobile Order and Pay reached 10% of transactions in U.S. company-operated stores The company opened 603 net new stores globally, bringing total store count to 27,339 across 75 countries. So, ready for a cuppa?
5fefd667ddbcfded09aa9e45574a99d1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2011/03/15/simplify-your-work-and-your-life/
Simplify Your Work (and Your Life)!
Simplify Your Work (and Your Life)! Image by EvelynGiggles via Flickr Have you ever gone home at the end of a long day and wondered what you really accomplished? That's the complaint I hear from many managers these days who feel that they are working harder than ever, but don't have much to show for it. While globalization, innovation and communications technologies have created incredible opportunities, they also have made organizations much more complex, more exhausting, and more overloaded with meetings, emails, and presentations — often without the counterbalancing benefit of more productivity or satisfaction. And to make matters worse, during the economic downturn, many organizations cut their staff and are just now beginning to increase their headcount.  With new employees, different cultures, and the chaos associated with transitions, it's not a pretty picture. Unfortunately, if you're waiting for someone else to initiate simplification and make your life better, you might as well buy a lottery ticket. Sure there are some enlightened CEO's  who make it their business to streamline processes, reduce the number of products, cut out layers, and make simplicity a business priority. But in most organizations you're on your own. And if that's the case, what can you do? Here are two simple steps that any manager, at any level, can take to start down the path of simplification: Start with your own behavior. How many times have you gone to a meeting that lacked an agenda or a clear set of objects — and didn't do anything about it? How often have you received unnecessary email or reports — but didn't let the senders know that they were clogging up your inbox? How often have you sat through a presentation with too many slides, unclear points, and too much data — but didn't provide any feedback to the presenter? And how often have you been the perpetrator of these complexity-causing behaviors without anyone pushing back on you? We all allow these things to happen. Often, we're guilty of doing them. But since most people dislike confrontation, we let things slide. It's an unspoken conspiracy: "I won't challenge you if you won't challenge me." The net result is that we unwittingly create a culture of complexity. The first step towards simplification is to break out of this silent collusion. Challenge yourself and challenge others. Put a three-slide limit on presentations; insist that every meeting have an agenda; eliminate "reply all" emails to schedule meetings. Get simplification started in your own day-to-day life. Enlist others in the cause. Just like you are often unconscious of how you cause complexity, your boss and your colleagues are probably unaware of how they are making life difficult for you and others. So after you've changed some of your own behaviors (and you need to do that first to have credibility), get some discussion started about other sources of complexity in the company. Don't worry at first about making big changes — just get some dialogue going, either physically or virtually. Encourage other people to experiment along with you, and to share what works and what does not. Look together at processes that cut across your functions, and how you might streamline handoffs and interactions. Talk about issues that you can't tackle alone, but might be opportunities for group problem-solving. At a minimum, you can create a simplicity support group. But who knows, you might create a movement! What's your experience with making things simpler in your company? Ron Ashkenas is a senior partner of Schaffer Consulting, a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the book Simply Effective:  How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
5ddf3124a86621abbd906eba9aa7b801
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2011/10/26/why-we-secretly-love-meetings/
Why We Secretly Love Meetings
Why We Secretly Love Meetings Image by Voka - Kamer van Koophandel Limburg via Flickr Is too much of your time spent in unnecessary or ineffective meetings? If so, you're not alone. Most managers consider meeting fatigue and meeting failures as two of the most significant drains on their productivity. As a result, an entire industry has sprung up over the past twenty years focusing on "meeting management." Every company has courses on how to run good meetings, and in case you miss the training there are posters, laminated cards, and checklists for preparation, conduct, and follow-up. As a result of this saturation of meeting education, almost every manager knows the basic rules: Be clear about what you want to accomplish; invite the right people; send out pre-reading in advance; have an agenda and follow it with discipline; send out notes with key decisions and action steps. You know the drill. Unfortunately these basic and widely understood guidelines for effective meetings are probably the least followed procedures in corporate history. If the government conducted "meeting audits" almost every company would fail. Most managers still complain about ineffective meetings, and then proceed to schedule multiple meetings and run them poorly. It's an amazing phenomenon. This leads to one of the dirty little secrets of organizational life: Despite their protestations, at an unconscious (or conscious) level most managers actually like meetings, and for several reasons. They encourage social interaction. Most people don't enjoy working alone; they want contact and relationships with other people. Meetings make them feel part of a community, and give them an outlet for sharing their personal feelings and opinions, not only on work issues but also on personal or political topics. So, some of the seemingly off-target chatter in meetings (even the complaining) is actually the realization of an important social outlet. They keep everyone in the loop. As firms have become more matrixed and interdependent, meetings serve as the informal loom that weaves together the organizational threads. People need to know what's going on in other parts of the organization. They need informal sources to supplement the formal communication mechanisms — and to guide them through political and personal minefields. These information networks are created, reinforced and expanded through meetings. They often represent status. Membership on multiple committees means that you are important, your opinion is valued, and you have a seat at a decision-making table. Attendance at staff meetings means that you are part of the leadership team. Even being asked to present or answer questions at a meeting on a one-time basis gives you visibility with senior people and is status-enhancing. They provide an excuse for inaction. Talking about work and how it should be approached is often easier than rolling up your sleeves and getting it done. Building alignment around the best way forward is a key step towards successful execution, but there’s a fine line between facilitating meaningful discussion and “spinning your wheels”. Continuing the debate indefinitely alleviates the anxiety of choosing a clear course of action and diving in despite the risk of failure. These psychological drivers of meetings are very powerful — and usually trump all of the logical and rational "meeting management" advice that is doled out in courses and articles. In other words, what seems like wasted or unproductive time for many managers is actually fulfilling important personal and organizational needs. This does not pardon meetings run wild and the time we lose to them. Managers at all levels need to be continuously on guard against unnecessary meeting proliferation and poor meeting disciplines. For example, several years ago in GlaxoSmithKline's research organization there was a realization that — as a result of multiple project meetings and the inclusion of all functions on drug development teams — many people were spending as much time in meetings as they were on actual drug development work. As a result the company developed a "fit for purpose" meeting process in which only the people directly involved in a particular phase or issue of the project attended the meetings, while others just received information. All organizations should periodically look at their meeting patterns and make adjustments like this in addition to encouraging the use of agendas, virtual meeting approaches, and all the rest. However just complaining about too many meetings or poorly run meetings won't do much good. Like moths to a flame, we'll keep coming back, no matter what we say. What are your feelings about meetings? Ron Ashkenas is a senior partner of Schaffer Consulting, a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the book Simply Effective:  How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
8f34a5c56f215e2aab024ba2e7ad0b12
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2012/03/12/do-less-to-achieve-more/
Do Less to Achieve More
Do Less to Achieve More Image via Wikipedia How does one successfully manage a company with a dozen diverse, decentralized businesses of varying sizes that employ over 100,000 people in 130 countries, especially in an uncertain economic environment? The answer is to make things simple, says Bill Allen, head of Group Human Resources at Copenhagen-based A.P. Moller-Maersk, a world-wide leader in shipping, containers, marine terminals, and energy. He contends that activities at the group (headquarters) level — beyond public company requirements like reporting numbers to investors — should be restricted to those few things that enable and enhance business performance. Other than that, individual businesses should be in charge of delivering their results as they see fit. Because of this simple operating system, Maersk has been able to maintain profitability despite the global recession, downturns in shipping, uncertainty in the Eurozone, and volatility in all of its business sectors. But even if you aren't managing a conglomerate like Maersk, sometimes the best way to address the most complex management challenge is to do less, not more. Select the handful of critical leverage points that will have the biggest impact on success and relentlessly focus on doing them better — without getting distracted by anything else. By following this principle, Maersk reduced headcount at its corporate headquarters by 40% in two years and did a better job of enabling the businesses to produce results. The Group HR function alone went from 87 to 23 people, and according to Allen, is much more effective. The reality is that without ruthless prioritization, smart workers will always identify new opportunities, therefore perpetuating a cycle of increasing activity that is difficult to break. And this is where much of the complexity comes from in organizations, both at the corporate level and within business units. This doesn't mean that these activities are not useful, value-added, or worthwhile — but unless they are absolutely critical for achieving strategic goals, they need to be questioned or eliminated. Here's a quick example: In one large consumer products company, the CEO insisted on having detailed operational reports rolled up every month to the corporate level, which she then used for a monthly review meeting with business heads and corporate staff. Creating these reports required a small army of corporate financial analysts an also drove a cascade of work within all of the business units. And since the financial analysts were not always busy with the monthly reports, they also generated additional activities for the businesses that they thought were value-added. When the CEO retired, her successor decided that these detailed operational reports were unnecessary since each business unit already reported its key numbers — and the big review meetings never resulted in substantial decisions anyway. In other words, he quickly determined that this form of operational roll-up was not critical to the company's success and it was eliminated (along with the small army of financial analysts and the additional work they spawned). All of us have a tendency to take on additional work, lose focus, and feel overloaded — whether we work in the C-suite, at a desk, or on a shop floor. The key is not to repeat that pattern by adding more work. Instead, take an inventory of everything you're trying to do, pick out the few things that will make the most difference (to your job, your career, or your life), and put everything else at the bottom of the pile or eliminate it altogether. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize — and you may find that you'll get more done by doing less. If a highly complex company like Maersk can do it, why can't you? What can you stop doing? Ron Ashkenas is a senior partner of Schaffer Consulting, a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the book Simply Effective:  How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
dc5624449dd708b73203cc670b177c1d
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2012/08/28/wanted-leaders-like-we-used-to-have/
Wanted: Leaders Like We Used to Have
Wanted: Leaders Like We Used to Have Leaders of the past almost always seem more effective than those of today. It's a perceptual bias: We long for what we don't have, and mythologize what we used to have. But even taking this bias into consideration, many of today's leaders don't seem to measure up to our expectations. According to a survey conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School in 2010, 68% of Americans believe that there is a "leadership crisis" in the country; and leaders in only four out of thirteen sectors inspire above average confidence (the military, the Supreme Court, non-profits, and medical institutions). Leaders of the news media, Congress, and Wall Street receive the lowest scores. One can only imagine that those numbers have tumbled further given the depth and breadth of economic and political challenges we face today. My parents used to tell me that the leaders of their day not only inspired confidence, but respect and reverence as well. They talked about Roosevelt, Churchill, Eisenhower, Gandhi, and others of that generation as larger than life figures. Growing up, I had the same impressions of John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and others. Sure they had their flaws, but they were courageous and decisive, and could communicate in ways that made it clear what they stood for. But today's public figures don't seem to inspire the same confidence. According to Gallup figures, only 45% of Americans think that President Obama is doing a good job (up from a low of 38%); and only 17% have a favorable view of Congress. Even in the corporate sector, confidence in leaders may be waning (at least from their boards): According to a study by the search firm Crist Kolder Associates, CEO turnover in Fortune 500 and S&P 500 firms was running at 13% in 2011, up from 10% in 2010. CEO turnover rates for 2012 look about the same. The irony is it's likely that more money has been spent on leadership development in the last two decades — in both the public and private sectors — than was probably spent in the previous ten decades combined (admittedly I'm guessing here; no figures seem to be available). So why are we not turning out better leaders across the board? Let me suggest two possibilities — and perhaps readers will add others: First, the velocity and volume of issues that leaders are confronted with today has increased substantially. This doesn't mean that the previous generations of leaders had it easy; rather they had more time between decisions than leaders have today. Now, with the advent of instantaneous communication across the globe, leaders have very little time to think. Most of the senior executives that I've worked with, in both the public and private sectors, are inundated with information and overwhelmed with meetings. They move from one issue to the next with frequent interruptions as new developments occur. Relaxed time to think, reflect, and plan is limited and fragmented. But leaders who don't find ways to carve out that quality time reduce their effectiveness. A second reason for the diminished confidence might be that many of today's leaders are overly concerned with the reactions of their stakeholders. This may sound odd, since a key function of leadership is to tune in to the needs of the people they are leading. Listening, however, only goes so far, particularly when the many voices do not agree. At some point leaders need to declare their intentions, even if not everyone will be happy. For this reason today's leaders often hesitate to do what they think is right. Instead politicians seem to base their policies on polling trends, while corporate leaders worry about the reactions of analysts and traders. In contrast, respected leaders drive towards a longer-term vision and find ways to handle the speed bumps along the way. Of course comparing leaders from different generations has no right answer — just like the arguments about who would win an athletic contest between teams from different eras. But if reflecting on the question helps us find ways of increasing leadership effectiveness today, maybe it's worth some debate. What are your thoughts? Are the leaders of today less (or more) effective than the leaders of the past? Ron Ashkenas is a senior partner of Schaffer Consulting, a Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm and the author of the book Simply Effective:  How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
623a33909dfc0c16495ac5b8e3824b5a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2013/01/13/dont-just-bash-hr-help-it-succeed/
Don't Just Bash HR -- Help it Succeed
Don't Just Bash HR -- Help it Succeed In today’s business environment, recruitment, retention, and development of human capital are critical success factors for almost any organization. Yet the function charged with helping line managers leverage their human capital — Human Resources — is often regarded with outright disdain. Just look at a few of the comments readers made in response to a thoughtful HBR post by Brian Hults from Newell Rubbermaid called Why HR Really Does Add Value: "I have yet to see HR add value to any organization." "[HR] is more often an obstacle that needs to be navigated to complete real business processes." "The fact that the author essentially advocates turning HR into something that would be called 'strategic planning and integration' is exhibit A as to the complete uselessness of HR..." These comments are not unusual. In many organizations, HR is perceived as inefficient, ineffective, overly bureaucratic, and incapable of contributing to results — despite the fact that its role is absolutely critical. So what's going on? One possibility is that the criticisms could be true. Some organizations do have weak HR functions that mostly perform transactional work that doesn't add unique value. But in my experience, and that of colleagues who have worked with dozens of other firms, this level of HR incompetence is rare. The more likely reason that people have negative experiences with HR functions is that the HR profession is going through a major transition – and it’s not finished. This transition is happening in two ways: On one front, corporations are spending millions of dollars on systems (e.g. PeopleSoft, SAP, Workday) to streamline basic HR transactions and improve HR information. Putting these new processes in place takes time, not to mention major shifts in roles and responsibilities; and it rarely goes smoothly. Simultaneously, these same firms are trying to strengthen the more strategic and consultative roles of HR — such as talent assessment, leadership development, change management, and organization effectiveness. But this also takes time, both to develop people and to build the processes necessary for them to be effective. Jeff Shuman, the former head of HR and Administration for the Harris Corporation, one company that values HR as a strategic business partner, explains what it took to get through this transition at Harris: "Five years ago, managers wanted HR to do all the employment- and talent-related work. We had to push back and make it clear that managers were accountable too for their people and that HR was there to take an enterprise-wide approach, guide, and provide tools, but not do everything employment-related for them. We then invested in technology to help managers do the basic transactions, focus the HR generalists' role, and grew our skills in OD, leadership development, and talent. Now managers have most of the HR components they need on their desktops — employee assessments, development plans, reward and recognition reminders, and things like that. That has freed up the HR staff to help managers solve more strategic problems, identify elephants in the room, look at the human capital implications of business strategies, and challenge them to assign the best people on the most critical assignments. This took a strategic approach, and it didn't happen overnight." So HR's evolution — like the one that Shuman spearheaded at Harris — does not just concern changing HR. It's also about helping managers take more accountability for people and culture, and eventually blurring the rigid distinction between "HR" and "management." In fact one of the key contributors to success at Harris was much greater rotation of people between HR and the line organizations. This has created an environment where there is less "HR-talk" since managers and HR people have common perspectives and language. Given the human capital challenges facing almost every organization, perhaps it's time to ease off the HR-bashing. Instead, let's figure out what it will take to accelerate the transition that most HR functions need to make, and how line managers can make the journey with them, side by side. What's your experience with the evolution of HR? Ron Ashkenas is a senior partner in Schaffer Consulting, (Stamford, Connecticut), and an executive-in-residence at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. He is the author of the book Simply Effective:  How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
807915cc7c41f2918c50ce9a95664702
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronashkenas/2013/12/09/three-ways-to-preserve-institutional-knowledge/
Three Ways To Preserve Institutional Knowledge
Three Ways To Preserve Institutional Knowledge I was recently perplexed when I received a request to speak to a group of senior managers about reducing complexity — mostly because I had worked with their company fifteen years earlier on the same subject; and they had since developed a reputation for being good at simplification. Why did they want to revisit what was already a core competence? Once I met with the senior management team,the answer became very clear: Whatever institutional knowledge about simplification that had once resided in the company was now lost. Over the years, despite a number of well-meaning efforts, the focus of senior managers had shifted, the original training had been forgotten, and many of the messages on the subject had become empty rhetoric. In fact, astoundingly I was one of the main repositories of institutional memory about how to master simplification — an external consultant who had not worked with the firm for a number of years! Although this is an extreme example, it's not unique. Organizations spend a lot of time and resources developing knowledge and capability. While some of it gets translated into procedures and policies, most of it resides in the heads, hands, and hearts of individual managers and functional experts. Over time, much of this institutional knowledge moves away as people take on new jobs, relocate, or retire. Knowledge also degrades when a new senior executive or CEO introduces a different agenda that doesn't build on earlier knowledge, or contradicts what was done previously. And knowledge disappears even more rapidly when a firm reorganizes or merges with another and there is a subsequent reshuffling of the cast of characters. So what can you do to overcome the rapidly accelerating loss of institutional knowledge?Most large organizations today regularly experience these dynamics. The result is that the informal, people-based institutional knowledge that is so critical to organizational effectiveness seems to have a shorter and shorter shelf life. As one colleague commented after visiting a long-time client that had gone through three mergers and multiple CEOs: "It feels like 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers.' The names of the department are all the same, but the people act differently." First, build an explicit strategy for maintaining institutional memory, even in your own team. Don't assume that it will happen by itself. On the contrary, if you don't pay attention, the knowledge base of your team or business unit will potentially atrophy. Second, as part of your strategy, identify the few key things that you want every member of your team to know or be able to do — and figure out how to turn this from an implicit assumption to an explicit expectation. You might for example, build the mastery of this core knowledge into the onboarding process for new team members, and have refresher sessions as part of your off sites or leadership meetings. Finally, use technology to create a process by which your team continually captures and curates institutional knowledge — to make it a living and evolving body of useful information that is accessible to people as they come into the organization. Intel for example has an internal wiki (called Intelpedia), which gives employees a way of both capturing and accessing important terms, procedures, historical incidents, and more. In this day and age of Alzheimer's Disease and dementia, everyone knows that an individual's memory is fragile. What we often don't recognize is that organizational memory is much the same — and if we don't actively preserve it, we put ourselves at risk. Editor’s Note:  A version of this blog was cross-posted on HBR.org.
