June,2024 – Lengthy delays and regulatory uncertainty is deterring investment in major infrastructure projects in Canada, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Smoothing the Path: How Canada Can Make Faster Major-Project Decisions”, authors Charles DeLand and Brad Gilmour find that Canada’s regulatory approval process is creating high costs for investors and preventing critical projects in hydrocarbon production, mining, electricity generation, electricity transmission, ports and other infrastructure from being built.
Sectors that have historically driven business investment and productivity in Canada—mining, oil and gas—are most affected by complex regulatory procedures.
While investments in these sectors have supported high incomes for workers and high revenues for government in the past, they are now trending downwards. “Canada is struggling to complete large infrastructure projects in a reasonable time frame and at a reasonable price and the proposed amendments to the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) are insufficient,” says Gilmour.
Canadians have been debating whether Canada’s regulatory and permitting processes strike the right balance between attracting investments in major resource projects and mitigating potential harm from those investments.
These regulatory processes typically apply to complex and expensive projects, such as mines, large hydrocarbon production projects (oil sands, liquefied natural gas [LNG], offshore oil), electricity generation (hydroelectric dams, nuclear), electricity transmission (wires), ports and oil or natural gas pipelines. These projects often involve multiple levels of jurisdiction and can prove particularly slow to gain government approval.
Canada struggles to complete large infrastructure projects, let alone cheaply and quickly. We propose improving major project approval processes by: (a) ensuring that provincial and federal governments respect jurisdictional boundaries; (b) leaving the decision-making to the expert, politically independent tribunals that are best positioned to assess the overall public interest of an activity; (c) drafting legislation with precision that focuses review on matters that are relevant to the particular project being assessed; and (d) confirming the need to rely on the regulatory review process and the approvals granted for the construction and operation of the project.
Retail is on the precipice of a renaissance, which will be characterized by great advancement and economic rebirth.
To get there, businesses need to start by acknowledging that no matter where they operate in the world there is a pressing need to exercise commercial discipline. And a recognition that the metrics of yesterday’s retail will not fuel the growth of tomorrow. However, this non-negotiable commercial pragmatism must be balanced with an appreciation that while exciting technology innovation still dominates C-suite and elevator conversations, the next big evolution is an imminent renaissance of hyper-experiential retail.
The Commerce Department in the US announced that consumer spending rose in February by its biggest margin in a year, while in the UK inflation was at its lowest level in two years as retailers compete for customers, here in Canada RBC reports that “consumer spending data marked a stronger start to Q2 than we expected. But one month does not make a trend. We are cautiously optimistic that consumer activity will improve this year- as adjustment to higher rates hits households less hard in 2024.”. However, whether conditions are favorable or challenging, brands simply must perform, and perform well, in an environment where there are more competitors than ever before.
Beyond this, consumers can easily be described as fickle
For example, if they are not happy with one experience they’ll move on and there are dozens, hundreds, and if we think globally, thousands of other brands waiting in line to capitalize on their spend. While many consumers are traveling far and wide to experience the best from all around the world, TV and content across platforms is resetting what consumers want, need, and expect from brands by exposing them to new lifestyles and ways of living.
An example of how this brand we all know is re-inventing how customers experience their products…..museum exhibition style!
Retail dominated at CES earlier this year, and almost all conversations revolved around artificial intelligence (AI) technology to drive seamless and frictionless retail, personalization, and much more. Technology is enabling user experience that wouldn’t have been imagined a decade ago. However, rather than being seen as an end, technology should be understood as the means for giving consumers what they want.
The NRF’s Retail’s Big Show this year showcased the best of technology, yet some key themes to emerge were that customer interaction in-store is as imperative as the transaction and that Generation Alpha, while not yet capable of earning money, has immense influence on their parents who do. While these true digital natives are technologically adept, they value in-store and physical experiences. Do not for a second underestimate their influence on their parents.
Gen Z, the first generation to have had a smartphone their entire lives, are also known to be digitally savvy.
While generalizations across entire generations are never helpful, it is widely agreed that this cohort researches brands and products online but – and here’s a surprise to those focusing only on technology – according to global management consulting firm Kearney, 81% of Gen Z prefers to shop in stores, while more than half of them do so because they say it helps them disconnect from the digital world.
All the signs are there for retailers willing to see them. Our two youngest generations are telling us what they want. What does this look like in practice? Amazon launched its Just Walk Out technology a mere six years ago, accompanied by hyper-advanced ceiling-mounted cameras, shelf sensors and algorithms. Amazon has announced it is removing the technology because it alienated shoppers who felt that a trip to the grocery store felt like they were stepping into a high-tech vending machine. This speaks directly to what consumers want from an in-store experience.
Retail’s next big opportunity is hyper-experiential retail, and we are at the precipice of this explosion of customer experience driving consumer choice and loyalty because of a confluence of a few big forces at play.
Shifting of the tectonic plates
The first is technology, which is enabling innovative and effective experiential retail. Another is that as the pandemic fades into memory, people want to be out, they want to spend moments with other people outside of their homes. According to insights from Canvas8 looking into what they call experience hunters, 58% of consumers believe that immersive experiences will influence their next purchase. In other words, six out of ten people place a high value on how retail makes them feel.
Artificial Intelligence will be used to supplement customers shopping experiences.
The third is that there is no longer a clear line between where retail starts and where it ends. Almost everything is a retail experience now, no matter if you’re at an airport, a fuel station, or commuting – retail is everywhere, meaning there are hundreds of different competition points for retailers across millions of different journeys. The last big force is that e-commerce has slipped into a holding pattern. Effective, efficient, and convenient, but boring and predictable. Influencers have taken over product choice even leading the conversations on behalf of brands. But consumers want more fun, they are seeking discovery – the magic of retail past.
This all has very real permutations for brands that have built their market presence on legacy retail experiences. They need to innovate quickly to keep up with pioneers who will keep raising the bar of experiential shopping. In addition to this they will be competing directly with startup brands and businesses that were direct-to-consumer, but are moving into the realm of retail experience without the baggage of the past. This area alone will likely see exponential growth in the next few years.
From purpose to experience
Defining brand purpose has been front and center for a number of years, which is right because purpose is foundational. However, purpose doesn’t tell you everything about how a customer will experience a brand. In light of this, brands will be challenged to define how their brand is experienced across all dimensions. In other words, not just their voice, not just the words that they’re using or their personality and identity, but how they’re physically coming to life, how they’re meeting customers at the important moments across the retail journey and creating value, intrigue, excitement, attraction, and desire.
This type of discovery is crucial for brands to drive longer-term loyalty in a hyper-competitive landscape. It starts with dimensionalizing the brand, in other words thinking about how it should look, feel, sound, smell, and taste – this is the cornerstone of an experience vision. Once a brand has done this it needs to be precise in how it chooses the moments where it wants to explode into life for consumers. Much of this precision will come from a deep understanding of consumer insights and experience barriers and how to overcome them, but also from creativity, imagination and innovation – a true path to differentiation.
Agencies and consultants need to help retailers by mapping out a diagnostic journey of consumers. This enables brands to understand a consumer’s entire journey, not just within an experience, but within the moments and choices leading up to an experience. How do they make choices, what drives them, what motivates them, what distracts or pushes them away from brands? When do they make these choices?
The best technology can aggregate multiple data sources to help diagnose brand issues as well as predict where and why brands are losing consumers along their journeys. It is important for retailers to find answers about where they are not maximizing consumer desire in key moments. However, landing on the right answers requires asking the right questions.
The seeds to these questions were planted at CES earlier this year, when some of the biggest retailers and tech giants in the world made it abundantly clear that their vision of sustainable, long-term growth lay in marrying technology with humanity, signaling a return to appreciating the value of humans and how we feel. We all know what experiential retail is, and the world is awash with various case studies of highly successful campaigns. Expect this to turn up a notch to become hyper-experiential. Especially that according to Canvas8, quoting Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, 8 in 10 people globally are willing to pay more for elevated shopping experiences.
Genuine human connection and personal interactions are going to drive retail growth, innovation, and brand loyalty this year and beyond. Brands need a plan to thrive in this renaissance of hyper-experiential retail. The rules of the past aren’t going to work in the new era of modern retailing where consumers are telling us what they want, we just need to listen, see around the corner and bravely walk through the door. For the Silo, Rhonda Hiatt
Rhonda is the global CEO at Clear, part of M&C Saatchi. Featured image: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan Italy- using historic storefronts and buildings in newly realized enclosed mall retail spaces.
With the Canadian government’s high debt-to-GDP ratios, such as a ratio of debt to nominal GDP sitting at 68 percent in March 2023, economists warn that government debt could become unsustainably high if Ottawa fails to reduce spending, increase productivity, and re-establish business confidence.
“We’re not growing our income per capita, which means that we’re not going to get the tax revenues that we need, plus we’re getting a lot of people retiring. So the situation could end up becoming quite unmanageable if we keep our pace that we’re going,” said Jack Mintz, president’s fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.
The federal government has run back-to-back budget deficits since the 2008 financial recession, with government spending spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Canada’s debt as a percentage of nominal GDP rose from around 51 percent in 2009 to 74 percent by 2021, for example. Nominal refers to the current value for the particular year without taking inflation into account.
The two previous federal budgets have attempted to lower government spending, but the federal government will still post a $40 billion deficit in 2023–24, which they project will shrink to a $20 billion deficit by 2028–29.
The Liberal government’s response to criticism by the opposition that Canada’s debt could lead the country into a financial crisis has been that Canada has among the best debt-to-GDP ratios in the G7.
According to Mr. Mintz, while Canada’s debt situation is not as bad as it once was, it doesn’t mean that it may not impact Canada’s prosperity prospects.
Mr. Mintz points out that Canada’s debt situation is not nearly as bad as in 1996. The government’s ratio of debt to nominal GDP ratio reached 83 percent that year.
Mr. Mintz also noted that Canada continues to have a triple-A credit rating according to the world’s leading credit agencies, meaning the country’s debt is not yet seen as problematic.
“We’re still viewed as having a much better credit line compared to a number of other countries. … But at some point, the credit agencies might look at that gross debt number and start asking the question, ‘Is it starting to become unsustainable?’” he said.
Lower Productivity Hampering Debt Payments
The federal government’s ability to pay off its debt could be hampered by low productivity, according to Steve Ambler, professor emeritus of economics at Université du Québec à Montréal.
“The thing that worries me in terms of federal government debt is we are currently in a period of extremely low productivity growth and low overall growth,” he said.
In March, the Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers warned that Canada’s poor productivity had reached emergency levels.
Although Statistics Canada said the country’s labour productivity showed a small gain at the end of 2023, that came after six consecutive quarters of productivity decline.
The right honourable Jean Chrétien.
Mr. Ambler said an appropriate way to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio is to keep government spending from increasing while also raising productivity to increase tax revenues. He said this was the strategy of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, whose Liberal government established a budget surplus in three years by growing the economy and keeping government spending stagnant.
To lower Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio, Mr. Ambler said the government should focus on increasing worker productivity, allowing its resource sector to grow, and easing back on discretionary spending.
He also cited a November 2023 C.D. Howe paper showing that business investment per worker in Canada has shrunk relative to the United States since 2015. Investments such as better tools for workers would increase productivity, while productivity growth would in turn create opportunities and competitive threats that spur businesses to invest, the paper said.
