getty Dropshipping has one huge upside for business newbies: It offers a wonderful opportunity to "operate from anywhere." Budding entrepreneurs can do it from anywhere and start with little to no investment. Here’s how. "Geography neutral" is one way to describe one of the biggest advantages of dropshipping, where you act as an intermediary between a supplier and end consumer in the supply chain. You can dropship from anywhere to almost anywhere, often with a minimum outlay because you never come into contact with any stock. These are important upsides—but there are some catches too. Nevertheless, for entrepreneurs who want to rein in expenditure in the currently tight economy; for full-time workers looking for a useful extra side income or for newly-arrived migrants who need to find their financial feet quickly, dropshipping is one option worth considering. So what are those catches? Failures are commonplace and the reasons for them are many—from a lack of market research and limited engagement with your shopping audience to an uninspiring web shop with no brand marketing and bad customer service. These issues do not instill confidence in buyers. Dropshipping is not the "get rich quick" play that many so-called experts tell you […]

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Due diligence was a big topic in 2022 for a variety of reasons. But due diligence doesn’t just apply to investors pouring money into startups, or companies acquiring other companies. Businesses, especially those operating in financial services, also have to conduct an appropriate amount of due diligence, for example, to avoid fraud. As recently as December, a congressional report accused several fintechs, according to NPR , “of reaping ‘billions in fees from taxpayers while becoming easy targets for those who sought to defraud the PPP,’ or Paycheck Protection Program” in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the report also charged that fintechs neglected to stop “obvious and preventable fraud.” Meanwhile, the Small Business Administration is facing pushback from organizations such as the American Bankers Association and the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders regarding a proposal that would allow fintech startups, as reported by Politico, “to begin offering government-backed loans under the department’s flagship ‘7(a)’ program — long the domain of traditional lenders.”The groups allege, among other things, that the SBA is “ill-equipped to regulate the fintech firms that would want to participate.” Enter TrueBiz . The startup wants to reinvent how fintechs review the risks of […]

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Founder and principal of Keller Augusta , a national, full-service search and advisory firm specializing in commercial real estate. getty The United States has long been the land of opportunity, with rumors among early immigrants to Ellis Island that American streets were "paved with gold." For many, making the "American dream" come true meant hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit. Fast forward many years and much of the American workforce has cultivated a feeling of independence. This is partially a result of the pandemic, as we shifted to an extended period of work-from-home and today’s hybrid work schedules. I think we’ve all felt that moment when we were on our own and making decisions while our colleagues couldn’t access a Zoom call due to internet issues or a screaming baby had them muted on a call. The American dream realized! All kidding aside, before the pandemic, during the pandemic and as we enter the next phase—possibly a recession—demand for talent has consistently outpaced supply. The next couple of years mark a milestone phase of demographics: the youngest Baby Boomers will turn 60 years old soon. With the average retirement year in the United States at 61, the departure of […]

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An accomplished executive and entrepreneur with deep AEC industry experience, Alsop will expand McKissack’s portfolio in the District, Maryland and Virginia WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — McKissack & McKissack, one of the nation’s leading Black- and woman-owned architecture, engineering and construction companies, announced today that Alana Alsop will head the firm’s business development for the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Alsop has more than 15 years of business development and marketing experience in the AEC industry and a proven record of connecting with business leaders to develop new relationships and productive working partnerships to accelerate pipeline performance. Continue Reading Alana will support the firm’s current and new client relationships, monitor markets and identify emerging trends. Tweet this Alana Alsop Strong relationships like Alsop’s are key to building the multidisciplinary teams that are so important in delivering quality construction projects as the nation ramps up its focus on infrastructure improvement. Estimates are that some $19 billion in federal spending from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is headed toward D.C., Maryland and Virginia—the region often called the DMV. Much of that spending will go to the populous Washington-Baltimore region, which has edged out Chicago to rank as the […]

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aiisha5 via Getty Images Hype around investing in cybersecurity is giving way to talk of economic headwinds and cybersecurity, seen as a cost center, is closely watching the budget chopping block. This turmoil in 2023 is expected to adversely affect the cybersecurity vendor landscape, spurring a spree of consolidation. One CISO even equated some of the potential market movement to a fire sale. Even when resources are tight, cybersecurity executives are expected to fall in line with regulation. From the CISO’s desk, there is also a lot of attention on what due diligence means following the guilty verdict of Uber’s CISO last year . Cybersecurity Dive asked researchers and analysts what they expected to see hit the business of cybersecurity this year. Below is how four experts responded: (Responses have been edited for length and clarity) Mauricio Sanchez, research director at Dell’Oro Group: Vendor and solution consolidation will continue. Large vendors with positive market momentum will get bigger as they subsume the smaller fish in the market Security budgets will remain largely unaffected in 2023 because security is a board-level conversation and has budget priority. Besides not wanting to make headlines due to a breach, the conviction of Uber […]

