As of the month of October 2018, U.S markets have taken a massive hit going from “all time highs” to losing all gains in the entire year. While this is concerning to investors, most of Americans who do not own Stocks feel little to no change in their lives. In fact, most of the other economic indicators i.e. unemployment rate, wage growth, and job creation do not provide any sign of an economic recession or stagnation. While these indicators are important to understand the stability an economy, however one indicator which is normally not taken into account is consumer confidence.

Consumer confidence can be summarized as how confident people are in the economy based on how economically strained, they are. Majority of Americans, if they do not feel very economically strained tend to buy more goods/services. However, if times are very difficult similar to that of the 2008 recession, Americans tend to be more conservative with their money and spend less.

Following one of the worst trading days ever recorded on December 24^th, 2018; December 25^th however, showed a peculiar phenomenon. According to Amazon, “a record-breaking holiday season shopping spree” occurred where shoppers loaded their online shopping carts with a plethora of items ranging from top brand apparels to Amazon’s own devices. Amazons’ report also showed that in the U.S alone “more than 1 billion items were shipped for free using Prime”.

In addition, Amazon was not the only company which reported a massive increase in consumer spending for the holiday season. Other companies like Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Nike, also had very similar reports which showed a very drastic increase in sales on December 25th. Aside from retailers, Credit Card companies also saw an increase in sales during the holidays. Companies such as Mastercard and Visa reported an increase of “holiday sales of 5.1 % to more than $850 billion this year, the strongest growth in the last six years”.

This increase of holiday sales enigma demonstrated that even though there was a massive sale off in the markets, the population as a whole do not feel an economic strained. On the contrary, these reports not only show that the U.S economy is still very much healthy, but also bolsters the information the other economic indicators showed.

Source:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-26/amazon-s-record-holiday-shows-consumers-appetite-for-spending

The General Service Administration operates 24 Multiple Award Schedules with schedules being organized under industry or type of service. However, GSA has recently announced that it will change the current schedule and consolidate all 24 MAS to one schedule. This announcement will affect all contractors with this type of schedule contract. In addition, it will alter the process by which contractors apply for and government stakeholders buy from GSA schedules. Currently, GSA uses MAS for more than 10 million products that appear on GSA schedules. Reports indicate that an estimated $31 billion is spent each year through MAS contracts. The current system requires vendors to comply with different terms and conditions depending on the products or services they offer. This leads to a confusing and complicated system that frustrates the vendors. The new system that GSA is proposing would streamline the current process and allow vendors to consolidate their purchases to one schedule. GSA has not yet issued a timeline for the consolidation but they say that the consolidation should be anticipated to occur within two years. A GSA representative in a press call explained that the process will be down in two phases. The first phase will be completed in the fiscal year 2019 and existing contractors will continue to sell through their existing contracts while new contracts will be established on the new schedule. In the second phase, GSA will move existing contractors on the new consolidated schedule. This is not a new concept since the idea has been in the works as mentioned in June 2018 at Industry Day. At the moment GSA has not addressed what sort of impact consolidation would have on vendors with multiple contract schedules but what is clear is that this reform to GSA’s current system seeks to lessen GSA’s perception as excessively complicated. Whether this consolidation would be effective remains to be seen. More details would emerge during GSA’s Federal Marketplace Initiative Industry day on December 12 2018.

The Great Recession of the 2000s and early 2010 took a major toll on small businesses in the United States. Post-recession and small businesses are still struggling to support themselves. In response, American Express launched Small Business Saturday in the early 2010s. This special event takes place in between the Black Friday/ Cyber Monday rush. The event encourages Americans to shop at local retailers. As a benefit, American Express cardholders can get double credit points as an incentive. To aid and organize the local communities, American Express created a concept called Neighborhood Champions. These are “business associations, state and local chambers of commerce, small businesses, and other community organizers” who are tasked with rallying the community during that day. According to data from American Express, the number of Neighborhood Champions has grown from 1,400 to 7,200 (from 2013-2017). In support for this event, the US government passed a resolution supporting the event influencing businesses across the country to join the movement. Participating businesses are eligible to receive materials and resources free of charge from American Express to help drive business on the day and year-round. American Express also included participating businesses in shopping recommendations which are emailed to American Express cardholders. They estimated that Americans have spent $85 billion at independent retailers and restaurants since Small Business Saturday was released.