“Re-establishing business confidence would be almost the number one priority, especially in the resource sector,” Mr. Ambler said, adding that a future government might also be wise to lower the feds’ “wildly extravagant subsidy programs” for the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
The Liberal government has given tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for EV manufacturing projects in Canada since 2020, saying the factories will eventually create thousands of new jobs.
‘No Cushion’ to Mitigate Debt Issue
Joseph Barbuto, director of research at the Economic Longwave Research Group, has a more pessimistic view of Canada’s debt. He says that while federal debt is at levels similar to the 1990s, the crisis will be “larger” because the government does not have the “fiscal room to mitigate the downturn.”
Mr. Barbuto said that while the Canadian government was able to help alleviate its debt issues in the 1930s and 1990s by lowering its interest rates, it does not have that same luxury in 2024. The Bank of Canada lowered its key policy rate from 1.25 percent to 0.25 percent in 2020, and was forced to raise it to 5 percent by 2023 in response to rising inflation.
“There’s no interest rate cushion on the other side. Interest rates can only fall back to zero,” Mr. Barbuto said, noting that higher interest rates make it more difficult for governments to service their debt.
“The problem with the monetary system is there’s no fiscal discipline that is pushed on governments, unlike [individuals] or corporations,” he said.
“There will be a point where because of the accumulated interest with rising interest rates, eventually it’s going to overwhelm the government and then people will not lend the government any kind of capital.”
Mr. Barbuto also expressed concern over Canada’s private debt-to-GDP ratio. Private debt refers to debt owed by private, non-financial entities such as businesses and households, as opposed to public debt owed by governments and banks. Canada’s ratio of private debt to nominal GDP sat at 217 percent in December 2023 compared to 124 percent in 1995.
Mr. Barbuto said Canada’s private debt-to-GDP ratio is higher than that of Japan’s in the 1990s, and pointed out that the Japanese economy had stagnated after the country’s asset price bubble burst in 1992.
The research director believes the Canadian economy will eventually see a debt crisis and collapse in real estate that will result in austerity measures, a shrinkage in the size of government, and the “creative destruction” of the old political and economic system. He said this would be the continuation of an economic cycle that has repeatedly happened throughout history.
“[It’s] inevitable and necessary. A debt detox or deleveraging is the same thing as a drug detox. Nobody likes it, … but it’s a necessary part of the cycle for it then to go back up,” he said.
Whether you need a side hustle or want to make a full career out of AI, here are ways to start
A few years back, I read Warren Buffett’s book, Snowball. It turned out to be one of my favorite books of all time. In this book, Warren shares stories of when he was a kid and some of his favorite books. One book in particular, 1,000 Ways to make $1,000 by F.C. Minaker, helped shape his idea around business and making money.
After reading this legendary book many times, I decided to refresh the concept to help others by sharing ideas on how to use current AI technology to make money. As an entrepreneur who uses AI in my business, I know there are many ways in which AI can help you create side hustles, start businesses, and even help make your current jobs more efficient.
Whether you would like to start a small side business, or whether you want this to be your full career, there are many opportunities to make money with AI.
If you’re not a techie type, there may be a learning curve to become adept at the skills to succeed at AI. But if you have an interest in it and a desire to learn, and are willing to undergo some training and education, it’s possible to learn enough to make money with AI.
Here are three ways to begin your journey into making money with AI technology.
Prompt generators are becoming a lucrative business. Humans will pay for AI prompts that are ‘ready to go’.
Prompt Engineering refers to the process of designing and fine-tuning prompts for natural language processing (NLP) models. It involves creating a set of instructions or guidelines that tell the model what information to look for and how to use that information to generate a response. Here are a few steps and platforms I would use to start earning money today:
Check out this helpful tutorial on YouTube to get you prepared.
Quicklyread over some guidelines on how best to sell prompts to the marketplace to start earning.
Take a look at some successful prompts that are for sale on the marketplace to get an idea how best for you to start earning.
Start earning!
Transcription Services involve the conversion of audio or video recordings into written or text format. This service is provided by professional transcriptionists who are trained to accurately transcribe spoken words into written form. Here are a few steps and platforms I would use to start earning money today:
Quickly read over some FAQ’s on how best to prepare to start earning for transaction services.
Take a look at someones daily schedule for earning money on Speak Write
Start earning!
Labeling and Annotation are processes in which data is manually labeled or tagged with specific attributes or metadata that make it easier for machines to understand and analyze the data. Labeling involves assigning a specific category or label to data, such as identifying objects in an image or sentiment in a text. Annotation involves adding additional information, such as context or relationships between data points. Here are a few steps and platforms I would use to start earning money today:
The next decade will be a ‘Decade of Abundance‘ due to technological advancements like AI. While AI has its detractors, I believe we should be leaning in to explore this life-changing technology because it will empower the globe.
AI has already been able to improve our lives in many ways, and it has the potential to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, including in healthcare, education, and security. There’s no reason why you cannot be a part of this revolution, too. For the Silo, Joe Nigro.
Connecticut-based Joe Nigro is an investor, advisor, and entrepreneur who has used AI extensively in his career.
Featured image: Students summarize a text then tried to figure out which summaries were penned by classmates and which was written by a chatbot.Timothy D. Easley, FRE / AP
Miami, FL, – Ultra-luxury wine and spirits purveyor Prodiguer Brands, which privately develops and markets many of the world’s finest, award-winning wines and spirits, offers a very special Champagne. Maurice Vendôme is now exclusively available in the United States (and in select LCBO’s and liquor stores in Ontario and Canada).
This offering furthers the company’s extraordinary and revered portfolio of premium ultra-grade adult beverage brands specifically tailored for the global luxury market to meet evolving consumer desires and tastes. What better way to celebrate New Year’s Eve?
“This rare Grand Cru Réserve Blanc de Blancs champagne represents over 100 years of combined experience, expertise and leadership by our team and the Maurice Vendôme wine grower,” notes Prodiguer Brands’ Managing Partner, Noel Shu—a self-made millionaire, Sommelier and entrepreneur. ” Housed within the beautiful village of Oger in the Côte des Blancs region, Champagne Maurice Vendôme has ancestral ties dating back to the French Revolution. It’s an exquisite champagne that benefits from Oger’s rich soils that provide the perfect setting for luxury winemaking.”
Using 100% rated rare Grand Cru grapes and a limited annual production, Maurice Vendôme offers an exquisite experience of luxurious quality and exclusivity. The caliber and excellence of this rare Grand Cru Réserve Blanc de Blancs champagne is uncompromised, further entrenching Maurice Vendôme as “A Timeless Luxury.”
The art of Champagne is created usually with the combination of three different types of grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir. Champagne Maurice Vendôme uses exclusively 100% Chardonnay to create a unique Blanc de Blancs luxury cuvée. Each Chardonnay grape is delicately handpicked from only the finest vineyards in Champagne country and then pressed to release their first juice, premiér taille. Tasting Notes:
Colour: Straw yellow appearance
Nose: Intense white fruits, sweet on the nose, slightly floral
Palate: Creamy smooth refreshing palate, full delicate flavor
Finish: Charming fresh finish
Premiér taille of 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay
Hand-picked, sorted and pressed within 24 hours Liqueur de dosage: Chardonnay wine with melted cane sugar at 12 g/liter, this champagne then rests for a further four months after disgorgement, resulting in a luxury aroma, taste, body, and finish
Formats: 75cl and Magnum 1.5l – larger sizes by special order
A Prestigious Pedigree: Makers of the World’s Most Expensive Champagne Prodiguer Brands gained much notoriety for developing and facilitating the record-breaking sale of the most expensive single bottle of Champagne in the world—a limited edition bottle of Goût de Diamants, Taste of Diamonds, which sold for a staggering $1.8 million usd / $2.4 million cad.
Made from 100% Grand Cru grapes, all Goût de Diamants Champagne—available as a brut, a rosé, a Blanc de Blancs and a vintage—is produced at the 8-hectare, family-owned, Champagne Chapuy in Oger. Each standard bottle of Goût de Diamants is a chic collector’s item that’s adorned with a brilliant cut Swarovski crystal in the center of a diamond-shaped pewter design resembling the Superman logo.
The Swarovski crystals are pink on the rosé bottles and clear on the Blanc de Blancs and the brut, which is aged for a minimum of 40 months before release including four months post disgorgement. In addition, borrowing design cues from Armand de Brignac, the back of each bottle also boasts a hand-engraved pewter label featuring details of the blend inside. For its part, the bespoke multi-million dollar bottle saw the diamond logo crafted from 18-carat solid white gold while the Swarovski crystal was upgraded to a 19-carat flawless white diamond. The 18-carat white gold front label meanwhile, was engraved with the client’s name.
A Voraciously Vetted Vodka Also in the Prodiguer Brands’ preeminent portfolio is JULIET Immaculate Vodka, which is the world’s first “Immaculate”-graded vodka—ranking it above other premium, super-premium and even ultra-premium brands. Notably, this “Immaculate” rank was actually incepted by Prodiguer Brands, itself, as was required to aptly classify this caliber of vodka, and is a grade now recognized and accepted by industry professionals worldwide.
Upon its official launch in Monte Carlo, Monaco in 2014 during the prestigious, Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the exclusive Ermanno Palace Penthouse, this luxury vodka subsequently appeared at a multitude of A-list events in key regions around the world, including New York City, Barcelona, Paris, Sweden and London. At that time, the brand released a range of Collector’s Edition bottles featuring artwork from renowned New York City based artist, Sue Tsai, based around the F1 and the Brazil World Cup 2014.
Prodiguer Brands expressly separated JULIET from competitors by creating a vodka using a boutique production process to ensure the highest quality vodka that boasts seven distinct unique selling propositions. For one, the vodka weighs in at 43% alcohol volume (is 86 proof), and is only distilled a single time. As the vodka is handcrafted in small batches and great care is taken to prevent impurities from entering at any point in the process, the result is an impeccably pure vodka that does not need to be distilled multiple times. In addition, the vodka is gluten free as, by using high quality sugar beet that the brand ferments in-house, gluten is avoided entirely. The sweetness of the sugar beet also levels out the strong 43% alcohol volume, leaving pleasant smooth vanilla notes. Moreover, the vodka does not require any additional filtration as it is purified in copper pot stills during the distillation process and, packaging-wise, it uses wood top natural corks and tin foil capsules to exemplify the brand’s approach to using natural, non-toxic and renewable materials. JULIET Immaculate Vodka is 100% British, created at its own dedicated distillery based in the South of England, United Kingdom.
Expertise Aplenty: About Noel Shu, Prodiguer Brands’ Managing Partner Internationally-regarded sommelier Noel Shu, Managing Partner for the ultra-luxe, award-winning wine and spirts purveyor Prodiguer Brands, is a self-made millionaire since his early 20s, entrepreneur and author of the upcoming title, “China Through a Glass of Wine.” With impeccable panache and style, Shu, has already accomplished more than many do in an entire lifetime. Shu has personally designed and sold extraordinary multi-million dollar timepieces and necklaces to China’s elite through his ancillary, highly successful luxury jewelry business. Always striving for growth and self-improvement and with a reverence for continuing education, despite his busy schedule Shu is currently pursuing an Ivy League Master’s degree at Columbia University. As a globally-minded business practitioner, Shu understands commerce on both sides of the Pacific and brings that expertise to bear with his various ventures, including the highly anticipated upcoming release of “Regale”—an exclusive wine brand expressly developed for the Chinese marketplace, which will be exported to the region in early 2016. Shu may be reached at www.prodiguerbrands.com. About Prodiguer Brands Prodiguer Brands privately creates and owns some of the world’s finest wines and spirits. With a growing portfolio, Prodiguer Brands prides themselves in creating luxury brands for the global luxury market that meet new consumer desires and tastes. In 2016 the company will be releasing one of the world’s finest red wine offerings in the U.S. market: the highly anticipated SIA Cabernet Sauvignon. Led by Shammi Shinh, the company is predicated on strong dedication, wise investment, and offering the best consumption experiences.
