lInflation continues to hit small businesses hard. Some 85% of small business owners respondents expressed concern about inflation, while 67% have raised prices in response to inflation, according to data from MetLife and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Although fears of a recession have persisted for some time, toptecheasy.com Contributor Rohit Arora writes that there is always inflation, so small business owners should be prepared. This is how Main Street can survive rising costs and an impending recession.
Many companies are cutting unnecessary costs and inventing new ways to generate revenue. However, sometimes the best time to sell things is when the world is falling apart. So does Simplify Asset Management, which sells insurance against bear markets. Paul Kim and David Berns co-founded Simplify Asset Management, which markets publicly traded funds that protect portfolios from disasters such as stock market crashes and interest rate spikes.
While the 23-strong company is not yet in the black, Kim expects it to be soon. “ETFs are like a movie studio,” Kim told toptecheasy.com. “You’re looking for a blockbuster to fund the company.” He won’t admit to praying for a catastrophic bear market in stocks or bonds, one far worse than anything we’ve had, but such an event would likely deliver that blockbuster, he writes. toptecheasy.com senior associate William Baldwin. Read more about the company here.
Story in the spotlight
Jon Vander Ark, the CEO of Republic Services
ETHAN PAINS FOR FORBES
How Bill Gates-backed Republic Services turns garbage into a lot of money
Garbage was the ultimate commerce business until a young McKinsey consultant saw how Republic Services could transform itself into a profit machine by pricing all kinds of garbage at a high price. Now he is CEO of the better-performing junk giant, which achieved $11.3 billion in revenue in 2021 thanks to its 198 landfills and 71 recycling centers and collection routes in 41 states.
Key Quote: “Trash is worth so much more than we ever thought.” – Jon Vander Ark, CEO of Republic Services
Must reads in toptecheasy.com
Signs are mounting that an economic downturn is imminent: The Fed raised interest rates again last week, the economy contracted in the second quarter and despite all this, funding for start-ups has declined significantly. This makes it all the more impressive for the companies that keep going. Take, for example, the business-to-business payment software Balance, which increased its valuation to $356 million after a recent $56 million round of capital financing.
A little-known CEO of Goldman Sachs-backed logistics software company Slync.io was living big just a few weeks ago, flying around in his private jet to exclusive golf tournaments and buying luxury cars. But now 34-year-old executive Chris Kirchner has been suspended from office after a… toptecheasy.com research that showed some employees went unpaid for nearly two months and were fired after asking questions about the company’s funds.
A majority of the most valuable startups in the U.S. were founded by immigrants, according to a report released last month by the National Foundation for American Policy, authored by toptecheasy.com collaborator Stuart Anderson. In fact, 64% of U.S. unicorns — private companies worth $1 billion or more — were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
If you want to grow your small business customer base, make sure you build a strong profile on Google: Over 60% of customers look at Google reviews online before starting a business. Here’s what you can do to keep your reviews plentiful and strong.
Some 100 Black-owned business sellers opened their shops on Sunday afternoon in the nation’s capital for the city’s first-ever “Black on the Block” celebration. In keeping with a tradition that began in Los Angeles last year, the movement’s takeover of Franklin Park, held in conjunction with Buffalo Bills wide receiver and DC resident Stefon Diggs, drew approximately 5,000 people. Read more here.