b8ecdbc20b4b764966516594003ae86e
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roncarucci/2016/05/10/four-reasons-women-make-great-executives/
Four Reasons Women Make Great Executives
Four Reasons Women Make Great Executives A few months ago, I wrote a piece about the findings of our 10-year study on what makes great executives. One of the most common questions I’ve received was whether or not there were material differences between men and women. Statistically, our research was not designed to reliably make such distinctions. But the number of questions we kept getting on this topic led my coauthor and me to go back and do a review of others’ research to see if, indeed, there were distinctions that correlated to our research. Photo credit: Shutterstock We looked at five years of data regarding the differences between male and female leaders, such as Calipers Research and Dr. Helen Fisher. The four capabilities uncovered in our 10-year study closely correlate to the strengths of women leaders consistently identified in the gender difference research. Obviously not every female leader will be predisposed to excel in all of them, but in the aggregate, it makes a compelling case for female leadership – especially in light of research showing that the presence of female executives on corporate boards leads to greater profitability. According to the noted McKinsey study, companies with the highest gender diversity, as compared to the industry average, see a much higher return on equity (10%), a higher operating result (48%), and a stronger stock price growth (70%). In addition, having at least one woman on the board decreases bankruptcy by a full 20%. Gallery: The World's Most Powerful Women 10 images View gallery I will own the disclaimer that, as a white male, my qualifications to make this assertion may be limited. But with the plethora of data documenting the abysmal representation of women in executive roles, perhaps it’s a white male who needs to be saying it. It’s also important to note that one of the explanations for why there are so few women in senior leadership roles is that women have to work harder to prove themselves and have to be more qualified to be hired or promoted. So it’s also possible that only the best women are being promoted, while the sample set of male leaders includes a wider range of competence levels. Susan Colantuono, CEO of Leading Women, in her TED Talk, reveals vital research done with more than 2,000 women that “when identifying high potential candidates for career advancement, executives and boards look for people with business and strategic acumen by a factor of nearly 2 to 1. This is significantly out of line with the advice that women are given about career success.” Most of what women are told about developing their careers has to do with cultivating their interpersonal prowess. Rarely are aspiring executives, men or women, told of the critical importance of deeply knowing their businesses. My intent is not to make the blanket assertion that “women are always better executives than men” (though they often are). But it is patently clear they are far more capable than their representation in executive ranks would imply. With incontrovertible evidence of this, organizations not aggressively pursuing the cultivation of women executives are making the expressed, intentional choice to disregard evidence, severely undermining performance and compromising their organization’s potential. Here are the four capabilities that research on women in leadership reveal as more represented in women leaders, and that closely correlate to our original research. With effort, any good executive can adopt them in order to become great. 1. Women see and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. According to Zenger Folkman’s study of more than 16,000 leaders’ 360 feedback reports over a two-year period, women overall show more effectiveness at the executive levels of organizations where seeing opportunities for growth is most significant. Moreover, in the competencies of taking initiative, driving for results, and championing change, women outperformed men by statistically significant differences. Tenacious and persistent, the best women leaders can see beyond obstacles to push boundaries and get things done. They remain focused until objectives are achieved. They enjoy stretching their perspective to broaden their observations. 2. Women build strategic connections that strengthen organizations. According to Gallup’s survey of more than 11,000 people, women are far more effective at engaging and developing people. Further, they are more likely to build collaborative environments than their male executive counterparts. This allows them to strengthen the connections among various distributed capabilities that might otherwise remain siloed and disparate. The result is greater organizational breadth, where an organization’s seams are strategically linked and the organization functions more cohesively. 3. Women are holistic problem solvers. According to researcher Helen Fisher, “when women cogitate, they gather details somewhat differently than men. Women integrate more details faster and arrange these bits of data into more complex patterns. As they make decisions, women tend to weigh more variables, consider more options, and see a wider array of possible solutions to a problem. Women tend to generalize, to synthesize, to take a broader, more holistic, more contextual perspective of any issue.” Moreover, many women are particularly skilled at soliciting and listening to multiple, diverse voices. They are more inclined to integrate team contributions after encouraging everyone to participate. They will not decide until ideas have been heard, reflected, and tested. Further, their results orientation allows them to reach decision closure more efficiently and execute more effectively. 4. Women are relationship and network builders. According to the same research by Fisher, “Women have what scientists call “executive social skills.” [Their brains] have evolved a keener ability to pick up the nuances of posture and gesture, read complex emotions in faces, and hear slight changes in tone of voice.” Because of this, women are specialists at cultivating relationships of depth and trust . In both the McKinsey and Zenger Folkman research cited above, women substantially outperformed men in the area of people development. According to Strategy& Research, there will be three billion women in the workplace by 2020. Companies that continue ignoring the importance and power of aggressively increasing gender diversity are consciously forfeiting significant advantages in the marketplace and workplace. Conversely, organizations intentionally pursuing the appointment of women to their top leadership ranks will be far better positioned to outperform competitors with both a powerhouse cadre of executives and intimate marketplace connections.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/roncarucci/2017/02/21/4-ways-leaders-pre-suade-others-to-follow-them-through-difficult-change/
4 Ways Leaders 'Pre-suade' Others To Follow Them Through Difficult Change
4 Ways Leaders 'Pre-suade' Others To Follow Them Through Difficult Change Photograph by Mark Skalny At some point, every leader is faced with the challenge of having to rally others around a journey of uncertain change. For most, that challenge is daunting and often goes poorly. Many leaders try to over-sell positive aspects of change, manipulating information and downplaying risks. Others inspire dread with messages of fear. And some just resort to “announcing” change while communicating nothing helpful. Research shows that around 70% of organizational change fails for a host of reasons. How leaders build the commitment of those who must embrace change is pivotal to beating the odds and successfully leading major change. Dr. Robert Cialdini, world-renowned social psychologist and best-selling author of Influence, has written another masterpiece about influence and persuasion, Pre-Suasion. Though largely directed at marketers, sales professionals, and others trying to influence consumer and customer behavior, I found the material brilliantly applicable to leaders trying to influence their organizations to do difficult things that hadn’t been done before. I spoke with Cialdini about how leaders could be more effective by learning to pre-suade, and as I expected, he had these masterful insights to offer. Watch on Forbes: 1. Establish yourself as a credible source of vision. For leaders to inspire confidence in would-be followers to embrace change, they have to be viewed as an honest broker of information. Says Cialdini, “Warren Buffett begins his annual report by describing something his company didn’t do well that year, and what they are doing to correct their error. That builds confidence by establishing a level of honest credibility. Then when he talks about the company’s strengths, people process them more deeply.” Before leaders launch into grand visions for change, they should begin with an honest conversation about what the setbacks might be, what might be difficult and where the risks are. Then, as they discuss the potential upsides of the change, followers will be more inclined to believe those possibilities in the face of an honest assessment of what could prove difficult. Says Cialdini, “Whenever you suggest something new, there is uncertainty. You can reduce the doubts about what you are saying and convince people that your evaluation of the future is accurate and honest, and that your vision is potentially worthwhile.” 2. Appeal to people’s sense of adventure and openness. Citing a study from his book, Cialdini says, “Research showed that if people were approached and asked if they wanted information about a new soft drink, their response was dependent on how they were asked. If they were told, ‘If you’ll give us your email address, we’ll send info about free sample,’ only 33% gave their email. But if the question was pre-suaded with ‘Do you consider yourself an adventurous person?’ almost every person could get in touch with their adventurous side. 77% then gave their email address to get something new.” Leaders can put people in touch with their openness to change. They can ask, “When did you experience change that worked and was positive?” Leaders can cite honest experiences of past change that worked effectively. They can ask people to describe what those experiences were like at the beginning and at their conclusion. Having people remember early feelings of angst, and recalling how those gave way to optimism, can help followers gain needed commitment to new journeys of change. 3. Timing is everything. Though it may sound like a small detail, research indicates that people are far more ready for change at the beginning of a year, a quarter, a month, even a week, than at the end. Again citing his research, Cialdini notes, “In the US armed forces, there is a big attempt to get personnel to enroll in retirement programs – to set aside income for future. They don’t have a lot of disposable income. The programs haven’t been successful even though in long run they will be of great benefit of participants. There is even a matching fund. There is one particular time when people are most willing to enroll in a retirement program. After they’ve moved to a new base – when they’ve relocated. If you make requests for change at the start of something new, people are more open to it than when they are comfortably set in their status quo.” When leaders discuss change at the end of a quarter or year, it is often backward-looking and experienced as corrective. Change then, can be heard as an “antidote” to fix what hasn’t worked. But when leaders communicate change at the outset of a new quarter or year, and yes, even month or week, there is a greater sense of anticipation for what is possible, and less defensiveness about past-performance challenges. Because of their own anxiety, leaders often disregard the timing of their messages. They reflexively blurt out what they believe to be urgency-inducing pronouncements at inopportune moments. In the middle of a quarterly business review, after hearing about declining results for the second consecutive quarter, I watched one very frustrated leader pound the table, stand up and declare, “I’ve had it. This organization is obviously stuck. So I’m going to get it un-stuck. The following organizational changes are effective immediately.” And with that, he announced a re-organization. The agonizing irony was that the changes he announced were actually needed, and had the potential to be very effective. The organization had been highly fragmented and badly-needed coordination across groups was weak. The changes he wanted to make could have significantly improved performance. But his anger-driven declaration at that moment sabotaged the change, delaying any benefits it might have delivered by months. 4. Create common ground. The threat of unwanted change causes people to naturally hunker down, often to self-protect in isolation. Fragmentation (when an organization behaves in a splintered set of silos or “camps”) is one of the greatest threats to change. Leaders can set the stage for positive change by establishing a sense unity among their people . Says Cialdini, “A sense of togetherness is critical to extending broad influence. When people act in unitary ways, they become unitized. The resultant feelings of group solidarity produce degrees of loyalty and self-sacrifice that strengthen organizations.” Uniting an organization around change is profoundly difficult under the best of conditions. But working with a sense of unity produces a natural inclination toward cooperation. Cialdini cites one study he says was very surprising to him. “Participants were shown pictures of people standing alone, people standing apart, and people standing shoulder to shoulder in cooperative partnership. Then the researchers pretended to drop things on floor. Those who’d seen images of people standing together, those perceived to be cooperative and collaborative, were three times more likely to help the researchers pick up the things they’d dropped. The participants were 18-month old children.” When leaders model a sense of connection, of standing shoulder to shoulder with their people, they increase our fundamental impulse to cooperate and participate, reducing the urge to isolate. Practically, how leaders work alongside followers, where they sit or stand when talking to them, how they ask for advice and act upon it, and how they set a tone of mutuality, all contribute to followers’ sense of belonging and togetherness. And under those conditions, people are far more likely to see the shared benefits of change, and feel less anxious about others winning while they lose. To be sure, the velocity of organizational change is intensifying. For some industries, it’s a way of life. Leaders must learn to effectively guide others to thrive during change. They must also ensure their organizations realize performance aspirations desired from that change. Pre-suasion - setting the stage for success before change - can make all the difference.
28a4ffeded88436c1a88c411fc33a9ca
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roncarucci/2019/08/26/the-secret-ingredients-behind-impossible-burgers-runaway-success/
The Secret Ingredients Behind Impossible Burger’s Runaway Success
The Secret Ingredients Behind Impossible Burger’s Runaway Success It’s hard to surf any network channels these days without passing through a commercial for an Impossible Burger being served at Burger King or White Castle, depicting a consumer expressing utter disbelief for the undetectable difference between the Impossible burger and real beef. The Impossible Burger, made by Impossible Foods, is taking the meat lover's world by storm. Founded in 2011 by Patrick Brown, Impossible’s audacious mission is to combat the significant environmental costs of consuming meat made from animals while preserving all of the enjoyable experiences and tastes meat offers. So instead of using animals to make meat, they figured out how to make it with plants. Investors are clamoring to get in on Impossible’s meteoric success in advance of an IPO. And most recently, a win with the FDA will enable Impossible to take their product into retail channels.  I spoke with Impossible’s Chief Operating Officer, David Lee, to learn more about the company’s impressive growth and success. Lee says, “Our company is a story with two chapters. From 2011-2015, Pat led the company with amazing integrity, assembling the best minds outside the food space, and establishing a culture that encouraged people to raise their hands and push back. Then, in 2015, we discovered we had a strong, scalable business complete with great R&D and the fundamentals of go-to-market. By no means has our journey been perfect, and we’ve certainly learned along the way. We’ve tripled our workforce in what feels like the blink of an eye.” There are some timeless truths in Impossible’s story. Here are five lessons all entrepreneurs looking to scale their startups can learn from how Impossible has done it. Build a diverse workforce composition from the start.  Says Lee, “Pat began the company with lots of diversity.” At Impossible, 50% of the workforce are women and 41% of senior leaders (VP and above) are women. But we all know diversity is far more than just the complexion of the organization. True diversity should lead to greater cognitive diversity.  This is especially important in the early years of an organization’s maturation, when leaders need access to the best ideas and solutions from their people. One of the delicate balances required for this is balancing the desire for “cultural fit” – which can dangerously lead to everyone thinking alike –with ensuring that you are building a culture that is both cohesive and inclusive. Lee says, “You can’t maintain values if you don’t manage the composition of the company; we’ve certainly had our fair share of cultural missteps, but we have gotten much better over time because we've worked hard at it.” Create an enduring mission and balance it with pragmatism.  In the early days of a company, mission statements often become platitudes that struggle to stay relevant behind the intensity of managing growth. At Impossible, they’ve named that tension, and talk openly about it. Lee says, “Making the world a better place is a mandate for us. It’s not just about creating a great product. But being mission minded also requires a high degree of results orientation. We have outcomes to deliver. There are always struggles in that balance, but focusing on the balance and natural tensions between those has helped.” The Impossible mission declares, “Animal agriculture occupies almost half the land on earth, consumes a quarter of our freshwater and destroys our ecosystems. So we’re doing something about it: we’re making meat using plants, so that we never have to use animals again. That way, we can eat all the meat we want, for as long as we want. And save the best planet in the known universe.” The power of an audacious mission (not a mission “statement,” but a real mission) is its ability to coalesce everyone into a guided coalition aimed at a common future. People are freed up to contribute while being themselves. Lee says, “When you really believe in a mission, you don’t have to prove to yourself or anyone else that you are valuable. When the company’s remit is bigger than any one person’s results, personal growth and change become easier. Our broad mission helps everyone re-frame short term change in a positive way.” Build a culture of radical transparency. Lots of people talk about this, but really doing it is another matter. To create a culture that is not just inclusive or engaging, but where everyone knows that they matter, and why they matter, takes levels of organizational honesty many leaders lack the courage to pursue. Lee says, “We share more with our employees than I’ve ever seen a company do. We talk openly about our mistakes as a leadership team, which beyond creating a sense of safety and learning, creates huge benefit to the process of scientific inquiry and learning. People are aware of when meetings are happening and what’s being talked about. In our all hands meetings and throughout our governance, transparency is deeply embedded. Modelling radical candor and talking about how we can improve is always our goal. And I’m sure there are even ways we can improve our transparency.” MORE FOR YOUBuilding The Executive Meeting Of Your DreamsThe United States Has No Choice But To Rebuild Its InfrastructureChina’s Digital Currency Is About To Disrupt Money Flexibly manage the pace of scaling. By far the hardest aspect of growing any business in the early years is what aspects to scale, how far, and when. The dynamics of the market are changing, demand signals can be misread, and managing investment cash to ensure you hire great talent you won’t quickly outgrow make the journey challenging. Lee says, “When is the right time to hire functional leaders for a company that doesn’t fully have functions yet? How do you know what capabilities you will need for the future?” Most entrepreneurial environments resist the necessary process of standardization, fearing that rigor and discipline will dampen the sense of autonomy and creativity commonly felt in start-up environments. But the opposite is actually true – true standardization liberates creativity because economies of scale free up innovative capacity that can be redeployed to the most competitive activities of the company. Lee reflects, “One of the hardest lessons for me in hindsight was that I could have done a better job with the timing of introducing rigor to business functions to stay more in sync with our real needs. If you do it too early, you get cultural resistance. If you’re too late, you can’t respond to growing demand. At different times, we weren’t as in sync as we could have been. For example, in 2018, we were focused on carefully investing in proven demand that resulted in us being behind in supply to meet explosive growth. We have remedied that now, but it was a key lesson for me.” Know the emotional needs of your target market.  In my experience with entrepreneurs, they often misunderstand the value they are offering to the market – the problem they are really solving, the need they are actually meeting. They see the world from their idea out, and dangerously fall in love with what they believe makes their product or service amazing. But great startups work from the market back, listening to the unmet needs and pains of those they want to serve, and position themselves accordingly. It might seem counter-intuitive, but Impossible’s target market isn't vegetarians or vegans. They want to serve people who love meat and all that it offers. Meat eaters associate the great taste of meat with some of life’s greatest moments – backyard barbecues, major holidays, hot dogs at the ballpark, and important celebrations. Impossible went squarely at the meat lovers to convert them. Says Lee, “We’re not creating a new category of demand. We did a study of over 1000 meat eaters about the taste of beef –it’s an emotional attachment. Meat is a $1.7 trillion dollar market. Every culture creates a way to meet that emotional need for meat. From a marketing point of view, you have to create a connection to that emotional need and if you do, the market will reward you. We identified that consumer behavior and then created our go to market strategy to support it. We didn’t appeal to vegetarians, we appealed to what it is that people want in meat.” Every entrepreneur dreams of creating something of enduring impact – something that truly inspires change in their industry, in society, around the globe. Impossible’s journey offers such ambitious inventors a blueprint by which to shape their journeys. Lee says, “What I’m most proud of is the consumer cause we’ve created. It’s popular, it’s democratic, it encourages self-advocacy, while opening the market and leveling the playing field. We are aiming to be a great force for change – which fits directly with our brand – Impossible. By actually doing the impossible, we didn’t just create a great brand. We started a movement.”
78e9b7730e902a4b8c67816a34959cb6
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronhirson/2016/03/25/startups-when-and-how-to-hire-your-head-of-product/
Startups: When (And How) to Hire Your Head of Product
Startups: When (And How) to Hire Your Head of Product An Internet darling acquired my first company when I was 25. Our band of 14 joined forces with this rocketship only to find that the chief executive and chief technology officer could no longer stand each other. The CEO had an ambitious vision but was typically on the road talking to reporters, raising funds, and enjoying the Internet celebrity of being a dot-com leader. He needed help addressing the company’s product needs. He’d often return to the office to find that the CTO had gone in a direction with which he completely disagreed. He asked me to become his vice president of product, balancing his vision with the CTO’s initiatives. The royal thrones in the Throne Room, Lisboa, Ajuda Palace. Portuguese fabric, second half of the... [+] XVIII’s century. Image Credit: WikiMedia Commons - Wirdung Since then, as a founder and a head of product, I’ve learned that successful heads of product see their role as bridging the gap between the founder’s vision and the company’s products. They facilitate good communication between you, other executives, and engineering. A company’s product or service is a manifestation of its founder’s—your—vision. To come up with something novel and disruptive, you need to lead the effort. At some point, however, the initial product charge gives way to other concerns. Some founders aren’t process-minded or patient enough to see their vision through to a finished, marketable product. Others are better marketers or salespeople than operators. And as your company grows, no matter how good you are at leading product development, other things––talking with reporters, fund-raising, managing a growing team––will start to spread you too thin. This is often when it makes sense to hire a dedicated head of product, someone who can extend your vision while also freeing you up to focus on other tasks. Getting this right is challenging for several reasons, not the least of which is your instinct to maintain control. (More than once, I’ve seen a founder clash with a head of product because the results of the product team didn’t match the details of his vision.) Here are some specific things you can do to ensure a good relationship with your head of product: Travel together. Visit customers with your head of product so that you receive the same customer input and stay on the same page. Directly communicate your vision. Create opportunities to help all of your product managers understand and appreciate your founding vision. Doing this will empower them to make good decisions. On a related note, hire a head of product who encourages you to meet regularly with his team. DocuSign founder Tom Gonser attended a recent off-site with our product managers. The benefit was bidirectional: It helped him understand how the company’s demands and priorities had evolved, and it helped the team better understand his vision and outlook. Make sure that your head of product prioritizes her relationship with the development team. Your head of product and your head of technology should be good friends. If they’re not, you could end up babysitting them as much as providing a vision. Hire a head of product who thrives on a startup’s fast pace. I once worked at a startup where a CTO who had come from a big, established company maintained his old company’s lifestyle. He showed up at 9:30 a.m. and left at 5 p.m., without a sense of urgency. At a startup, people have to be willing to pull all-nighters when critical. They have to be all blood, sweat, and tears at these times, or the company may fail. Make sure your head of product is a good fit. Encourage your head of product to implement an operations-planning process. At DocuSign, product managers craft long-term and short-term strategy plans for the company and for the product, prioritizing and listing their goals for both. They present these plans quarterly to different sections of the company (sales, marketing, engineering, and operations, among others) and invite feedback. Product managers outline these priorities in cloud-based tools that give employees space to add suggestions. Don’t fear “personas.” Customer profiles, or personas, provide a shortcut to discussions and focus all teams on building for and empathizing with the customer. If Uber were to create them, employees might hold discussions around personas such as “Jimmy, a student,” who uses UberPool, or “Janet, the CEO,” who requests Uber SUVs. Personas can sound a little cheesy to a founder who didn’t conceive of a product this way, but they serve as launching points for focused product discussions and give the entire company a common language to discuss various customers’ needs. There’s a saying that a founder is an optimist, an engineer is a pessimist, and a product manager is a realist. A great head of product intuitively knows how to merge the founder’s optimism with the engineer’s pessimism to help the company grow nimbly, without discord among its leaders. Disclosure: I’m an advisor to Founders Circle, where heads of product from #breakawaygrowth companies get together to discuss topics like the one above. Some of this POV was discussed at one of these get togethers.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2019/05/01/why-are-fewer-consumers-switching-banks-because-checking-accounts-have-become-paycheck-motels/?sh=51d931752aa9
Why People Don't Switch Banks Anymore
Why People Don't Switch Banks Anymore OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK According to JD Power's 2019 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, just 4% of consumers switched primary banks in 2018. This was the lowest level of switching ever recorded by the research firm, down from a 2016 high of 8%. According to American Banker: Customers are staying put because banks, particularly large ones, have made banking so convenient that account holders are shrugging off any concerns they may have." I disagree. Deposit Displacement is Diminishing the Importance of Checking Account Checking accounts have become "paycheck motels"--temporary places for people's money to stay before it moves on to bigger and better places. The cause of this is deposit displacement: the displacement, or diversion, of funds from traditional accounts (i.e., checking) to alternative accounts. Examples of deposit displacement include: Health savings accounts. Nearly 25 million Americans have a health savings account (HSA) with more than $44 billion sitting in those accounts. That’s $44 billion that used to go into checking accounts, but now gets diverted—typically in the payroll processing process—before the money even gets to the checking account. Person-to-person (P2P) payments apps. In 2018, Venmo processed $62 billion in P2P payments, with Square Cash doing about $30 billion (according to an estimate by Cornerstone Advisors). Users of these two services leave so much money in those “accounts” that both services are branching out into other types of banking products. Merchant apps. One in four consumers have the Starbucks mobile app on their mobile devices, and a quarter of them frequently load funds onto the app. That adds up to a lot of money--at least $2 billion. Other merchants have gotten the hint. A third of all consumers have the Walmart on their smartphones and a quarter of them load funds frequently. You can see where this is going. Robo-advisor tools. Consulting firm AT Kearney estimates that by 2020, consumers will have more than $2 trillion sitting in robo-advisor accounts--half of which it estimates will come from funds currently sitting in deposit accounts. Savings tools. While banks offer savings accounts, new fintech providers have launched savings services that help people save. Consumers have saved more than $5 billion in 2018 using services like Acorns and Stash--with some of those savings moving to institutions other than the consumers' primary banks. Digital banks. A quarter of Millennials have opened accounts with digital banks like Ally and Marcus. The top reasons why: To get better debit card rewards and better interest rates. The result: Consumers keep more than $125 billion in these digital banks. Let's Not Forget Amazon This list of deposit displacement examples doesn't include the potential Amazon Effect: Roughly 40% of 30-something Millennials and Gen Xers would open a fee-based Amazon checking account bundled with services like cell phone damage protection and ID theft protection for a $5 to $10 monthly fee. Based on consumers' self-reported levels of checking account deposits, banks could lose about $100 billion in the wake of an Amazon checking account launch. What's important to note there is that three-quarters of all consumers who expressed an intention to open an Amazon checking account said they would keep their existing checking accounts open. Consumers Don't Close Out Accounts--They Just Add New Ones Bank switching is on the decline because money movement is so easy, not because large banks have made banking convenient. Banks--particularly the large ones--could try to stem this tide by charging for the transfer of money, but good luck with that. You can imagine the outrage on the part of consumers and a few high-profile politicians that would ensure if that happens. There's no question that the big banks have made banking more convenient. S&P's analysis of 15 advanced mobile banking features found that the megabanks (assets>$1 trillion) provide an average of 13 features. In contrast, banks with $50 billion to $1 trillion in assets offer an average of eight features, and banks in the $10 billion to $50 billion range offer just 5 advanced features. While that does help the big banks attract new customers, the reality is that attrition is low across all banks. Easy money movement has eliminated the need for consumers to close out accounts--and diminished the importance of checking accounts.
