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business

Stress-Free Startup Business Solutions

Being a small entrepreneur for a startup comes with a lot of stress brought on by the fear of letting your team, investors, and yourself down. In almost every case, people will do everything to maximize their startup’s potential. It’s not rare to hear stories of small business owners sacrificing sleep, family time, friendships, or even proper meals just to make sure that their startup survives. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with being passionate about something, especially something you’re trying to establish, this approach can point to fatigue, chronic stress, and burn out.

A study from 2015 found that entrepreneurs may be more susceptible to mental health problems than the general population. Conditions like anxiety, depression, and isolation are prevalent among entrepreneurs.

This issue has always been seen as an inevitable byproduct of the road to success, but what if we tell you that sacrificing your mental wellbeing is not crucial for your startup’s success? A recent experiment was conducted at MIT Sloan School of Management showing that self-awareness activities can benefit entrepreneurs in creating a more successful business.

Recommending obvious self-care exercises like having a regular bedtime routine, clean and healthy eating, exercise, or having regular breaks would not be sufficient to change the established mindset of stress and sacrifice being a necessary factor for entrepreneurship. We don’t think it’s even enough to convince these workaholics to spend any spare time they have on anything other than their work.

So we scoured for a technique that would make these entrepreneurs better understand their thoughts, emotions, as well as physical responses so they could form better decisions when faced with the stress of building a business. The test subjects for this idea were given four simple things to keep in mind:

Curiosity – Wondering about the pattern of your reactions and decisions like how you feel annoyed at your employees a lot. Asking yourself about when you feel it and what you do about those feelings will help with your awareness and ability to stabilize your emotions. Remember not to judge your natural and automatic reaction, simply try to get to the bottom of why you felt the way you did.

Awareness: Practice bringing mindfulness to your feelings, thoughts, and reactions as they happen. It will keep you grounded and sensible of your surroundings. It can also help you stay in touch with your mental state in real-time.

Categorizing: Specifying a simple category for your reactions as soon as you’re aware of it. Like as soon as you’re aware that you feel frustrated, you categorize it as a negative feeling. Or when you feel really excited, categorize it as a positive emotion. This will help you remember most of your reactions, dispersing your worries equally and stop you from stressing about just the negative ones.

Conscious decision-making: Along with steps one, two, and three, it should not be that hard to make conscious decisions in response to any positive or negative stimuli. You should find it easy to make better decisions compared to when you are more detached with your thoughts and emotions. So rather than brewing in your frustration about your co-founder, you might opt for talking it out and having a sit-down chat with them to communicate how you’ve been feeling.

Entrepreneurs who started practicing the activities mentioned above reported significant changes in their business-related stress levels. Those who never meditated before were able to stick to meditation programs that work for them because they can see the positive impact it does on the mind and the body.

Significant behavioral changes were also observed. Since these people are now extra conscious of their emotions, they are able to understand themselves better and know whether they are truly making the best decisions for themselves (and ultimately, their business). They’ve learned how to make active and specific choices rather than accustomed responses to stressful conditions. So if being annoyed at their employee originally made them lash out and spontaneously make decisions out of frustration, they are now able to calmly assess the situation because they know that they need to identify the reason for their frustration and understand first how and why they felt it. The time they spend on understanding their initial responses gives their mind enough time to sufficiently process the situation and make the best possible decision.

We’ve all heard about the saying “You should sleep on it” when faced with a difficult situation. So think of this short break as “sleeping on it.” All of this may sound like a waste of precious time, but as a business owner, you must be aware that the best and first investment you should be making is the one that’s for yourself and avoid the rookie mistake of believing that businessmen should always be hustling, and never sleeping. Without yourself in the equation, who’s going to start up the startup?

June 5, 2020 0 comment

Business

COVID-19 & Debt-Free Business StartUps

written by Feras Antoon

COVID-19 has changed the business world dramatically. A lot of entrepreneurs trying to start their business ventures normally start out with a solid amount of debt. It’s not uncommon or entirely bad—it does take a lot of money to turn your ideas into reality, but the current pandemic we are all currently forced to face might just be teaching us that this should no longer be the norm.

Repaying capital debts take a hearty lump out of a business’ monthly revenue. So good sales and profit growth are definitely out of the window until that debt is completely paid off. Or at least until your business blows up on social media for the 15-second of fame, but sometimes, even that won’t be good enough to completely lift a business out of debt. And that can really take a toll on a business’ momentum.

The co-founder of the PopUp Business School, Alan Donegan, is trying to defy the mindset that aspiring business owners must be able to come up with capital, specifically debt capital, in order to get their visions started. Alan is suggesting that starting a business successfully can be done without having to borrow money that you do not already have.