Shinh has been commissioned by the likes of Hugo Boss and Christian Louboutin to ideate and help create engagement opportunities in the luxury marketplace.
What does it take to make $1 Million Dollars at a business in just six months? Devotion. However, according to one expert, devotion and commitment are two totally different things.
Makhosi Nejeser, known as “The Royal Shaman”, is an authentic African shaman specializing in energetic alignment and human potential. She helps individuals create powerful transformations amplifying success and mentors high performing entrepreneurs. Makhosi is being recognized as a Spiritual Guide For Business Empires. Asked about devotion versus commitment she said:
“You have to be all in. Devotion is that. It’s the same thing that generates $1M in revenue.
Right now, as a society we suck at this.
Devotion is a different energy. When you’re devoted to something you’re approaching it with your whole heart. Commitment is about what you can get out of a situation. Devotion is about what you can give. Commitment equals responsibility while devotion is love.
It’s the ones that are devoted to their message and vision that really win big.”
With years of experience in mental & spiritual wellness, Makhosi can give valuable insight on:
Her journey from making $8/hour to generating $1M in revenue over just 6 months
Becoming your best by taking aligned action and implementing incremental change
Turning obstacles into opportunities and portals of evolution that improve yourself
How using integration can bring fulfillment, freedom, and mastery to your life
Understanding the energetic blueprint to reach your greatest human potential
Rewiring C-Suite executives and guiding their teams to maximize themselves
Referred to as “The Get Sh*t Done Shaman” by Refinery29, profiled in Business Insider, and featured for her expertise inPOPSUGAR, Entrepreneur, Authority, Thrive Global, Nicki Swift, and on LA news station KTLA 5,Makhosi can provide incredible insight.
Due to longer lifespans, governments and employers must reshape approaches to retirement to ensure ageing populations can live fulfilling, healthy lives
New survey indicates shifting views on retirement and stark differences in how younger and older people see their future
World Economic Forum report provides new approaches to retirement that governments, employers and individuals can consider
New York, USA, June 2023 – Life expectancy increased from an average of 46 to 73 years between 1950 and 2019 and the United Nations forecasts further increases, estimating that global average life expectancy will reach about 81 years by 2100. Longer lifespans are causing individuals, governments and business leaders to rethink their approach to work and retirement.
Living Longer, Better: Understanding Longevity Literacy, a new World Economic Forum report, in collaboration with Mercer, a business of Marsh McLennan, explores how lengthening lifespans are reshaping how individuals view their working lives and retirement. The report offers recommendations for government and employers to ensure they are adequately supporting people in multiple stages of work and retirement.
The report highlights purpose and quality of life in addition to financial health and resilience – themes that are traditionally associated with retirement planning. It offers options that individuals can consider to ensure they are approaching work, learning and retirement in ways that best meet their needs.
“When it comes to longevity and living longer, healthier lives, everyone has a role on this critical topic,” said Haleh Nazeri, Longevity Lead, World Economic Forum. “How will business support an older workforce and one with growing caregiving needs, what will policymakers do to help all citizens reach retirement equity, and finally, what can individuals do at every life stage to ensure they are able to stay financially resilient in a longer life.”
“Employers are thinking more about the current age distributions within the areas of talent needed to operate their organizations and how to influence the trajectory of these distributions,” said Rich Nuzum, Executive Director, Investments & Global Chief Investment Strategist, Mercer. “To leverage longevity and fight the war for talent effectively, moving from individual roles to team-based roles can help employers take full advantage of the diverse strengths of teams that comprise a combination of older and younger workers.”
Views on Retirement A new survey, Pulse Poll, of almost 400 professionals indicates that women and men view retirement differently. Women, for example, are 55% more likely to say they don’t know if they have saved enough for retirement.
The poll also reveals differences in how younger and older populations view their retirement futures. Both women and those under 40 are more willing to reskill but worry about associated costs. Both groups are also more likely to feel isolated.
Further results from the Pulse Poll can be found below and in the report:
Health is a top concern with two thirds of respondents indicating they expect to have caring responsibilities
Days of “Bank of Mum and Dad” may be reversing; many younger people are likely to have to financially support older family members
Pulse Poll respondents over 40 target lower income replacement levels in retirement
People are generally unaware of how to achieve their target levels of retirement income
More men looking forward to retirement, while more women need to understand their financial situation
Women are 55% more likely to say they don’t know if they have saved enough
Younger people are eight times more likely to use social media for financial advice
44% of under-40s want to retire by 60
Women and younger people are more willing to reskill but are also worried about associated costs
The respondent profiles to the Pulse Poll were homogeneous and predominantly included those who had undertaken higher education, were in more senior positions, were likely to be in employment at major global organizations and with a high level of individual agency and financial literacy.
While there are some sample limitations, the survey suggests how the findings can help start a conversation about the challenges faced and can contribute to the development of solutions for the population this group of respondents represents.
Recommendations for Governments and Employers As people are living longer lives, business and government need to restructure their approach to later life planning. Failing to adopt a multi-stakeholder approach towards longevity will inevitably result in a significant portion of people retiring into poverty. Recommendations are cover three key areas of work and retirement including quality of life, purpose and financial resilience.
Government
Facilitate upskilling of older workers and clamp down on ageism
Provide incentives for employers to offer more robust leave policies for caregiving needs
Explore the wider use of default auto-enrollment and default investment strategies to increase and maximize savings
Establish safety nets such as minimum pension levels provided by government
Enact enabling legislation to make all jobs flexible for longer-life working if desired and to accommodate all life-stage needs
Offer digital skills training and equipment to ensure equitable access to opportunities for all
Employers
Implement programmes offering support such as carers’ leave, information and advice for those who have caregiver responsibilities
Understand what impact the company’s retirement plan design has on the trajectory of retirement-readiness and labour flow – check if people can actually afford to retire
Provide flex-work programmes for caregivers, such as job-shares; allow part-time workers to contribute to defined contribution plans; provide training programmes for workforce re-entry, similar to those for early-career employees
Implement and review financial wellness programmes to:
Cover specific life-stage needs that account for gender, cultural and ethnicity differences
Consider personalized models to show the impact of different working arrangements and retirement ages on pay and pension
Cater to low-income earners who are likely to need the most support saving and planning for retirement
Individuals can also reimagine what their longer lives might look like as the three-stage life of school, work and retirement makes way for a multi-stage life that could include lifelong learning, career breaks and new occupations in later life. This includes pursuing upskilling and reskilling opportunities, as well as prioritizing retirement and pension planning if possible.
Increasing longevity globally will require new innovations and solutions to address how people can stay financially resilient in a retirement that may be 20 years longer than their grandparents. With supportive actions from government and employers, individuals will have a chance to try new approaches to longer lives and reassess how they want to study, live, work, save and retire in ways that are different from what has been done in the past century. For the Silo, Madeleine Hillyer/World Economic Forum.
In today’s rapidly-evolved internet landscape, finding an effective domain name can be crucial to online success. Yet have you considered its immense power when choosing words? Linguistics – which studies language structure – is an indispensable asset when selecting domain names; in this article, we’ll look into how understanding its fundamentals can assist with building memorable and effective names for domain registrations. Let’s start this discussion with an example to highlight its significance!
Real-Life Story:
Sarah is passionate about sustainable living and has launched an eco-friendly store online. Sarah spends hours brainstorming possible domain names that reflect her ideals and those of her target market audience. Finally, after extensive research and studying linguistic principles, Sarah opted for “Greenovation.com.” This domain name captures both her brand’s essence and commitment to eco-consciousness instantly – her intuitive understanding of linguistics proved instrumental as this domain name resonated strongly with customers resulting in increased brand recognition and, ultimately, business success.
History & Foundation of Linguistics in Domain Names:
Its historical context must be investigated to understand linguistics impact on domain name selection. Early internet domain names were selected based on keyword availability or company names. However, as more domains crowded the online landscape, linguistic principles significantly distinguished one domain from its competition.
Linguistics encompasses numerous components that can substantially affect domain name selection, such as phonetics, semantics, and syntax. By understanding their function, you can craft memorable domain names that elicit positive emotions among your target audience and are easily pronounceable.
Domain names need to take into account language factors when creating domain names:
Phonology: Selecting domain names with appealing sounds and easy pronunciation will make them more memorable and accessible, like CrispClean.com, which features repeated “c” sounds that create a catchy rhythm while emphasizing cleanliness.
Semantics: Words have meanings, so selecting domain names that resonate with your brand’s values and offerings can increase its overall impact. For instance, specifying EcoGuru.com as the domain name conveys both environmentalism and expertise – creating instant trustworthiness associated with eco-friendly practices.
Syntax: The arrangement and order of words within a domain name can have an enormous effect on its readability and memorability, such as ShopQuickly.com, which utilizes simple syntax making it easily understandable and memorable.
Take advantage of the large choice at Squadhelp when looking for a domain name akin to exploring a linguistic treasure trove. From playful alliterations to clever word combinations, the linguistic aspect of domain names allows businesses to craft a distinctive online identity that resonates with their target audience.
Utilizing Linguistics in Domain Name Selection:
Building an impactful domain name takes careful thought and strategy. Here are a few helpful pointers:
Research Your Target Audience: Take steps to learn about and comprehend their language preferences, cultural nuances, and values to ensure your domain name resonates with them.
Focus on clarity and simplicity: Choose words that are easy for people to remember. Avoid complex or obscure terms which might mislead or confuse the audience.
Consider Emotional Appeal: Words can evoke strong emotional responses in people. Choose words that produce this desired emotional reaction in your target audience while aligning with your brand tone and messaging strategy.
Be distinctive and memorable: Separate yourself from the competition by choosing an eye-catching domain name that conveys the spirit and value proposition of your brand or value proposition.
Other considerations also play a part in domain name selection besides language considerations, including availability and compliance with your brand’s legal requirements. Furthermore, domain extensions like (.com.net.ca or org) could provide more relevant options that meet industry or target audience demands. For the Silo, Grant Polachek.
Conclusion:
In today’s digitally competitive landscape, harnessing linguistics as part of your domain name selection strategy can give your online presence a significant edge. Harnessing their power can give them a significant competitive advantage by understanding basic linguistic principles and considering historical context when selecting domain names for online ventures, harnessing their power can give them a significant competitive advantage. Words hold power that can impact perceptions and emotions and ultimately leave a lasting, impactful memory, so make wise selections when selecting names for online endeavors to maximize their full potential and achieve maximum returns from online ventures!
2023 marks 103 years since women were legally allowed to vote in the United States and 107 years since women were provided suffrage in the Western provinces of Canada.
It’s been about 3 weeks since many women celebrated Women’s Equality Day.
