Business

Options for Small Business Loans Beyond PPP

By Gertrude Aziz 7 hours ago

Beyond the Paycheck Protection Program and the Small Business Administration, businesses need money. But what if you can’t get a PPP loan? For example, if you own a cannabis business, a casino or a racetrack, you’re out of luck. You might even find, as you look through all of the requirements for PPP loan forgiveness, that you don’t want to bother in the first place.

Related: SBA Releases New EZ PPP Loan-Forgiveness Application

Now, the next iteration of the program is tied up in Congress, but your business still needs money. What do you do? You look elsewhere for a loan. Here’s where to start. 

Alternative lenders

Many business owners look to their bank or credit union first, but check out alternative lenders like Kabbage. Often, these lenders have less stringent qualifications, so a bad personal credit score isn’t necessarily a handicap. However, their rates may be higher than standard

… Read More

Demand for virtual sex work is skyrocketing in quarantine, but some some workers have struggled to adapt

By Gertrude Aziz 9 hours ago

  • Demand for virtual sex services has skyrocketed since the coronavirus pandemic began.

  • And for some people who are newly unemployed, selling nude photos and videos online has become a part of the quarantine routine.

  • We spoke to three people in the sex industry, including one who makes as much as $17,000 a month posting photos online.

  • View more episodes of Business Insider Weekly on Facebook.

Some sex workers are reimagining their business for a world where meeting clients in person is risky.

Even as many US states and countries have emerged from coronavirus-related, demand for virtual sex services is skyrocketing. 

But for some people who are newly unemployed, selling naked photos and videos online has become a part of the quarantine routine. 

One 24-year-old woman, who uses the pseudonym Harper Heart, has monetized nude photos of herself on the subscription service OnlyFans and other platforms. Users can only see Heart’s

… Read More

How Owners and Entrepreneurs Can Deal With Financial Stress

By Gertrude Aziz 13 hours ago

Millions of Americans have been left unemployed over the past half-year and are subsequently struggling to cover their bills and keep a roof over their heads. And for business owners, the situation is even more precarious. Unfortunately, despite fewer (if any) customers coming through the doors, businesses still have overhead that needs to be covered. Even those able to move some operations online likely still have had to contend with rent, utility and insurance costs and other financial obligations.

Additionally, some businesses may be obliged to cover the costs of supplier contracts even though they may not be able to use the items. For example, according to Reuters, the international clothing store Primark has committed to pay its suppliers $461 million for orders, despite all of its stores closing their doors in March.

Even though there have been provisions for businesses to defer payments, once they start trading again, these

… Read More

Our Guide to Launching an Online Clothing Resale Business

By Gertrude Aziz 17 hours ago

Shopping usually means spending money — but what if you could use your passion for shopping to make some money?

That’s a real possibility, thanks to the booming world of online clothing reselling.

With platforms like Mercari, Poshmark and eBay, it’s easy to launch your own online clothing resale business. These six steps will help you get started.

1. Select a Platform

Your first step? Pick a platform.

Several online marketplaces are available for you to resell your clothing. Here’s a breakdown of three of the most popular options.

eBay

Everyone knows about eBay. It’s been around since the ‘90s, and you can buy and sell nearly everything, from car parts to cribs to new and used clothing.

What’s good about selling on eBay:

  • You can promote your items with eBay advertising, which is a simple and affordable way to get more eyes on your item.

  • You can sell your

… Read More

4 ways you and your company can make flexible work better

By Gertrude Aziz 22 hours ago

Did you know we have an online event about the future of work coming up? Join the Future of Work track at TNW2020 to hear how successful companies are adapting to a new way of working.

The world of work is fast changing. As life expectancy lengthens and labor markets shift, our working lives have become more complicated. The old expectations about how we work have become unsustainable – not least the expectation that we religiously travel to and from a fixed location ten times a week during rush hour, with all the knock-on effects that this has for carbon emissions.

Flexible work has the potential to solve many issues that see people fall out of the workforce. For employees, this means being better able to fit their jobs around other responsibilities, such as looking after children or elderly relatives. For businesses, this means retaining staff and saving the

… Read More

Amazon launches online pharmacy in India

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

Online retail giant Amazon has launched an internet pharmacy in India, marking its entry into the country’s online medicine market.