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First Internet Bank is shutting down its consumer mortgage business due to a steep decline in mortgage volumes and the negative outlook for mortgage lending that is forecasted to continue for the next several years. First Internet Bancorp , parent company of First Internet Bank, announced that the exit will include its nationwide digital direct-to-consumer mortgage platform, which originates residential loans for sale in the secondary market. It will also include the company’s local traditional consumer mortgage and construction-to-permanent businesses. “While other lending lines have strong demand, the combination of housing prices, housing supply, economic uncertainty and interest rates have caused mortgage applications nationally to plunge to their lowest level in 26 years,” David Becker, chairman and CEO of First Internet Bancorp, told analysts in its fourth quarter earnings call last week. First Internet Bank will end its direct-to-consumer operations in the first quarter of 2023 and shifts its focus to origination efforts on its floating rate loan products — most notably its commercial construction and small business lending — as well as its higher-yielding fixed rate programs, such as franchise finance. The residential mortgage loan balance for First Internet was $383.9 million as of December 31, 2022, a […]

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Adani Enterprises, the flagship company in the Indian billionaire Gautan Adani’s business empire, raised $2.5 billion from investors on Tuesday in a nail-biting process that had been thrust into doubt by recent allegations of fraud. The conclusion of the share offering was supposed to mark another milestone in the ever-upward ascent of the Adani Group. Instead, a week ago, Hindenburg Research, a New York investment firm betting Adani Group’s stock price would tumble, dropped a bomb of a report on the conglomerate, calling its finances “ the largest con in corporate history .” The Adani Group has dismissed Hindenburg’s report, in part framing it as an attack on India itself. In each market trading session since the report’s publication, shares of most of the public companies controlled by Mr. Adani have sunk, sometimes triggering a 20 percent daily limit. Tens of billions of dollars in value has been wiped out , including during the days when the company was soliciting bids for its offering, the largest of its kind in India. The Hindenburg report was aimed squarely at the valuations of Adani Group’s companies, which had reached jaw-dropping heights. At the start of this year, the share price for […]

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Kevin Lane, who has more than four decades of experience in the diamond and jewelry industries, is the new vice president of business development at Martin Flyer. New York—Martin Flyer has named industry veteran Kevin Lane its vice president of business development, a newly created role, as the company looks to expand its North American presence. Lane has more than four decades of experience in the diamond and jewelry industries. Most recently, Lane was the vice president at Forevermark, leading the sales division and establishing the De Beers Group brand in North America. Prior to that, he held senior sales and leadership roles at Lazare Kaplan International, Mikimoto, Saks Fifth Avenue and Henry Birks. “Kevin’s passion for the industry, extensive experience building fine jewelry brands, and his many years working in the luxury retail environment make him uniquely qualified to expand Martin Flyer’s business in North America,” said Martin Flyer CEO Joshua Kaufman. Founded in 1945, the business, now part of the KGK Group, is run by its third generation of family members. Best known for its diamond jewelry, the company is behind the FlyerFit brand of engagement rings and wedding bands. “Martin Flyer embodies quality, craftsmanship and best […]

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Members use their fingerprints to gain entry to the clubs. Every week on The Dining Table podcast , host David Manilow shares his own experiences from some of Chicago’s best places to eat, drink and shop. Crain’s reporters bring expert insight into all aspects of the city’s restaurant and food scene. And we welcome chefs, culinary experts, cookbook authors, bartenders, business owners and more to discover what makes them tick. Here’s what you’ll find in the latest episode: A new type of private social club Much of the private club-based social experience has been defined by exclusivity. When Kim Bosse sought something more inclusive, she joined forces with a childhood friend to create Birch Road Cellar, a different kind of social club. "We prefer to call ourselves a neighborhood clubhouse," Bosse said on this week’s show. "We are a private club, we are a social club. But we’re so different from what people are used to when you say those terms." With no bar or kitchen staff, the club is fully BYOB. Members have their own lockers where they can store wine and spirits. "It’s not the scene that you would get when you’re looking at these other private […]

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Between 2017 and 2022, 11 property & casualty insurers domiciled in Florida were declared insolvent and placed into liquidation. In an attempt to restore stability to the marketplace, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a proclamation on April 26, 2022, calling the Florida Legislature into special session to reform Florida’s Insurance Code. While the ensuing May special session yielded significant changes, including amendments designed to reduce fraudulent roof claims and to curtail the use of Assignment of Benefits (AOB) agreements and the award of attorneys’ fees, it was widely believed that the reforms did not go far enough. Support for this viewpoint was readily found in the number of carriers voluntarily choosing to cease writing policies in Florida, as well as the skyrocketing number of policies held by the state-created “insurer of last resort,” Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. In response, the newly elected President of the Florida Senate, Kathleen Passidomo, and Speaker of the Florida House, Paul Renner, issued a proclamation on December 6, 2022, calling a second special session on insurance in less than a year. Whereas the May special session may be described as taking “half-steps” on certain drivers of market instability, such as AOBs and the so-called “One-Way […]

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