This day marks a significant turning point in the history of the struggle for equal treatment of women and women’s rights. In acknowledgment, we decided to look at some of the most successful women in business and how they made their millions (or in some cases, billions!).
The barriers to progress for women in the workforce are troubling.
How organizations deal with these barriers in the future will determine how our societies progress. After all, why would you want to ignore nearly half of the world’s workforce?
It’s time to celebrate the achievements of those who are paving the way for our future female leaders, CEO’s, scientists, bankers, journalists and media moguls.
In this info-graphic, we’ll show you some interesting facts about the current state of women in the workplace, gender equality and the pay gap. We’ll also give you some lesser known facts about the inspirational women we’ve chosen to profile, with information on their most prolific achievements.
If you’re in need of some girl power or motivation, then look no further than these business women who broke the mold. For the Silo, Angus Kirk.
The rise of AI is truly remarkable. It is transforming the way we work, live, and interact with each other, and with so many other touchpoints of our lives. However, while AI aggregates, dyslexic thinking skills innovate. If used in the right way, AI could be the perfect co-pilot for dyslexics to really move the world forward. In light of this, Virgin and Made By Dyslexia have launched a brilliant campaign to show what is possible if AI and dyslexic thinking come together. The film below says it all.
As the film shows, AI can’t replace the soft skills that index high in dyslexics – such as innovating, lateral thinking, complex problem solving, and communicating.
If you ask AI for advice on how to scale a brand that has a record company – it offers valuable insights, but the solution lacks creative instinct and spontaneous decision making. If I hadn’t relied on my intuition, lateral thinking and willingness to take a risk, I would have never jumped from scaling a record company to launching an airline – which was a move that scaled Virgin into the brand it is today.
Together, dyslexic thinkers and AI are an unstoppable force, so it’s great to see that 72% of dyslexics see AI tools (like ChatGPT) as a vital starting point for their projects and ideas – according to new research by Made By Dyslexia and Randstad Enterprise. With help from AI, dyslexics have limitless power to change the world, but we need everyone to welcome our dyslexic minds. If businesses fail to do this, they risk being left behind. As the Value of Dyslexia report highlighted, dyslexic skillsets will mirror the World Economic Forum’s future skills needs by 2025. Given the speed at which technology and AI have progressed, this cross-over has arrived two years earlier than predicted.
With all of this in mind, it’s concerning to see a big difference between how HR departments think they understand and support dyslexia in the workplace, versus the experience of dyslexic people themselves.
The new research also shows that 66% of HR professionals believe they have support structures in place for dyslexia, yet only 16% of dyslexics feel supported in the workplace. It’s even sadder to see that only 14% of dyslexic employees believe their workplace understands the value of dyslexic thinking. There is clearly work to be done here.
To empower dyslexic thinking in the workplace (which has the two-fold benefit of bringing out the best in your people and in your business), you need to understand dyslexic thinking skills. To help with this, Made By Dyslexia is launching a workplace training course later this year on LinkedIn Learning – and you can sign up for it now. The course will be free to access, and I’m delighted that Virgin companies from all across the world have signed up for it – from Virgin Australia, to Virgin Active Singapore, to Virgin Plus Canada and Virgin Voyages. It’s such an insightful course, designed by experts at Made By Dyslexia to educate people on how to understand, support, and empower dyslexic thinking in the workplace, and make sure businesses are ready for the future.
It’s always inspiring to see how Made By Dyslexia empowers dyslexics, and shows the world the limitless power of dyslexic thinking. If businesses can harness this power, and if dyslexics can harness the power of AI – we can really drive the future forward. Richard Branson, Founder at Virgin Group.
Bookkeeping is tedious for most business owners unless you are a seasoned accountant or a fan of working with numbers. That is because businesses have a lot of financial details that need to be recorded, for instance, which supplier should be paid, outstanding customers, equipment to buy, significant purchases to make, and more. Without an accounting and bookkeeping system, you may lose essential business data, miss important goals, or make uninformed decisions that may affect your company’s finances.
Proper money-handling strategies are integral in any business as it helps you keep track of your long-term goals, improve your profits, and streamline seasonal cash flow changes. In addition, it will help your business stay out of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service or IRS.
By adopting good bookkeeping habits, you can avoid costly errors when it comes to record keeping. You can opt to have an in-house team to handle all your bookkeeping services, but this can be un-economical for small business owners. To save on cost, you can work with a bookkeeping agency, which often offers professional online and virtual services in Canada at very fair rates.
Here are seven tips for better bookkeeping for businesses in Canada.
Separate Your Business and Personal Finances
If you are a sole business owner, you should learn to separate your personal and business accounts. This will help you maintain records of every business and personal spending and help you keep the boundary to alleviate eating into the business growth finances.
For limited liability companies, the business is a separate entity from you, and your finances should be kept separate. That means you need to know which assets belong to the business and which are yours. By eliminating all personal transactions from the business accounts, you will lower the number of transactions the bookkeeper needs to categorize and reconcile. Additionally, your tax preparation and filing process will be seamless. You can find a bookkeeper in Canada to help you separate your accounts and provide outsourced business and personal bookkeeping services.
Control Your Business Credit
One of the common signs of an insolvent business is the inability to make payments promptly. The company may need better credit scores, lack of funding, or challenges in fulfilling its working capital needs.
When your business depends on bank financing to fund everyday operations, you will need help to pay back your high-interest debt. Therefore, you need to do due diligence before taking external funding.
You should set strict deadlines for your clients to pay what they owe and consider blocklisting repeat offenders that are taking advantage of you. Eliminate any late payments, as it is just like an interest-free loan. Your business may quickly become a cash-flow crisis if you lack rigorous credit control.
Track Business Expenses
Business expenses may be claimed against tax; therefore, tracking them is crucial if you want to cut overhead and maintain a healthy cash flow. You should always use a business credit card and keep records of expenses based on business activity.
Categorizing your expenses can be crucial, especially when your business is undergoing an CRA audit. The numbers on tax returns are often estimates, and these records help offer supporting evidence. Always remember that even trivial expenses will add up, and having records of everything can be helpful in the long run.
Overspending negatively affects any business; hence, keeping track of your expenses will ensure you track all your expenditures. Always remember that every dollar that you spend takes the business one step away from making a profit. Therefore, when running a business, keep a close watch on all your expenses, understand the benefit you gain from each expense, and document everything carefully. With outsourced online bookkeeping services, you can keep track of all your business expenses and maintain good records.
Schedule Routine Bookkeeping Times
As a business owner, you are handling many things at once, which can eat into the time you can use to monitor your financial record books.
The best way to keep your accounts is by consistently scheduling times to balance your books or working with a bookkeeping company in Canada. You can set aside time when your credit card statement is due and check through your monthly transactions to ensure everything is accurate. Although this task will take about one or two hours, it will simplify your life during the tax season by making tax preparation and filing much more effortless.
Create Budgets For Your Expenses And Set Financial Goals
Planning for business expenses, especially significant purchases, can help you best utilize your business resources and credit while giving you the peace of mind you need. Setting up and reviewing business budgets is directly related to the success of your business.
According to research, small businesses that regularly review their budgets on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis have success rates of 95%, 75%, and 25%, respectively. Therefore, if you want your business to succeed, you must have relatively high unused credit balances. In addition, you should also ensure your budget is monitored regularly, understand the benefits of using credit for your company, and be able to earmark the right amount of business payroll expenses.
Automate Manual Processes
One of the best accounting tips for growing businesses and start-ups is automating routine bookkeeping. Most accounting and bookkeeping activities are repetitive, and automating them will make your work easier and seamless.
Some repetitive bookkeeping processes you can automate include paying employees’ salaries monthly, following up on late invoices, and tracking invoices you send to customers. In addition, you can also automate the calculation of mileage payments for employee reimbursements and document utility bills in a central database.
Business owners can make life much easier by utilizing unified accounting project management solutions to help track expenses, automatically send invoices, and generate customized reports.
Consider Hiring a Tax Accountant
Investing in a seasoned tax accountant near me can be valuable for your business, even if the professional commits just a few hours every week or month to work on your small business bookkeeping and accounting needs.
A certified bookkeeper will record income and expenses and categorize them for a specified period. Conversely, a chartered accountant will help file your business taxes and set up your business’s accounting backbone. A reputable bookkeeping company will have certified tax consultants near me ready to assist you.
With an expert bookkeeper or chartered accountant handling all financial tasks, business owners can focus entirely on their business to attract customers and satisfy existing clients. They can also develop new products and services and grow their business.
Final Thoughts
Bookkeeping is a necessary evil that businesses cannot escape because almost everything depends on it. With an accurate and robust accounting system, you will get information about the business’s cash flow, performance, and financial condition, and it will help you make informed financial decisions. With the tips mentioned above in mind, you can ensure your small business bookkeeping records are available and can make better decisions for your business. You can also eliminate the headache of bookkeeping by outsourcing this function to a certified bookkeeper to help you out. Having a safe pair of skilled hands providing bookkeeping services for small businesses will give you, as the business owner, the confidence and freedom to lead from the front by focusing more on growing your business.
When I think about whether working from home is right for any person, I remember a story that Richard Kiosaki told in his book “Poor Dad- Rich Dad”. He talks about his two dads who had two very different mentalities about money. One had the mentality of an employee and the other of a business owner. Both dads believed they were giving correct advice although they were advising exactly the opposite.
His “poor” dad told him to choose employment because it offered job security and corporate ladder, where he could become somebody after years of being promoted. The “rich” dad asked him to choose the path of an independent business owner because that way he could work for something that he owns.
Of course when you talk to most people about starting your own business and having a passion about some new idea, you will get two main reactions.
There will be … The Naysayers – These are the people who will tell you, “you will never make it” and that you are “stupid to attempt the impossible”.
But then you will find people who are…
The supporters – These are the people who will say go for it. They say “don’t worry” and “we will be there for you when you need us”.
While you may have your questions and even your doubts, listening to the naysayers will never get you where you want to go. Listen to those who will ask good questions, who will give you good advice and support you if your desire is to do something unique and be your own boss.
The fact is, working from home has some fantastic advantages. 1. Flexibility When you are juggling a family and other obligations, having a work from home business is a huge bonus. Firstly, you can more easily accommodate your customers in all the different time zones. Rather than being tied down to a regular office hour routine, having the ability to work part time or full time, takes on a whole new meaning.
2. Your overhead costs are reduced You will save money on gas, the wear and tear your vehicle (not to mention the wear and tear on your nerves), office space and utilities. The reality is that with those savings you can be a lot more flexible in how you are pricing your product.
3. Testing,Testing When you realize that more than 50% of all new businesses fail, then testing out your new business without a lot of overhead is common sense. When you test and tweak your home business, you can determine its viability before you start investing a lot of money!
4. Tax Benefits Many people don’t realize the major tax incentives there are for having a home business and while the tax laws are different from country to country, some of the perks are:
– A percentage for rent or mortgage costs (for the space you use to operate your business)
– A percentage for utility bills such as gas, electricity, water
– Business operating software and management tools, which also includes webpages etc.
– Phone and communications, including internet expenses
and of course the biggest tax saving
The initial investment you paid to start your business
5. Experience A home based business will allow you to gain invaluable business experience and business skills such as internet marketing, identifying markets, learning how to market yourself and all the other traits needed to run a successful home business. This experience can be transferred to other projects that you wish to pursue.
