The global pandemic has hit the world hard. There are significant financial damages that businesses have faced.
The damages vary as per the business’s size, but every business is affected in one way or another. Around 160K business closed permanently after lockdown.
Not only businesses but global economies also suffered due to the lockdown.
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The world is getting normal after the initiation of vaccine across the globe. Though, these heavy damages are still required to be cured.
Let’s discuss some of the practical approaches to give a new start to your COVID loss.
Evaluate the Financial Damage
The first step in recreating business after COVID is the estimation of loss. It is essential to identify the intensity of loss you have faced during COVID. Categorize your business in the following segment;
There are different tiers of business that have witnessed loss. The first one is financial loss. Suppose you haven’t maintained your financial statements, including; profit and loss statement and cash flow. Compare these statements with the previous year’s statement and identify the financial loss.
The second tier includes the revenue loss. Evaluate the cost of revenues that you have sold during COVID. It also includes employees who were laid off during the pandemic.
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Reconsider your Business Plan
Business models are the core of any business. Around 20% of business fails in their first year, majorly due to inadequate business plan. Your business plan may work adequately before COVID, but the time is changed now.
This adjustment is necessary to contrast your business plan with the new normal. For instance, if your business was previously dependent upon brick–and–mortar stores, it will require a digital store. If your employees were working from the office, now they need adequate work from home setup.
Start from the big picture; first, evaluate the overall industrial loss. Look for the market leaders and changes that they have brought in their business functionality. Now make changes in your business plan in accordance with the above evaluation.
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Gauge your Current Financial Need
Despite your financial condition before COVID, the finances are not the same in recent times. Around 60% of small business ran without a budget that creates hurdles in business practices. See the following illustration, which reflects the cash in the hand of different firms.
Unless you are left with a huge amount of cash in hand, you’ll still need financial assistance to regulate your business.
Different finance organizations can support you in acquiring funds. The government has also announced; Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. But, these are limited in terms of providing finance.
Due to the larger population segment affected and limited resources, the scheme may be depilated before your application is reviewed.
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Other institutes that can provide you with short-term minor loans are;
Business loans from credit unions and banks.
Business credit cards and line of credits.
SBA 7(a) loan
Merchant and inventory financing.
Equipment inventory financing.
Revise your Budget
It may require you to spend additional finances before revamping your budget. For instance, you may need to hire and train new employees to replace those laid off.
Additional inventory and merchandise may need to be purchased and re-marketing of the business also.
Firstly you have to estimate these expenses and embed them into the new budget. It is a part of recovery that you should have a complete overview of your business’s future expenses.
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This will support you in estimating the amount of cash in hand that is lacking. Make sure while budgeting that the main purpose is to eliminate any excessive expenses. One tip is to give yourself a salary rather than taking a portion from profit.
Fix Milestones
There are many elements of the business that you want to recover after COVID. But it is also a fact that you can’t recover all of it together.
Therefore, you need to set your milestones. Divide your ultimate goal into smaller segments and track the achievement of every goal. Make sure your milestones are based on prioritized actions.
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With each milestone, set a parameter to gauge the achievement and its impact on business. These parameters can be; finances, customer satisfaction, performance reviews, and your expectations from the task.
Adopt Current Trends
The social distancing and wearing a mask become new normal. Similarly, there are many new normal in business.
Using digital sales channels, employees working remotely, and maintaining social distancing is the new normal. All you have to do is to alter your business practices as per the new normal.
Since lockdown has completely evolved, the markets should align with these trends for survival.
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Take Professional Advice
Taking advice from an expert in any business matter is helpful. They are the professional who is aware of every aspect of your problem. There is 22.5% small business globally, and almost all of these require expert’s advice.
You can take advice from accountants in drafting your new budget and marketing experts to rebuild your market image.
These professionals can also support you in filling out loans and taking support from other financial institutes. It is similar to the research proposal service that students avail for their featureless academic career.
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Platforms to Acquire Business Resources
The sudden changes in the form of lockdown shook the basis of the business. Many businesses were not even prepared to face a pandemic.
In this condition, many platforms came forward to support suffering businesses;
On top of the list is Google. The platform provides free of cost G-Suite facilities. Along with this, they provide all the possible resources and guidelines to run a business digitally. There are nearly 5 million businesses across the globe that is completely dependent upon Google.
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To navigate small business out of the crises, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) also supports well. The platform hosts webinars and provides several resources to businesses. They also provide an FAQ facility, where experts will solve the frequent problems you face.
If you want experts’ advice and support in rebuilding business, then SCORE is there for you. They have volunteered around 10,000 mentors to provide adequate advice and support small business to restart.
The US Chamber of Commerce is also providing several contents regarding rebuilding after COVID. The institute is also focused on providing tax rebate to many organizations, supporting their re-launching.
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Exclude the COVID Loss
The pandemic was unexpected for many countries in the world. People were unaware of the disease’s intensity and were considered a normal virus. The modern world has witnessed the pandemic for the first time, so many businesses were not mentally prepared for this.
The under-preparedness of businesses creates significant hurdles in adopting the new normal. All of these factors combined to create a significant impact on the financial conditions of businesses.
Though the world is normalizing again, and businesses are getting back to a normal routine. A lot of effort is required by business owners to rebuild their businesses again.
Passionate news enthusiast with a flair for words. Our Editorial Team author brings you the latest updates, in-depth analysis, and engaging stories. Stay informed with their well-researched articles.