Because of the coronavirus and the government-mandated social distancing rules all over the country and the world, every business owner is facing tons of unique and complicated operational challenges. Even Alan’s business of trying to help people build their business is suffering. He and his team are still trying to send out the debt-free business mentality to young entrepreneurs through online seminars and video conferences. But at a time like this, wherein economic and financial stability is questionable, should he really be encouraging people to get started with their business ideas? And is he right to discourage debt-free capitals?

Fear of Debt

Alan has a strong aversion financial debt as he grew up in a family that was trying to be part of the business world, but suddenly found itself faced with the consequences of bankruptcy.

So when he was old enough to start his very own business, he was not impressed with the advice that the government-sponsored Business Link service gave him which was to, “Put a business plan together and borrow money to get started.”

Believing that there is a better way to get started, he met up with one of the executives leading the Business Link program and discussed his ideas. Eventually, they agreed to establish the PopUp Business School with the goal of changing the way entrepreneurship was taught in mind. So how did they do it?

Finding the Right Audience

Alan believed that the PopUp Business School is meant for people that most business-coaching organizations ignore. Therefore, the School’s events were made free to participants by having organizations like local government and housing associations pay for them instead. This made it possible for casual housing residents and other people to have access to entrepreneurship coaching that they would never normally even hear about.

According to Alan, their “no debt” campaign echoed with their chosen audience. An average person would obviously be discouraged from putting up a business if it comes with debt.

The prime example proving that debt-free businesses are possible is that of two alumni of two PopUp Business School alumni who were able to set up an escape room business free if debt. Instead of going through the traditional way of renting a place and putting up shop there, these debt-free entrepreneurs were able to find a hotel with unused space and agreed on a rent-free deal for a limited time, giving their escape room business time to establish its clientele and start getting some profit. Alan says that it’s an approach that can be used in even better circumstances.

Coronavirus and the Economy

The PopUp Business School is on the move to design a pandemic survival guide, but they are also trying their best to survive all the canceled orders and seminars.

Surprisingly, Alan is saying that this is not the worst time to get started with your business.

For one, crisis, whether it’s a pandemic or a stock market drop, always brings about new opportunities. With almost everyone having extra time in their hands, it may just be the best time to get in touch with possible business partners or clients who are also thinking about ways to come up with future acquisitions. It is the best time to spend hours on the phone! And there’s no problem with making it worthwhile, right? Instead of talking about the latest viral hack with your college best friend on Facetime, maybe you should start working on that business idea you’ve always talked about.

While these are certainly challenging times for every business, grabbing opportunities without putting your financial stability at risk seems like a fitting picture with COVID-19 in the background.

This video may spark some ideas for all aspiring entrepreneurs for business ideas and opportunities post COVID-19.

May 29, 2020 0 comment

Business

12 Signs You Should Be in Business

written by Feras Antoon

There’s only a handful of people that are naturally good with business. They don’t only think differently from everyone else, they also act differently. They possess the personality and the mindset to build something and develop it into something bigger. But being an original thinker doesn’t always equate to being a business genius. So if you want to make sure, check the list of 12 signs that could confirm that you should be starting a business:

1. Your family is composed of people who are just unable to work for someone else. Your parents are probably self-employed or business owners themselves. Although this isn’t the absolute truth, most successful businesses worldwide came from family-owned companies. Take Comcast, Ford, and Wal-Mart as an example.

2. You’re someone who always questions why people do certain things that they do. You aim to understand things better to make those things even better.

3. You are optimistic and confident in your instincts. There are not a lot of entrepreneurs who are known to be pessimistic and self-deprecating. Most businessmen are very confident about their decisions, actions, and ideas which makes other people confident in them as well.

4. You don’t settle for no as an answer. Entrepreneurs don’t give up, at least not that easily.

5. You have great people skills and have the natural ability to build partnerships out of nowhere. You may notice that people naturally gravitate towards you in bigger crowds and this could be because of your innate charm or exuding charisma, traits that are valuable in the world of business.

6. You’re a dropout like the geniuses Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg.

7. You are aware that job security does not end with being a regular employee. Putting up a business has its fair share of risks and possible unemployment, but natural entrepreneurs know when it’s the right time to take risks and go on their own.

8. You’re highly competitive but are open to the idea of losing. You know that being successful comes with some inevitable failure and that just makes you even more prepared to come back up.

9. You can work for more than 60 hours a week and not feel like you did enough. It may not be the healthiest thing to do but being productive just keeps you going.