Small Business Saturday benefits small local businesses by encouraging consumers to support their local businesses through deals and perks. Businesses are able to receive benefits and customers from American Express. For the rest of that weekend, these businesses are able to make a profit due to the increase in consumers. In addition, this event allows communities to support their local businesses in a more tangible and meaningful way. Hopefully, for future Small Business Saturdays, the number of consumer and business participants will increase.

http://fortune.com/2018/11/23/small-business-saturday-2018-american-express/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-business-saturday-on-track-to-reach-3-billion-in-online-sales-for-the-first-time-2018-11-24

Datto Incorporated, an American cybersecurity and data backup company, has announced new findings from their third annual Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report, which found that ransomware continues to be the leading cyber-attack experienced by small-to-medium sized businesses. Ransomware is a kind of malware that threatens to make businesses data inaccessible until the ransom is paid. This report surveyed 2,400 managed service providers that provide IT support for nearly half a million small-to-medium businesses. The survey listed many negative impacts these attacks can have on a business. The lists included

• The average ransomware attack is about 10 times costlier to a business than the ransom itself. On average these attacks can cost a business’s $46,800 and the ransoms averaging to $4,300 per attack.
• 92 % or managed service providers predict that the number of attacks will continue at current rates or increase. More than 55% of managed service providers stated that their clients experience a ransomware attack in the first six months of 2018, and 35% said that their clients were attacked multiple times a day.
• MSPs reported that about 85% or ransomware victims had anti-virus software installed. 65% of reported victims had email/spam filters installed and 29% had pop-up blockers.
• Ransomware attacks on macOS and iOS platforms have increased five-fold.

One of the biggest reasons for ransomware attacks is CEO’s who are not willing to invest in protection. Michael Drake the CEO of masterIT, an MSP in Memphis Tennessee, says that many CEO’s think that they don’t have anything the hackers want so to them it isn’t worth the price. The report also stated that many attacks are unreported, the survey found that 25% of ransomware attacks are reported to authorities. Companies can take to strengthen their IT protection and prevent future attacks. Two of the most prominent ways for businesses to protect themselves is:

• BCDR or business continuity and disaster recovery technology is the most effective: the report stated that 90% of clients with BCDR fully recovered in 24 hours. Additionally, businesses should create a response plan that includes detection, communication, cause assessment, recovery, and prevention.
• Additional training for employees can help employees stay vigilant. Many ransomware breaches are successful through phishing (fake emails), malicious websites, web ads, clickbait etc.

The lessons that can be taken from this report is that the long-term investments will pay out in the future. If business owners only see from a short-term perspective i.e. cost of protection, the consequences will be catastrophic and damaging. Stealing has evolved over the years to become sophisticated and instantaneous. In the same vein much like how a business would lock up their building to prevent theft, a business needs to have proper IT protection to lock up their information.

Source:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181113005016/en/Datto-Global-Survey-Reveals-Ransomware-Significant-Cyber

When, it comes to the well-being of an individual people will immediately think of a physically fit person. This makes sense since one’s physicality indicates how healthy a person’s body is and how the look on the outside. Yet recently there are more studies indicating that a person’s physical health can attribute to a person’s mental health. In article for Forbes Magazine titled “How to Prioritize Mental Health at Your Business”, it details the methods that employers can use to produce an environment that is beneficial for their employees mentally. The article details a survey made by International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans which states that “two-thirds of employers said mental health and substance abuse issues have contributed to absenteeism and tardiness at their organizations” (Forbes). Additionally, the survey also states that more than 60% percent of the survey’s respondents say that these issues can also affect physical health, job performance, focus, and productivity.

The next part of the article describes six business owners who have dealt with mental health and implemented policy to combat mental health within their businesses. Three of the examples is r Elizabeth Falconer, Joe Burton, and Samia Reichel who detailed her experience dealing with mental health issues. After experiencing the death of her father, mother, and two grandmothers all in the span of 14 months she found herself unable to work and made the decision to take time off. What she discovered was that her time off allowed herself to decompress and come to terms with the passing of her family members. That experience translated into her business practices where she tries to provide more flexible with work times and provide “downtime” for those experiencing personal crisis. Joe Burton founder and CEO of Whil explained that his time as a COO for another company was extremely stressful with 14-hour days and constant travel. Unfortunately, he herniated his back and lost two siblings to drug and suicide. This caused him to reach a crisis point and he decided to always prioritize stress management. Now he tells his employees to take 5-10-minute mental breaks every 50 minutes and has his employees hold mindfulness meditation at 3 pm each day. Samia Reichel the VP Escrow of Fidelity National Financial prioritizes self-management through promoting good physical health. Additionally, through meetings they discuss what tasks needed to be completed and what deadlines needed to be. The meetings allow employees to redistribute work if an individual is struggling in to keep the individual on track.

The commonality between all of these business owners is a willingness to put in the time and effort to organize and provide resources for their employees. Each business owner committed themselves into providing spaces where their employees can either take a break or discuss issues that they are facing. For business owners that are noticing mental health issues among their employees is worth the time and effort to provide the outlets and services needed for their employees to be productive and healthy. In the short term it definitely will require time to formulate and enact new policies geared towards positive mental health but in the long term it will ensure the longevity and productivity of their company. Employees to a business owner is their most important asset and if the owners do not care for their employee’s well-being it can only get worse from there.

Source:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettpower/2018/10/28/how-to-prioritize-mental-health-at-your-business/#61c488b649a7