6. Turning Creativity into a profit Creating a home business is the ideal way to turn your hobbies or passions into a business that will be unique to your talents and what you really love to do.
You also have to be realistic in understanding what owning a home business is all about! “Working from home”, it has a wonderful sound to it doesn’t it? I bet many of you have visions in your head of sleeping in, lazing around and working when the mood strikes you right?
Like anything else there are also challenges that you should take into consideration and create a plan on tackling them. Any problem can be solved as long as you are prepared for what is coming your way.
1. Motivation It’s great to be your own boss, but with no code of conduct to follow or formal routines to keep you on track, it’s easy to fall into the trap of putting off doing your business and procrastination. If you have an ineffective time management schedule, it makes it hard to reach your goals.
Solution Make sure that you follow your passion and this will help you with getting motivated and working extra time when needed. 2. Lack of privacy Unless you have a separate office set up, privacy can be a big concern. For example if you have created your office near the family room, and your house guests drop by, they will be near your work area. Your documents, work and even files can be fair game to everyone! Take that thought one step further and if you have kids, they will come in and distract you while you work
. Solution
Create your own workspace and set your own hours. Make everyone aware that when you are working you can’t be disturbed and if anyone needs your help they need to respect your schedule like everyone else.
Finding a workplace that offers privacy can be a challenge at first. We don’t recommend setting up a home office in your bathroom. CP image: guardian.co.uk
3.Learning When starting a home based business, you are going to have to develop a lot of new skills, which will take time. You will be wearing many hats and in the beginning you won’t be able to afford to hire specialists who can quickly and efficiently do new tasks to you. You will have to learn things which you never thought you would need to learn.
Solution This generally is a positive thing. You would never embark on new challenges if it wasn’t for your business. As the oldsaying goes, “knowledge is power” and along with building your business you are becoming an expert in new domains.
4.While its nice to be the boss, you will find that you will be facing unexpected situations you will have to deal with on your own. When you make a mistake you will be dealing with the consequences on your own.
Solution Being the Boss is rewarding but paying unnecessary bills for unqualified decisions is not fun.
“One of the most important leadership lessons is realizing, you are not the most important person or the most intelligent person in the room at all times.”
~ Mario Btali
5.Loneliness is a huge downside to running your own business at home. In the beginning you love the fact that you can get your work done, but after a few days or weeks, you may find that you are tired of hearing your own voice.
It’s a sort of dread that happens and you might turn to such things as web surfing or chatting with friends to relieve the nervousness you may experience.
Solution
In business you need to talk to people about your ideas and brainstorm to see if they are workable. Set up a “support system” early in your business, and you will find yourself not only running into less problems, but you will have someone to exchange your ideas with and have good conversation when you need to step away from daily tasks.
6. Legalities. Most people do not realize that whether you are “telecommuting” or creating a home based business, you need to be sure that you are covered by insurance, that you have checked zoning laws, and that you have the proper paperwork for taxes. Completing paperwork like NDA forms is important to safeguard your business.
Solution First don’t worry about not knowing all the legalities. The Government and your suppliers will quickly communicate to you what your obligations are. They will scream loudest, and you will comply with their demands. 7. Dependency. Most people do not realize that even as a business owner, you need to create team of people who you work with. In case of a car accident, you still want to come back to functional business and want to have someone who can handle daily tasks where you are not around.
Solution Have family, business partners or a team of supporters be involved early in your business, at the very least have part time bookkeeper or a person who will answer phones for you when you are away. 7. Balancing your life. Working at home can cause a lot of stress in your life, juggling the needs of your family with the needs of your work and for some people it can cause a lot of strain in their relationships. You will want to take vacations which will require someone to look after your business while you rest and recharge. You will need to plan for things like this, so you are not surprised by life, because life has a tendency to surprise us when we least expect it.
Solution Although business is important at all times, you will not be able to benefit from it if you are stressed, tired and sick. Implement periodic holidays and time away from your work. Leave your home far enough so you can’t do anything business related while you are away. This will provide you with time to recharge.
As you can see having a home business can be a very workable solution to creating a good income. However, like anything, you need to look at all sides of the equation. Ask yourself the question, will you take the advice of the “poor” dad and be the employee or the “rich” dad and choose the path of becoming an independent business owner.
For me, I chose to be an independent owner and I have never had any regrets!
Like other authors who write about innovation, I love Thomas Edison stories. He was an inventive genius and found the code to serial innovation more than 120 years ago.
That code is still in use by companies like IDEO who’ve learned his lessons and both improved upon them and added to them. But the basic core is still the same.
Less well known is Edison’s entrepreneurial side. He put financiers, government officials, politicians and inventors like himself together in an inspired coalition that built the first electrical grid in New York City. After all, what good is a light bulb if you don’t have a source of electricity to power it?
But his inventions were not always successful, nor were his attempts to market and sell them.
For example, very few people today know about Edison’s talking doll. Expected to sell during the 1890 Christmas season, she was a marketing failure.
Creepy even for the 19th Century
I think she looks like the “Bride of Chucky” and is more than a little spooky. Talking, animated objects are commonplace today, but Edison was the first to have the idea and execute it.
Click on any image to hear Edison’s doll speak.
What gave her voice was a tiny version of the phonograph – another of his inventions. He thought it would be novel to make a talking doll and hoped it would catch on. The doll market was already thriving, so a talking doll could potentially reach the top of the heap.
But not all of Edison’s creativity turned into cash, and his Bride of Chucky was a dismal failure. The little talking machine went inside the doll with the handle protruding from her back. Edison produced 2,500 of the dolls but only 500 sold. They were $10 each — two weeks of the average pay back in 1890 – and many of those sold were returned for quality problems.
Edison quickly turned his back on her.
I particularly like this story because it shows the critical difference between innovation and entrepreneurship. Great ideas are not always great opportunities. Opportunities possess five characteristics that differentiate them from great ideas:
Durability – They keep creating value over time.
Sustainability – The organization has the willpower, manpower and resources to sustain the idea through failure, rethinking and reformulation.
Defensibility – The potential return on investment makes it worth the time, resources and risk that accompany all new ventures, thus making it worth doing this over doing something else.
It creates value – It creates value for the person willing to reach into their pockets for money to pay for the intangible form and thus it creates value for the company.
It is compelling – The Innovation is differentiated in some critical way that makes a customer segment just have to have it.
Entrepreneurs differ substantially from innovators because they have the discipline to determine whether a great idea is also a great opportunity. This takes a lot of work, failure, rethinking and, most of all, passion to get you through all of this vetting. Many innovators lose interest after the idea stage and don’t understand that innovation without value creation may be fun – but it’s also folly.
Edison, like many other inventors, fell in love with his baby and he built a bunch of them, assuming a slam dunk in the market. In fact, these dolls were not just spooky looking, they were big and heavy and cost a lot of money.
Edison’s enthusiasm for his ability to make a talking doll was not counterbalanced by the discipline necessary to determine whether the idea was just that or a real opportunity. He was so eager to produce them that he didn’t ask if the market wanted such an invention and at what price.
I am sure that Edison was OK with failure, as he once said that he had not failed in his efforts to create the light bulb, but rather found a thousand ways that didn’t work. For the Silo, Neal Thornberry, Ph.D.
August, 2022 – Business investment in Canada is so weak that capital per member of the labour force is falling, and the implications for incomes and competitiveness are ominous. Governments, particularly the federal government, need to get serious about growth to get workers more of the tools they require to compete and thrive, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
In “Decapitalization: Weak Business Investment Threatens Canadian Prosperity”, authors William B.P. Robson and Mawakina Bafale write that since 2015 Canada’s stock of capital per available worker has been declining and its rate of gross investment per worker has been well below that in the United States and other OECD countries.
Capital= Business “bread and butter”
They examine why Canada might be lagging as well as what action to take.
“Business investment and productivity are closely related: productivity growth inspires investment by creating opportunities, and investment drives productivity growth by equipping workers with more and better tools,” says Robson. “Investment per available worker lower in Canada than abroad tells us that businesses see less opportunity in Canada, and prefigures weaker growth in Canadian earnings and living standards than in other OECD countries.”
New investment per available worker in Canada, adjusted for purchasing power, was only slightly above 50 cents for every dollar of investment per available United States worker in 2021 – lower than at any point since the beginning of the 1990s. In addition, in 2022, OECD projections show that Canadian workers will likely enjoy only 73 cents of new capital for every dollar enjoyed by their counterparts in the OECD excluding the US, according to Robson and Bafale.
The authors’ calculations from OECD projections for 2022 show $20,400 of new capital per available worker this year for OECD countries excluding the United States, compared to $14,800 for Canada.
In other words, new capital per available worker in Canada will be more than one-quarter less than in those countries this year.
Declines in the stock of machinery and equipment (M&E) and intellectual property (IPP) per member of the workforce are particularly worrisome, the authors explain, because those types of capital may be particularly important for economy-wide productivity. “Whatever special messages the recent M&E and IPP numbers may convey, the message from stocks of business capital overall is clear: the average member of Canada’s labour force began 2022 with less capital to work with than she or he had in 2014,” says Bafale.
Robson and Bafale identify a few probable causes for Canada’s dismal investment performance. These include: weak business in the natural resource industries; restricted access to finance for small and mid-size firms; a loss in Canada’s competitive edge in business taxation, notably against the United States; an uncongenial environment for IP investment; regulatory uncertainly; unpredictable fiscal policy; and governments’ in-house spending and transfers to households that are steering resources into consumption and housing rather than non-residential investment.
Is business investment capital trajectory predetermined?
“The prospect that Canadians will find themselves increasingly relegated to lower value-added activities relative to workers in the United States and elsewhere, who are raising their productivity and earnings faster, should spur Canadian policymakers to action,” conclude Robson and Bafale. “The first step is to recognize that recent trends are a symptom of threats to Canada’s prosperity and competitiveness – that low business investment is a problem that governments can and should address.”
Supplemental- Are you a small Canadian business frustrated with the difficulties involved in accessing capital? For example, our experience has shown that the multitude of Business Development Corporations operate with autonomy but without accountability, poor vision and nepotism. Essentially, gleaning business plans and strategies before revealing ‘jump through these application hoops” which include personal finance and personal life details. It is sobering to discover that they also receive a hefty commission % for every applicant they ‘certify as successful’. Do you agree or have you had a more positive experience? We want to hear from you in the comments below.
Building a team is never easy, but it is one of the most important tasks within any company.
No matter how small or big a specific company is, some people do their best to deliver high-quality services and products, while working together.
Using a “Rage Cage” this Montreal company sets team members up with a variety of hand held weapons and lets them loose to destroy all kinds of items such as mirrors and glassware. See link below for details.
For great results, people need the right atmosphere, the right knowledge, and a great working atmosphere that enables them to learn and make mistakes (and learn from them), while at the same time they are experiencing different team challenges and great moments.
Plunged into darkness in this Montreal Restaurant, team members must work together. For details see the link below.
For a team to be successful and deliver, there must be a certain level of team cohesiveness, that enables people to be productive, effective, and communicate properly.
Not sure how some teams achieve this? Check the tips listed below to learn and implement.
Success Comes With Great Team Building
Teams that have fun, are teams that deliver. This is why team-building activities are so important.
Yes, some teams only need a weekly coffee to help them bond, while others need more frequent and more intense activities.
Learning to relax and breathe effectively. That’s the services offered by this Montreal team building company. See the link below for more info.