10. You have the need to be in control. You probably like to oversee everything that’s going on around you to see if there’s something better that you can do.

11. You know a great opportunity when you see it. And I’m not talking about knowing if an item on sale is a great buy, but being able to distinguish the potential of a product or a service even if it’s out of season.

12. You tend to choose the logical approach more than the emotional one when it comes to solving problems. You basically treat things like a big puzzle that can be and should be solved.

You may not have all 12 signs, or you may have all of them and more. Either way, gaining success in whatever you do starts and ends with you. With the right mindset and opportunity, getting into business can be as easy as bringing that idea into reality.

May 15, 2020 0 comment

Business

Business & Success according to Richard Branson

written by Feras Antoon

Building a business is hard in and of itself, but managing to maintain that business and withstanding the struggles of the entrepreneur industry is a whole other challenge. So small and aspiring business owners are constantly on the hunt for new and innovative ways to improve their entrepreneurship skills as well as the right icons to inspire them to do their best every day.

Over the years, businessman Richard Branson has kept his momentum in running his successful brand and business. This is the very reason why young entrepreneurs see him as one of the best and ideal role models in the industry. The British business magnate established and founded the Virgin Group, a worldwide group of various and popular companies, in the 1970s. Since then, his success in the field just kept on going and he has also managed to write bestselling business-related books like “Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School” and his 2012 page turner, “The Virgin Way: Everything I Know About Leadership.”

Given the helpful and highly-informative nature of his written works, you can already tell that Branson has always been generous with his tips and knowledge concerning the trade management. And in a recent sit-down interview, the tycoon shared some more insightful ideas that could help startups and small businessmen.

In the interview, Richard Branson said, “Most young people with good ideas will find that 99 percent of people will give them every reason why their idea’s been done before or why it’s not a good idea or why they’re going to fall flat on their face… In the end, you have to say, ‘Screw it! And just start doing it.”

Branson is a high school dropout, which is usually not a very good sign. But at the young age of 15, he was able to start his first enterprise, a publication for young activists called Student. Then just four years later, in 1970, he started selling records via mail. Just a year after that, he started his first record store. The next year, he opened his recording studio. The year after that, he had his own record label. In a matter of just three years, Branson built an empire, being a successful businessman at the age of 23.

As of 2020, decades after his first attempts at success, the Virgin Group remains a highly-regarded global brand of at least 350 organizations, now handling the entertainment, travel, as well as mobile industries.

But regardless of how it looks, Branson’s business plans have not always been successful. Virgin Group has managed to become household names because of Virgin Airlines and Virgin Mobile’s success, but do you remember Virgin Cola? Being a big name in the industry meant that your failures will be big and public too. So, Richard Branson preaches the real secret to prosperity, determination despite the inevitable failure.

Branson said that as long as you’ve got the right amount of determination, the probability of your success could come from what you’ve learned from all the times that failed to succeed.

Enjoy this video with Sir Richard Branson, where he goes into further detail about strategies to achieving success in the wonderful world of entrepreneurship:

April 24, 2020 0 comment

Jamisa McIvor-Bennett Real Estate Investor

Business

Property Tips & Tricks from Jamisa McIvor-Bennett

written by Feras Antoon

All of us dream ofhaving complete financial freedom. And what that looks like is being completelyfree of debt, student loans and all. It’s being in the craft that you love andnot just settling for a regular paycheck at a place you hate. It could also bebeing able to spend time with your kids and taking them on trips to SaintThomas, Bora Bora, or to Las Vegas’ Children’s Museum.

Well, for 26-year-oldJamisa McIvor-Bennett, it simply looks like a 3.2 million-dollar real estateportfolio with 21 properties, entirely paid for in cash except for one home.

Her success started with an accidental inquirythat would turn out to be a life-changing opportunity. When McIvor-Bennett wasjust 19, who was then a cashier at a supermarket in Philadelphia, she was approachedby her grandmother. “She said, ‘I just wanted to know what would happen tothe house if something was to happen to me?’” Jamisa then told her grandmotherthat at the time, she had no idea, but was willing to find it out for her. “Shewas like, ‘No, I was just asking because, if something was to happen, I wantyou to take full responsibility for it. You’re the most responsible one.'”

With the persistent demands of her grandmother, they did a quitclaim deed transfer. That enabled her grandmother to transfer the house to her for $400 total after everything was settled. A little bit over a year after, her grandmother unexpectedly passed away, and everything hit the fan as the entire family tried to lay their claim in the home, oblivious of the settled agreement between Jamisa and her grandmother.