3b6dbcf0e9f3a28db66faf309141f711
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/04/10/goldman-sachs-enters-the-point-of-sale-financing-space-with-marcus-pay/?sh=26c0a0ff2d34
Goldman Sachs Enters The Point-Of-Sale Financing Space With Marcus Pay
Goldman Sachs Enters The Point-Of-Sale Financing Space With Marcus Pay The Goldman Sachs banking application is seen on a smartphone screen on November 15, 2017. (Photo by ... [+] Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK CNBC reported that: “Goldman Sachs is taking another step into retail banking with an installment loan product that’s launching with JetBlue. The bank released MarcusPay this week, allowing users to break up big-ticket purchases into monthly payments. Loans ranging from $750 to $10,000 are repaid over 12 or 18 months at a fixed rate of 10.99% to 25.99%, with no fees apart from interest.” Ian Kar, author of the Fintech Today newsletter is quoted as saying “The installment product turns Marcus into a payment method, helps it become more top-of-mind for users, and break into the everyday lives of their customers.” My take: Marcus Pay will hardly help Marcus become “top-of-mind for users” or do anything to “break into consumers’ daily lives.” Point-of-sale or installment loans are used by a very small percentage of consumers for an incredibly tiny percentage of transactions—hardly the kind of product that will helps an issuer become "top of mind" or "break into customers' every day lives." If this announcement had come two months earlier it would’ve been heralded as a great idea. Coming in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, it seems like odd timing. Demand For Point-of-Sale (POS) Financing is (or Was) Growing POS financing certainly isn't new. In 2016, merchants in nine different retail categories saw more than 160 million POS loan applications—only 53% of which were approved, however. According to The Economist: MORE FOR YOUThe Coming Bank-Bitcoin Boom: Americans Want Cryptocurrency From Their BanksEmbedded Fintech Versus Embedded Finance: Jumpstarting New Product Innovation In BanksPlanetary Emergency, Central Banks And Financial Institutions (2/2) “Driven, in part, by younger consumers, point-of-sale loans are becoming increasingly popular in America. Consumers who might previously have financed purchases such as furniture, electronics or home-improvement projects with a credit card are now opting to borrow at the checkout." A recent study from Cornerstone Advisors confirms this. Roughly 6% of Millennials currently have one or more POS loans—double the percentage of Gen Xers, and quadruple the percentage of Baby Boomers with that type of loan. In addition, at the time of study (February 2020), nearly 8% of 30-something Millennials anticipated applying for a POS loan sometime in 2020. Q1 2020 survey of 2,587 US consumers Source: Cornerstone Advisors Filene Research Institute estimated the annual size of the POS financing market at $391 billion—approximately 3.5% of annual consumer spending—with healthcare, electronics, and home goods as the leading categories. An Odd Time to Launch a Point-of-Sale Financing Product Two months ago, the prospects for POS financing looked promising. Unemployment was low, wages were up, consumer confidence was high. Today is a very different story. So why launch now? Purely speculation on my part, but my guess is that JetBlue—whose revenues have been hammered over the past few weeks—is testing the market to see if consumers are willing to finance fall and winter vacations. For the longer-term, there are a few things that will determine the success of Marcus Pay: 1) How will consumer behaviors and attitudes change coming out of the crisis? After the financial crisis of 2008, there were pundits proclaiming the death of credit cards. That didn’t happen, and even before the economy turned around, demand for credit cards and spending on credit cards increased. The COVID-19 crisis is a different kind of shock to the system. As we sit here—in the middle of the crisis—it’s nearly impossible to determine what the long-term impact on consumer spending and demand for POS loans is going to be. The good news for Marcus Pay is that we into the current with growing demand. 2) How will Marcus Pay grow its merchant presence? No doubt, Goldman Sachs has the resources to build out a merchant network. But the competition in this space—particularly for large-ticket items—is intense. Affirm created a niche will smaller-ticket item merchants. But Marcus Pay is already advertising loans in the $750 to $10,000 range. 3) Can Marcus Pay capitalize on Goldman Sachs’ relationship with Apple? One trick Marcus Pay may have up its sleeve is its relationship with Apple and the Apple Card. Most Apple Card customers are young—70% are Millennials (nearly evenly split between Younger Millennials in their 20s and Older Millennials in their 30s). One-third has annual household income below $50k, and another third of cardholders have less than $100k in income. Many Apple Card cardholders may have low spending limits that would require them to find financing for purchases that exceed their limit.
5c11c7478df7d4c6165a85f5f61719cd
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/07/06/bankings-delusions-of-digital-transformation/?sh=f5738d64e124
Banking’s Delusions Of Digital Transformation
Banking’s Delusions Of Digital Transformation Businessman touching icon online banking Getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK The banking world appears convinced that the Coronavirus crisis has helped accelerate the digital transformation of banking: A press release from Boston Consulting Group titled COVID-19 Set to Radically Accelerate Digital Transformation in the Retail Banking Industry offers up the proof point that, post-crisis, 25% of consumers plan to make less use of bank branches or stop using them altogether. According to The Financial Brand, “the new normal of banking is quickly moving from branch-heavy, product-centric organizations with legacy technologies and cultures to consumer-centric organizations with more personalized solutions that can be delivered seamlessly.” RTInsights writes: “Led by employees working remotely and customers increasingly doing their banking online, digital transformation is accelerating in the banking sector as a result of COVID-19.” What Is Digital Transformation, Anyway? These perspectives are flat-out wrong and/or miss the point of what digital transformation is. For starters, the relatively small minority of consumers—25%—who plan to make less (or no) use of branches going forward is a pretty weak argument for transformation. Who says that they won’t start using the phone to make voice calls to call centers more often? Second, banks are not “moving quickly” to providing “personalized solutions that can be delivered seamlessly.” That simply doesn’t happen in a three-month time frame, and especially during one when financial institutions are scrambling to adapt to a crisis. The examples cited above fail to meet the definition of digital transformation—at least as defined by bank executives themselves. In a 2019 study conducted by Cornerstone Advisors, execs were asked which of three possible definitions of digital transformation resonated the most with them. The definition capturing nearly 80% of the vote was: “Integration of digital technologies into all areas, fundamentally changing how to operate and deliver value, and a culture change that continually challenges the status quo and gets comfortable with failure.” MORE FROMFORBES ADVISORBest Fintech Alternatives To Traditional BankingByDonna FuscaldocontributorCovid-19 Highlights Digital Divide And Its Impact On BankingByStephanie Waldencontributor Definition of digital transformation Source: Cornerstone Advisors Bottom line: Reductions in branch usage, incremental adoption of digital banking tools, and bank employees working from home didn’t come anywhere close to qualifying as evidence of digital transformation. Four Requirements For Digital Transformation in Banking For digital transformation to occur—or even accelerate—in banking, four things need to happen: 1) Complete overhaul of legacy technology. In an industry with a poorly-established technology infrastructure, transformation can be accomplished relatively rapidly. But the banking industry has a long history of technology infrastructure, starting first with mainframe-based systems supporting back-office functions and then online systems that have enabled customer access. In the Cornerstone study, nearly 70% of respondents said that their institution’s current technology infrastructure was a barrier to digital transformation. The other 30% must have misunderstood the question. While there are some innovative approaches in the market to help integrate with and build on top of existing core systems, banking’s digital transformation won’t happen (or even accelerate) until a larger percentage of institutions have replaced legacy core systems with cloud-based solutions. 2) Maturation of AI. Is there anyone who thinks artificial intelligence (AI) won’t have a big impact on banking? I doubt it. But the reality is that AI—in a banking context—is not very mature. AI in fraud and risk management has made significant gains—but keep in mind that AI has been used in systems supporting those functions for decades. AI for marketing and customer support is far less mature. How can banking “accelerate” digital transformation when a key transformational technology isn’t very good? Bank of America announced that Erica, its AI customer support tool, added 1 million users per month from March through May to reach a total user count of 14 million. I’m one of those users. I’ve tried using it three times. “Tried” being the operative word. It didn’t correctly understand my question two of the three times and gave me a nonsensical answer the third. Digital transformation my foot. The banking industry will achieve digital transformation when AI is embedded and integrated into the range of applications and systems that support both back-office and customer-facing functions. We’re not anywhere near that today, and we’re not even “accelerating” towards it. 3) A new generation of senior execs. Dear Executives: I have seen the problem, and it is you. Among the execs surveyed by Cornerstone, 85% said “corporate culture” was a barrier to transformation. Digital transformation barriers Source: Cornerstone Advisors The problem isn’t the underlings who “just don’t get the need for change.” The problem is that, with 30 to 40 years of industry experience, many of the current set of leaders have developed deeply ingrained beliefs about how the industry works. While there is a growing number who recognize the need for their own beliefs to evolve, this is a lot easier said than done. Back in the 1980s, many organizations were slow to adopt personal computing. The real uptick in usage didn’t happen until Baby Boomers took over the C-suite. Digital transformation in banking isn’t going to happen until the Gen Xers and Millennials dominate the executive committee. 4) More shocks to the system. If we see a V-shaped recovery following the Coronavirus crisis, kiss the notion of any acceleration of digital transformation in banking goodbye. Good times foster complacency in most organizations. A speedy economic recovery will make most banks more than happy to take their feet off the digital transformation gas pedal. While pandemics are an extreme example of a shock to the system, the banking industry will need more shocks—like economic downturns, new technology innovations, regulatory changes—to keep the digital transformation engine going. The Path to Digital Transformation In reality, the path to digital transformation isn’t—and won’t be—a straight line. We’ll see periods of faster transformation followed by slower periods as institutions reach and adapt to changes. The pundits who think it will be a fast process are fooling nobody but themselves.
27975226e89bc7d2aa216535097c0ecf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/08/17/cloud-computing-raises-new-cybersecurity-concerns-for-banking/?sh=6d647ec624ae
Banks’ False Sense Of Cybersecurity Will Be Shattered By Cloud Computing
Banks’ False Sense Of Cybersecurity Will Be Shattered By Cloud Computing (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK On Aug. 5, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) handed down a cease and desist order to Capital One for its “failure to establish effective risk assessment and management processes before migrating its information technology operations to a cloud operating environment.” While we hear about data breaches on a nearly weekly basis, the Capital One incident is noteworthy because it involved the bank’s migration to cloud computing—something that many banks are either in the process of doing, or will be doing in the near future. Capital One’s Cybersecurity Headaches The $80 million fine Capital One must pay to the US Treasury is pocket change for the bank. The compliance actions the bank will be required to take will likely prove to be the bigger headache. The OCC’s consent order requires Capital One to: Appoint an independent (non-employee, non-officer) compliance committee. Develop a plan detailing the remedial actions necessary to achieve compliance with the order. Improve oversight of the bank’s cloud operating environment information security program. Improve risk assessment for the bank’s cloud and legacy technology operating environments. Improve the bank’s cloud operations risk management by implementing corrective actions required as a result of the 2019 OCC examination. Improve independent risk management of the cloud operating environment. Improve internal controls testing in the cloud environment. Enhance the bank’s internal audit program, including reassessing the cyber and technology risk assessment methodology and scoring system that ranks and evaluates business and control risks. A False Sense of Cybersecurity It’s hard to believe, but bank executives’ concerns regarding cybersecurity are declining (that isn’t a typo). According to Cornerstone Advisors’ What’s Going On in Banking studies, nearly half of bank executives put cybersecurity on their list of top three concerns for 2018. That percentage declined to 36% in 2019 and dropped even further to 21% in 2020. MORE FOR YOUCoinbase’s Public Stock Listing Creates A Multibillion Dollar Windfall For Founders—Now It Faces Five Big ThreatsHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireChinese DTC Brands Going Global: Interview With Justin Moon, Vice President Of POP MART Financial Institutions Citing Cybersecurity as a Top Three Concern Source: Cornerstone Advisors What’s going on here? Operational integration is lulling banks into a false sense of (cyber) security. Cybersecurity policy is becoming business as usual for banks. As a result, bank execs are more confident today than they were three years ago that cybersecurity policies are well-designed and being well-executed. It’s a false sense of security, however, because banks have yet to feel the cybersecurity impact of cloud computing. The Growth of Cloud Computing in Banking Three data points highlight the growth of cloud computing in banking: Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that 40% to 90% of banks‘ workloads will be hosted on public cloud in a decade. According to Accenture, the percentage of banks’ IT budgets dedicated to cloud services will jump has increased by a third from 9% to 12% between 2018 and 2020. Bloomberg reports that 22% of fintech applications run in the cloud, and that figure is expected to grow to over 80% by 2025. This impacts traditional banks as many look to partner with fintech startups. The Impact of the Cloud on Cybersecurity As cloud computing within banking grows, the prevalence of cyber breaches for cloud services is growing significantly as well. According to a Verizon study: “Cloud assets were involved in about 24% of breaches this year. Cloud breaches involved an email or web application server 73% of the time, and 77% involved breached credentials.” A new report from Cornerstone Advisors, commissioned by DefenseStorm, Cloud on the Horizon, identifies emerging cloud-related cybersecurity challenges facing banks including: 1) Over-reliance on providers. There is an over-reliance on providers to complete cybersecurity checklists from banks during due diligence. “It would be pretty easy for them to dupe us,” said one Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) interviewed for the report. There is also over-reliance on just a few providers. Richard Harmon, Managing Director at Cloudera, calls this cloud concentration risk and writes, “the consolidation of multiple organizations within one cloud service provider (CSP) presents a more attractive target for cybercriminals.” 2) Reporting problems. Bank CISOs have discovered incorrect completion of due diligence cybersecurity requests for third party risk management from the providers. Transparency has become an issue, as well. CISOs stated a lack of willingness to show any of the provider’s security policies or audits. One CISO mentioned that when his bank asked a provider for a SOC-2, the vendor produced Amazon Web Services’ SOC 2. When the CISO questioned the vendor as to whether it had its own SOC 2, the provider was unaware it even needed to do its own. 3) Technical limitations. Many cloud vendors have cybersecurity limitations. For example, they cannot IP-restrict or require multi-factor authentication for third parties. Configuration is a challenge, as well. It’s not just the vendors’ fault. According to Bill Glasby, Chief Technology Officer of Heritage Bank, “one issue around cloud security is operators' inability to configure the tools. The problem is that it’s all home-brew today.” Overcoming the Cloud Challenges Banks’ migration to the cloud will necessitate changes to how they govern IT from three perspectives: 1) Contractual. Migrating to the cloud requires switching from traditional security testing to a contractual-based model for security testing. Banks can’t move to the cloud without caring about and dealing with the contractual clauses with their service providers. In particular, banks should negotiate the reversibility clause with their cloud providers. One problem, however, according to a CIO interviewed by Cornerstone, is that “many cloud providers don’t even know what should be written in a reversibility clause.” 2) Organizational. Business departments and lines of business end-running IT and buying cloud solutions directly from cloud providers will become more prevalent with a migration to the cloud. IT will have to reinforce its IT governance policies and procedures in order to minimize the risks caused by the solutions implemented by the different business departments. 3) Strategic. Business departments want flexibility and innovation. However, migrating to cloud services typically involves a shift from highly customized to mostly-standardized services. This can cause friction between IT and the business—friction that must be resolved with strategic clarity and direction. To handle the coming wave of cloud-related cybersecurity issues, Cornerstone and DefenseStorm recommend that banks: Establish a cybersecurity committee. The committee should meet at least quarterly to discuss new products, services and service providers. CISOs should identify the controls the committee should monitor and the metrics that will be leveraged to monitor those controls. Develop a realistic cybersecurity review policy. One CISO we interviewed said he knew that the 200+ item vendor cybersecurity questionnaire he received from a larger institution would be rejected by his team as too draconian and overbearing. Make policy checklists that are simple to follow and easy to execute. Monitor the entire network infrastructure, including on-premise and cloud-based systems. Even the largest banks find it daunting to monitor both their on-premise systems and their cloud-based providers. For many smaller and mid-sized institutions, partnering with a trusted cybersecurity firm can add the talent and expertise required to sufficiently monitor network assets. For a complimentary copy of the Cloud On The Horizon report click here.
e3bc0820b90cebac0a0e81b404746023
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/10/05/new-research-finds-banks-customer-engagement-is-at-an-all-time-low/?sh=799bfaabbd45
How Banks Can Grow Like Bank Of America, Chase, And Wells Fargo: The Reacquisition Imperative
How Banks Can Grow Like Bank Of America, Chase, And Wells Fargo: The Reacquisition Imperative Digital customer engagement getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK “Customer engagement” is a funny term. Ask 10 bank executives what it means, and you’ll likely get 10 different answers. Unless they’re honest, in which case you’ll hear: “I have no idea.” Years ago, I proposed the following definition: “Customer engagement is a series of interactions that strengthens a customer’s emotional connection to a product or company.” Although the Covid crisis has driven up the rate of mobile banking adoption, the question remains: Is that helping drive consumers’ emotional connection—and relationship growth—with their banks? The answer is no. The Customer Engagement Crisis in Banking A new study from Cornerstone Advisors quantified customer engagement based on how often consumers use their bank’s: 1) debit card; 2) P2P payments capability; 3) savings and investments offerings; and 4) personal financial management tools. The theory behind the definition was that the activities selected represented emotional connections to a bank, where as simply checking one’s account balance or transferring funds between accounts on a mobile device doesn’t. MORE FOR YOUCoinbase’s Public Stock Listing Creates A Multibillion Dollar Windfall For Founders—Now It Faces Five Big ThreatsHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireChinese DTC Brands Going Global: Interview With Justin Moon, Vice President Of POP MART The result was four consumer segments: 1) the Highly Engaged; 2) the Moderately Engaged; 3) the Barely Engaged; and 4) the Disengaged. The bad news for banks: Just 7% of consumers are highly engaged with their primary bank, and more than one in five consumers are completely disengaged from it. Bank Customer Engagement Source: Cornerstone Advisors The Importance of Customer Engagement Why is this so important? Product ownership by engagement segment tells the story. More than four in 10 Highly Engaged consumers have six or more products with their bank. Among Disengaged consumers, that percentage is just 3%. Number of bank products owned by engagement segment Source: Cornerstone Advisors Bottom line: Two-thirds of bank customers hardly qualify as customers. Customer Engagement and the Megabanks There are significant differences between types of financial institutions, however. Among the megabanks’ (Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo) customers, nearly half are moderately or highly engaged. At regional banks and credit unions, however, that percentage drops to one-third, and among community bank customers, it’s one in four. Not surprisingly, then, 28% of the megabanks’ customers have six or more products—four times the percentage of credit unions’ members with that many products, and nine times the percentage of community banks’ customers. Relationship breadth by type of primary FI Source: Cornerstone Advisors The Reacquisition Imperative Over the past three years, the megabanks’ share of new checking account applications increased from 36% to 51%. Digital banks tripled their share over that period of time. Regional banks, credit unions, and community banks, however, have seen their collective share of new applications drop by half from 51% to 25%. Share of account applications by type of bank Source: Cornerstone Advisors Reality: Regional banks, credit unions, and community banks are losing share of new account applications and their existing customer base isn’t engaged, making growth difficult. These financial institutions can’t rely on just attracting a new batch of highly engaged consumers—they must reacquire their existing customers by increasing engagement to jump-start relationship growth. The Reacquisition Game Plan What do banks and credit unions need to do to reacquire customers and members? First: Stop deceiving themselves into thinking that just providing better digital account opening tools is going to fix the problem. Next: Deploy a multi-pronged strategy that involves: 1) Reinventing the checking account. How much longer can regional banks, community banks, and credit unions go on believing their checking account offering are competitive just because they’re “free” (which they’re not)? Nearly half of consumers with a free checking account expressed interest in having services like cell phone protection, identity theft protection, and price match guarantees bundled into their checking account—and paying a monthly fee for that checking account. Consumer interest in a bundled checking account Source: Cornerstone Advisors 2) Offering new products and services for Baby Boomers. Community-based financial institutions think they’re at a disadvantage in the market because they have so many Baby Boomers as customers and members. They’re wrong. Baby Boomers are the new emerging segment of banking consumers. In a few short years, these consumers will have needs for digital banking services that: 1) Guard against unethical and fraudulent behavior; 2) Provide permissioned account access to family and trusted advisors; 3) Link to and integrate with estate planning wishes (that haven’t typically been digitized); and 4) Improve the management of healthcare costs. The oldest boomers are just in their mid-70s. The challenges listed here are more prevalent among consumers in the late 70s and early 80s, however. This means there is a window for new product and service development. With the youngest boomers in their late-50s, it also means that the life cycle for these new products and services could run for the next 30 years. 3) Pursuing fintech partnerships. Regional banks and community-based financial institutions don’t have to do #1 and #2 by themselves (which is good news because they couldn’t even if they wanted to). There are plenty of fintech startups out there to help: StrategyCorps can help with the checking account reinvention by providing bundled checking account services. Billshark provides white-labeled bill cancellation and negotiation services. Atticus provides a technology-based service to simplify probate and estate settlement for Baby Boomers (and their children). Customer Engagement Versus Customer Acquisition There’s an old adage in marketing circles that it costs seven times more to acquire a new customer to retain an existing one. It’s nonsense. The truth is that the costs of acquisition and retention: Vary by industry, by product, and company strategy. The automotive industry probably has a fifty or hundred to one acquisition to retention ratio. Car dealers, as far as I can tell, don’t spend a dime on customer retention. Ebb and flow with economic cycles. In good economic times, consumers have more disposable money making it easier for marketers to acquire new customers than when times are tight and consumers cut back on discretionary spending. Are incalculable. Bank marketers have no idea how much it costs them to retain customers. How many allocate all customer service and digital banking costs to their retention calculations? If banks don’t continually improve their transaction and interaction service capabilities, their ability to retain customers diminishes. This cold hard reality about customer retention is bad news for banks. With low customer engagement, banks have to do more than just retain customers—they have to reacquire them. For a copy of the report The Reacquisition Imperative: Why Financial Institutions Must Reacquire Customers Through Digital Engagement, click here and register for the upcoming webinar on October 14.