On the other hand, if you want to help your employees to bond further, while also they are exploring something new at a more durable pace than you should think about team building activities Montreal – team bonding experts know that the average person will spend 90,000 hours working throughout their life, which is why knowing co-workers is important, and no better way to get to know someone than through fun activity, such as cooking class, exploring the outdoors or doing some charity work.
For example, some teams are really into an active lifestyle and they need activities that will push them to work together and go for that medal (this is why competent sports are great team-building activities).
This Montreal company teaches teams how to sculpt ice. For details see the link above.
Establish The Rules
Every organization needs rules. Thanks to rules things happen. This is why teams should have their own rules, no matter how small or big they might be.
For a team to be great, they need essential rules that will help them stay on track.
If everyone knows the rules and follows them success is inevitable. For rules to be mindful, there must be goals.
Next to this have clear expectations and make sure that everyone understands their role within the team.
Establish Honest Communication
Communication is the key when it comes to working with people. Open and honest communication is something teat people appreciate and expect. This is why a clear line of communication is so important as much as having the right tools to keep everything communication-related in one place.
Be transparent as much as possible, without putting extra pressure on team members.
Ensuring communication creates a feeling of group cohesion. Why? This way everyone has a strong sense of belonging and inclusion.
Last But Not Least…
Do not forget to reward people. People love to see that their efforts are being appreciated and seen. This is why implementing any kind of reward and recognition system is important.
Have monthly work reviews, and reward the most productive team members as an example for doing great work. For the Silo, Bill Gordon. Featured image- Allez Up! Indoor climbing for team building.
Will invest AED 62.4 million / $16.99 million USD / $21.82 million CAD on constructing UAE’s first used battery recycling centre in Ras Al Khaimah.
Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) welcomed Royal Gulf Industries, a state-of-the-art lead acid battery recycling company, to its dynamic industrial ecosystem. A subsidiary of Hyderabad Castings Limited and part of Nakhat Group, the new company is set to invest AED 62.4 million (USD 17 million) to construct the UAE’s first environment-friendly automotive battery recycling centre on approximately 110,000 ft2 of land at Al Ghail Industrial Zone. Royal Gulf Industries will employ more than 150 people in its facility, which is set to be ready in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The company aims to recycle up to 35,000 metric tonnes of used lead acid batteries annually.
This will produce 21,500 tonnes of lead ingots and 2,400 metric tonnes of plastic granules. Both of these materials will be largely exported to India, Japan, Korea, China and Europe for the manufacturing of new lead acid batteries and cases. This activity accounts for recycling around 58% of the lead acid battery scrap generated in the UAE.
Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of RAKEZ, and Yogesh Nakhat Jain, Managing Director of Royal Gulf Industries, marked the beginning of the recycling unit’s construction during a recent signing ceremony held between the two parties at the RAKEZ Compass Coworking Centre.
Toshiba Lead Acid EV battery.
“We are very excited to start our journey in the UAE, where we will be fully recycling battery waste in an environment-friendly way. We aim to collect waste batteries not just from the UAE, but also import from around the world to make Ras Al Khaimah a hub for recycling” said Hanuman Mal Nakhat, Chairman of Royal Gulf Industries.
Discarded batteries are a gold mine for prospective recyclers.
“RAKEZ has supported us every step of the way in turning this massive project into a reality. Our customer experience so far has been excellent as we have received support not just for our company registration, but also for developing our business in the UAE. From liaising with government entities, including Environment Protection and Development Authority, RAK Municipality, Waste Management Authority and Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology on our behalf to secure the relevant approvals, to hosting us during our visits to Ras Al Khaimah in the past three years of planning the company’s set-up formalities. The team also helped us find the right suppliers and connect with construction companies. We are confident that RAKEZ will continue to play a crucial role in the fulfilment of our vision by offering us all the assistance and support during our business journey,” he added.
Jallad said: “We are glad to be the chosen base for Royal Gulf Industries’ pioneering recycling facility in the UAE. Ras Al Khaimah’s leadership has been striving for environment sustainability. Hence, Royal Gulf Industries, along with other RAKEZ companies in the closed-loop supply chain complement the emirate’s efforts.” He added, “These companies boost the country’s non-oil GDP and advance the national sustainability agenda. We are committed to support their goal of making an impact in the planet through our nurturing and collaborative industrial ecosystem.”
In its second phase spanning three years, Royal Gulf Industries plans to invest about AED 125 million / $34.03 million USD / $43.71 million CAD and create 350 jobs in Ras Al Khaimah. The company also aims to make the UAE a hub for recycling metals, creating global supply chains.
Building a business is one of the hardest things to do, especially when one is trying to build a business bigger than Victoria’s Secret, who owns 50 percent of the lingerie industry.
But, Catalina Girald, founder of Naja Lingerie is setting out to do just that.
Going for Soul Not Sex – changing the lingerie industry one pair at a time : Inside Naja Lingerie by Catalina Girald
Headquartered in Medellin, Colombia, with offices in San Francisco and New York, Catalina found a niche in the already dominated lingerie industry. Having worn Victoria’s Secret for most of her life it was when she became a professional that she started to see that the highly popular brand overly sexualized women. As a business woman, Catalina no longer felt comfortable wearing such lingerie and decided to design her own. “My aim is beyond making high-quality bras and panties. I want to create a lifestyle brand. I see it as the Athleta of what happens in your bedroom and bath.”
Her mission to create an alternative lingerie brand for women has a long journey ahead, but Catalina remains focused.
Seeing beyond the needs of women and staying in tune with the digital force of today’s society, Ms. Girald’s small yet powerful brand, Naja Lingerie is changing the game in more ways than one. With quotes printed inside each of the panties, designed to empower women and the brand going completely e commerce, Naja lingerie is for women who want to be radically different. Never forgetting the core of her mission, the company’s Underwear for Hope program donates a percentage of purchases to the Golondrinas Foundation in Medellin, where Girald was born. The foundation teaches impoverished women, skills such as sewing which allows them to support their families. They sew the wash-bags that come with each Naja purchase.
Each collection is inspired by the founder’s travels around the world.
From living with nomads in Mongolia to learning about the weaving process in Indonesia and living among the Hmong people in Vietnam, Catalina’s 18 month spiritual journey throughout Asia brought ideas and life to Naja lingerie. It wasn’t always that way for Catalina who was once at the top of her career as an attorney over at Skadden Arps, one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Looking to create something greater, Catalina Girald started attending the acclaimed New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology–literally sneaking off to classes in between meetings at Skadden. Ultimately, she left Skadden to pursue her MBA at Stanford University where the Colombian born entrepreneur founded one of the first venture-funded fashion sites (MOXSIE) for independent designers which was later acquired.
Introducing Naja, the inventive online lingerie brand that speaks volumes
Naja, a digitally driven, forward-thinking innovator in the lingerie industry, has officially launched to rave reviews. Naja, billed as the “radically different, thoughtful lingerie brand for smart, courageous and sexy women”, was pioneered by Colombian-born CEO, Catalina Girald. No stranger to the fashion and technology industries, Catalina founded MOXSIE, one of the first venture-funded fashion sites for independent designers which was later sold to Fab.com. Naja is a breath of fresh air in an industry that hasn’t changed appreciably in decades. When asked about the direction of the new firm, Founder Catalina Girald answered, “We celebrate strong women. We’ve done away with fans blowing fake wind into our models’ hair, and old, dated lingerie designs. Our fresh designs, pricing and mission to empower women are challenging the industry, and we’re building the first billion-dollar online lingerie brand for the next generation woman.”
Today, women looking for fashionable bras under $80USD [$103CAD] have limited choices, including Victoria’s Secret.
However, a growing number of shoppers have expressed dissatisfaction with the mass retailer, citing a lack of innovative designs, low construction quality, and environmental impact amongst their concerns. Naja changes all of that. The company offers exclusive designs paired with the highest quality of fabrics, placing significant focus on structural changes and better product design. Features reserved almost exclusively for luxury lingerie, such as breathable memory foam cups and ultrasonic sealed straps, are now being brought to consumers at fair prices.
Naja uses Peruvian sourced Pima cotton for the softest feel and intelligent fabrics with odor and sweat wicking properties for real women with performance needs, all while remaining health and eco-conscious by using no phthalate materials and water based dyes.
The capsule collection, inspired by Tattoos and Japanese Shunga, consists of a basic line and three groups including “The Secret Lives of Sparrows”, “One Night in Cashmere”, and “Miyoko Loves a Dragon”. The collection is characterized by innovative and surprising prints on the interior of all the bra cups, so that every woman can carry her own little secret. All of the fabrics are exclusively designed for Naja by a local San Francisco Tattoo artist and are individually hand printed making each piece slightly unique. In keeping with Catalina’s vision of making great design accessible, the collection is fairly priced with bras ranging from $45USD to $70USD [$56CAD to $90CAD] and panties ranging from $12USD to $22USD [$15CAD to $28CAD].
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Naja is the company’s dedication to changing women’s lives.
Through Naja’s Underwear for Hope program, the company donates a percentage of profits to training women in the poorest and most violent areas of the world to sew. Naja then employs them so that they can help themselves and their children. With each purchase of Naja, consumers can feel good knowing that they are contributing to changing a woman’s life. To learn more about the company’s lingerie, social mission or what sets Naja apart from others in the industry, visit http://www.Naja.co .
Aquiline Drones (AD) has now combined the fast-paced drone industry with the demand for external property care services and developed a revolutionary drone franchise business model. Specifically, the Hartford, Connecticut based drone manufacturer offers budding entrepreneurs and those with existing property maintenance companies the power of drone technology to fulfill various exterior cleaning and improvement services safely, quickly and cost-effectively.
https://youtu.be/4jF9GvBCUys
“Franchising has contributed greatly to the overall North American economy since 1731 and has proven to be a lucrative avenue for those who seek both work freedom and financial stability,” said Barry Alexander, Founder and CEO of Aquiline Drones. “There are thousands of franchises across hundreds of industries, but none like ours in the drone sector, so it’s perfect timing for those wanting to grow their business from the ground floor up.”
Franchises offer the independence of small business ownership supported by the benefits of extensive business networks.
In fact, according to Dr. Franchise’s website, there are more than 792,000 franchising companies in the United States with a projected $826.6 billion usd/ $1.07 trillion cad in revenues for 2022.
In Canada, a report from franchise101.net indicates that there are about 1,250 franchise companies operating 76,000 franchises.
According to a recent survey by Franchise Business Review, the average annual income of an American franchise owner is approximately $80,000 usd/ $104,000 cad ( According to glassdoor.ca the average income of a Canadian franchise owner is approximately $40,480 cad) ; however, this number varies based on the motivation of the owner, and the particular business industry. “Clearly, the sky is the limit and with a drone franchise given the rapidly evolving and lucrative drone services market, a new franchisee can literally dominate an entire region in a very short period,” adds Alexander. “In fact, we are already seeing substantial interest since we announced this unique and creative franchise model with customers already purchasing our equipment.”
Besides its high earning potential, other advantages of AD’s drone franchise include: direct training, easy-to-secure financing, lower investment costs, piggybacking off an established corporate brand, proven management and work practices, and ongoing support – all creating a higher rate of success than other start-up companies in the same business category.
Similarly, AD’s drone services franchise will offer the prospective franchisee in-depth training through its well-established Flight to the Future (F2F) commercial drone pilot training program.