Fortunately,Jamisa and her grandmother were able to secure footage of their agreement, sothey were secured in both terms of legal and moral obligations.

Without prior knowledge about the real estateindustry, Jamisa worked on learning about all the industry tricks.

Over time, Jamisa wasable to buy 21 properties in the Philadelphia area worth $3.2 million. Thisenabled her to have a lifestyle that can seem unimaginable for an averagemother.

Seems impossible?Well, Jamisa was generous enough to let us in on some of her tips on gettingprofitable deals and building wealth through real estate.

Learning from other people’s mistakes.

Jamisa said that she learned a lot from her mentor’smistakes. “[The mentor] gave me a lot of information, but he showed me alot of stuff just because I was paying attention.” Jamisa said that hermentor ended up selling her properties out of desperation because he was lockedinto some deal but ran out of money to finish and close it. The second time hermentor did that, Jamisa was down to her last 50 grand. Her mentor then askedher for a loan and Jamisa agreed so long as he returns it with interest. And hedid. She got 25% interest upon return.

This taught her not to get into high ticket deals without having a contingency fund. It took her quite a while to finish her mortgages because she was cautious, but it all paid off in the end.

2. Don’t look past ugly houses.

The second house Jamisa bought looks like a scary movie. She calls it the Treehouse because literally, there was a tree inside the house. “But I bought it because it was $6,500, and my mentor had purchased it for $2,500.” despite being an ugly house, it was structurally good. So at the end of the day, it wasn’t a property where you have to drastically change anything. They installed a new roof, boarded it up for winter, and made sure it’s ready to be lived in. She had to buy a vacant property permit for it, without even knowing what equity was. She was just buying time until she started getting into markets and by year three, the house which was smaller and directly up the street from her “Treehouse” sold for almost $200,000. She couldn’t have known that that would happen, but now she knows that buying a house for $6,500 is okay.

3. Look at comps.

When you’re in real estate, you have to do comparable propertyanalysis, or comps. So to know what yourproperty is worth, you have look for properties that are comparable to it. Lookat the work that was done, and obviously, if you put a pool and a tennis courtin your house, and the comparable properties only have a small patio andsliding doors, your property is going to be worth more.

This is basically how you compare the numbers. Look at the last three properties that were sold, get the average, and you’ll know the value/dollar consistency in your area.

4. Get properties with good cash flow.

Look for positive cash flow. Jamisa is an urban investor so focuses on that. She sticks to urban properties and the cost is drastically less. Because you only have about 1,200 to 1,600 square feet, depending on if the property is on a corner or not, there’s only so much work that needs to be done to houses of that size.

5. It’s still better with cash.

You get more of a return when you leverage, but every time you get a mortgage, you start owing somebody else. We all know that the market can go up and down, and if one day, the market crashes, the value of your property would decrease, so it’s always good to be an owner. Let’s say you bought a house for $100,000. Banks will give you up to 80% of what your property is worth. So with $100,000, they will give you $80,000 to work with. Now if the market crashes, your $100,000 property would end up only being worth only $60,000 because you borrowed $80,000. Basically, you will owe $20,000 more than what it’s even worth.

Jamisa’s final advice is to ignore people who are trying to put you down. People criticize her for not putting hard work for her success, but she did. Her grandmother didn’t give her 20 properties, her grandma gave her an opportunity and she just happened to make the right decision. Jamisa said that she’s read comments about her saying, “Oh she sold her family’s legacy for money.” And Jamisa’s response is, “No, I’ve created a legacy. There was none.”

Enjoy this podcast from a few years ago:

March 27, 2020 0 comment

Tech

9 Tech Trends in Healthcare for 2020

written by Feras Antoon

The healthcare industryis currently one of the world’s fastest-growing business trade that is highlyinfluenced by the equally advancing industry of technology.

The constant progress intechnology can help healthcare institutions answer the public’s rising demandand give better patient care through a more organized and systematic process.

Take a look at 9 of thelatest technology trends that will optimize the healthcare industry in 2020.

3D Printing

3D printing has beenused widely for quite a while. It allowed everyone with the technology to makeprototypes, research, customization works, and a lot more. In the industry,surgeons are using 3D printing to make a replica of patient-specific organs tohelp prepare for procedures. A handful of medical equipment and surgical toolscan also be produced via 3D printing. This technology offers an easier andcost-effective way to produce suitable prosthetic limbs for patients as well asprint tissues and organs to be used for transplant. The field of dentistry andorthodontics also make great use out of this technology.