de7e5b7f3f19f708aac4f552bd78939b
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/11/22/the-24-billion-buy-now-pay-later-battle/?sh=7eca288f2f53
PayPal Is Winning The $24 Billion Buy Now, Pay Later Battle—For Now
PayPal Is Winning The $24 Billion Buy Now, Pay Later Battle—For Now Affirm CEO Max Levchin (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times) getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) purchases are hot. In an article titled 'Buy now, pay later' plans are exploding — but are they risky?, Yahoo! reported: “Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are gaining traction, as Americans are still feeling the financial pinch from the pandemic.” What Explosion? A survey of 3,016 US consumers conducted by Cornerstone Advisors doesn’t support the “exploding” claim, however. According to the Cornerstone study (based on a representative sample of the US adult population in terms of age, gender, and race), just 7% of Americans made a BNPL purchase through the first nine months of 2020—the same percentage that used the service in 2019. Although 7% of consumers seems like a small number, users make an average of 3.5 purchases using a BNPL program each year. That works out to about 50 million BNPL purchases in each of the past two years. Cornerstone estimates that Americans made $20 billion worth of purchases using BNPL programs in 2019—in line with an estimate from consulting firm Oliver Wyman—and will spend $24 billion on products and services using a BNPL service in 2020. MORE FOR YOUThe Coming Bank-Bitcoin Boom: Americans Want Cryptocurrency From Their BanksHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireEmbedded Fintech Versus Embedded Finance: Jumpstarting New Product Innovation In Banks This increase has been driven primarily by the higher average purchase amount for BNPL purchases from $400 in 2019 to roughly $480 in 2020. Who Buys Now and Pays Later? Consumer advocates and other critics believe Buy Now Pay Later programs encourage consumers to take on debt they might not be able to afford. NerdWallet warns: “There is a risk that buy now pay later schemes may attract people who are already in financial difficulties and may be struggling to make their existing bills and payments.” That risk may be unwarranted. Cornerstone’s research found that 80% of BNPL users say they always pay their bills in full and on-time and make their loan payments most or all of the time. Who’s making BNPL purchases? High-income consumers. Seven in 10 BNPL users earn more than $75,000 a year. They’re highly educated as well—three-quarters have a Bachelors degree or higher. Credit cardholders. The notion that consumers are using BNPL programs because they can’t get (or don’t have) a credit card is nonsense: 97% of them have at least one credit card. This means that BNPL users have other mechanisms to get themselves into debt. Millennials. Among all Millennials (26 to 40 years old), 18% made at least one BNPL purchase over the past two years, in contrast to 9% of Gen Xers (41-55), 6% of Gen Zers, and 1% of Boomers and Seniors. Overall, Millennials account for half of all consumers who have used the service in the past two years. Danger, Will Robinson A couple of warning signs, however, support the critics’ claims. 1) Over the past two years, 43% of BNPL users have been late with a payment. But two-thirds of them said it was because they lost track of when the bill was due. Just a third blame it on not having the money to pay the bill. 2) More than half of BNPL users have seen their credit card limits decreased in the past year. This may be forcing some of them to use BNPL programs. Why Do Consumers Buy Now and Pay Later? An article on Merchant Maverick from August 2020 states: “One potential reason for the acceptance for BNPL is because young people just don’t have credit cards—only 33% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 are toting plastic.” This data point is echoed by Adam Ezra, CEO of Quadpay, in a fool.com article. Folks, that data point comes from a 2016 study by Bankrate.com. Although there are many people who would like to pretend that the past four years never happened, a lot has changed since then: Today, two-thirds of Millennials have a credit card, as do 57% of Gen Zers between the age of 21 and 25. So the reason for the popularity of BNPL isn’t the lack of credit cards. The three most-frequently cited reasons for using BNPL according to a study from The Ascent is to: 1) Avoid paying credit card interest; 2) Make purchases that otherwise wouldn't fit in my budget; and 3) Borrow money without a credit check. Talk about self-deception. Two of the most popular BNPL providers—PayPal and Affirm—charge interest rates that are certainly as high as any credit card. And most—if not all—BNPL providers run a credit check on a BNPL purchase. BNPL providers Source: Fool.com So what’s the real reason driving a small percentage of consumers to run up so many BNPL purchases? For some, it’s certainly a case of hitting the credit limit on their credit cards. But that doesn’t apply to all BNPL users, and ignores another important fact: Four in 10 BNPL users said they used the service to purchase products costing less than $100. Frequent users use BNPL for psychological money management and budgeting reasons. They have every intention to pay off the purchases on time, but want to cap their monthly expenditures. The fact that “losing track of the payment” was the most frequent reason for late payments suggests that many BNPL users are in over their heads from an inability to manage their money efficiently—not from an inability to pay—perspective. Buy Now, Pay Later Winners and Losers The provider landscape battling it out for the $24 billion in BNPL-related purchase volume in the US is crowded. In terms of US users, PayPal Credit has far more users than its competitors—but, but by virtue of its 2008 acquisition of Bill Me Later, has been in the game (US-wise) far longer than anyone else. Number of Buy Now, Pay Later users in the US Source: Company reports, Cornerstone Advisors estimates Who will emerge as the winners in BNPL? Too early to make a call, but a couple of thoughts here: 1) It’s not a winner-take-all game. No one BNPL provider will emerge as having a monopolistic market share. Consumers’ choice of BNPL provider is dictated by which provider the merchant they’re buying from chooses to work with. 2) BNPL providers will need to sharpen their sales attribution stories. BNPL providers like to claim that they help merchants make sales that wouldn’t have been made otherwise. Sound familiar? Credit card providers made the same claims when credit cards were launched. It’s hard to believe that—with 97% of BNPL users holding a credit card—that a BNPL offer is the real factor driving the sale of a product. Consumers want what they want—and often find a way to get it. They don’t see a BNPL offer and say, “hmm...maybe I’ll buy that product because I don’t have to pay for it all upfront.” 3) BNPL providers will specialize. As a result of the need to prove their attribution claims, we’ll see specialization by product category on the part of BNPL providers. That is, two or three will get real good at pricing and selling BNPL offers for electronic products, another set of providers will focus on clothing and fashion. Who are the Losers in BNPL? That one’s easy: The banks and payment networks. Merchants have two things in common: 1) They’ll do anything to make a sale, and 2) They hate (with a passion) interchange. BNPL providers—accurate or not—claim to help increase sales. That may be get disproved over time, but it still leaves #2. If merchants can reduce interchange fees by driving purchases from debit and credit cards to other forms of payments, they’ll do everything they can to make that happen. As a result, over time, BNPL providers will have amassed a lot of data about the segment of consumers who use BNPL services. They will become better partners to merchants than the banks and payment networks are. The end result: More reduction in interchange fees for banks and payment networks.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/12/07/top-5-banking-and-fintech-trends-for-2021/
Top 5 Banking And Fintech Trends For 2021
Top 5 Banking And Fintech Trends For 2021 Online business and making money online by smart phone getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK 2021: The Year of Value Chain Disruption I’ve never been a big fan of “Year of the [fill-in-the-blank]” proclamations. Google the term “year of the customer” and you’ll find that every year for the past 15 years has been heralded as the year of the customer. Hey, one year it might just really happen. And past claims of “disruption” in financial services have centered on changes at the customer interaction level—i.e., digital account applications, user interfaces, etc. That didn’t really result in much true disruption because there is a whole value chain of activities that occur leading up to the point of customer interaction—and little of that has changed to date. Changes (or disruptions) to the value chain have certainly been in the works for a while now, but 2021 is going to shine a much brighter spotlight on those activities—making 2021 the year of value chain disruption in banking and fintech. Top 5 Banking and Fintech Trends for 2021 Source: Ron Shevlin MORE FOR YOUCoinbase’s IPO Creates A Multibillion Dollar Windfall For Founders—Now It Faces Five Big ThreatsHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireWill Banks Finally Buy Into Bitcoin? Click here for the list of the Hottest Technologies in Banking for 2021 #1: The Battle For Small Business Moves Up (and Down) the Value Chain 2020 saw three important developments in the battle for small business relationships: 1) PPP loans. The Paycheck Protection Program was important because it enabled many mid-size and small banks and credit unions to lend to small businesses overlooked or turned away by the bigger banks where those small businesses hold their deposit accounts. 2) Goldman Sachs/Amazon partnership. Amazon finally cracked open the door to third parties to directly lend to the platform’s merchants. It’s an important move because Amazon issued $1 billion in merchant cash advances to its merchants a couple of years ago. 3) Stripe’s announcement of Stripe Treasury. According to Stripe’s press release: “Stripe Treasury will enable platforms like Shopify to offer merchants access to financial products. Platforms can offer users interest-earning accounts eligible for FDIC insurance and enable customers to have near-instant access to revenue earned through Stripe, and then: 1) spend it directly from their balance with a dedicated card, 2) transfer it via ACH or wire transfer, or 3) pay bills.” Development #1 was important for many mid-sized financial institutions because it gave them direct access to a new set of potential customers. But to the extent that the small businesses involved are Amazon merchants or Stripe customers, that direct connection is meaningless. Amazon’s and Stripe’s ability to embed banking services (deposit accounts and loans) into their existing services gives those firms (and their partners) a major advantage because they have ongoing access to data about those merchants and a near-zero cost of acquisition for those products. Game over? Not quite. From a small business value chain perspective, Amazon, Stripe, and even Square SQ are involved at the point of sale or payment activity—which are at the middle of the value chain. Activities at the beginning of the value chain—production, inventory management, payroll, etc.—and after payments in the value chain like invoicing, accounts receivable, etc., are often invisible to Amazon, Stripe, and Square. In addition, according to a study of small businesses by Cornerstone Advisors, small businesses accept, on average, 11 forms of payment—most of which are not supplied by Stripe or Square. According to Cornerstone’s study, small businesses spend more than $500 billion on accounting/bookkeeping, invoicing, bill payment and payment acceptance services from third-party providers. Small Business Spending on Accounting and Payments Services Source: Cornerstone Advisors survey of 1,265 small business owners and executives, Q1 2020 Many of these small businesses would consider obtaining accounting and payments services from a bank—as would many that don’t currently use third-party services and, instead, incur internal expenses for their accounting and payments functions. To compete with Amazon, Stripe, and Square, financial institutions must be embedded into small businesses’ value chains. Two fintech firms provide ways to do that: 1) Autobooks provides a turnkey service for financial institutions to white-label small accounting, invoicing, bill payment, and payment acceptance systems for small businesses. 2) Nav partners with retail POS (e.g., Fiserv’s Clover) and accounting systems that enable its partners to identify lending opportunities and access data about small businesses to make lending decisions. #2 Payroll Fintech (Finally) Gets Some Attention To date, the battle for consumers’ money has centered on payments—either in the form of the spending account (e.g., challenger banks) or the payment itself (e.g., P2P, mobile payments). This battle, too, is going to move up the value chain to the point of payroll. WhiteSight defines four categories in the payroll fintech space: 1) Salary On-demand. Fintechs in this category partner with corporations, HR software providers, and payroll systems to enable flexible access to earned wages. 2) Salary Advance. Fintechs in this category provide short-term credit to employees based on their salary and avoid the exorbitant rates charged by payday lenders. 3) Early Direct Deposit. This feature, largely provided by challenger banks, enables account holders to receive paychecks up to two days in advance from standard payday. 4) Crypto Payroll. This is the newest category which enables firms to make wage payments through multiple crypto-currencies. Payroll Fintechs Source: WhiteSight Personally, I don’t think early direct deposit counts as “payroll tech” because the service is really a risk management decision—not a technology offering. Advocates of payroll fintech often talk about these services from a financial wellness perspective, but, analogous to the small business battle, payroll fintech is really a battle to move up the deposits and payments value chain. Payroll fintech firms offer the banks and fintechs an ability to redirect paychecks away from incumbents’ checking accounts (i.e., deposit displacement) and provide payment and lending services. Large payroll providers like ADP have been struggling for years to broaden their relationships with the consumers who receive paychecks from them. I’m surprised that the Big Tech firms haven’t acquired one of the payroll providers yet. Expect payroll fintech to get more attention in 2021—although a lot of the discussion will be couched in wellness terms. Don’t let that fool you. As Anish Acharya, Seema Amble, and Rex Salisbury write in a blog post titled The Promise of Payroll APIs, the promises include: 1) Income and employment verification; 2) Direct deposit switching; 3) Payroll-attached lending; and 4) B2B HR and payroll access. Payroll is the new battleground in 2021. #3 Financial Health Gets Political Speaking of wellness, “year of financial health” is to banking what “year of the customer” is to marketing. Each year, financial health advocates exhort the industry to focus on consumers’ financial health, relying, however, on nonsense like “half of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense.” Financial health is going to take center stage in 2021 for a few reasons that have nothing to do with what the advocates talk about: Banks (and credit unions) will up their virtue signaling to unbearable decibel levels. Fintechs have been telling us (inaccurately, in many cases) about how much they’re concerned about consumers’ financial health. Incumbents have paid lip service to it, but with a new administration occupying the White House (probably), demonstrating their social conscience and contribution—to more than just low income consumers—will be a top priority for incumbents. Financial health scores are emerging. The topic of financial health is often dominated by discussions of financial literacy—which is virtually useless (not enough room here to explain why). Quantifying financial health has been a challenge because self-reported measures are unreliable. But some companies—like Financial Health Network and MX—have developed robust financial health scores that rely on actual account data. Financial health will be regulated. Look for the new administration to require banks to monitor and improve their customers' level of financial health. What could this look like? Todd Baker and Corey Stone recently proposed some ideas. The first of their three-stage proposal would require providers to “make available to regulators data that regulators can use to analyze and measure changes in customer financial health.” The combination of these three factors will spur innovation in the fintech community to build financial health platforms. #4 Fintech-as-a-Service Platforms Emerge And speaking of platforms... There’s a supply and demand imbalance in the market today. Lots of fintechs want to partner with banks—but few banks are equipped to partner with the fintechs. Enter fintech-as-a-service platforms. Fintech-as-a-service isn’t a new term, but when I’ve seen it used, it’s usually by a fintech talking about how they can use an API to integrate their service into incumbents or other fintechs. But that’s not a fintech-as-a-service platform. Banking-as-a-service has become a popular term (and service) and refers to enabling a company—usually a platform—to embed banking services into their offerings. But what about the hundreds of mid-sized banks and credit unions who want to partner with fintechs? The path is difficult—resources to develop partnerships are limited, integrating into the core is a massive job, and developing other approaches from scrap is time-consuming. Companies like Moov, Unit, and Synctera will enable banks to provide a range of services—e.g., ACH processing, transaction processing—to fintechs in a more modular way. The result: Banks will find it easier and—more importantly—faster to partner with fintechs. #5 Banks Step Up Fintech-Powered Core Workarounds And speaking of the hassles of core integration... A lot of bank and credit union CEOs think the biggest barrier to innovation is their core system. Hardly any, however, are planning to replace their core—too painful, slow, and expensive. Finding core systems workarounds isn’t new. According to Cornerstone Advisors partner Quintin Sykes: “There are banks and credit unions comfortable with integration with best-of-breed solutions that pursue this strategy. I call it ‘turning the core into a glorified adding machine.’ It’s a viable approach for institutions good at—and comfortable with— integration and managing a lot of vendors.” What about those that aren’t? While a number of fintechs have emerged over the past few years to help financial institutions execute on this strategy, expect 2021 to see strong demand for three types of fintech providers in particular: Core integration providers. Companies like Constellation, Sherpa Technologies, and Sandbox Banking have been offering core integration platforms for the past few years enabling banks and credit unions to better integrate with—but potentially migrate away from—their core systems. Payment hubs. Fintechs like Payrailz and Finzly (which recently won two best-of-show awards at Finovate) not only enable financial institutions to intelligently route payments to the optimal payment mechanism, but allow them to offload transactions from core processing. Digital cores. Companies like Finxact, Q2, and NYMBUS have been helping financial institutions deploy digital banks. For some of these institutions, these are weak attempts to recreate the success of some of the challenger banks. The smart ones, however, recognize that the digital cores are good ways to create and deploy new products and services that would take years if they tried to do it with their existing core system. Core workarounds may not be new, but in some respects, they are—like the first two trends—disruption of the value chain. In this case, banks’ and credit unions’ technology value chains. Overall, however, this is going to be the banking and fintech story for 2021: The disruption of the value chain. Click here for the list of the Hottest Technologies in Banking for 2021
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2020/12/20/how-to-earn-bitcoin-rewards-on-your-stimulus-check/?sh=5dd30e7874f1
How To Earn Bitcoin Rewards On Your Stimulus Check
How To Earn Bitcoin Rewards On Your Stimulus Check (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Stimulus checks from the US government provide Americans with much-needed funds to spend on a variety of things. If another round of checks is coming, here’s an idea on what to do with your check. A small New York bank has launched a new checking account that can help that stimulus check go even further: Deposit the check into the account, and it will pay you a 1.5% reward for what you spend on the account’s debit card—in Bitcoin. If Bitcoin continues to rise—it’s price has doubled since October—the value of your rewards goes up as well. Forbes AdvisorSecond Stimulus Check Calculator: How Much Will You Receive And When? Checking Account and Debit Card Rewards Are Hard to Find It’s not easy getting rewards on your checking account or debit card these days. Many banks discontinued debit card rewards a few years back when the interchange regulations changed. And getting good interest rates on your deposits? Forget it. Some large banks offer interest on deposits but require high minimum balances. Nationwide, through online bank Axos Bank, offers 0,90%, but to get that rate, account holders must keep more than $150,000 in the account or put $1,000 or more into their account through direct deposit each month and make 10 or more qualifying debit card transactions. MORE FOR YOUHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireSPAC Attack: Placing The Risky Chicken Before The Regulatory EggEmbedded Fintech Versus Embedded Finance: Jumpstarting New Product Innovation In Banks There’s a new game in town, however. Quontic Bank Offers 1.5% Reward—In Bitcoin Quontic Bank, a New York-based CDFI (community development financial institution), recently launched a Bitcoin Rewards checking account which pays account holders 1.5% in Bitcoin on purchases made with the account’s debit card. The rewards are actually held in an account administered by NYDIG, the digital asset subsidiary of Stone Ridge, an alternative asset manager. The NYDIG account doesn’t give account holders the ability to buy more Bitcoin, so they’ll have to liquidate and transfer their Bitcoin rewards if they wish to cash in on the rewards. Quontic customers don’t pay any monthly service fees for their checking account with Quontic although NYDIG charges a 2% fee to execute the sale or liquidation of the account holder’s Bitcoin holdings. Does Anyone Want Bitcoin Rewards? Why Bitcoin rewards? On reason, Quontic CEO Steve Schnall explains, is that he was an early—and big—adopter of Bitcoin. In addition, the bank’s research discovered that among consumers that already own (or have an interest in) cryptocurrencies, one in five would switch to get an account that paid out rewards in Bitcoin. Quontic’s research jives with new research (fielded just a few days ago) from Cornerstone Advisors which found that 25% of consumers said they would be “very interested” in receiving Bitcoin as a reward for their debit card or credit card purchases instead of cash. It would be interesting to know, though, if consumers would be as interested in Bitcoin as a reward if the price of Bitcoin was at an all-time low instead of an all-time high. How Well Will The New Account Do? Quontic’s new account will appeal to consumers with a strong interest in holding cryptocurrencies—and there are many. Cornerstone estimates that 15% of American consumers already hold some of cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin Rewards checking account will face some challenges, however, including: The fluctuating price of Bitcoin. Schnall expects Quontic to open “thousands” of accounts in the near-term. I don’t doubt that—as long as the price of Bitcoin remains at its current level or continues to rise. In a down Bitcoin market, however, consumers will likely stay away from the account, unless they expect an upturn. Consumer interest in making purchases with cryptocurrencies. Americans holding cryptocurrencies purchased $31.2 billion worth of retail products and services using cryptocurrencies in the past 12 months according to Cornerstone Advisors. The percentage of US consumers who hold cryptocurrencies—and expect to use it to make retail purchases—is growing. Quontic’s customers will want to put their Bitcoin rewards to use—especially as the price of Bitcoin rises—instead of having it sit in an account somewhere. Competition from PayPal and Coinbase. Quontic may be the first to launch a Bitcoin-reward checking account, but both PayPal and Coinbase have announced Bitcoin debit cards. These aren’t exactly similar value propositions to what Quontic is offering, but they’re competitive in terms of competing for the purchasing activity of Bitcoin enthusiasts. Schnall believes the new account can grow virally and organically. With the established user base that PayPal and Coinbase have, however, Quontic will need to rely on paid media to generate consumer awareness and interest.
48b4caeaca5efc46f4fae4d9cce107fd
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/02/22/a-bank-just-for-you-soon-there-will-be-a-personalized-bank-for-everyone/
There Are Banks For Black Americans And LGBTQ Consumers: We Need A Bank For Everyone
There Are Banks For Black Americans And LGBTQ Consumers: We Need A Bank For Everyone (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) Getty Images OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK It’s hard to pin down exactly when the term “personalization” entered the business lexicon, but the 1993 book, The One to One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time, by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, certainly helped launch the term’s popularity. If you thought, however, that after 28 years, banks had perfected the art of personalization, you’d be wrong. According to Jim Marous, CEO of The Digital Banking Report: “Consumers expect financial institutions to understand their needs and deliver personalized solutions similar to what they receive from fintech and Big Tech firms. Unfortunately, even with enviable stores of data and advanced analytic capability, most personalization expectations remain unfulfilled.” The key word there: “solutions.” Banks focus so much of their personalization efforts on creating personalized “messages”—mostly sales come-ons—that they miss opportunities to create personalized products and services (i.e., solutions). Personalized Banks A new crop of fintech startups—often called challenger banks—is addressing this personalization gap. They’re not just creating personalized solutions, they’re creating personalized banks dedicated to serving the unique financial needs of specific consumer segments. MORE FOR YOUPlanetary Emergency, Central Banks And Financial Institutions (2/2)Coinbase’s Public Stock Listing Creates A Multibillion Dollar Windfall For Founders—Now It Faces Five Big ThreatsPlanetary Emergency, Central Banks And The Financial System (1/2) Examples of these personalized challenger banks include banks for: 1) Environmentally-conscious consumers. Committed to fighting climate change? Aspiration might be the bank for you. Founded by Vice President Al Gore’s senior speechwriter, Andrei Cherny, the fintech has grown to nearly 1 million customers since it launched in 2015. In 2017, the company went live with Aspiration Impact Measurement (AIM), which rates companies on how well they treat people and the planet. Aspiration customers also receive an AIM score based on their purchase behavior. In 2020, Aspiration initiated two new programs: Plant Your Change, which plants a tree for every purchase by rounding up to the nearest dollar, and Planet Protection, which makes Aspiration customers’ driving carbon neutral by calculating off their debit card gas purchases. 2) African-Americans. Dedicated to closing the black/white wealth gap, First Boulevard is developing a Spotify-like platform for financial education and advice to be provided by Black financial advisors and experts. The fintech also offers Cash Back for Buying Black™ with up to 5% cash back on debit card purchases at participating Black businesses. First Boulevard also recently partnered with Visa to pilot a suite of crypto APIs, which will enable First Boulevard customers to purchase, custody, and trade digital assets. This may be not be a unique need of Black consumers, but one in five anticipate using Bitcoin to make retail purchases in the next year or two—a higher percentage than members of other racial/ethnic groups. Interest in using Bitcoin to make purchases Source: Cornerstone Advisors 3) LGBT consumers. Daylight provides its LGBT members with Visa-branded cards in their preferred names, even if they don’t match their legal identification. According to Daylight CEO Rob Curtis, "trans customers will never be deadnamed after providing their legal ID during onboarding—meaning customer support, statements, and emails will see members for who they really are." In addition, Daylight enables its members to connect with a financial coach directly from the app to learn more about how their identify impacts their money, and to get advice and guidance from an expert in LGBT+ money matters. 4) Gig workers. Gig workers—consumers who work temporary jobs typically in the service sector as an independent contractor or freelancer—have unique financial needs due to the variability, unpredictability, and often, verifiability of their income. Qwil, for example, provides working capital for freelancers who often have trouble getting paid on time. The fintech assesses freelancers’ credit-worthiness by verifying identities and conducting fraud checks, and captures information about the approval status of a freelancer’s invoice. Qwil charges a flat fee for the advance, such as 1% of the amount—and it never goes after the freelancer to collect. 5) Young physicians. You’d think that banks would be climbing over themselves to serve physicians’ financial needs. For the most part, you’d be right. The part you’d be wrong about is as it applies to residents and new physicians. Panacea Financial was co-founded by two physicians and a financial services exec to address the needs of medical students, residents, and attending physicians. With high debt-to-income ratios (thanks to outrageous student loan balances) and only moderate income as a resident (or newly-practicing doctor), young physicians are often turned down for loans from traditional institutions. Even when they’re not declined, the experience with legacy banks leaves much to be desired. One of Panacea’s physician co-founders went to a bank to refinance his student loans and was not only offered a higher rate than he was already getting, but was told he had to have his parents co-sign the loan. 6) Disabled consumers. A financial challenge for many people with disabilities is that they can’t accumulate more than $2,000 in assets without risking the loss of some of their benefits payments. Purple is a fintech offering a savings account based on a 529 plan so funds grow tax-free and don’t impact benefits. Combining the Purple ABLE account with a debit card lets Purple’s customers optimize which account is used for qualified disability expenses (transportation, medical, etc.) while also automatically shifting funds from their checking to the Purple ABLE account. 7) Truckers. According to TAB Bank’s website: “When you work as a truck driver, your personal banking needs extend beyond the basic finance services offered by most banks. Truck drivers and OTR operators have unique checking needs and receive payment in various forms, such as Comdata checks, T-check, EFS, etc. Driven individuals choose us as a one-stop shop for equipment loans, accounts receivable financing, and banking products.” Macro-Personalization Vs. Micro-Personalization While banks’ attempts to personalize sales messages often range from complete irrelevance to borderline privacy violations, new fintech players are approaching personalization from a different angle: Personalized products and services. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Traditional banks are attempting to micro-personalize (for a single individual) while the new challenger banks are macro-personalizing (for a segment of the market). It will take a long time for the banks to win the micro-personalization game, however. Being good at micro-personalization requires: 1) Access to many different types of data. Getting personalizing right requires data about customers’ contact history, financial goals and objectives, past financial performance, risk tolerance, purchase intention, response propensity....I could keep going on. 2) The ability to put data to use. Engagement levels for many banking customers is so low that, for all practical purposes, banks need to re-acquire the customers they’ve already acquired. Lack of engagement means that, even with the right data about customers, banks may lack opportunities to engage customers in personalized conversations. Conversations, Not Messages I chose the word “conversations” very intentionally, by the way. Today, banks are focused on personalizing “messages.” That’s a one-way street. What happens when the customer or prospect responds to the message? Typically, all attempts to personalize fly out the window. Banks—and all marketers, for that matter—need a new definition of personalization. I’ll propose one: “Having conversations with customers tailored to each interaction, channel, and the type of relationship they have with the company.” Developing this capability, however, requires a strong and strategic commitment to personalization as a strategic differentiator which few banks seem willing to make. Meanwhile, challenger banks are picking off customers with their macro-personalization strategies. For a complimentary copy of Cornerstone Advisors’ report The Roadmap to Personalization in Banking, click here.