The franchisee receives in-person flight training for many commercial applications, including total exterior property care, through the program.
In addition, AD’s proprietary Drone-On-Demand (DoD) mobile app, downloadable on Google Play Store (Apple iOS in July), will match customer service requests nationwide with drone service providers within proximity to the requested jobs.
Flexible financing and insurance options are currently being organized through AD and its subsidiary, Aquiline Drones Indemnity Corporation for new franchisees and established businesses alike.
Individuals can purchase various commercial, American-made drone models through AD’s manufacturing department depending on their desired business scale and goals.
“There is a distinct fascination with drone technology supporting ordinary and dangerous business operations,” adds Alexander.
“We founded our company on the underlying mission that drones should enhance, preserve and save human lives, and certainly many of those in the outdoor property care industry put themselves at risk every day.”
Specific exterior maintenance services supported by AD’s unique franchise model include:
Roof washing and gutter cleaning
Solar panel washing
Roof and home inspections
Ice melting and removal with steam
Window washing for both residential and commercial structures
Spraying and fumigating pesticides for ticks, mosquitoes, wasp nests, etc.
Seeding and fertilizing lawns, farms and golf courses
Sterilization of stadiums, streets, and other outdoor facilities
Alexander also highlights that specific drone use cases can create direct cost-savings for the consumer.
For example, solar energy has been taking the world by storm and homeowners have been using it to save money on their electricity bills, add value to their property, and sometimes make a little money from the utility company. According to Sunbadger.com, 16.4 million American homes currently use solar panels as their primary electricity source and regular cleaning ensures that they are working more efficiently, hence allowing for maximum tax credits, rebates and other federal and state incentives.
According to the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, Canada has more than 43,000 solar (PV) energy installations on residential, commercial and industrial rooftops, providing power directly to those homes and businesses.
“Cleaning solar panels with a drone is much safer than traditional methods and could viably save a homeowner money by increasing its efficiency by 15-25%, a welcomed bonus with today’s economic inflation,” said Alexander.
AD is offering its innovative franchise system as a 3-tiered business opportunity:
All-inclusive package – drone pilot training, business registration as an LLC, drone and associated hardware (hoses and pumps for low and high-pressure spray washing), ratio-ed territory exclusivity, job leads through the AD DoD, marketing, branding and support services.
Standard Package – for those already managing exterior maintenance or spray washing companies – drone pilot training, drone hardware, specs for equipment and pumps, access to the AD DoD job or mission requests, support services.
F2F Graduates – for those already certified through AD’s Flight to the Future program , some discounting will apply. Other items include hoses and pumps for low and high-pressure spraying, ratio-ed territory exclusivity, job leads through the AD DoD, company marketing, branding and support services.
Other benefits of the AD franchise model as compared to a traditional franchise company include, a modest start-up cost without needing an expensive, fixed building lease since all drone missions take place outdoors, single proprietor ownership vs. needing multiple employees up front, affordable drone insurance offered by AD’s insurance subsidiary instead of requiring pricy market liability insurance, flexible and accessible AD lines of credit for the initial investment vs. having to incur market loans.
“Whether one is seeking a career change in a burgeoning industry or a company looking to expand its book of business, the AD drone franchise represents a viable revenue stream and scalable fee structure for both new entrants and experienced business owners alike.” For the Silo, Alisa Picerno.
TORONTO — The Ontario government is supporting jobs in the province’s hospitality and agriculture sectors by allowing eligible local brewers to sell their beer at farmers’ markets. Expanding the farmers’ market program to include beer, announced in the 2021 Ontario Budget, is part of the government’s commitment to support brewers, winemakers and distillers working in the province’s alcohol manufacturing industries and to help them respond to the impacts of COVID-19.
This is a great combination for my constituency in Haldimand-Norfolk – and others whom have multiple farmers markets and many craft brewers.
“Our government is committed to supporting job growth in communities across Ontario by standing up for our vibrant hospitality, alcohol and agriculture sectors,” said Attorney General Doug Downey. “Providing local brewers with the opportunity to join wineries, cideries and distillers in selling their products at farmers’ markets is another breakthrough for the many jobs and families that are supported by Ontario’s diverse alcohol manufacturing industry.”
Allowing the sale of locally-made craft beer at farmers’ markets builds on other measures to help businesses respond to COVID-19, including:
permanently allowing restaurants and bars to sell alcohol with food takeout and delivery orders, including mixed cocktails and growlers
reducing the minimum price of spirits consumed at licensed establishments to align with the reduced pricing introduced for takeout and delivery orders
allowing the length of time for temporary patio extensions to be set out by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
permitting alcohol service on docked boats with a liquor sales licence
giving licensed establishments and retailers more flexibility in using liquor delivery services
“Supporting local business has never been more important and our government is making it convenient for consumers to pair up eligible Ontario craft beer, wine, cider and spirits with all the fresh and delicious food found at farmers’ markets,” said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “Supporting local producers shows our commitment to the province’s agri-food sector while creating more jobs for Ontarians.”
“Ontario’s local brewers play a key role in Ontario’s agri-food sector, supporting jobs and contributing to local economies across the province,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “With this expansion of the farmers’ market program, our government is continuing to support businesses as they respond to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while offering more choice and convenience for consumers.”
The government continues to support Ontario manufacturers and remains committed to supporting meaningful changes to the sale, service and delivery of alcohol to increase choice and convenience for consumers and create more opportunities for businesses to expand and grow while maintaining Ontario’s high standards for social responsibility.
Quick Facts
Licensed eligible brewers across the province can apply to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to occasionally extend their on-site stores to sell Ontario beer at farmers’ markets.
Brewers whose full brewing process takes place in Ontario at their own brewery are permitted to sell their products at farmers markets.
There are more than 180 farmers’ markets in Ontario.
The government is committed to upholding the highest standards for social responsibility, including the strong regulatory framework that is in place for alcohol sales, which includes a minimum age to purchase alcohol, mandatory staff training and minimum retail prices.
Thanks to the digital technology, we can carry out commercial transactions online. We can buy and sell items or services, pay bills, make orders, and so much more.
Online enterprises are heavily relying on this commodity. This is why we have numerous online businesses nowadays.
The infographic below from Subscriptionly will inform you about the current and future tech trends that will influence the ecommerce sector. Some of the main trends are as follows.
Personalized Experience
Technology has enabled online businesses to give their customers personalized shopping experiences. For e-shoppers, this has engendered an engaging and satisfying shopping experience.
Businesses recorded an increase in revenue by employing this concept, since 48% of customers spend more when their experience is personalized.
Automated Customer Service
AI has transformed the way customer queries and complaints are attended to. Consumers now have their issues promptly resolved. It was reported that, this year, AI handled 45% of customer queries on its own. And it does this swiftly and effectively, which is definitely a factor that makes customer support a positive experience.
Excellent customer service is essential to building customer loyalty. In fact, 42% of customers buy more when they are served properly.
It is projected that, by 2020, AI will handle 85% of customer interactions.
Cryptocurrency
Soon, commercial transactions will be carried out with cryptocurrency. Via the use of cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin), customers will get to make secure payments quickly and conveniently.
Also, businesses that add cryptocurrency as a payment method will make better sales. One retail outfit did and in 5 months, it generated $2million alternative currency sales and a 60% boost in new customers.
Drone Delivery
In the nearest future, e-shoppers will possibly have their purchased items delivered the same day. When this become reality, customers will be happier and businesses will undergo a rise in brand awareness and sales. The 72% of shoppers stated they would shop and spend more if same day delivery was available.
A method that is being considered to initiate same day delivery is the drone delivery. DHL tried it and recorded a 70% improvement in first-attempt deliveries, and a 90% success in resolution of customers’ critical cases. When popularized, 40% of parcels will be drone-delivered in 2 hours by 2028. For the Silo, Josh Wardini.
Over the past few years social media stars have made a fortune online, using YouTube to create their own brand. Take a look at how they’ve made their careers and the money that they’re making. From top YouTubers to the celebs you’d forgotten started their careers online, here we take a look at the secrets to online fame and fortune.
Take a look at some of the biggest YouTube stars making millions online and find out if you could do the same! Did we miss anyone? Leave us a comment at the bottom of the post and let us know who is your favorite.
Being an entrepreneur is a calling for those who not only cope well with risk, but thrive on the challenges it presents. Those who are satisfied by the comfort of a secure job and a steady paycheque need not apply.
It’s an idea that has crossed the minds of virtually everyone who has worked for somebody else, regardless of the job.
As you put in time and labour that ultimately benefits someone else’s business, it dawns on you: Why can’t I just set up shop and do this myself? Why can’t I be the one taking home the big money after all the bills are paid and enjoying the independence of running my own show?
They’re great questions, but the answers aren’t for everybody.
Actually making the decision to give up the security of a steady job, and the regular paycheque and benefits that come along with it, takes a lot of guts and perseverance — especially in today’s highly competitive economy.
Unless you are among the fortunate ones backed by deep resources, the bottom line is this: when you first set out to become an entrepreneur, you are truly on your own. It’s just you and your idea. And it will be the marketplace — relentlessly detached and unemotional — that determines whether you make it or not.
Budding entrepreneurs who do take the risk to start up their own business generally face two key barriers — capital and human resources.
Many entrepreneurs owe their initial success to the trust of friends and family members, who invest funds in their start-up idea. These types of loans can be troublesome if the proper precautions aren’t taken. Make certain the terms of all loans from friends or relatives are spelled out clearly in a promissory note prepared by a lawyer. You may not be dealing with a bank or a financial institution, but you have to treat repayment in the same manner to avoid conflict with your lenders, who also may happen to be your best friend or your sister.
It’s also important to keep your credit record as clean as possible and establish a line of credit, which you can access for instant cash flow at certain times.
Start-ups are limited to hire only the personnel who they can afford, which often means running on a skeleton staff who may not necessarily be those with the greatest skills and experience. This is why most of us who have conceived what we think is a great idea for a business usually choose too much of the work ourselves and wear many hats in the early days.
It can take a long time to find the right employees when you’re just starting out. Some of the top talent may be reticent to work for a small start-up because they are worried about how it will look on their resume, job security or getting a bigger paycheque.
You need to find candidates who share your entrepreneurial spirit and aren’t averse to taking risks. Look for people who want get in on the ground floor and grow with the business.
As you build your company and expand your market, it’s tremendously important to have a network of mentors whose advice and counsel you trust. No matter how much thought and preparation you put into your business plan, you won’t be able to anticipate everything ahead of you. The marketplace is constantly moving and evolving, causing you and your business to adapt. This is where mentors can help, offering guidance drawn from experiences they had during similar changes in their own journeys.
My own mentors have changed as my career progressed, but they all had a common trait that served me and my businesses well — perspective. They have been able to see things clearly from a distance when my own vision may have been clouded by emotion, allowing me to make more-effective decisions. Entrepreneurship is about taking chances, but not blind ones.
Being an entrepreneur is a calling for those who not only cope well with risk, but thrive on the challenges it presents. Those who are satisfied by the comfort of a secure job and a steady paycheque need not apply. For the Silo, Paola Abate.
In a time when the sharing economy is generalizing eco-friendly solutions for a sustainable development, a European startup has brought up to date one of the oldest tourism ideas in the world to lower the carbon footprint on your next vacation. It’s called swapping or more precisely, NightSwapping.