Wearable Tech

Fitbits, Smart Glasses,and other wearable fitness technology items are capable of doing much more thaninform you how many steps you’ve had for the day. On average, 80% of the generalpublic is enthusiastic to use, or at least try wearable tech. This gives thehealthcare industry a tremendous opportunity to use such items for everydayhealthcare. The latest smartwatches are not only capable of tracking your runsand walks, they are also capable of monitoring your sleep patterns and heartrhythms. Another form of a wearable device that you’re probably familiar withare ECG monitors that are used to detect atrial fibrillation, blood pressuremonitors, biosensor patches for monitoring your temperature, heart rate, etcetera.

The advance in wearable technology will pave a way for the public to proactively get health support in style and in comfort.

Machine Learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Artificial intelligenceand machine learning allow the development of new ways to classify and diagnosediseases, recognize and develop treatment programs, track health epidemics,optimize medical research and clinical trials, and generally improve thehealthcare system as a whole. A great deal considering the continuous growth inworld population and average life expectancy age. This technology makes it morefeasible to handle the rapidly increasing demands on the system.

By this year, medicaldata will double approximately every 2 months. It is estimated that we couldsave $100 billion in annual savings for medicine by relying on artificialintelligence and machine learning tools to process the influx of data.

Advanced AI algorithmswith superhuman computational power enable them to learn from data and predictthe probability of a condition. This would help doctors and medicalpractitioners provide diagnosis and treatment plans.

With the proper regulation in terms of algorithm use, AI and machine learning can act as a major support to many clinical difficulties and enhance hospital and clinic performances.

Robots

Would you let theTerminator’s distant cousin give you your medical needs? Probably not. Butadvance and specially-designed robots like theda Vincisurgical robot hasbeen assisting patients with responsibilities in the operating room for sometime now. But the robots’ potential in healthcare goes beyond surgicalpractices.

With the colossal growthforeseen in robotics, with the global medical robotics market anticipated toseize $20 billion by 2023, it is certain that robots will proceed to administermore diverse procedures in healthcare. Robots have already been helping doctorsexamine and treat patients in remote areas through “telepresence,”transporting medical supplies, disinfecting hospital quarters, supportingpatients through rehabilitation or with prosthetics, as well as automatinglaboratories and packaging medical equipment. Some promising medical robots arealso equipped with a micro-bot that can pin-point treatment to a precisesection of the body which is significantly helpful in procedures like tumorradiation or bacterial infection treatments.

Extended Reality (Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality)

Extended reality can beused not only for entertainment purposes. As a matter of fact, it’s alreadybeing utilized for important medical purposes.

The VR/AR healthcare market is expected to hit $5.1 billion by 2025. It’s a technological breakthrough for training and surgery simulation, and it’s also playing an important role in patient care and treatment. Virtual reality has assisted patients with visual impairment, depression, cancer, and autism while augmented reality has been giving another source of help for medical practitioners and has aided doctors during brain surgery and reconnecting blood vessels. Mixed reality, the technology that connects the virtual and real world, has been leading educational opportunities for medical professionals as their patients by helping them visualize and understand their conditions or treatment plans.

Digital Twins

Similar to 3D printing,a digital twin is a real-time replica of something from the physical world,only in digital form. In the industry of healthcare, digital twins are replicasof a patient’s life-long data record. Digital twins are able to help a doctordetermine the possibilities for certain procedures, help plan treatmentarrangements, and handle chronic illnesses. In a nutshell, digital twins areessential to elevate patient-centric care. The digital twin technology is stillin its first few stages, but its potential is rather promising.

Fifteen percent of the world’s population is still living in rural areas that have little to no access to a proper healthcare facility. And as the capacities for local healthcare centers to render care in remote or areas in need through telemedicine increase, the quality and speed of the network available in those areas are crucial if we’re looking for positive outcomes. 5G networks can support healthcare teams by enabling the transmission of large imaging files for review and professional medical advice and enabling the use of AI, enhancing a doctor’s capability to administer treatments through AR, VR or mixed reality, and allowing remote patient monitoring.

Genomics

Artificial intelligenceand machine learning help advance genomic medicine by using a person’s genomicinformation to devise personalized treatment programs and medical care. Genomicmedicine is making an impact.in the fields of pharmacology, oncology,infectious diseases, and a whole lot more. Machines are able to analyze genesand gene mutations that cause medical conditions faster than professionals.This shortcut helps the community understand how diseases work better andfaster, as well as how to treat or even exterminate it. There are numerousongoing research projects concerning complicated medical conditions such asorgan transplant rejection, cystic fibrosis, and cancers to determine how bestto treat these conditions through personalized medicine.