28ddabbd373cfa7b894d36933101d24d
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/03/01/the-financial-apps-banks-dont-know-that-their-customers-use/
The Mobile Finance Apps That Banks Don’t Know Their Customers Use
The Mobile Finance Apps That Banks Don’t Know Their Customers Use Credit Report with Score getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK A new study from Cornerstone Advisors found that 76% of smartphone owners use mobile apps to manage their finances from fintech companies like Robinhood, PayPal, and Credit Karma. Not surprisingly, generational differences in usage are significant: 93% of Gen Zers and Millennials (21 to 40 years old) use mobile financial apps, 81% of Gen Xers (41 to 55 years old) are fintech users, and even 56% of Baby Boomers use at least one mobile app to help them manage their financial lives. Consumers’ Shadow Financial Lives Bankers may be familiar with consumers’ rate of fintech adoption, but they’re often unaware how this fintech activity impacts the financial institutions they work for. It’s true that, to some extent, tradition financial institutions have lost business to new fintech startups. But more often than not, however, traditional banks share customers with fintechs. Traditional banks appear clueless to this. They think that because customers have an account with them that they’re the only bank their customers do business with. Not true. You Don’t Know Jack A community bank CEO told me about a wealth management client of his (let’s call him Jack). Jack had $5 million in an investment account—all of it invested in high-risk stocks. The bank repeatedly advised Jack to diversify his holdings—to no avail. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISOR5 Benefits Of Digital Banking In 2021ByMitch StrohmEditorBest Fintech Alternatives To Traditional BankingByDonna Fuscaldocontributor The bank CEO invited Jack to dinner and asked why he resisted the bank’s advice. Jack told him, “you have my funny money—my play money. The majority of my holdings are with a different investment management firm.” This is an example of consumers’ shadow financial lives: Financial behaviors and activities that evade observation from the other financial institutions they do business with. Consumers’ use of mobile apps to manage their finances—including banking, savings, investing, and credit score management apps—help to create shadow financial lives. Digital Brokerages and Robo-Advisors Traditional providers like Merrill Lynch and Fidelity may dismiss the recent Robinhood-GameStop shenanigans as the activity of a small segment of the market—and a segment they’re not interested in. That would be a mistake. Of the 84 million Americans with an investment account, 30%—25 million—have an account at a digital brokerage or robo-advisor like Robinhood, Acorns, or Stash. Digital brokerage adoption Source: Cornerstone Advisors The overlap is substantial. One-third of JPMorgan clients and 27% of Merrill Lynch clients have an account at a digital brokerage or robo-advisor. On average, investors with a digital brokerage or robo-advisor account hold about a third of their total investment portfolio in these accounts—and the JPMorgans and Merrill Lynches have no clue about this money. Digital Banks Among US adults, 36% have more than one checking account, with about one in six secondary accounts held at digital banks. Among consumers with three checking accounts, 30% of the third account are at digital banks. With more than 12 million users, Chime is the leader in the digital bank space, followed by Varo with 2.74 million, Ally with 2.27 million, and Current with 2.21 million customers. Digital bank adoption Source: Cornerstone Advisors The impact of multiple accounts on traditional banks is felt in two ways: Deposit distribution. Americans with more than one checking account keep a lot of their money in their additional accounts. Among those with two accounts, on average, 35% of consumers’ total deposits are in their second account. Of those with three accounts, half of their total deposits are in the second and third accounts. Payments preferences. Among multiple-account consumers who consider one of the megabanks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) or a large regional bank their primary provider, one in four say their primary debit card is the secondary bank—not their primary bank. Traditional banks are unaware of this shadow financial activity. Even the digital banks lack this customer insight. Among consumers who consider a digital bank their primary bank, 42% have more than one account—and half of them have that second account with a traditional bank. Savings Tools While traditional banks advertise a 0.05% interest rate for deposits in their savings accounts, consumers have turned to a new crop of mobile apps—automated savings apps—to help them save. Cornerstone found that savings apps help consumers save an average of $600 a year above and beyond their regular level of savings. At a 0.05% interest rate, a consumer would need $1.2 million in a savings account in order to earn $600 in a year. Mobile apps like Digit and Qapital help consumers figure out how much they could be saving—and then take the money out of their checking accounts and put it in savings accounts. Savings apps adoption Source: Cornerstone Advisors The problem for some banks, however, is that the money is moved out of their institution even though their customers haven’t closed out any accounts—and the banks have no idea why. Credit Score Management Bankers may know that Credit Karma is the leader in credit score management with more than 100 million members in the US, Canada, and the UK. What they might not know, however, is the frequency with which consumers use Credit Karma—as well as their own banks—to track and manage their credit score. One in three Gen Zers, Millennials, and Gen Xers use Credit Karma at least once a week. Good news for bankers: 25% of consumers use their primary bank to manage their credit score at least once a week. The bad news for many banks, however, is that a nearly similar percentage of consumers—23%—turn to a secondary bank to do so. Credit score management Source: Cornerstone Advisors The Impact of Consumers’ Shadow Financial Lives The emergence of consumers’ shadow financial lives—enabled by the growing use of financial mobile apps—means: The role of the checking account has changed dramatically. A growing number of consumers use multiple accounts to access specific features and functions not available in their existing accounts. But they don’t close out and switch accounts—they simply add another account. Primary status ain’t what it used to be. Bankers believe that having “primary” account status is a stepping-stone to deepening the customer relationship. Today, consumers choose best-of-breed features, not accounts. That leads consumers to have a primary P2P tool, primary savings tool, etc. Consumers don’t want a savings account—they want to save more money. Banks aren’t wrong in thinking consumers want the best rate they can get on their savings. New savings apps help people save more money, while banks focus on the rate of return on that money. Services—not accounts—deliver value. Banks focus their marketing efforts on selling accounts—checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, etc. They just want to pay, save, and invest. In a world where “there’s an app for that,” For a complimentary copy of Cornerstone Advisor’s study, Americans’ Shadow Financial Lives: The Mobile Apps Banks Don’t Know They Use, click here.
14a4627da2b54b0b7e3f0bf552a5b881
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/03/08/walmarts-fintech-aspiration-the-first-super-app-in-the-united-states/
Walmart’s Fintech Ambition: A Super App, Not The ‘Bank Of Walmart’
Walmart’s Fintech Ambition: A Super App, Not The ‘Bank Of Walmart’ (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Giant retailer Walmart has made a couple of big announcements recently regarding its plans to create a financial technology—or “fintech”—business unit: Ribbit Capital partnership. In January, Walmart announced a strategic partnership with fintech investment firm Ribbit Capital to “develop and offer modern, innovative and affordable financial solutions.” Ribbit’s investment portfolio includes well-known fintech companies including Robinhood, Credit Karma, and Affirm. Goldman Sachs fintech hires. More recently, Walmart hired two key executives away from Goldman Sachs’ fintech unit Marcus to help run the retailer’s new fintech unit. Omer Ismail and David Stark were key players in leading Marcus’ growth to more than $97 billion in deposits. “Modern, innovative and affordable financial solutions” is not much of a clue as to what Walmart actually intends to do with its new fintech unit. One common view is that the retailer is on a path to create the “bank of Walmart:” “Walmart took one step closer to being JPMorgan Chase’s biggest nightmare. The world’s largest retailer is gaining even more heft as it seeks to become a one-stop shop for consumers’ financial needs. The move struck fear on Wall Street, which has been begging regulators to halt recent efforts by retailers and startups to begin offering core banking products to millions of consumers.” This is a misguided perspective: Walmart’s customer base is predominantly low- to middle- income consumers which is hardly Chase’s sweet spot from a banking or credit card perspective. So forget the whole “nightmare” scenario. The move did not “strike fear” on Wall Street. Walmart was rebuked years ago in its attempt to obtain a banking license and has found ways to get into financial services anyway. Reality is, the “bank of Walmart” has been around for a long time. For years now, Walmart has offered prepaid debit cards, domestic and international money transfers, bill pay services, tax preparation, installment financing, and other financial services through its partnerships with Green Dot, NetSpend, American Express, MoneyGram, PayPal, Jackson Hewitt, and other providers. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISORWhat Is Fintech And How Does It Affect How I Bank?ByStephanie Waldencontributor Did Walmart Give Its New Hires the Steve Jobs-John Sculley Speech? It’s hard to believe that Walmart needed to hire Ismail and Stark away from Goldman Sachs just to repackage their existing financial services into a cohesive digital challenger bank-like offering. And it’s hard to believe that Ismail and Stark would jump ship to do that. Put yourself in Ismail and Stark’s shoes. You just spent the last five years helping Marcus grow to become a major player in the consumer finance space. And now Walmart comes along and says “how would you like to do it all again, but this time with us?” Can’t imagine that’s how it went down. I’m betting Walmart gave them the “John Sculley speech.” Remember when Steve Jobs recruited Sculley away from Pepsi with the question “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?” Walmart probably made a similar pitch, telling the Goldman Sachs execs, “Congrats, you’ve built a digital bank—now come to Walmart and help us reinvent the economy.” The Coming Walmart Super App? Walmart’s fintech aspiration is a lot bigger than just creating a digital bank—it’s creating a true digital ecosystem in the form of a super app. Karen Webster wrote this about the “supercenter:” “When Walmart reported its Q4 2020 earnings, CEO Doug McMillon described a very different ‘super’ concept at the center of Walmart’s future: the ‘super app.’ He may not have used those two words, but the Connect concept is the super app notion to a tee.” Walmart’s super app opportunity is a lot bigger than just integrating and digitizing its financial services business or deploying its Connect concept, which will be a self-service advertising platform for Walmart partners to manage digital ad campaigns. The super app opportunity includes integrating Walmart’s: 1) Shopify marketplace; 2) Connect ad platform; 3) health centers; 4) existing investments in eCommerce, logistics, supply chain, and inventory management; and 5) other product and services not currently affiliated with Walmart. Wait, What’s a Super App? While hardly a household term in the US—yet—the “super app” concept is often misused and misunderstood. Just selling a lot of different types of products and services on a mobile app does not make an app a super app. Super apps are ecosystems. They’re enclosed experiences that make it easy to accomplish a wide variety of tasks—as long as the tasks occur within the walled garden. To date, super apps don’t really exist in the US—but they’re dominant in China. A screen shot of one of the leading super apps, WeChat, demonstrates the breadth of services integrated into a single app. WeChat super app Source: Visual Capitalist The following chart shows a comparison of services included in three of Asia’s most popular super apps. Super apps comparison Source: TechInAsia The super app term is often misused here in the US because the technical aspects of a super app are misunderstood. Super apps rely on mini programs—lightweight apps that run inside another app. They don't need to be downloaded or upgraded through app stores. They make it possible for one app to perform the service of many apps. Wechat mini programs Source: Wechat Wiki There are a number of benefits to mini programs including: Speed. Mini programs are cached on the phone, making it faster to load than a mobile app. User experience. Updates aren’t required with mini programs as the latest version automatically loaded. Integration. Mini programs are tightly integrated: >60 entry points, directly shareable in chats, deep linking to specific subpages. Cost. Mini programs typically cost 20% to 50% of the development cost of an app, thanks, in part, to a shorter time-to-release. Can Walmart Create a Super App in the US? Two factors have prevented—or at least, provided resistance to—the development of super apps in the US: Industry structure. Many industries in the US are dominated by oligopolies—three to four really large firms that control 60% to 80% (or more) of the market share in that industry. A company from outside that industry trying to create a super app will be met with resistance from the oligopolies who may see themselves as potential super app creators. Consumer behavior and attitudes. The heterogeneity of the US population in terms of wants, needs, and desires means that the loss of choice that inevitably comes from using a super app will be rejected by a large number of Americans. So, Walmart won’t be able to create a super app in the US, right? Wrong. There are two reasons why Walmart’s prospects for a super app in the US are legit. Walmart has: An underserved customer base. Practically everyone in the US shops at Walmart at some point, but the company’s core segment—non-urban, low- to middle-income consumers—is often underserved by the oligopolies dominating many industries. A head start. Walmart may be starting from scratch in building a super app, but it has decades of experience of building an integrated, cross-industry supply chain. With the exception of Amazon, who else can make that claim (and I’m not even sure Amazon could make that claim)? Reinventing the way goods and services are provided to low- to middle-income consumers. Now that’s an idea that might just resonate with two guys who just spent the past few years helping a bunch of rich fat cats get even richer. While Walmart will position a super app aspiration in terms of how it benefits low- to middle-income consumers, the company stands to benefit significantly from a successful walled garden. Walmart’s DNA is efficiency and cost control—and that’s the ultimate promise of a super app for the supercenter.
9f7d16a16783b100aa5db68ac47e584a
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/03/15/every-bank-needs-a-chatbot-or-two-for-its-digital-transformation/
Every Bank Needs A Chatbot (Or Two) For Its Digital Transformation
Every Bank Needs A Chatbot (Or Two) For Its Digital Transformation Chatbot getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK The pandemic of 2020 may have been bad for a lot of businesses, but it was certainly good to technology vendors providing chatbots—i.e., conversational AI (artificial intelligence)—to banks. According to research from Cornerstone Advisors, heading into 2020, just 4% of mid-size banks and credit unions had deployed a chatbot. By the end of the year, that percentage had more than tripled to 13%. Cornerstone’s research says another 16% intend to invest in chatbots in 2021. Even if they were all to do so—that never happens—it wouldn’t even get chatbots to the 30% adoption level among banks. The question that financial institutions must address: Has the time come for chatbots to become as ubiquitous in banks as mobile banking apps? The answer is yes—although the reasons aren’t obvious. In fact, a lot of the evidence points in the other direction. Are Chatbots a Competitive Necessity For Banks? An article in Finextra argues that chatbots have become a competitive necessary: MORE FOR YOUCoinbase’s IPO Creates A Multibillion Dollar Windfall For Founders—Now It Faces Five Big ThreatsHow David Vélez Built The World’s Most Valuable Digital Bank And Became A BillionaireWill Banks Finally Buy Into Bitcoin? “The magic behind voice banking isn’t just the convenience of the device; it’s the artificial intelligence that powers intelligent customer self-service. New enhancements including AI combined with voice biometrics will unlock a new level of loyalty among financial institution customers.” I wouldn’t recommend telling that to a bank’s executive team or board of directors. Proponents of every banking technology innovation of the past 25 years—from online banking to online bill pay to eStatements to PFM to mobile banking—have promised deeper relationships and higher levels of loyalty. Not a single technology has lived up to the promise. Why will chatbots be different? What Do Consumers Think? Shevlin’s Law states: For every statistic that proves a point, there are two that refute it. Nowhere is this more true than with chatbots. There are stats that prove that consumers hate chatbots, and stats that assert that consumers love chatbots. For example, one survey that found: 86% of consumers prefer to interact with a human agent. 71% said they would be less likely to use a brand if it didn’t have human customer service representatives available. Then there’s a study that found that 74% of users prefer chatbots while looking for answers to simple questions. It doesn’t really matter what consumers say about chatbots. As with the technologies that preceded it, banks will find that there are two types of chatbot users: 1) Those that are eager to use them, and 2) Those that have to be dragged kicking and screaming into using them. Sooner or later, the latter group will acquiesce—they always do. Why the Time is Right to Deploy Chatbots Ignore what the vendors say about “unlocking new levels of loyalty.” There are three requirements driving the need for chatbots in banking: 1) The need for speed. Abandonment rates for digital product applications in banking are horrendously high. According to a recent study from Cornerstone Advisors, roughly half of the banks surveyed said that in 2020 half of their checking account applications on digital channels were abandoned. The abandonment rates for unsecured and secured loan applications were even higher. Even more troublesome is the finding that just a minority of institutions follow up with would-be applicants within a business day. That’s unacceptable. Banks need chatbots integrated into digital account opening systems to close that gap. Banks need to make chatbots components of critical business processes (like account opening)—not just generic sales and service tools. 2) The need for data. Chatbot vendors like to use “providing advice” as a use case for deploying chatbots. It’s an over-sold justification of chatbots. Personal financial management (PFM) PFM tools have been trying to provide advice to bank customers for years with little success. The problem isn’t the user interface. That is, providing advice through a chatbot versus an email or a pop-up in a PFM tab or tool isn’t the magic bullet. The problem is lack of data. Some people will tell you that “banks have a lot of data about their customers.” Maybe. But they don’t have the “right” data—that is, the data they need to truly figure out what advice is the right advice to provide. Banks need chatbots in order to collect data, not display data. Attempts to codify and store “data” collected through human interactions—and even from clickstream data—is incomplete, generally inaccessible to other applications that could benefit from the data, and hard to analyze. Data gleaned from chatbot interactions can overcome these shortcomings. Banks need to make chatbots part of their data management strategies—not just their sales and service strategies. 3) The need for personalization. Many banks recognize the importance of personalization in customer interactions. Some, unfortunately, think of it too narrowly, in terms of personalized messages. The smart banks understand that good personalization requires personalized conversations. They still wrestle, however, with two things: 1) Getting the data to deliver good personalization, and 2) Creating opportunities to have personalized conversations. According to Jody Bhagat, President of Americas for Personetics, “90% of banks think their data is worse than average, but they don’t want to put their business on hold and do a multi-year data transformation effort. They also find the marketing technology stack confusing, struggling to determine if they need a customer data platform, rule decisioning apps, or campaign optimization systems.” Banks need to make chatbots part of their marketing strategies—not just as standalone, ad hoc marketing messaging and offer delivery tools. Digital Transformation Delusions Cornerstone’s research also found that 56% of banks and credit unions had launched a digital transformation strategy or initiative before this year. Among those that believe that they’re at least half-way through completing their strategy, just a little more than a quarter of them have deployed chatbots to date. Chatbot adoption among banks Source: Cornerstone Advisors Just 12% of the banks half-way or more through their digital transformation efforts plan to invest in a chatbot in 2021, and a quarter of them said that chatbots aren’t even on their radar. My take: That makes no sense at all. How can a bank be half-way or more through completing its digital transformation strategy and not have deployed—or even thought about deploying—a foundational digital technology like conversational AI? Banks’ digital transformation delusions live on. Join Ron Shevlin on Wednesday, March 31, 1pm ET for a complimentary webinar on Competing With Google Plex and the Digital Banks. To register, click here.
5673e38e3938620b3e2c5d3878d19c63
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/03/29/new-research-identifies-the-most-critical-mobile-banking-features/
The 12 Most Important Mobile Banking Features (And Why No Bank Can Have Them All)
The 12 Most Important Mobile Banking Features (And Why No Bank Can Have Them All) Mobile banking getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK If you need any more proof that the pandemic accelerated consumers’ adoption of digital services, new research from Cornerstone Advisors revealed that more than three-quarters of Americans who have a smartphone are now mobile banking users. Mobile banking adoption is approaching ubiquity among Gen Zers and Millennials (ages 21 to 40) with 88% of each of the two generations accessing their bank accounts using a mobile device. The adoption rate dips just a bit to 78% among Gen Xers (41 to 55 years old), and then drops to 57% of Baby Boomers and 41% of smartphone-owning Seniors. What Mobile Banking Features are Consumers Using? No big surprise—an overwhelming majority of mobile banking users use the app to check their account balances. Nearly two-thirds transfer money between accounts and pay bills, and roughly four in 10 deposit checks, send money to other people, and view their statements. Mobile banking features used Source: Cornerstone Advisors Which Advanced Mobile Banking Features are Most Important? Checking account balances, transferring funds, and paying bills are table stakes for mobile banking—every bank and credit union offers these features in their mobile banking app, and the features don’t really provide any competitive advantage or differentiation. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISORHow To Choose A Mobile Banking Or Personal Finance AppByRebecca LakeContributor5 Desirable Mobile Banking App FeaturesByBen GranContributor There are three mobile banking features that stand out as the most important features. Cornerstone asked mobile banking users to rate features on a scale that included critical, important, nice to have, and not important. Nearly eight in 10 mobile banking users rated managing balance/fraud alerts as either “critical” or “important” features. The second most highly rated feature—by 74% of users—was the ability to turn payment cards on or off, followed closely by the 71% of users who said mobile deposit is a critical or important feature. Importance of mobile banking features Source: Cornerstone Advisors Financial institutions trying to determine which features they should add or build should start by identifying which target market they’re going after—the differences in importance ratings by age group are significant. After the three most popular features, older (i.e., 56+) mobile banking users’ importance ratings drop off significantly from that of younger users. Importance of mobile banking features by age Source: Cornerstone Advisors The Fraud Fear Factor Since the introduction of the internet, security concerns have slowed digital adoption, whether it’s online shopping, online banking, or online anything. Historically, older consumers have consistently voiced concerns more so than younger consumers have. It’s different this time around. The onset of the pandemic forced many consumers to overcome—or ignore—these concerns, but they haven’t gone away. Between 30% and 40% of mobile banking users are “very” concerned about six mobile banking-related fraudulent activities. Mobile banking-related fraud concerns Source: Cornerstone Advisors What’s surprising, however, is that concerns regarding mobile banking-related fraud are nearly similar across generations. Two New Imperatives For Mobile Banking For a growing number of consumers, a mobile app is the primary way they interact with their checking account (and, in essence, their bank). So, as far as these consumers are concerned, the app is the product. This leads to two imperatives for mobile banking. Imperative #1: Personalized Mobile Banking Apps Banks face two challenges: They can’t simply deploy all every feature consumers express an interest in because the result would be a slow, bloated app with features that aren’t used by a significant number of customers, and They can’t just decide to not deploy certain features, because there may be key segments of the customer population who consider those features critical to their banking experience. Banks have focused their personalization efforts on messages—i.e., personalized offers and “advice” (in quotations because all too often the advice is nothing other than “we think you should buy our products and services”). Bank customers don’t just want personalized messages (if they want them at all)—they want personalized products. And if the mobile banking app is the product, then the app needs to be personalized. But today’s mobile banking apps are generic, one-size-fits-all mobile apps. I can already hear the IT departments complain, arguing that it’s not cost-effective to deploy multiple versions of the mobile banking app or to maintain a number of standalone apps. But cost-effectiveness isn’t the determining factor here—profitability is. If the revenue generated for offering personalized bundles in multiple apps exceeds the cost to provides those apps, then banks should do it. Imperative #2: Designing-In Fraud Assurance Banks already do plenty to identify and prevent fraudulent activity related to mobile banking—but it clearly hasn’t eliminated consumers’ concerns. Breach Clarity has an approach banks should take a look at. The company analyzes every publicly reported US data breach. Based on more than 1,000 factors, it computes a score for each breach and provides consumers with recommendations on what they should do. Breach Clarity Breach Score Source: Breach Clarity What does this have to do with mobile banking? Breach Clarity is integrating its identity protection services into banks’ mobile banking platforms. Doing so: Makes it more convenient for consumers (especially those who use their bank’s mobile banking app multiple times a week) to monitor and respond to data breaches, and Enables banks to better personalize recommendations for consumers’ unique risks. Integrated Identity Theft Protection Source: Breach Clarity For banks, it’s more than just doing some nice for their customers—it’s an opportunity to reduce costs for: Fraud. Banks spend roughly $40 billion in fraud. Driving more consumers to adopt two-factor authentication and other actions that prevent identity theft, banks should see a reduction in that expense. Customer support. Not included in that $40 billion estimate is the cost of supporting consumers who are fraud victims of fraud. One out of every two breach victims has called their bank’s call center for support. There may be a revenue angle for banks, as well. Although they would incur a fee to integrate Breach Clarity (which could be more than offset by reductions in fraud expenses), customers who upgrade to Breach Clarity’s premium service could generate non-interest income for banks in the form of a revenue share.
