Small Business Saturday has become an essential part of the
holiday shopping season in the Unites States. This idea was originally
conceived by American Express in 2010 and is officially cosponsored by the
Small Business Administration since 2011. It was found to support independent
and local businesses who have a hard time in competing with large businesses on
Black Friday or Cyber Monday. According to estimates from American Express, the
amount of Small Business Saturday spending at independent retailers and
restaurants was approximately $23.3 billion last year.
It has been three years since Instagram launched its @shop
account, where it has featured numerous small businesses. The company is now opening
its first ever physical retail pop-up store in NYC, where it is showcasing some
of the most popular home, beauty, and lifestyle products featured in its @shop
listings. The shop will also feature other exclusive items.
The pop-up shops initiative is a part of Meta’s larger effort to promote eCommerce, and Instagram is a key app for this matter, with 70% of users turning to it for product discovery, and 87% of people claiming that influencers on the platform have inspired them to make a purchase or book a trip.
Your hard work and tenacity do not deserve to be put in harm’s way, so establishing habits and methods to ensure that your operation keeps running smoothly is a must.
Here are a few quick tips for anyone wishing to protect their business as they walk the road toward success.
Without the right insurance, you may find yourself at the mercy of some rather disgruntled individuals – not an ideal place to be, to say the least.
The best coverage options can be straightforward and highly customizable, but it is vital to opt for a version that supports your specific needs as a company, while still managing to cover the essential bases.
Some dependable BOP insurance is a popular option, as it can help protect small businesses against potentially devastating threats in many different areas.
Without it, you may find that you are putting your business and your finances at unnecessary risk, so do not wait around until it is too late.
Data can be an extremely valuable tool, but it can also pose a big risk to a company of any shape or size.
For example, if you were to experience a data breach, you may be in for some serious fines and a huge dip in brand trustworthiness.
This is partly because data concerns are prevalent in the minds of many modern consumers, and they look towards companies that they trust to take care of their sensitive information.
By establishing a data handling policy and practicing good cyber hygiene you should be able to minimize the risk of falling victim to a potentially devastating cyber-attack.
Protecting your company in the virtual world is just as important as doing so for your physical assets nowadays, so do not underestimate the value of cyber security and the very real threat of online criminals and scammers.
A poorly organized business is a recipe for disaster. It can lead to a lack of productivity, an inefficient budget, and a less-than-ideal working environment.
The better you can organize and track your inventory, the smaller the risk of losing or misplacing goods and materials.
This may not seem too important, but it is worth noting that inventory shrinkage can have some extremely negative effects on your profit margins.
A well-organized business is a good way to ensure your employees are able to carry out their responsibilities with ease.
Looking after your business sometimes means keeping your brightest ideas under wraps until they are ready to officially launch.
Failing to do this may result in the competition getting hold of your plans, and that is probably not the best for anyone wishing to pilot their company safely and securely towards success.
WizardPins recently released this infographic which shows cities across the United States had the most new small businesses open, and also shows which cities unfortunately saw the most close up. The data uses statistics from 2018, and found that Boise City, Idaho had the largest growth that year, with a 4.274% increase from the previous year (724 new small businesses). It was also found that Houma/Thibodaux, Louisiana saw the biggest decrease, with 98 small businesses lost (a decrease of 2.344%).
Infographic by: wizardpins
Apple’s new Small Business Program that it had announced
last month was recently launched. The program has been introduced for small
businesses and it reduces App Store's standard commission rate to 15% for
developers earning up to $1 million per year in net revenue from the sale of
apps and in-app purchases. The standard commission rate of 30% will apply to developers
who earn more than $1 million.
Apple has started emailing eligible developers about the program, notifying them that the reduced 15% commission rate would go into effect by January 1, 2021. Some developers have even started to observe the 15% rate applied to their earnings already.
Looks like the reduced Small Business App Store fee is now in effect. This is for our Mac app, ImageFramer. Time in UTC. 42.5/50 = 0.85. @mjtsai @OliverJHaslam @9to5mac @MacObserver pic.twitter.com/7LkaAQMhAR
— Jacob Gorban (@jacobgorban) December 24, 2020
Apple just announced a new program called the App Store Small Business Program, which will implement App Store fees for small business owners and independent developers. A number of companies seem quite unhappy with Apple’s move and have openly criticized it.
Spotify criticized Apple’s new program in a statement saying that its App Store policies are ‘'arbitrary and capricious’'. ‘'While we find their fees to be excessive and discriminatory, Apple's tying of its own payment system to the App Store and the communications restrictions it uses to punish developers who choose not to use it, put apps like Spotify at a significant disadvantage to their own competing service.’', Spotify’s statement read.
Spotify further added that it hopes that regulators would ‘'ignore Apple's "window dressing" and act with urgency to protect consumer choice, ensure fair competition, and create a level playing field for all.’'
This isn’t the first time that Spotify is criticizing the tech giant. Apple and Spotify have had a long-term rivalry, where Spotify has accused the company of anti-competitive behavior. Spotify even filed a formal complaint against Apple, accusing the company of using the App Store to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. The matter eventually ended up in an EU Commission antitrust investigation.
On the other hand, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also released a statement following Apple’s announcement of the program, where he said that Apple is again ‘'breaking the promise of treating all developers equally.’'
‘'By giving special 15 percent terms to select robber barons like Amazon, and now also to small indies, Apple is hoping to remove enough critics that they can get away with their blockade on competition and 30 percent tax on most in-app purchases. But consumers will still pay inflated prices marked up by the Apple tax.’', Sweeney added.
Have you ever had a dream to become an owner of a business? Everyone
has a dream to make a good earning for a living, and many people choose to
start a business with that in mind. The common misconception about starting a
business is that it requires a lot of money to invest with a risk of losing it
all. What if I tell you that you don’t need a solid financial backup to start
an LLC and get things going?
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