These technologiesextend unbelievable opportunities for providing better and faster healthcare tobillions of people all around the world and help the system catch up with theincreasing rate of demands.

January 31, 2020 0 comment

Business Tech

Silicon Valley Giants & Tax Evasion

written by Feras Antoon

Silicon Valley is home to some of theworld’s largest and most successful tech companies. However, an alleged taxevasion issue is now threatening to ruin this prestigious reputation.

The latest analysis showed that halfa dozen of Silicon Valley’s biggest corporations had an accumulated taxgap amounting to $100 billion from 2010 to 2019.

Fair Tax Mark, is an England-based organization that certifies businesses for having a good tax conduct with no incidence of tax evasion. The said British organization assessed international tax payments made by Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft for the past decade. The companies, also popularly called as the “Silicon Six,” for being a prominent name not just in Silicon Valley, but also worldwide, are now proven to have conducted some questionable tax activities.

Fair Tax Mark analyzed their 10-K filings, a set offorms required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which supposedlycontain the summary of the companies’ financial performance.

The organization checked out the companies’ tax provisions which is the budget that they have allocated in their financial reports to pay taxes and compared those to the actual amounts that have given to the government, noted as taxes. The comparison showed that over the last decade, the gap between the provisions the said companies declared and the amount of taxes they actually paid reached $100.2 billion.

The report specified that scrutiny of hugecorporations’ tax payments is commonly targeted on tax provisions, since it isusually not the actual amount received by the government. Additionally, theorganization’s report also claimed that the Silicon Six’s profits are stillbeing shifted to tax havens, countries that offer low tax rates, specificallythe British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg, and theNetherlands.

Researchers indicated the majority of the inadequacy “almost certainly arose outside the united states,” with foreign tax charges amounting to merely 8.4% of the profit the businesses gained overseas from the year of 2010 to 2019, strongly indicating tax evasion.

Paul Monaghan, chief executiveofficer of Fair Tax Mark, stated that there was a huge distinction between whatthe corporations accounted for and what they really turned over in taxes. Inthe same statement, he also affirmed that the tax paid by these businesses is$100 billion less than what is reported in their accounts.

Amazon has now been dubbed as thebiggest culprit among the Silicon Six, with the report claiming that thee-commerce legend had only paid $3.4 billion in financial gain taxes since2010. Fair Tax Mark noted that the tax paid for by the organization amounted to12.7% of its profit over the last decade, despite the fact that company taxwithin the U.S. is set at 35% for more than half of the years enclosed withinthe analysis period (2010-2019).

Current President Donald Trump cut corporation tax rates from 35% to 21% in 2017, still a far cry from the 12.7% paid by Amazon.

Amazon ended 2018 with a total of $232.9 billion inannual revenue—indicating that the company has a market capitalization ofaround $892 billion.

A representative from Amazon told a news outlet thatthe report in Fair Tax Mark’s report is wrong. Claiming that the company had a24% effective tax rate on profits from 2010-2018.

The representative also claimed that Amazon hadinvested £55 billion ($60 billion) all over Europe since 2010, £18 billionwithin the U.K., and had paid £793 million in taxes to the U.K. alone just lastyear.

According to the report, Facebook had the second biggest tax gap. The company paid a minute 10.2% of the profit it made over the last decade— an all-time low proportion paid by any of the Silicon Six. Its foreign tax charge was conjointly the lowest, at only 5% of foreign profits, yet again strongly indicating a concerted effort to engage in tax evasion.

A representative from Facebook also said in anemailed statement that the company takes its tax obligations seriously,diligently paying what it owes in each market it operates. The representativeasserted that Facebook paid $3.8 billion in corporation tax globally and thattheir effective tax rate is at least 20%.

The popular tech giant, Google, was at third, with its cash taxes amounting to only 15.8% of profits, and its foreign tax charge was at 7.1%

The popular streaming platform, Netflix, is at thefourth spot. The company gave out 15.8% of its profit over, whereas Apple, inthe fifth spot, handed 17.1% over the last 10 years.

Netflix declined to discuss the findings of thereport while Apple stated that they pay entirely what they owe in line with taxlaws and local customs where they operate.

As the report’s “best” taxpayer, Microsoft pridesitself to fully abide by all local laws and regulations in every country theyoperate in and that their tax structure reflects the said global operations.