017638ed5e98e0debd506cfd893e2302
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/04/05/digital-transformation-in-banking-banks-have-a-long-long-way-to-go/?sh=1c7688355243
Digital Transformation In Banking: Banks Have A Long, Long Way To Go
Digital Transformation In Banking: Banks Have A Long, Long Way To Go digital transformation concept in business, disruption getty OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK As a buzzword and management fad, digital transformation has about another 12 to 18 months before some new fad begins to take hold. Banks, on the other hand, have a long way to go to achieve their digital transformation. A study from Cornerstone Advisors found that only about a quarter of banks and credit unions had embarked on a digital transformation strategy prior to 2019, and that 45% hadn’t launched a strategy prior to this year. Digital transformation launched Source: Cornerstone Advisors Not surprisingly, then, few banks are very far along towards completing their digital transformation journey—all told, only 36% think they’re at least halfway done. It is hard to believe, however, that 20% of the institutions that deployed their digital transformation strategy in 2020, and 27% of those who started in 2019, think they’re at least halfway done. Digital transformation progress Source: Cornerstone Advisors MORE FOR YOUThe Coming Bank-Bitcoin Boom: Americans Want Cryptocurrency From Their BanksCryptocurrency In Cross-Border Payments: After Coinbase’s Success, Can Crypto Flourish Beyond Assets?Chinese DTC Brands Going Global: Interview With Xiaolu Liu, Founder Of NEIWAI If you thought that financial institutions who were halfway (or more) done with their digital transformation strategy would have already deployed most emerging technologies, think again. The data tells a different story, especially regarding: Cloud computing and APIs. Roughly four in 10 banks who think they’re halfway or more through their digital transformation strategies have yet to deploy cloud computing or APIs. And I have a colleague who keeps urging me to stop calling these technologies “emerging.” Chatbots. I guess most banks don’t agree with my assessment that chatbots are a foundational technology and that every bank will end up deploying multiple chatbots across a range of business processes and customer journey. Only about a quarter of the institutions halfway or more through their transformation have implemented chatbots so far. Machine learning. Just 14% of the banks (self-reportedly) halfway or more through their digital transformation efforts have deployed machine learning tools to date. For a technology that is hyped as having a transformational on the industry, 14% doesn’t seem like a very high number. Emerging technology adoption Source: Cornerstone Advisors But digital transformation isn’t just about technology, right? At least that’s what some observers say. Even if it isn’t, then surely we can use business results as a gauge for digital transformation impact. Maybe not. Less than a third of the banks who claim to be halfway or more done with their digital transformation strategy have achieved a 5% improvement in any of nine key performance measures. Improvement from digital transformation efforts Source: Cornerstone Advisors And I thought I was setting the bar low at a 5% hurdle. Delusions of Digital Transformation What should we make of these survey findings? Either: 1) Bank execs have a very different definition of what digital transformation is than I (and I suspect, you) do; or 2) Bank executives are deluding themselves (or Cornerstone) regarding how far along they are in their digital transformation journeys. In the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck if...,” you might be digitally transformed if: You’re opening checking accounts within five minutes. Even among banks that offer digital account opening, 40% still require an applicant to take more than 10 minutes to complete a checking account application according to a study from Cornerstone Advisors. You’re instantly approving unsecured loan applications through digital channels. The same Cornerstone study found that at 54% of banks, it takes loan applicants more than 10 minutes to complete an unsecured loan application online or on a mobile device, and that just a third are instantly approving those loans. You’ve got a more holistic view of your customers’ financial lives. Bankers like to say that they have a lot of data about their customers. Nonsense. Consumers generally do a very small percentage of their financial activity with any one institution. If a bank hasn’t “transformed” its data aggregation capabilities, it hasn’t digitally transformed. You’ve built a digital product factory. Banks need a technology platform than enables them to rapidly and cost-effectively design, create—or plug in—and deploy new digital products and services. The digital product platform must be: 1) component-based; 2) API-driven; and 3) cloud native. By this criteria, most banks have a long, long way to go towards becoming digitally-transformed. For a complimentary copy of Cornerstone Advisors’ What’s Going On in Banking 2021: Rebounding From the Pandemic report, click here.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2015/10/30/battle-of-the-spas-which-of-paris-8-palace-hotels-tops-our-list/
Battle of the Spas: Which of Paris' 8 Palace Hotels Tops Our List?
Battle of the Spas: Which of Paris' 8 Palace Hotels Tops Our List? Paris isn’t like any other city when it comes to hotels. For instance, a privileged handful (eight so far) have received the very sought-after ‘palace’ distinction. And while they all come with top standards, what we wanted to find out is which one has the best spa - so we tried them all and compiled the ultimate Paris palace hotel spa hotlist. 1. Mandarin Oriental Paris A hotel that was much awaited when it opened in 2011, the Mandarin Oriental Paris may not embody iconic Parisian essence due to its ultra contemporary interiors, but its spa certainly got our attention. Designed by Sybille de Margerie, the palette of purple and grey hues is surprisingly soothing and restful. The spa comes with a full lap pool, although there is an extra fee to use it. Here, there's no baring all in front of strangers in a communal changing room - each guest has their own massage suite complete with a full bathroom and vitality pool, making getting a treatment here a very private and highly exclusive affair. The suites also come with a magical blanket of twinkling ceiling lights to look up at during your massage if you don’t want to have your eyes closed. Various product brands are used at the spa, from gorgeous smelling Aromatherapy Associates to luxurious Guerlain and treatments are tailored to each guest’s needs. I had the 80-minute Oriental Essence massage with Laëtitia, who I highly recommend for her technique that simply took me as close as it gets to nirvana. 2. Dior Institut at the Plaza Athénée One of the most extravagant experiences in the city, the Dior Institut is a tribute to the exclusive relationship between the Plaza Athénée and Mr Dior, who set up his first boutique close by. Like being in a Dior store, the spa is dashingly opulent . It however doesn't have a pool although it has a smart indoor fountain. Wrapped in a comforting grey, the massage rooms have real beds you’d want to spend your life in with high thread count cotton sheets embroidered with the Christian Dior logo. All the treatments are ‘haute-couture’ meaning that they are tailored to each guest making the experience highly personal. I tried the two-hour Prestige facial, which took me beyond anything I knew to an entirely new realm of pleasure. Spa therapist Ludivine worked hard at cleansing and exfoliating the skin on my face, applying masks and massaging almost my entire body, taking me on a veritable journey through a meadow of wild flowers, gently lulling me into a state of utter peace and tranquillity. 3. Crème de la Mer Spa at the Park Hyatt Vendôme The Park Hyatt Vendôme isn’t the most formal of hotels (although that’s not necessarily a bad thing) and its spa isn’t the most luxurious or the best equipped we've set foot in, but it’s made it into our top three simply because the massage was possibly the best we’ve ever had. Sandrine, who has been in the business for the last 15 years, has a spark that inspires, a passion that surprises, and massage techniques that blows minds. As far as the spa interiors go, they are quite stark and fairly plain, without much in the way of a spa bar. There is no swimming pool but the open plan modern Asian-inspired style relaxation room has a large square Jacuzzi rendering the space surprisingly appealing. A prestigious Crème de la Mer spa, note that the products are only used for face treatments; a combination of oils are used for body massages. 4. My Blend by Clarins at Le Royal Monceau Raffles In terms of facilities, the Royal Monceau's My Blend by Clarins spa wins hands down. Entirely designed by Philippe Starck like the rest of the hotel, the spa is a white haven of relaxation with a lap pool flooded in natural light shining in through a skylight above, and a sauna and a hammam big enough for an entire football team. The spa also has the best stocked bar I’ve come across with gorgeous patisseries by Pierre Hermé, herbal teas, fruit, nuts…whatever you fancy, they probably have it. The staff is the perfect combination of professional and personable, which put me at ease right away. I tried a body massage and an innovative hi-tech My Blend facial. Both were excellent, especially the facial where the therapist first scans the face to decipher skin quality, type and any imperfections, and then creates a bespoke treatment that includes creams mixed on the spot. My Blend is revolutionary in that it actually works - afterwards, the skin is noticeably clearer and feels improved beyond the surface. 5. Shangri-La Paris With the pleasantly discreet Anne-Sophie I knew I was in expert hands (and that the hour-long massage I was booked in for was going to be too short) as soon as she started the treatment. With only three massage rooms at the hotel, the spa is extremely intimate. Bathed in sunlight, it looks out onto the magnificent indoor hotel pool, which is the largest and most beautiful of all Parisian hotels. The massage rooms are located along a corridor lined with lavish rich green carpets that match the mint-hued tapestry. Brimming with old-world charm, the experience was extremely calming, although regretfully there was no spa bar nor a proper relaxation room to sleep off the drowsy effects of the excellent massage. Natural, decadent smelling products by Thémaé, all made with tea, and French luxury Carita, are the brands of choice. 6. Four Seasons Hotel George V The legendary hotel opened in 1928 and despite several renovations, it has succeeded in retaining its opulent charm, even in the spa. The changing rooms, with their gilded changing cabins and toile de jouy tapestry could have been Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir. Contributing to the unique ambience, the small pool and Jacuzzi, reserved for in-house guests only, is surrounded by an ornate Versailles fresco. The relaxation room has a fireplace and real beds surrounded by flowing curtains and a ceiling painted with romantic wispy blue skies. I tried an Australian chemical-free Sodashi back treatment and although therapist was friendly and the massage itself was of a good standard, sadly it didn’t make it into my top 5. 7. La Prairie at Le Bristol Since its 1925 building was remodelled and reopened in July 2013, Le Bristol is positively one of the best hotels in town and its Spa by La Prairie topped my to-do list. However, although bright and light, the spa felt a little cold and clinical. The service was excellent but there was no relaxation area to wait in before and after, nor a spa bar with tea and nibbles, cutting the experience short. We settled into a room for a body massage and realised that alas, the gorgeous La Prairie products are only used for facials. I also had a male masseur, which the spa didn’t warn me about prior to arrival. While at first it was a little difficult to relax, the therapist Peter put me at ease and administered a perfectly tonic massage. Note that the magical indoor rooftop pool, which is often used to illustrate the spa, is only open to in-house guests. 8. Spa Valmont at Le Meurice One of my favourite hotels in the city for its spectacular dining lobby lounge kitted out entirely by Philippe Starck and his daughter Ara, I was curious to try to the spa. Unlike most spas, the Spa Valmont has plenty of natural light, giving the small space a lift. The relaxation area is Scandinavian-slick and cosy but there isn’t really a spa bar and sadly the space felt more like a waiting room. The massage therapist was very friendly, professional and accommodating when asked to change something in the treatment. As for the Swiss Valmont products, they smelled fresh, just like an Alpine summer’s day, and felt extremely decadent but light on the skin. Afterwards my skin felt completely revitalised and was noticeably glowing. The treatment was good but unfortunately without much of an experience attached to it, it is hard to bump up the spa’s score. Follow Rooksana Hossenally on Twitter (@RooksanaH) and Instagram (@_.Rooksana._)
3e39e4221cfd2fb9bebc1595d3e82aa0
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2016/02/15/a-little-place-i-know-in-paris-hotel-particulier-montmartre/
Secret Paris: Hotel Particulier Montmartre
Secret Paris: Hotel Particulier Montmartre Tucked in a secret passageway of Paris’s wonderfully picturesque Montmartre, it’s at the Hotel Particulier Montmartre, the former residence of the Hermès family, that the world’s top A-listers like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Robert Downey Jr. spend the night when in the City of Lights. It used to be that only hotel guests could enjoy the delightful haven, but with the new Le Mandragore gourmet restaurant helmed by chef Thibaut Spiwack and the slick Très Particulier bar, curious visitors no longer have to book a room to cross the threshold into this unique whimsical world. The white-walled detached townhouse nestles in a charming garden sealed away from prying eyes. Stood in front of a craggy oversized rock, the children of the neighbourhood coined it the Witch’s Rock after a strange old lady, rumoured to be a witch, lived in the house. Set away from the Montmartre bustle, off avenue Junot, one of the most beautiful streets of Paris, the area is quiet and emanates a magical pull. Located next to pétanque grounds in a cobbled passage accessed only by locals who have the key or by ringing the hotel interphone, it doesn’t get more off-the-beaten-track than this. Built in the 19th century, it was the residence of several noble families including the Hermès family. In 2007, it was snapped up by Morgane Rousseau who turned it into a boutique hotel. Her son Oscar Comtet took over as director five years ago and revamped the hotel, adding the bar and restaurant. With only five suites, the ultra-exclusive boutique hotel exudes all the local allure and charm visitors from all over the world flock to Paris for. Individually designed, all the rooms come with divine views of the 900m2 wild garden landscaped by Louis Benech (also behind the Tuileries Gardens). At the end of the garden path, a small set of steps leads to the front door of the house. Inside, the hushed old-world interiors resemble a cosy hunting lodge. The salon immediately to the left upon entering is a favourite spot for curling up with a good book by the fireside, under the watchful eye of the moose whose head hangs above the mantel. The hallway leads to the main dining space where a string of windows fills the low-ceilinged room with natural light, while the lavish velvet drapes, opulent wallpaper and gilded upholstered furniture create an irresistible appeal. Every Saturday and Sunday the room is set up for brunch and every evening from Wednesday to Saturday, diners file in for dinner rustled up by French-born citizen of the world, chef Thibaut Spiwack. Candle-lit at night, the hotel’s Le Mandragore restaurant is one of the city's most romantic spots for dinner. Mandragore: Mandrake or 'Satan’s Apple'  is one of the most written-about plants with entire books dedicated to its mystical effects. Mentioned in Macbeth as the cause of insanity and in Romeo and Juliet as the plant that shrieks when torn out of the earth, it is also thought that Juliet's sleep-inducing potion is made from the plant. The source of a great many tales, at the hotel, Le Mandragore’s special power is to suspend time – at least for the duration of a meal. An Escoffier contest laureate, chef Thibaut Spiwack trained at some of Paris’ most prestigious restaurants like Le Cinq (Four Seasons Hotel George V) and Jules Vernes (an Alain Ducasse restaurant). At his restaurant, Spiwack masters flavours from all four corners of the globe starting in the hotel kitchen garden to Japan, via Spain, and all the way to Ecuador. A seasonal menu that changes often, diners can sample dishes like Galicia octopus with Iberico bellota chorizo and piquillo peppers to start, followed by Challans duckling with ceps, fig and foie gras epeautre (spelt). To finish, chef-patissier Gaétan Husson makes a mean lemon meringue with passion fruit, litchi and peppered mango or 73%Vietnamese cocoa chocolate with ginger confit and Thai basil. The wine list is also a real draw here. Start with a glass of chilled Ruinart brut champagne before moving on to clean Pouilly Fumé 2014 by Pascal Jolivet. For dessert ask for a Hérault ‘Les Creisses’ 2013 by Philippe Chesnelong. After dinner, Le Très Particulier downstairs welcomes guests for a night cap like the Nobody’s Perfect (cognac, dry curacao, orange, lemon juice, egg white and rosemary). A slick conservatory cocktail bar with a thirties tropical look punctuated by chequered black and white floors and scarlet velvet banquettes, it was designed by Oscar Comtet and Pierre Lacroix. An intimate affair frequented by locals in-the-know, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks have also been known to drop in. The hotel is also a wonderful corner to while away blustery winter days with a long brunch of salmon gravelax on home-made blinis, oeuf parfait with grilled bacon, and fruit salad or pancakes to finish washed down with the smoothie of the day and a glass of champagne, bien sûr. As well as a hotel, the townhouse has always been a hotspot for the international artist community. Attracted to its secluded setting, they would attend the sporadic literary nights and parties that would unravel well into the early hours of the morning – one of the suites would even be turned into a pop-up bar. And while these nights have been on hold recently, from 4th until 26th March, soon-to-be-announced events are set to shake things up at the Hotel Particulier Montmartre once again. Hôtel Particulier Montmartre - 23, avenue Junot, Pavillon D, 75018 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 53 41 81 40 www.hotel-particulier-montmartre.com (double rooms from 390€ per night). Follow Rooksana on Twitter and Instagram.