Amazon Pharmacy will make its debut in Bangalore and it may be trialled in other Indian cities.

The move comes as the online drugs business has been given a major boost during the coronavirus pandemic.

This year US technology giants have invested billions of dollars in the Indian economy.

The Amazon Pharmacy service offers prescription, over-the-counter and traditional Ayurveda medication as well as basic health devices.

“This is particularly relevant in present times as it will help customers meet their essential needs while staying safe at home,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

Amazon started its move into pharmaceutical retailing in 2017. The following year it bought US-based home delivery medications startup PillPack.

At the end of last year, the company introduced its Amazon Pharmacy branding to PillPack’s service.

In January, Amazon

… Read More

How to Shop for Well-Made Clothes Online

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

Online shopping has come a very long way since it first became a thing in the early ’90s. You may recall that the major players back then were pretty much just eBay and Amazon (which was a book retailer at the time). Fast-forward to today and practically every fashion business has an online component, save for a few holdouts (the most noteworthy being Chanel).

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the world, the shift from traditional brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce has been one of the fashion industry’s biggest talking points. If you grew up going to malls every weekend, you probably never thought you’d see the day when a department store as storied as Barneys New York would cease to exist, but here we are.

Whether or not you were comfortable with shopping online for clothes before 2020, the pandemic has pretty much forced it upon you, at

… Read More

watching the world open up for disabled people

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

When lockdown began, chronic illness meant I’d already been stuck at home for a couple of years. It was my own self-isolation before self-isolation was in the lexicon, except with less sourdough. I won’t say I was used to missing the world outside my bedroom because it is never a thing you truly get used to. House plants are not great conversationalists. A glass of wine in a restaurant is a thing of beauty to long for. But you adapt, because circumstances are demanding like that.

Related: Chronic illness has made me a self isolation expert: here’s how to ease yourself out of lockdown

If the pandemic created one shared experience, it was this sense of missing out. Fomo went global and the world got creative to cope. Theatres went online. Museums hosted virtual tours. Work held meetings over Zoom. Musicians streamed gigs live to fans. As a disabled person,

… Read More

Edited Transcript of CECG.DE earnings conference call or presentation 13-Aug-20 6:30am GMT

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

Q3 2020 Ceconomy AG Earnings Call

Dusseldorf Aug 13, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) — Edited Transcript of Ceconomy AG earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, August 13, 2020 at 6:30:00am GMT

TEXT version of Transcript

================================================================================

Corporate Participants

================================================================================

* Bernhard Düttmann

Ceconomy AG – CEO, Labour Director & Member of Management Board

* Ferran Reverter

Ceconomy AG – CEO of Media-Saturn-Holding

* Karin Sonnenmoser

Ceconomy AG – CFO & Member of Management Board

* Stephanie Ritschel

Ceconomy AG – VP IR

================================================================================

Conference Call Participants

================================================================================

* Amy L. Curry

Morgan Stanley, Research Division – Equity Analyst

* Clement Genelot

Bryan Garnier & Co Ltd, Research Division – Analyst

* Volker Bosse

Baader-Helvea Equity Research – Co-Head of Equity Research

================================================================================

Presentation

——————————————————————————–

Operator [1]

——————————————————————————–

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome, and thank you for joining the CECONOMY AG Investor and Analyst Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

… Read More

MoneyGram’s (MGI) Digital Platform Sees Consistent Growth

By Gertrude Aziz 1 day ago

MoneyGram International, Inc. MGI recently announced that its online platform has been gaining from strong customer demand, driven by its digital capabilities. This upside led to robust digital transaction growth for the company in July.

As a case in point, the company witnessed digital transaction growth of 124% year over year in July. Strength of its direct-to-consumer channel—MoneyGram Online—digital partnerships, an increased account deposit and mobile wallet transactions primarily drove digital growth last month. The reported figure for the period is even higher than the record-breaking digital transaction growth of 106% in June.

MoneyGram’s online business has three major components, namely MoneyGram Online, digital partnerships  and account deposit and mobile wallet.

The first component (MoneyGram Online) delivered incredible year-over-year transaction growth of 126% in July. This was driven by cross-border transaction growth of 207% as strong adoption of the MoneyGram app continues to grow in the worldwide markets.

Expanding digital

… Read More