December 19, 2019 0 comment

Business World

Cancer Patient Grows Her Business Despite Sickness

written by Feras Antoon

Claudia “Sunny” Hayes is a young entrepreneurpursuing her dream when she got diagnosed with breast cancer at 25. She was 23when she first launched her own eyelash business. Just two years after, and inthe middle of her thriving career, a fatal sickness came into her life. Insteadof letting cancer ruin all ‘she’s worked for, Sunny Hayes ‘didn’t let theillness affect her light and positivity. She didn’t let cancer take her will tomake her entrepreneurial visions come true.

Rage Hair Salon in Chicago is where you can find Claudia“Sunny” Hayes running the successful business she calls, Eye SlayMinks. Sunny’s eyelash business started in 2016. Two years after the launch,she received a diagnosis of stage II invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer.

“It all happened so fast […] it ‘didn’t dawn on me—whatI was about to go through—until I started chemotherapy,” Sunny said in aninterview with cancerwellness.com. She said she knew there was something wrongwhen she felt a lump in her chest. Partner of Sunny’s mom, who is a two-timebreast cancer survivor, advised her to get her chest checked.

Before launching her eyelash business, Sunny already has aloyal social media following due to her bright smile and positive personality.Her following helped in the launching of her business. Apart from eyelashextensions, Eye Slay Minks also offers training classes to help aspiringentrepreneurs kick start their business in the beauty industry.

“That first, like eight weeks [of treatment] was crazy, like I was rethinking my whole entire business,” Sunny said in the interview. Instead of letting her sickness stop her from achieving her goals, Sunny didn’t let cancer hold her back.

Cancer Patient Continues to Thrive and Grow Her Business

Sunny added, “I’m knowing my clients were still verysupportive, but it was fluctuating—like they think ‘I’m sick, so they ‘don’twant to bother me, but ‘it’s like, can you come when ‘I’m not sick?”

Though suffering from regular chemotherapy sessions, Sunnypoured her pain through outstanding work ethic and fiery passion forentrepreneurship. As she changed medications and began having a routine ofchemotherapy sessions, Sunny slowly got back the control of her life. Clientswere seen coming back to her salon, and she started setting her sights higher.

“My business is going to go as far as I want it togo,” according to Sunny in the interview. “It’s going to go so muchfarther than just doing lashes. Right now, ‘I’m still in the beginning of mycareer, you know? ‘I’m getting up there, but in due time this is going to gofar.”

Sunny sees to grow her business into makeup application andhair extensions. She’s sure that when her therapies are over, and when thedoctor confirmed her NED, she can then devote all her time and energy to herbusiness.

“I’m going to be able to do what I want to do as far as expanding my business. Right now, ‘it’s really hard to make a lot of moves when ‘you’ve got to go to the doctor every weekend, knocked out tired for twelve hours,” Sunny said. “‘I’m just really ready for all of this to be over.”

Sunny worked an unsatisfying retail job before she startedEye Slay Minks. “I was waking up every day, hating going to work,”Sunny recalls. But then, “I went and got my lashes done, and ‘that’s whatstarted it.”

She quickly found a class online and began her training toget a certification in providing eyelash extensions.

“I took the class, and I quit my job the sameday,” Sunny told cancerwellness.com. She felt happy being the boss of herown and having all the control to make her business work.

“A self-investment is the best investment,” Sunnyadded.

Sunny offered a piece of advice to all people who dream ofstarting their business: “Set goals […] When you write your goals downwhen you can see what you want, ‘it’s easier to manifest them.”

According to Sunny, hard work and being able to focus are the primary keys of her success. Sunny said, “entrepreneurship ‘isn’t easy. Goals, and consistency, and just focusing on getting the job done, ‘that’s like 100 percent success guaranteed.”

When you love what you do, nothing is difficult. Sunny saidin the interview, “I meet new people every day, and ‘I’m totally a peopleperson […] ‘I’m running into women all day long and […] they love their lashes.[They say], ”Oh, my God; I look like a totally different person,” [and] ‘it’slike, I did that.”

Sunny connects with others fighting against cancer throughsocial media. “So many people send me messages, and girls they send mepictures with [their] bald head, and ‘I’m like, ”Girl, you fine,” shelaughs.

Sunny added, “I’m just here to encourage the nextperson because now that is me; I feel like staying focused is the best thingyou can do.”

A cancer diagnosis ‘could’ve caused Sunny to give up,destroy all her plans – but it ‘didn’t. Sunny have hopes high that she will getthrough the other side and come out fresh with a new perspective on having ahealthy, happy, and successful life.

“I try not to let it affect my attitude, my day, mypositivity,” Sunny said.

Sunny Hayes, says ‘she’s proud of her takeaway: “Ithink ‘I’m much stronger than I was before getting diagnosed.”