ad0441197f79dc41c7aed1f6ebf75df2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2016/04/02/top-5-the-best-3-michelin-star-dining-experiences-in-paris/
Top 5: The Best 3-Michelin-Star Dining Experiences in Paris
Top 5: The Best 3-Michelin-Star Dining Experiences in Paris Last February, the Michelin France Guide revealed this year’s gained and lost stars, resulting in 10 three-star restaurants for Paris, one more than last year. Here is our selection of the best five tried and tested three-star restaurants not to miss on your next visit to the City of Lights. Yannick Alléno at Pavillon Ledoyen After leaving his headquarters at Parisian palace-hotel Le Meurice, the dashing Yannick Alléno took up the reins of the historic Pavillon Ledoyen (also known as Alléno Paris) in 2014 where just several months later he snapped up a third star. A heart-throb aside, Alléno is a master of a luxurious and perfectly engineered cuisine that is avant-garde while being in keeping with French tradition, and his reduction sauces are his trademark. “He’d be able to reduce an entire pig into a single sauce,” a respected French culinary journalist once joked. As well as Yannick Alléno’s first-rate cooking, the location is also a highlight. The 18th-century Pavillon Ledoyen evokes a time passed, one of crystal chandeliers, lavish dinners and crushed silk ball gowns, and exudes that quintessential old-world Parisian soul travelers flock to the French capital for. The neoclassical pavilion first opened as a small inn in the late 1700s and was moved to its present location at the bottom of the Champs Elysées in the mid-1800s. Discreet, the Parisian landmark counts some of the world’s A-listers among its regulars and in the past, Napoleon and Josephine are said to have met here several times as well as celebrated artists and writers like Monet, Zola, and Degas. While the interiors are a little tired, the unique atmosphere is not. Surrounded by blooming gardens, the two-tiered pavilion’s first-floor dining room's period interiors speak for themselves, as does the bucolic view onto the surrounding trees and the Grand Palais. Sat at a round table dressed in white cloth, gaze out onto the trees while sipping on a glass of Grand Vintage Collection 1998 Moët et Chandon and you’ll suddenly catch a flash of Pavillon Ledoyen’s rich history. First, diners are greeted with a selection of champagnes on ice to choose from. The highlight is the surprisingly amuse bouche served in rather theatrical fashion on its own trolley. More of a sculpture, a succulent and meaty Tarbouriech oyster is cut out of a delicate camomile jelly with pistachio extraction and laid back into its shell on a porous rock resting on a bed of algae. A tender scallop mousse on a lollypop stick and button mushroom meringue to go with the tangy urchin complete the composition. A veritable explosion for the senses, the flavoursome iodic shellfish is perfectly balanced. Other stand-out dishes include scallop ravioles in an immersion foam with Osciètre caviar daintily laid on top, a tart urchin and rouget fish dish, and tender young spiced milk-fed lamb cooked in molecular fashion served with savoury oriental coucous. Several hours after arriving, the sun set on the other side of this quiet part of the Champs Elysées. A rich and timeless cuisine, Alléno demonstrates his mastery of French classics while adding his own unmistakable contemporary touch, and it’s precisely what makes Pavillon Ledoyen a dining experience unlike any other in town. 1 Avenue Dutuit, 75008 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 53 05 10 00, www.pavillon-ledoyen.fr/en. For all Yannick Alléno’s restaurants: www.yannick-alleno.com Alain Passard’s Arpège (c) Aurore Deligny “I want the tomato to be an event,” chef Alain Passard almost gasps, his friendly eyes gleaming at the thought of tucking into a juicy ripe red tomato. It might seem naïvely simple, but actually, we’ve got used to being able to eat tomatoes all year-around and Mr Passard's here to remind us that there’s nothing like eating produce in season. It’s the chef’s meticulous attention to seeking out the best seasonal ingredients that sets him above the rest – especially when it comes to vegetables. Grown in the chef’s various biodynamic kitchen gardens, his vegetables are a wholly sensual affair. And while the vegetable focus was seen as an audacious move in a rather carnivorous city, it’s this pioneering move that earned him a third star back in 1996, decades before the seasonal farm-to-table trend caught on. Unlike other three-star restaurants, Arpège is nothing of a flashy affair. Hidden behind a nondescript frosted glass door just across the road from the wonderfully evocative Musée Rodin, the pleasant fuss-free restaurant comprises a bright dining space upstairs at street level and a darker, more romantic space downstairs in the vaulted stone basement. Appealing to a young, sassy crowd of diners from around the world, Passard also has his fair share of locals who drop by daily with almost Swiss precision. Brittany-born, the chef grew up surrounded by top-standard produce and wanted to recreate the sensorial cooking experience he was brought up with – he likes to listen to the ingredients cooking, to watch them, smell them, and this unrivalled passion transpires through his meticulously prepared dishes. Stand-outs among his elegant and sophisticated bests include beetroot sushi, flavoured with geranium oil and celery tagiatelle with creamy mushroom sprinkled with crunchy hazelnuts and doused in moorish parmesan and thyme sauce. The velvety butternut squash cream with slices of tangy smoked ham is also a delight, as is his beetroot 'steak' tartare. The dishes are rarely the same even on the same day due to the produce that's dropped off in small batches at the restaurant every morning in sacks and crates straight from their various sources and according to what the season brings, bien sûr. When it comes to dessert, diners mustn't miss out on the chef’s signature apple rose tart laid with ribbons of organic apple twirled to look like rose buds, which is as delicious as it is beautiful. While Passard is known for his delectable vegetables, he also loves to cook chicken and seafood, and in fact, the latter takes pride of place in his sculptures, for the chef is also an artist. To see his creations, pop by L’Arrière Cuisine, his gallery just around the corner at 57 rue de Bourgogne (open Monday to Friday 9am-8pm). 84 Rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 47 05 09 06 www.alain-passard.com Guy Savoy at La Monnaie de Paris “Cooking is the art of being able to instantly transform produce laden with history into joy,” goes Guy Savoy’s moto, which hangs on the wall of his Paris flagship restaurant in red neon lettering. For the star of Nouvelle Cuisine who trained Gordon Ramsay, cooking is an art of artisan precision with dream-inducing powers where upmost respect for the products of nature, plenty of emotion, and an unrivalled desire to please diners are key. And Savoy's soul-stirring Left-Bank location within the renovated Paris Mint workshops and museum is the mirror image of his prized cuisine. Set right on the banks of the River Seine, Guy Savoy’s flagship restaurant resembles an elegant hotel particulier. Updated by star French designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the historic interiors abound with centuries-old soul. Original period features like ornate mouldings and open fireplaces are wrapped in a slate grey hue giving the string of dining rooms a contemporary look, while the large floor-to-ceiling windows frame picture-perfect views of the River Seine, the tip of the Ile de la Cité and the magnificent Louvre visible beyond. The next few hours are like being in a dream that starts at the seaside and ends in the woods during hunting season. The show opens with a dash of Puligny-Montrachet le Trezin Domaine Lambert, 2011 to go with feather-light leek feuilleté tartlets and smooth artichoke and black truffle soup hors d’oeuvres, continued with melt-in-the-mouth Saint-Jacques scallops, then the Rouget barbet ‘en situation’ garnished with a succulent iodic oyster that brings out the flavour in the soft buttery white fish. The journey away from the sea and inland then begins with a perfectly runny poached egg doused in shavings of black truffle. Following Head Sommelier Sylvain Nicolas’ advice, one must then change to a mellow red Côte-Rotie Viallière, Domaine Clusel Roch, 2011 for the quintessentially French quasi de veau cooked in crust, in a cocotte, followed by the unforgettable plat de résistance of juicy venison served with hearty champignons and seared foie gras. When the trolley, more of a carriage really, arrives with a selection of Marie Quatrehomme cheeses my heart is in leaps and bounds. But it isn’t over. The meal finishes on a wicked note of black chocolate fondant, after which I am frankly ready to start all over again. Monnaie de Paris, 11 Quai de Conti, 75006 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 43 80 40 61. As well as several other restaurants in France, Guy Savoy’s must-try second flagship is located in Las Vegas, USA www.guysavoy.com/en Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée Hotel One of the most celebrated chefs in the world, Alain Ducasse is often criticised for being a brand more than a chef. Ducasse Enterprises currently operates 23 restaurants in seven countries earning Mr Ducasse a total of 19 Michelin stars, and while the chef might rarely cook for clients nowadays, he is constantly in the kitchen seeking ways of reinventing French cuisine. And his Parisian flagship restaurant at palace-hotel Plaza Athénée certainly stands out from the rest in a bold move to honour ‘naturality’. Here, executive chef Romain Meder won’t serve traditional meats laden with buttery sauces but the focus is on a healthy trio of fish, vegetables and cereals, rustled up using the highest-ranking natural produce. Despite stark competition, there are few places like Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athénée restaurant. Dripping in silver and crowned with deconstructed crystal chandeliers, the ritzy interiors loosely underpinned by an under-the-sea theme, were conceived by skilled designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku, and recall the luxury hotel’s lavish heyday. First opened in 1913, the five-star hotel, which was recently awarded five stars by the Forbes Travel Guide, has welcomed everyone from royalty to Hollywood stars, and couturiers to politicians. And when it reopened after an extensive refurbishment, Ducasse’s restaurant took up its role as the gem in the Plaza crown. However, while the light-filled room animated by a hard-to-rival seamless service, is sumptuous, the audacious cooking is what really sets this restaurant apart from the rest. “What I am doing at the Plaza Athénée in Paris is creating a high-end version of a humble cuisine based upon vegetables, cereals and fish,” explains Mr Ducasse. “I would like my guests to realise that we must all become aware that our eating habits must evolve, that we must become more cautious with the natural resources of the planet.” And while some might miss the typical heavy sauce-rich timeless French classics, fine dining here is about food that's good for the body and the mind. The vegetables are sourced locally, most of which are grown in the chef’s picturesque Jardin de la Reine at the Château de Versailles, tended to by head gardeners Mehdi and Eric, while his bonnotte potatoes, tender and almost buttery, come from the Island of Noirmoutier in Brittany. The fluffy gourmet potatoes with their slight earthy taste accompany the crisp blue Cotentin lobster on the restaurant menu, which follows a starter of lentil caviar in a delicate smoked jelly. The main course is fleshy Atlantic sea bass with clementine confit and white asparagus. Finish with a plate of wild rice served right from the pan, instilling a home-cooked casualness. For dessert, opt for the apricots from the Landes region served with avocado and fresh almond tofu. An original gourmet experience that won’t leave you yearning for a fruit platter at your next meal, Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athénée Restaurant is in line with the chef’s values, which are implemented by Meder with such passion and to such perfection that the lack of traditional French classics is fast forgotten. 25 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 65 00 www.alain-ducasse.com/en/restaurant/alain-ducasse-au-plaza-athenee Christian Le Squer at Le Cinq, Four Seasons George V Hotel When Christian Le Squer left his headquarters at Pavillon Ledoyen (now helmed by Yannick Alléno, see above) in 2014, he took up his role as head chef at the George V, one of the city’s most prestigious hotels, a five-star Forbes Travel Guide winner. He started with just two stars but that was rectified a year later, when he was given back the third star he had earned at Ledoyen for his simple sea-splashed home-cooking. Far from the bright lights of the showbiz world, Le Squer is rather more down-to-earth than his starry-eyed peers. A wannabe fisherman from Brittany, he cycles to work everyday and it's his earnest simplicity that defines his cuisine at Le Cinq. Hidden within the palatial confines of the 1928 landmark palace-hotel George V (managed by Four Seasons since 1997), the restaurant, guarded by a cast-iron gate that recalls that of a chateau, is one of Paris’s best-loved dining venues among visitors and locals alike. The restaurant exudes quintessential French old-world charm. The classic Franco-English floral colonnaded interiors with original period features like rounded alcove floor-to-ceiling windows and elaborate ceiling mouldings are punctuated by art director Jeff Leatham’s remarkable contemporary flower displays.  Good-natured white-gloved staff execute a seamless service defined by just the right balance of amiability and efficiency. The opulent interiors and stellar service aside, Le Squer’s unostentatious cuisine is based on natural produce from his beloved Brittany like the scallop mousseline starter served with Breton galette de sarrasin or the main of snacked white fleshy cod with raisins in olive oil. Flavorsome and expertly executed, his cuisine is a nudge to timeless traditional French classics but with a subdued modern twist like his signature deconstructed soupe à l’onion. To complete the experience, make sure to dip into award-winning Head Sommelier Monsieur Eric Beaumard’s revered wine list, which comes in several volumes. An exquisite experience all-round, a journey through time even, Le Cinq is one of those archetypal historic establishments abounding with soul, that remains an icon in all its classic Parisian grandeur. 31 Avenue George V, 75008 Paris. Tel: +33 (0)1 49 52 71 54 www.restaurant-lecinq.com/en Follow Rooksana Hossenally on Twitter and Instagram.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2016/05/23/at-monumenta-in-paris-huang-yong-pings-empires-is-an-industrial-landscape-of-globalisation/
Now In Paris: Artist Huang Yong Ping Unveils Landscape of Globalization at Monumenta 2016
Now In Paris: Artist Huang Yong Ping Unveils Landscape of Globalization at Monumenta 2016 A rather enigmatic character, the discrete conceptual artist Huang Yong Ping, famous for his large-scale works acting as disquieting metaphors for the fractures in our society, doesn’t do any of the glitzy art fairs, nor will you see snaps of him at red-carpet events in the press. He prefers to keep to himself, unleashing the demons of the world in colossal artworks like ‘Empires’ at the latest edition of Monumenta under the Grand Palais' glass nave in Paris. 'Empires' is Huang Yong Ping's latest art installation, Grand Palais, Paris. Image: Rooksana... [+] Hossenally An immersive month-long solo art show that has taken place almost every year since 2007, Monumenta has hosted artists Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, Christian Boltanski, Anish Kapoor, Daniel Buren, and the Kabakovs. This year, Huang Yong Ping is next to be invited to invest the imposing space. Born in China, Huang Yong Ping came to France in 1989 for Magicians of the Earth his ground-breaking exhibition exposing globalisation in its early stages at the Centre Pompidou. However, his trip coincided with the unspeakable horrors of the Tiananmen Square massacre, leading him to stay put in the French capital, where he's lived ever since. An extremely well-read artist-philosopher, Huang Yong Ping is widely considered to be China's godfather of contemporary art with his founding of the avant-garde Xiamen Dada movement in 1986, while the repressive Chinese regime couldn’t have provided a more hostile landscape for freedom of expression. Monumenta, alluding to the sheer size of the venue, is no easy challenge to take on. A 13,500 sqm space coiffed by the elegant domed Art Nouveau glass and iron roof upheld by balconies, can dwarf any artwork - but not Empires. “It’s not just a conceptual success,” says Jean de Loisy, the show curator and director of the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art museum in Paris. “But it’s also a physical masterpiece, a real landscape of globalization!" Behind the wall of brightly coloured containers, a world of more containers inscribed with words in various languages like ‘Capital’, Gesus’ and ‘Cai’ (meaning 'wealth' in Chinese) stand like islets of skyscrapers pointing up to the French flag, the ultimate symbol of power and authority in France, that's pinned to the rooftop. “This flag amused Huang very much,” chuckles Jean de Loisy. "He absolutely had to use it as part of the show." The Chinese-born artist, Huang Yong Ping is next to be invited to invest the Grand Palais' glass... [+] nave for Monumenta in Paris. Image: Rooksana Hossenally A 130-ton aluminium serpent skeleton coils around the containers. “The shape of the snake is like a valley and also like the shape of smoke,” says Huang Yong Ping, an unassuming bespectacled man with a cheerful sparkle in his eye. Shaped like a valley, the snake recalls his home, the small harbour town of Xiamen with views of the valley in the distance, while the smoke alludes to its industrial transformation into an international shipping hub, which he found upon his return 11 years later. And while Huang resists describing how far his work is characterised by a personal imprint, the serpent certainly links his personal history and seeing globalisation take hold of his home, with the transformation that has besieged the rest of the world, a world where power runs almost solely on trade and economics. “Containers are usually seen outside the city, but here they are right in the centre,” says the artist, echoing the link to invasion. Huang Yong Ping's 'Empires', Monumenta 2016, Paris. Image: Rooksana Hossenally The serpent winds its way around the lofty space like a monster roiling in a sea of containers that represent the global trade revolution. "But two revolutions are at play here," says Mr de Loisy. "You have the trade revolution of global markets, but the Grand Palais, the venue itself, is a symbol of the French industrial revolution,” explains the curator as we gaze up to the 115-foot ceilings of the Art Nouveau superstructure. “Empires was a challenge from beginning to end and more than once, we wondered whether or not we’d be able to get it off the ground,” says gallery-owner Kamel Mennour, who represents the artist. “It’s the hardest show I’ve ever done – but it’s also the biggest. And I think it's one of the most successful Monumentas to date as Huang had a very clear idea of how he was going to occupy the enormous space - and it just couldn't have worked better.” The idea for the show actually came to Huang Yong Ping in his dreams more than 10 years ago, explains Mr de Loisy. And in his dream, the installation was precisely at the Grand Palais, which was even before Monumenta began. “Huang Yong Ping knew what he wanted from the start and made no concessions – he’s very strong-willed!” laughs the curator. And as the artist confirms, “For this work, the idea was very clear to me from the beginning. It was my first idea and it was the best one – so there were no choices to make.” In fact, very little is ever left to chance in Huang Yong Ping's artworks - especially not location. And the Grand Palais' location is primordial.“You have to consider the space, beyond the space,” says the artist. It's set on an axis of power between the Elysée Palace, the official residence of the French President, and Invalides, the resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, a global icon of power and authority who was a prominent French military leader and a long-standing emperor of the French after the Revolution. Huang Yong Ping shows a small group of press his sketch of the location of the Grand Palais. Image:... [+] Rooksana Hossenally Among the containers and the rise and fall of the gleaming silver serpent that reflects the ascencion and descencion of empires, an obscure oversized replica of Napoleon’s infamous Bicorne hat balances precariously on an arch of triumph. Worn by the military leader at the Battle of Eylau, one of the bloodiest battles often cited as an example of France’s aptitude in war, it’s a fitting centrepiece reflecting geo-political strategy, while the containers represent geo-political economy. “The hat is made from bitumen, and bitumen is made from petrol, which is still one of the reasons for war around the world,” says Mr de Loisy highlighting yet another link woven into the installation. Angled toward the Ecole Militaire, like a compass of power, “Napoleon’s hat is empty but everyone wants to wear it,” says Huang Yong Ping, evoking the world's insatiable hunger for power. “But it’s just about balancing on the arch, power is fragile." And when asked to define the meaning behind his work, Huang Yong Ping shows reluctance because for him “It’s not up to the artist to judge,” he says. “Globalization, this hunger for power, is part of the human condition and it’s also part of nature, like any natural disaster.” Monumenta 2016: Huang Yong Ping, Empires at the Grand Palais, Paris, will run until June 18.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2016/05/26/french-tennis-open-6-places-for-taking-time-out-during-roland-garros-in-paris/
French Open 2016: 6 Off-the-Beaten-Track Paris Escapes
French Open 2016: 6 Off-the-Beaten-Track Paris Escapes Along with the Australian Open, Wimbledon in the UK, and the US Open, Paris’ Roland Garros is one of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments and one of the most prestigious. So even if you’re not a tennis fan, you’ve never watched a game in your life, and you couldn’t cite the name of a single player, attending the French Open is an experience not to miss for the spectacular skill of the world's top players from Rafael Nadal to Novak Djokovic, the thrilling atmosphere, and classic timeless French chic. Tennis aside though, there's also plenty to do in between matches for visitors needing a little down-time. We bring you six ideas for exploring the Roland Garros neighborhood to help you make the most of your Paris break. PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 24: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a backhand during the Men's Singles first round... [+] match against Sam Groth of Australia on day three of the 2016 French Open at Roland Garros on May 24, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images) Tennis first! Auteuil, Paris' sports hub We're in quiet and residential Auteuil, Paris' sporting hotspot, where some of the city's major venues huddle together in the small enclave whose sole raison d'être is sports. Located in the Southwest of Paris, the Roland Garros stadium flanks the luxuriant Boulogne woods and is within walking distance to the Jean Bouin rugby stadium, the PSG (Paris Saint Germain) football team’s Parc des Princes grounds, the basketball courts Pierre de Coubertin, and the Longchamps Racecourse. Nestled among the leafy suburban tree-lined streets, Roland Garros has several courts, the two main ones being Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen, where Rafael Nadal reigns as the king of the courts after winning nine out of his ten French championships, a Roland Garros record since the tournament began in 1891. (c) Alexis Reau/FFT The Roland Garros experience Inside, Roland Garros staff dressed in smart tennis attire help visitors to find their way around the boutiques, bars, and restaurants that line the stadium. The area is a sea of people soaking up the sunshine in orange Roland Garros deck chairs, while watching the games on the large screens. Courtside, the atmosphere is electric. During the game, complete silence falls over the crowd, the players' sighs as they whack the fuzzy luminous yellow ball back and forth, their feet shuffling in the powdery red clay the only sounds. Tennis and champagne, bien sûr In between sets, the crowds chant and clap, and as the match unravels, supporters' surprise and sporadic excitement melt together in grunts and swallowed sighs as the players battle it out under the scorching sun, sometimes for hours with only a swig of water as a break. Unlike certain lucky match-goers, they don’t have the luxury of retreating to the stadium’s VIP areas like the Salon with its bay window looking out onto the courts, or The Village where free-flowing champagne and lavish lunches are the main attractions, along with Hugh Grant, spotted at the Lacoste pavilion yesterday. Taking time out However, tennis aside, in between matches visitors should take some time out to soak up the area's off-the-radar draws from rooftop sunset cocktails to a stroll through the city's most fascinating botanical greenhouses. Midnight Swims And Rooftop Parties Molitor Hotel (c) Derbess Delplanque architects A quiet upscale residential neighbourhood, Auteuil is at the heart of the sports action and has several small hotels within walking distance to the main attractions. Top of our list though is the playful Molitor Hotel (by Mgallery by Sofitel). A 1920s lido where the first bikini was revealed in Paris, it was the place to be seen. And when the pool fell into decline in the 80s, it became a hub for improvised rave parties and a giant canvas for street artists. Two years ago, after a painstaking renovation, the building reopened as a five-star hotel revamped by designer Jean-Philippe Nuel. The two large lap pools surrounded by balconies, have been kept almost identical, with a handful of works by street artists like Vhils and JonOne acting as throwbacks to the building’s clandestine heyday, with the added bonus of a Clarins spa and 124 light-filled rooms. The highlight here has to be the rooftop bar coined La Villa Molitor, with views spanning across the woods to the Eiffel Tower. Hosting DJ nights and parties on most weekends in the summer, its terrace is one of the most prized among locals and guests alike so book early to make sure you get a table. A Secret Garden Stroll Slotted among the sports stadiums are the romantic Serres d’Auteuil botanical gardens, five elegant greenhouses enclosing micro-worlds of exotic flora like carnivorous plants and fauna including birds and butterflies. Listed landmarks, they first opened in 1761 under King Louis XV. Laid out around a garden à la française, the lofty glass structures are punctuated by a number of sculptures, some of which are by celebrated French master sculptor Auguste Rodin. Lunch On A Hidden Island Hop on a wooden boat across the ‘inferior’ lake to the Chalet des Iles, located on its own island. Built in 1857 as a resting house for Napoleon Bonaparte, it was replaced by a picturesque wooden chalet brought directly from Switzerland as a gift for Eugénie, his empress. A fashionable Belle Epoque literary café frequented by writers including Marcel Proust and Emile Zola, the chalet was turned into a chic but cosy restaurant serving French fare on tables laid out on a wooden pier at the water’s edge. Dinner In A Palatial Time Warp A stone’s throw from the Chalet des Iles, the Michelin-star Le Pré Catelan restaurant helmed by three-star chef Frédéric Anton is one of the city’s finest. Originally inaugurated in 1856, the opulent haven of lavish fabrics and plush flower-motif carpets punctuated by subtle contemporary twists is full of alluring old-world soul. Sumptuous and refined, the French cuisine, along with the palatial surroundings, are well worth the detour through the woods. Browsing Art Inside An Architectural  Landmark Opened two years ago, richest man of France Bernard Arnault’s Fondation Louis Vuitton art museum is all glass sails designed by superstar architect Frank Gehry. Although much contested, the building saw light of day, allowing the world to get a look in at its owner’s impressive collection of contemporary art works, from Christian Boltanski video art to light installations by Olafur Eliasson, and sculptures by Alberto Giacometti to paintings by Gerhard Richter. The art venue has a restaurant, boutique, and a tiered rooftop terrace with views across the woods. Shopping à la parisienne A 10-minute drive across the River Seine, will take you to the 15th district of Paris. While there is very little reason to spend time there, the residential area does have one redeeming feature: its shopping centre. A fairly new addition to the city, Beaugrenelle opened three years ago and although it’s more sparkling glass and shiny steel than centuries-old buildings, it’s got all the boutiques by the French brands we love like Claudie Pierlot, Maje and Comptoir des Cotonniers in one place. Roland Garros runs from 16th May until 5th June 2016.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rooksanahossenally/2016/10/31/in-london-6-boutique-hotels-where-guests-feel-right-at-home/
Where To Stay In London: 6 Boutique Hotels Where Guests Feel Right At Home