A simple idea that is enjoyed for its human dimension, authenticity and the absence of money between members.
It is therefore with the utmost respect for traditional cultures, local territory and people that NightSwapping represents a new model for a sustainable tourism.
Has it not become common for travelers to stay at a local’s rather than hotels or resorts?
These new behaviors seem motivated by the desire to draw closer to local cultures and pass down certain values to our young ones…
Within this changing industry, a European concept has found a way to challenge the giants from the Silicon Valley. NightSwapping is the Sharing Economy at its core: no money exchanged, just sharing and authentic experiences.
A promising idea that continues to convince travelers around the world. For the Silo, Quentin Mittelett.
Have you tried this? Would you try this? Let us know in the comments below.
Who is Sir Norman Foster? A British born architect world renowned for his ground-breaking interpretations of neo futuristic and post-modern design, that’s who.
Perhaps most famously known for designing and constructing “The Gherkin” tower in London, England at a cost of 138 million pounds. This office building is sure to turn the heads of tourists and Londoners alike.
Recent research has found that over 70% of people research a small business online before making a first purchase. The online space is therefore crucial in creating traction for a new business, product, or service since it is the place where a good first impression is made. Implementing a good website and marketing strategy is paramount here since they have the ability to create a presence within the desired market and communicate with potential customers. One particular activity that is evidently successful in creating visibility for a brand and its website is advertising. Developing an advertising strategy that not only promotes a brand but ensures a valued customer journey is essential, and we’ll take a look at why below.
Considering the consumer journey
Before even exploring advertisement options, a small business must first consider their potential customer, since they will essentially drive the business. Understanding the needs of an audience will be useful in deciding what advertisement options to pursue, as a business will gain an understanding of what platforms they can be found on, such as Facebook vs Instagram. In understanding their journey, a business will be more able to make customers’ experience with the brand more enjoyable and memorable, which means the customer will be more likely to consider and complete a purchase.
As a business, it’s also essential to safeguard customers on their journey, as this will prevent them from coming into any harm and consequently avoiding the brand. This can mainly be done by preventing harmful ads from reaching customers via anti-malvertising software found on Geoedge. This can be considered as a business investment for every organisation on the internet as it puts the customer first, in turn giving the company the potential to create more revenue via increased purchases. After all, it’s typical of most people to leave a site when they are bombarded with ads: prevention is better than cure in this instance.
When it comes to creating a business ad, there’s more than one option to choose from and you can select a few or implement them all. Among the most popular are PPC, Display and SEO, not to mention social media. Whereas PPC and Display are essentially visual advertisements like banners that are displayed on websites across the internet to create attention and create traffic, SEO is a bit more technical.
SEO stands for search engine optimisation and essentially makes a website more visible among an array of competitors on search engine platforms like Google. By utilising this as an advertisement opportunity, it will help a domain’s authority ranking to increase, making a brand more visible to its audience. Plus, advertisements are also trackable and software like Comscore enables a small business to trial what advertisements work for them in order to modify them in the future.
Since the internet is accessed by millions daily, it’s easy for a new independent business to disappear within the plethora of businesses. Yet, by implementing an advertisement strategy that caters to and safeguards potential customers while creatively and strategically placing ads online, small businesses will start to see an increase in traffic.
If you are a business owner, you probably know the importance of taking care of your business to last longer. This includes various steps, such as audience retention, brand reach and customer satisfaction. There are many practices that help in building the brand and trust. Staying in touch with your audience can be a great way to build your business.
This is a great way to remind them of your service. This builds trust and authenticity. Keeping the existing customers happy can be. There are many ways one can go about staying in touch with your customers. Initially, a business can start with manual modes of staying in touch. This can be feedback calls, offers, SMS, etc.
Here are five ways to stay in touch with your customers and audience to build brand authenticity and trust.
Automated Bulk SMS
SMS is a quick way to update your customers about offers, deals, etc. Although this can be done manually up to a certain point, it gets difficult once the number increases. There are many SMS API providers that enable you to send bulk messages to your customers. Bulk SMSes helps in providing timely and personalized information to the customers.
This increases user engagement, satisfaction rates and customer lifetime values. You can check out any SMS API provider to understand the deals and go with the one that suits your requirements.
Lead Nurturing
Be it an inquiry or just someone who has come in touch with your brand, treat them as your potential customers. Lead nurturing is an integral process of branding and growing your business.
Take care of them by checking on them, letting them know about your business, offering them a solution for their needs. Be the brand that strikes them when they have a business need that is similar to yours.
By email marketing, you can nurture your leads. Send them monthly emails about the new things in your company or brand. Update them with the latest deals and offers, and invite them to experience your service. This increases brand retention.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has been on the rise and is proven to be one of the efficient ways to market in today’s digital world. Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing focuses more on the customer than the brand itself.
This is a great way to tell your customers that you care about them. Social Media marketing also enables you to have a one on one conversation with your audience.
Make sure you use this space to increase customer satisfaction and to understand your audience better. Be present on all the relevant social media handles and nail down a content strategy that will add value to your customers.
Adapting and Improvising
Adapting is a fundamental process for a business to sustain. With new trends emerging every day, it is essential to keep moving forward along with it.
Be it strategy or message; it is important to improvise it according to what the customers need at the moment.
One way you can do this is to constantly be updated. Be aware of the new trends. Keep track of your audience and their activity.
Value Customer Feedback
Be it any business; the customer is the king. You are running the business for the customers, and it is essential to value customer feedback highly. Customer feedback tells what a customer actually feels about your service. This valuable information can be used to improve your service to improve satisfaction.
A business that has an idea of a customer’s opinion goes a long way. This can also let you know about the needs of the customers.
You can send in a monthly customer feedback form the customers where they can rate their experience with you. This can be based on different areas of business like service, product, after-sales service extra.
Running a business is a journey that constantly needs an upgrade and improvisation. If you wish to run a successful long term business, you must start putting your customer before you. Little gestures you make for your customers will certainly take your business a long way.
It is a long term process, but taking customer satisfaction for granted can seriously cause great damage to your business.
Stay in touch with your audience and remind them that you care about them. This will take your business a long way and help in growing in the right direction. For The Silo, Esther Adams.
Aranyani has been impressing Western shoppers, fashionistas and savvy consumers since day one. They are founded on the classic atelier concept which originated not in Europe as many believe, but in India with the Kirana; a small, family run shop that served the community. The Kirana concept was embraced in Europe and inspired some of the fashion houses to create their own ateliers.
Standing By Their Products
Aranyani is one of the first companies in India to not only offer the highest quality artisanal products, but also one of the first to ensure that their products are ethically sourced and manufactured. The Western assumption that products from the East have compromised principles is put to rest: for starters, this company offers international free shipping and returns and are clearly committed to standing behind their products.
Aranyani artisan at work.
Standing By Their Community
Another way they are raising the bar is with the launch of the Aranyani Educational and Vocational Trust. The trust’s purpose is two-fold; to help Aranyani employees educate their children from primary through secondary school, as well as to help other children in the Bangalore neighborhood of the factory, secure funding for their public school education.
Education For Local Children
“Education should be a right not a privilege for every child. There is nothing more important to us than ensuring that the children in our community get a proper education,” says Haresh Mirpuri Founder of the Aranyani Educational and Vocational Trust.
Over the first two years, the Aranyani Education and Vocation Trust‘s funding will be fully funded by Aranyani. From September 2020 onward, 1% of the sales of the company will be contributed to the trust. During this first year, eight children of employees will be receiving funds for their public education. The goal for the second year is to fund the education for 14 of the employees’ children.
The founders are Mr. Haresh Mirpuri, Mrs. Dimple Mirpuri, Mr. Somshekhar Mirpuri, Ms. Pooja Sharma and Mr. Prashant Nair. The trust is founded in accordance with the SAI values that form the foundation of Aranyani. These values recognize service, awareness and inclusivity throughout the community.
Everyone has a relationship with money, but for women, it’s much more fraught with emotion, says Meriflor Toneatto.
When we avoid and ignore those emotions, we allow them to quietly guide our decision-making – which inevitably holds us back.
“Understanding our emotions, fears and doubts about money and how they affect our behavior can help us heal them so we can experience financial and personal freedom,” says Toneatto, an entrepreneur, certified business and life coach, and author of “Money, Manifestation & Miracles: 8 Principles for Transforming Women’s Relationship with Money.” For women, money is an emotional currency. It’s tied to our sense of self-worth and self-confidence, and our feelings of safety and security. These feelings often translate into self-limiting decisions.
The effect can be profound. Consider female entrepreneurs:
“The number of women-owned U.S and Canada. businesses is growing 1.5 times faster than the national U.S. average, but a report from 2013 found that they’re still contributing less than 4 percent of overall business revenues, about the same as they were in 2007,” Toneatto says.
“Our businesses are smaller because we’re less likely than men to borrow in order to expand. We’re afraid to take financial risks,” she says citing a U.S. Department of Commerce report..
And in the corporate world:
Women comprise half the workforce, yet hold the majority of lower-wage jobs in the United States, according to the 2014 State of the Union address.
What are the emotions shaping so many of our decisions? Toneatto cites five:
Fear: The most common emotion among women is fear. With money, we fear not having enough of it; that we’ll lose it all and never get it back. Nearly including those according to the 2013 Women, Money and Power Study.
And we fear an abundance of money. We may fail to negotiate a higher salary because we fear we can’t live up to it. Successful women may be reluctant to reach higher because we fear failure — and losing it all.
These fears often have roots in situations we were exposed worth. They send a strong signal that we need to root out their source and heal it.
Guilt: People who say things like, “I feel guilty when I spend instead of save” or “I never buy anything unless it’s on sale” have guilt feelings associated with money. These, too, are often rooted in the fears and messages we saw and heard in childhood about not having enough money. Many of us are natural nurturers who’ve gotten the message that “good” women are selfless, and so we may freely, even recklessly, spend on others while withholding from ourselves.
Shame: This painful emotion cuts whether worthy and deserving. We avoid talking about shame, and so it exerts control over us. With money, shame is commonly connected to amassing a lot of debt and hiding it because we fear being judged, humiliated, and disliked.
Anger: This emotion repels money, opportunities and people because it can leave us closed off emotionally and physically from others. It’s based in a belief in the unfairness of life and/or the unfairness of money. A person who becomes angry about money may be angry at herself for missing an opportunity or for mishandling money in the past. Anger can lead to trust issues and to over-protecting every cent – even hoarding money.
Blame: Anger and blame often go hand in hand. hand in hand. It stems from feeling disappointed or wronged because you believe your life would have been easier and/or better if someone – maybe parents or a spouse — had been able to provide you with more money. Blame can sabotage relationships with both people and money for years.
“At some point in our lives, we all have felt one or more of these emotions,” Toneatto says. “The good thing is, once you begin to recognize them, they’re like a flashing yellow ‘caution!’ light.”
About Meriflor Toneatto
Meriflor Toneatto is the founder and CEO of Power With Soul, a company dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs and professionals by helping them transform their relationship with money. The author of “Money, Manifestation & Miracles: 8 Principles for Transforming Women’s Relationship with Money.” Toneatto holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration and management and graduate certifications in personal, professional and financial coaching. A former corporate executive, she is a recipient of the Amethyst Award for Excellence and Outstanding Achievement from the government of Ontario, Canada.
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