She added, “I thought that when they first told me

these months will be the worst times in my life. ‘I’ll be depressed and […] scared. I ‘didn’t know what to expect, but ‘I’m way stronger than I thought I was.”

[about the cancer]

September 27, 2019 0 comment

Business

Entrepreneurship & the Importance of Knowing the Risks

written by Feras Antoon

Wehave read a lot of inspiring entrepreneurship stories like how some self-madefounders or college dropouts who started their endeavors on garages and morerags-to-riches success stories. Nowadays, business owners are deemed as ourheroes who save our economic growth as well as the innovation in ourcommunities.

Let us now know some risks of entrepreneurship that every inspiring business owners should keep track of.

1. The reality of starting a business is notglamorous

Entrepreneurship is an unwarrantable line of work, as a matter of fact, only 50% of all businesses reach their 5th birthdays. If ever they stay longer in the industry, these business owners often lack health insurance making them on high risk of poverty in retirement. According to the Treasury Department, there is only 8% contributing to a retirement plan in a year. On the other hand, people with lots of acquired assets, spouses with stable jobs or wealthy families are the best ones to start their own business. Because if all else fails, they are sure to have something to fall back on.

2. Entrepreneurship is not for older workers

For people 50 years and older who’ve moved back into the labor force through entrepreneurship, most of the time their non-pension wealth fails. Opposite to what the common belief is, business owners earn less compared to their spouses who work for someone else. For retirees, the risks accompanying entrepreneurship increase with age.

3. Safety net programs are significant

Safety net programs or what we usually knew as the retirement savings and health insurance are essential to every person as it gives us healthier and happier lives. However, business owners are mostly the ones whose later lives are at risk. We should be aware of the costs and the benefits of being an entrepreneur especially if you are approaching the age of retirement. Thus it is vital that we make the key safety net programs accessible for people of all ages.

Check out this video with famed entrepreneur, Richard Branson, that goes into more detail:

July 26, 2019 0 comment

Business

Lara Shaheen – From Syrian Refugee to Entrepreneur

written by Feras Antoon

Lara Shaheen is a 34-year-old femaleSyrian refugee who ran away from Damascus after President’s Bashar al-Assad’sregime detained her brothers, though they were released after three months, theexperience has driven them to Amman, Jordan. Along with her are her mother,father, and 17-year-old younger sister while her brothers escaped to Germany.After that nightmare, Shaheen’s parents developed some health problems, andthat made her the sole provider for her family considering that her brothersare away from them.

Lara said, “I’m the lonely girl who mustwork to make money for my family.”

While on Jordan, she volunteered with Hemma- a local organization that provides help to Syrian refugees that live outside camps. The Syrian conflict now is in its sixth year, and it seems like banishment is becoming undying for refugees. Additionally, the majority of Syrian refugees cannot work legally in Jordan. Though they can apply for work permits, the process of getting them is very complicated and expensive.

Lara Shaheen - Jasmine Business Initiative

On the other hand, the government carriedout some measures that would benefit Syrian refugees. It includes a temporarywaiver of application fees and a grace period of up to 90 days for the informalsector employers to get permits for Syrian refugees.

UNCHR said, “This could see up to 78,000Syrians able to work legally in Jordan in the short term, and thousands more inthe coming years.”

While working with Hemma, Lara Shaheen noticed that lots of Syrian women were weaving, sewing and making handy crafts. She took pictures of them and started selling them on Facebook. She then splits the profits with the women. With the help of her Jordanian friend, Shaheen developed the project into a small business, though she doesn’t have a work permit. She called it Syrian Jasmine, and then she rent a small office space in Amman town center.

Syrian Jasmine sells baby clothes,handmade soaps, toys, jewelry, creams and more that were all made by Syrians.She now has 5 women that work for her full time at the office and also buysmerchandise from other Syrian women. Many of the women that Shaheen works withsays this is their first job.

She said, “In Syria, many men don’t allowtheir women to work, but here, it’s different because they know they need tomake money.”

Lara Shaheen’s and her employees’ story is far from the norm in Jordan. Because of the administrative barriers to working, women refugees face a high risk of assault and abuse like rape. According to reports, women refugees from Syria feels isolated and unsafe and even too scared to leave the house.

The lack of job opportunities and high risk of violence, a lot of Syrian families, sees marriage as the only way to keep their daughters safe which can also support them economically with the use of dowry exchange. Save the Children reported in 2014 that among Syrian refugees in Jordan, one in every four marriages is a girl under 18 years old to a much older man.

July 12, 2019 0 comment

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