Where To Stay In London: 6 Boutique Hotels Where Guests Feel Right At Home Vibrant, eclectic, cosmopolitan, historical, and a precursor in many ways, London is one of those cities you have to visit at least once in a lifetime. And in terms of places to stay, it comes with a huge range of hotels to suit just about any whim. Those travelers who like to keep it intimate and understated might prefer to stay at one of the city’s smaller boutique hotels with entrances that you’d miss if you blinked. For it’s here, slotted between local institutions, that you get a real taste for what it's like to be a Londoner. Here’s our pick of small low-key hotels we like to go back to time and time again to soak up the unique atmosphere of the Big Smoke while keeping it cozy – just like at a second home. The Laslett, Notting Hill Opened last year, The Laslett is our number one place to stay in the city. A small unassuming hotel of 51 artsy rooms, has it all to make you truly feel at home right from the outset. Set inside five listed white Victorian terraced London townhouses complete with columns out front, it’s the ideal pied-à-terre in picture-perfect Notting Hill with its upscale boutiques and dining options. Tucked on a residential street, it’s far enough from the weekend frenzy of brunch-seeking yummy-mummies and photo-snapping tourists to make you feel like a local stepping out for the morning paper. In fact, the aim was to revive the local spirit, which is sadly crumbling under the weight of upmarket retail stores replacing the unique establishments that characterized the neighborhood. As a tribute to the area though, the hotel was named after Rhaune Laslett, a community activist and organizer of the Notting Hill Carnival. The spacious soothing pale grey and light-filled rooms, designed by Tracy Lowy behind the Living Rooms collection who worked with local figures and local brands, are infused with British style and period features like high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, old-fashioned cast iron radiators, mouldings and even original creaky floorboards that conjure up the building’s past as a family home. Rooms come with a wonderfully snug bed you won’t want to get out of, and a selection of hand-picked books and original artworks create a real sense of place. Particularly attractive, the vintage-meets-modern-industrial bathrooms with white metro style tiles and organic amenities from Neal’s Yard Remedies, are compact but particularly attractive. Friendly and approachable, the staff have a casual but professional attitude that puts guests at ease right away. Plus, the bar staff make a mean cappuccino in the lobby where guests can work or lounge in the cozy couches while looking through some of the artsy books and magazines in the library. The hotel also comes with a pocket-sized restaurant and although it’s usually quiet, the Sally Clarke-signed food from her deli around the corner is tasty, just like at home (don’t miss the shepherd’s pie this winter). It’s also handy to be able to order a hearty meal on blustery nights when you just don’t want to head out again and brave the rain. The Laslett, 8 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4DU - living-rooms.co.uk/hotel/the-laslett Ham Yard Hotel, Piccadilly Circus You wouldn’t know a luxury hotel was hiding on this little square of gentrified Piccadilly in the West End. Behind the neon billboards of the Circus, is a whole neighborhood that’s often overlooked by locals and visitors, where the tiny streets are lined with old record shops and small concept stores as well as traditional pubs and restaurants by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Mark Hix as the area melts into trendy Soho. Hidden inside a courtyard (the ‘Ham Yard’ in fact) sprinkled with more carefully curated boutiques and featuring a mammoth Tony Cragg sculpture, is the easy-to-miss entrance to the hotel. The ever-growing Firmdale hotel family’s flagship, the Ham Yard is, like every one of the group’s establishments, a canvas for owner Kit Kemp’s inexhaustible eye for design. A cheerful patchwork of eclectic fabrics from across the world, the various patterns and textures somehow sit perfectly together. The library to the right of the reception, with oversized couches and books that line the walls all the way up to the ceilings, is reserved for guests and is the ideal den for catching up on reading just as though you were in your own living room. Also on the ground floor, the conservatory, bar, and adjoining restaurant are busy with locals who drop in for afternoon tea, meetings and post-work drinks on most days, and despite the food leaving us underwhelmed, the hotel's outlets have become bustling destinations in their own right. There’s even a cinema and bowling alley imported all the way from Texas. However, despite sounding miles from a quiet retreat, in the 91 rooms and suites upstairs, it’s easy to forget the busy outlets. Quiet and peaceful, they are tastefully decorated in the owner's signature updated quintessential British style. For guests who like their space clutter-free with plenty of natural light, this is just the place. With just enough items like the owner’s signature settee, fabric headboard to the comfy king size bed, a desk, and a couple of paintings hanging on the wall, there isn’t much more to divert your attention away from making the space your own. And for guests who just can't tear themselves away, it's possible to rent or buy an apartment in the adjoining Ham Yard residential complex also designed by Kit Kemp. Although the decor is the raison d'être at the Ham Yard Hotel, another highlight is the wonderfully bucolic heated rooftop bar. A leafy flower and kitchen garden with bee hives, the views of the nearby industrial buildings make you feel like you're in the countryside while bringing plenty of that irresistible local West End London color. Ham Yard Hotel, 1 Ham Yard, London W1D 7DT - firmdalehotels.com/hotels/london/ham-yard-hotel Batty Langley’s, Spitalfields Market Slotted in a parade of 18-century terraced town houses on one of East London’s most historically charged streets (it was one of the first streets in the area) and a stone’s throw from Spitalfields Market and bustling business hub Liverpool Street, Batty Langley’s is a small boutique hotel with bags of British Georgian character and a touch of humour that sets it apart from the rest. Far from the wave of cookie-cutter minimalist design hotels that have become representative of Post-Industrial East London, Batty Langley’s feels just like a family home with plenty of nooks and dens to curl up with a good book in front of a log fire. Opened last year, the aim was to keep to the original interiors as much as possible, which means the hotel has kept an intimate homely feel that’s hard to find elsewhere. Guests even have to ring the doorbell to be let in – just like turning up at a friend’s home. In fact, during my visit, the hotel manager remembered that before the current owners (also behind the Hazlitt in Soho and The Rookery in Clerkenwell) snapped it up, the building was the home of a French Huguenot silk weaver family and a member of the family, now in her eighties, dropped in after the refurbishment and the likeness to the original home actually moved her to tears. Named after a local architect who wrote books about home and landscape design, the hotel’s 29 rooms and suites are each called after a prominent or fictional East London character, like politicians, novelists and silk merchants as well as petty thieves, tarts and vagabonds. The design for each room was inspired by the characters, and even if no two rooms are alike, all have a hushed British inn atmosphere, and Victorian style portraits hang on the wall. Heavy lavish drapes in warm hues like plum and golds, and period furniture including gilded mirrors and working wooden throne chamber pots, all add to the unique ambience. Some rooms come with royal four-poster beds and unusual free-standing bath tubs found by the owners at various auctions. One of our favorites includes the Earl of Bolingbroke ‘penthouse’ suite with its own terrace looking out to the neighborhood’s industrial style buildings. As could be expected at this sort of establishment, the suite even comes with its own secret passage into the guest WC, which is hidden behind a bookshelf. Downstairs on the ground floor, are several dens including a library and honesty bar with a roaring fire, an ideal haven for post-dinner drinks on a cold and damp winter’s night. In the warmer months, the pocket-sized courtyard makes for the perfect quiet little retreat for having breakfast. Or, for guests not wanting to leave the comfort of their snuggly bed, staff can bring up a full breakfast, including a Moorish generously-filled bacon sandwich with brown sauce. There are also healthier options, of course, as well as dishes available for lunch and dinner that can be ordered from the 24-hour room service menu. Batty Langley’s, 12 Folgate St, London E1 6BX - battylangleys.com Blakes Hotel, Chelsea A Chelsea institution for those on the inside track, Blakes is one of those unassuming places where the ambiance is relaxed despite the hotel’s upscale reputation. Often referred to as London’s first boutique hotel, it opened almost 40 years ago and is the creation of actress-turned-interior-designer and one-time Bond Girl, Anoushka Hempel (aka Lady Weinberg) and has been the inspiration for many boutique hoteliers around the world. It is well-known for its raucous nights at the recently revamped private members' basement club Blakes Below which has a distinct Asian feel with flattering low lighting and comfortable couches and armchairs. However, despite the crowd of A-list celebrities and aristocrats that hang out here, it feels just like being a guest at a good friend's home. The smart dark slate façade, which is lined with neatly trimmed potted bulbous bushes, has nothing brash about it, and the modest reception, which is more like a cloak room than anything lavish, helps to put guests right at ease. Adjacent to the reception is the newly launched light-filled restaurant, The Dining Room, with gorgeous typical West London bay windows. The slate gray and gold hues give the space an opulent style that can feel a little cold in the mornings at breakfast. In the evenings, though, the candle-lit room is warm and mysterious, giving guests plenty of intimacy. Head chef Peter Del Campo’s team rustles up a delectable range of breakfasts from healthy to more substantial options, as well as lunch and dinner all with a Mediterranean touch. In warmer months, guests can opt to have meals or drinks outside in the small courtyard. Upstairs, each one of the 47 rooms plunges guests into far-flung worlds. Decorated with an unflinching enthusiasm for detail, every room has a unique theatrical ambiance, from the understated light and bright Mediterranean white Corfu suite to the dark royal Prague suite. One of the most emblematic rooms is the Romantic Four Poster Director’s Double with the royal bed as the centrepiece complete with elegant drapes, as well as the marqueterie works in the floor and furniture, various Chinoiseries and wooden louvered windows, that make stepping into this space akin to falling down the rabbit hole into another world of colonial decadence belonging to a time passed. A creative patchwork of cultures that awakens a latent desire to travel and to jump back in time to worlds passed, Blakes remains unlike any other boutique hotel, even after four decades. Blakes Hotel, 33 Roland Gardens, London SW7 3PF - blakeshotels.com ACE Hotel, Shoreditch The ACE isn’t quite synonymous with luxury unless it’s the luxury of being right in the middle of Shoreditch. However, it has remained the headquarters for a cool crowd that still comes to work in the area. In fact, you’ll find these nomad creative types tapping away on slim-line Mac computers on the work benches in the dimly-lit ground-floor café. Opened in 2013, Ace Hotel Shoreditch is one of nine hotels in the group, each one characterized by a Brooklyn-meets-Scandinavian hipster aesthetic, as well as by its variety of spaces to eat, drink, and work, including a club and rooftop bar. Like a giant concept store, everything you see here is for sale, and it continues up in the rooms with mugs and tote bags tempting guests to take them home. The gray rooms have a bare minimal design (and a Pot Noodle in the mini-bar) that could be likened to a teenager’s bedroom. The double bed is comfortable, and some rooms even come with a view of London’s industrial skyline, which brings a real sense of place to the interiors. Aside from the staff at reception who left us with a lot to desire as they fought over who was busiest as we waited to be checked in and the unsmiling reception manager who took care of our reservation in the end, the hotel probably feels a lot homelier to those guests who prioritize style over substance and service. Set in a handy location, right in the center of Shoreditch, London’s old capital of cool, the hotel is near slick concept boutiques, bars and restaurants; just watch out for the Friday and Saturday night bedlam with the wave of office-types from neighbouring Old Street (aka London’s Silicon Valley equivalent) who descend upon the area and the drunken roar which is audible from the rooms. However, in the morning, save for the remains of the night before (empty bottles and kebab wrappers), you’ll have the streets to yourself – the perfect time to wander over to the Hoxton Shoreditch a few doors down or the Breakfast Club for a full English. ACE Hotel Shoreditch, 100 Shoreditch High St, London E1 6JQ - acehotel.com/London The Hoxton, Shoreditch Not a luxury hotel, The Hoxton Shoreditch is possibly our low-key addition to the list but we’ve added it here because it’s just such a great all-round option. Originally opened at the height of Shoreditch’s heyday as London’s kingdom of cool in 2006, The Hoxton was coined the ‘anti-hotel’.  For the group, the aim was to get rid of unnecessarily expensive extras like mini bars and international calls to make a more reasonable offer, which The Hoxton Shoreditch still lives up to today. For instance, Hox perks include free Wi-Fi, but also an hour of international calls, a fridge stocked with water and fresh milk (which can be filled from the lobby shop at supermarket prices) and a light breakfast bag filled with granola, banana and orange juice delivered by the breakfast fairies every morning for guests on the go. Since, the hotel's had a complete facelift and the group has opened a second London outpost in Holborn, and one in Amsterdam; new hotels are planned for Paris and Williamsburgh in New York. Friendly and attentive staff at the small reception desk tucked behind the sprawling open space restaurant, café and bar, ensure guests are well looked after. The restaurant, run as a partnership with the Soho House group, serves fantastic British fare from Sunday roast dinner to full English breakfast, and although it can be quite rowdy in the evenings at the weekends, peace returns in the mornings. Spacious, the industrial chic area has wooden floors, lots of thick homely rugs you could imagine your cat at home curling up on and open fireplaces with cozy leather armchairs just asking to be lounged about in. The huge bay window that runs the entire length of the hotel lets in plenty of light and is perfect for people-watching throughout the day. Despite its 210 rooms, guests get all the privacy that anonymity brings while having a team of staff on hand to answer any questions. While the rooms are compact, they are extremely pleasant, with Robert radios playing when you walk in, making it feel more personal than walking into a quiet still room. Everything at The Hoxton Shoreditch has been optimized to create a pleasant experience for guests looking for a practical place to stay in Shoreditch and teamed with the staff’s great attitude, the hotel remains one of our favorites. The Hoxton Shoredicth - 81 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU, United Kingdom -thehoxton.com/london/shoreditch
9f638d142fe35f3924f01c0def040063
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roomykhan/2021/03/08/social-media-fueled-stock-market-trading-the-unsuspecting-need-to-be-protected/
Social Media Fueled Stock Market Trading: The Unsuspecting Need To Be Protected
Social Media Fueled Stock Market Trading: The Unsuspecting Need To Be Protected Source: getty COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, stimulus checks, higher personal savings, commission-free transactions, and social media postings have fueled a boom in retail trading participation in the financial markets. According to Citadel Securities, retail traders account for roughly 20% of the daily market volume, up from just 10% in 2019. "Meme Investing" through social media crowd-sourced leveraged bets on stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies are creating chaotic volatility and straining the market infrastructure. Social media platforms have become virtual trading clubs for garnering trade ideas, swapping tips, and hyping stocks. In this frenzied environment, naïve participants are chasing rewards without appreciating the underlying risks, and some are getting caught on the wrong side of their bets, losing lots of money. The January 2021 surge in out of favor stocks like GameStop, AMC, Blackberry, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc., was triggered by a herd of retail traders mobilized via voluminous posts on social media Reddit subforum called r/WallStreetBets(WSB). According to Bloomberg, 50 meme stocks added $276 billion in value from the end of 2020 to the mania height. However, in just a matter of days, $167 billion had been wiped out. After the hysteria ended, it is unclear how the gain and loss fallout got distributed amongst the trading community. Reddit retail traders herding together, move from sector to sector targeting meme stocks, creating waves of volatility and price surges. Braggadocios postings on social media trading forums such as WSB help spark the surges. The postings create fear of missing out (FOMO), jealousy, goad followers to trade, thereby galvanizing massive herd mentality. An individual trader states"…. I was foaming at the mouth at those posts about six-figure gains…. My brain was scattered. I'd check my phone over 500 times a day, and I became jealous of others making so much money." Photo illustration of Reddit logo in front of the WallStreetBets (WSB) logo SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Reddit-roused herd of traders, pushing the price of few select stocks to the moon, is being hailed as the democratizing of financial markets. However, the sharp rise and precipitous fall in the meme stock prices caused by surges in trading volumes mirrors a pump-and-dump operation.  In the aftermath of these price spikes, both naïve and sophisticated traders grapple with the characteristics of the risks associated with these trading strategies. MORE FROMFORBES ADVISORGameStop Post-Game: Congress, Regulators Probe Robinhood And RedditByKelly Anne SmithForbes Advisor Staff Robinhood, founded in 2013, pioneered the commission-free online stock trading financial services industry. In 2019, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, E-Trade Financial, and others followed with similar offerings. In 2020, online trading platforms experienced explosive annual growth in new account openings E-Trade 169%, TD Ameritrade 149%, and Charles Schwab 58%. These commission-free financial services generate revenue by payment for order flow (PFOF). Trades are funneled to electronic-trading firms, like Citadel Securities, Virtu Financial Inc., and Susquehanna International Group LLP, for execution in return for a fee. The PFOF arrangement demands high trading activity. Many brokers are luring traders casino-style via free stock offers and are granting laissez-faire authorizations to riskier trading instruments, such as stocks on margin, options, and futures. While chasing rewards, new and inexperienced market participants are enticed into leveraging on the readily available riskier trading instruments without adequate transparency into the underlying risks. The maniacal price volatility in meme stocks has brought in higher risks in the market. Brokers and clearinghouses face unprecedented trading volume spikes, straining the infrastructure, leading to the brink of market failure. The January 2021 frantic activity resulted in online brokers changing margin requirements or outright suspending trading in meme stocks. Robinhood, with over 20 million users, temporarily disabled buying of meme stocks, just as the Reddit-roused traders were rushing in. Robinhood had to raise billions of dollars in emergency funds to satisfy margin calls. During testimony to House committee, Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, said, "Robinhood Markets would not have been able to meet the $3 billion deposit call that Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. made against Robinhood on Jan. 28." He further states that the most draconian outcome could have forced liquidation of the unsettled clearing portfolio and "resulted in a total lack of access to the markets" by users. Social media-fueled commission-free trading is a phenomenon that has changed the market dynamics, affecting both small and large traders, brokerage firms, and clearinghouses. The market infrastructure needs to be shock tested against the trading volume surges and plumbing adjusted to guarantee robust, efficient market operations. Wild fluctuations in meme stock prices stir a range of feelings among investors, i.e., envy, confusion, and FOMO. Online traders like to say "stocks are going to the moon" to show how bullish they are, but many are confused, wondering how to get in on the action. Lack of training/education and understanding of underlying risks pushes many novice traders for cues from social media stock forum postings and digitally savvy finance influencers. Postings by individuals and social media influencers on various online forums have a survivorship bias characteristic. Survivorship bias excludes the failures and amplifies the successes. Opaque braggadocios postings, ballyhooing superlative rewards without revealing overall individual trading performance, lacks transparency. Such asymmetric information flow distorts the facts and statistics, making success seem more probable than it truly is. Individuals execute their trading decisions without adequately assessing the risk-reward tradeoffs. Financial services firms, regulatory bodies, and Congress are beginning to grapple with safeguarding the democratized retail trading environment. Social media platforms could be mandated to moderate online postings by flagging recommendations, opinions, and stock tips from individuals and influencers as "unverified" or "assess the risk," etc. Such flag/warning messages could cordon the emotions of traders and prevent them from making hasty decisions. Brokers should be mandated to require all individuals to complete online training before approving riskier margin, options, and futures trading. The cultural phenomenon of millions of retail investors using social media cues for trading decisions has broken the status quo. Enhancing training, education, upgrading market infrastructure, and moderating social media trade postings can lead to healthy democratization of the retail trading environment.
6ebd2654f9498d4b9ad8f11590671b35
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2020/05/22/asian-american-consumer-market-is-now-12-trillion-and-what-that-means-for-digital-brands/?sh=248cfad36203
Asian American Consumer Market Is Now $1.2 Trillion And What That Means For Digital Brands
Asian American Consumer Market Is Now $1.2 Trillion And What That Means For Digital Brands Inside a coffee shop in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, California, a man writing code has transformed a ... [+] cafe table into a standing desk, using a portable computer rig which incorporates an ultra-thin laptop, reticulated laptop stand, and split keyboards, which the man operates with both hands, September 20, 2017. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) Getty Images Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing consumer segment in the U.S and digital platforms and inclusive content are serving them like never before, according to a new report by Nielsen. The $1.2 trillion Asian American consumer market has never been more important. Asian American households on average have a 41% higher income than the national average and that buying power adds up. By 2024, Asian American buying power is projected to reach $1.6 trillion. Asian American households usually spend more annually than the national average on housing (+24%), food (+29%), education (+128%), apparel (+67%) and new cars (+$37%). Historically, this hasn’t translated to media, however, new digital platforms and more inclusive content are attracting and galvanizing this audience. The growth of Asian American-led content and the exponential rise of esports have attracted an Asian American audience to consume more digital and media content. Nielsen also found that Asian Americans are almost twice as likely to cut the cord on cable. While broadband is growing across all consumers, they are more likely to chose broadband-only. 82% of Asian Americans subscribe to at least one streaming service as compared to 72% of the total population and they are more likely to try newer services like Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and AT&T TV Now to access live TV. One reason Asian Americans may be turning to streaming services is because of representation. On Netflix, for example, Nielsen found that shows and comedy that depicted Asians were popular in the community including comedy specials featuring Ronny Chieng, Jo Koy and Ken Jeong and series with Asian American leads including Ugly Delicious, Wu Assassins and Patriot Act. The top episodic Netflix series in 2019 among Asian Americans also included titles with a diverse cast including V Wars, Lost in Space and I Am Not Okay With This. Possibly the largest take away from the Nielsen report has to do with the rapidly growing industry of esports and the video game industry. The report found Asian American households spend significantly more time on digital devices than on live TV compared to the total population; 66% of the time spent is on computers, smartphones and tablets for Asian Americans, the highest rate among all consumer segments. Much of that time spent on the computer and other devices has to do with gaming. Asian Americans are 14% more likely to own a gaming console and 37% more likely to own Virtual Reality headsets. MORE FOR YOUThe Best New Movies To Stream On Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Disney+ And Peacock This WeekendBTS, Chanyeol, Stray Kids, Astro And Hoshi: Hits Making Moves On The World Songs ChartThe Best New Movies To Stream On Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO And Disney+ This Week While many Americans don’t know much about the esports industry, it is a huge draw for both players and enthusiasts. By 2021, esports viewers in the U.S. are projected to surpass all American sports league viewers except the NFL. Among Asian American gamers, over 1 in 4 say they watched an esports tournament live-stream in the last three months and 53% of Asian gamers say they have watched 3 hours or more of esports in a typical week. While esports are on the rise in America, it’s already huge globally. Two of the top ten highest-paid gamers in the world are Asian American, Mark Edward Fischbach, known as Markiplier, and Jeremy Wang, known as Disguised Toast, which makes a case again for the importance of representation for the consumption of media. Esports’ global revenue is projected to reach $7 billion by 2023. Esports are already extremely popular in Asia, with the largest game company in the world, Tencent, headquartered in Shenzhen, China. “The Asian American community is at an inflection point, which has created a ripe opportunity for marketers to drive business growth,” stated Mariko Carpenter, Nielsen's Vice President of Strategic Community Alliances. “Brands hoping to engage with Asian Americans must understand the critical importance of inclusive media representation and the ways Asian Americans are integrating technology for media consumption. Understanding how these forces intersect and intermingle will be the key to unlocking the potential of this market.” There are a lot of takeaways from this new report, but the overarching one is simple, digital brands cannot afford to overlook the Asian American community. Even outside of the global pandemic, online media is becoming more important than ever. Brands that hope to capitalize on that growing popularity have to make sure they are including and serving the Asian American market. When that comes to TV and film, that might mean including more Asian or Asian American characters; something that Hollywood has also been employing however for a different reason, overseas box offices. Possibly the biggest revelation for American brands, however, has to do with esports. Especially with live sports canceled, esports has never had a better time for their rise in America. Even traditional American sports have seen esports alternatives in the wake of the coronavirus, including the MLB broadcasting MLB The Show Players League. As the media landscape changes, listening to underrepresented communities is important especially as some are shaping the industry itself.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosaescandon/2020/12/03/awkwafina-and-others-to-be-honored-virtually-at-this-years-nywift-muse-awards/?sh=2d1a05fed81e
Awkwafina, Rashida Jones And Others To Be Honored Virtually At This Year’s NYWIFT Muse Awards
Awkwafina, Rashida Jones And Others To Be Honored Virtually At This Year’s NYWIFT Muse Awards SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 18: Awkwafina speaks onstage at the Virtuosos Award presentation ... [+] during the 35th Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on January 18, 2020 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for SBIFF) Getty Images for SBIFF New York Women in Film and Television is going online for its 41st annual NYWIFT Muse Awards on December 17. The event’s theme is “Art & Advocacy,” as a way of honoring creatives for their role in advancing social change. The honorees for this year’s Muse Awards include actress and rapper Awkwafina, actress Rachel Brosnahan, actress and producer Rashida Jones and others. Joining the list are other creatives including, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the reporters who broke the story on the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein and President of Orion Pictures, Alana Mayo. The Nancy Malone Directing Award will be awarded to Gina Prince-Bythewood who directed Netflix’s NFLX The Old Guard which is on the Top 10 most popular Netflix films of all time making Prince-Bythewood the first Black female director on the list. The Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award will also be presented to Ali Stroker, the first actress in a wheel chair to be appear on Broadway, who recently won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as ‘Ado Annie’ in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! CBS Sunday Morning contributor and comedian, Nancy Giles, is set to MC the event. “Our honorees for the 41st Annual NYWIFT Muse Awards showcase numerous and astounding talents in various roles across many mediums of the entertainment industry,” said New York Women in Film & Television Executive Director Cynthia Lopez. “We are delighted to celebrate and recognize their revolutionary and influential accomplishments, and pay tribute to those who use their platform to advocate for a more inclusive, safe, and equitable world.” MORE FOR YOUBTS, Chanyeol, Stray Kids, Astro And Hoshi: Hits Making Moves On The World Songs ChartThe Best New Movies To Stream On Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Disney+ And Peacock This WeekendTaylor Swift Is Teaching Musicians A Valuable Business Lesson With Her Latest Album NYWIFT is also continuing to partner with Mayor’s Office of Media Entertainment for the annual Made in NY award. Past recipients of this award have included such names as Caroline Hirsch, Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Fey, Spike Lee and John Leguizamo. "The 41st annual Muse Awards celebrates a diverse group of talented women whose vision and achievements have made a significant impact on the media and entertainment industries," said the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. “I’m thrilled to honor the LaGuardia-schooled and Queens-raised dynamo, Awkwafina, with a “Made in NY” award for her accomplishments as an actor, writer and comedian. Awkwafina’s work challenges stereotypes about Asian Americans and women and reflects the caliber and ingenuity of New York City’s homegrown talent.” This year’s awards mark a strange time for the industry as the pandemic has made the production of film and TV more difficult with many projects being stalled, canceled, or radically shifted to online spaces. “The NYWIFT Muse Awards are an important tradition for our organization and we are proud to continue celebrating remarkable and inspiring women in our industry as we strive to keep the arts not only alive but thriving during this global pandemic,” said New York Women in Film & Television Board of Directors President Jamie Zelermyer. The event will stream at 1 pm EST on December 17 and viewers can register to watch through the organization’s website.