Gerber and Perrigo Face New Lawsuit Over ‘Store-Brand’ Infant Formula Pricing; All Pending Toxic Baby Food Cases Consolidated into New Class Action MDL
Infant formula makers Gerber and Perrigo have been hit with a class-action lawsuit, which accuses the companies of artificially creating a shortage and jacking up prices for “store-brand” formula sold at Walmart, Walgreens, and other retailers.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. It accuses Perrigo of violating antitrust laws by collaborating with Gerber to prevent competitors from entering the market for store-brand formula.
Perrigo, one of the nation’s largest suppliers of store-brand formula, sells its products under retail labels at prices lower than similar branded products. However, the lawsuit alleges that Gerber, by granting Perrigo the first right of refusal to Gerber’s excess formula supply, which could have been sold to other competitors, is engaging in practices that stifle competition.
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The lawsuit claims that through this arrangement, Gerber agreed to keep its excess formula out of the store-brand market, thereby gaining a share of Perrigo’s profits. The lawsuit was filed by four residents of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, who will represent millions of customers who have purchased store-brand baby formula. The lawsuit does not name formula retailers as defendants. It asks the court to intervene and end the anticompetitive deals between Perrigo and Gerber and seeks more than $5 million in monetary damages.
This lawsuit is similar to another case filed in Brooklyn federal court by a potential store-brand competitor, P&L Development. Gerber and Perrigo requested the dismissal of that case, which was denied by the judge in February. The companies involved in the lawsuit claimed they compete fairly with other infant formula manufacturers, including those of store-brand formulas. The lawsuit also cited the squeezing out of P&L Development from the store-brand market, which has led to higher prices.
Gerber is also facing numerous lawsuits accusing its brands of baby food of containing dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. These heavy metals are extremely toxic, even for adults, and can have catastrophic consequences on developing children, leading to health complications and neurological damage. Conditions such as ADHD and autism may be linked to consuming these toxic baby foods.
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On April 11, 2024, all the lawsuits pertaining to toxic baby foods, which had been filed at different times in various courts, were consolidated into a new class action MDL in the Northern District of California and assigned to Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. Besides Gerber, other baby food manufacturers like Beech-Nut and Campbell Soup Co. have also been named as defendants.
The legal wrangling between the crypto sector and the SEC, or the Securities and Exchange Commission, is getting uglier, with ConsenSys, a major protagonist of the Ethereum Blockchain, filing a lawsuit against the regulatory body in a Texas federal court. This legal action seeks an intervention to ward off a looming SEC lawsuit against the company regarding features of its popular MetaMask wallet. The lawsuit also seeks the court’s help in deciding once and for all the vexed question of whether Ethereum’s digital token, Ether, is not a security. The legal uncertainty hangs heavily on the crypto sector and puts a question mark on its very existence.
In an exhaustive 34-page legal filing, ConsenSys states that the SEC’s endeavor to exert control over Ethereum is both illegal and a threat to blockchain technology.
The complaint states,
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“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for ConsenSys. Every holder of ETH, including ConsenSys, would fear violating the securities laws if he or she were to transfer ETH on the network. This would bring the use of the Ethereum blockchain in the United States to a halt, crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.”
The lawsuit also alleges that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has embarked on an aggressive enforcement policy directed at the big players in the crypto sector like Coinbase and Uniswap. The lawsuit particularly points out a campaign that involved a deluge of subpoenas asking firms and developers for documents related to their dealings with the nonprofit Ethereum Foundation, which supports the blockchain’s development.
The crypto sector is up in arms against Gensler’s tactics and has contended that the SEC has never provided clear rules meant for the distinct features of blockchain technology. However, Gensler negates this argument, saying that the existing securities laws are clear and sufficient, and that the crypto industry refuses to comply with them.
Gensler’s actions are full of contradictions since, in the past, the SEC had maintained that blockchain’s tokens, like Bitcoin, are not securities and hence beyond its purview. A senior official in 2018 had stated that Ethereum has reached a state where it is adequately decentralized, and further, the agency also gave the green signal for the launch of Ethereum futures trading—an implicit acknowledgement that Ether is a commodity. However, at present, Gensler is using a recent feature of Ethereum, known as staking, as grounds for the recent legal campaign.
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The lawsuit was filed after the SEC issued a Wells Notice, which is akin to a formal letter warning that the agency intends to sue a firm and could lead to a settlement later. The SEC charged ConsenSys that MetaMask was operating as an unlicensed broker-dealer. MetaMask offered users a means to stake Ethereum on their behalf. Staking was a feature introduced in September 2022 on the Blockchain as a replacement for the energy-intensive mining process. The process involves a system of validators who pledge collateral to become trusted validators.
The SEC objects to the process of staking, which has changed Ethereum from a commodity into a security. ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin has called this account of the SEC “preposterous”.
Lubin said,
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“The act of staking is really just posting a security bond so you can get paid to contribute labor and resources to help operate the Ethereum protocol. Now they’re trying to turn that into some sort of investment contract.”
Lubin also stated that the SEC’s actions will lead to a halt in the growth of the crypto sector and blockchain technology as a whole. Lubin feels that the SEC seeks to block pending applications by companies to launch spot ETFs for Ethereum, following the huge popularity of Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC is in fact trying to regulate a technology on its merits and it will only stifle innovation.
Caterina Fake is a renowned American entrepreneur and co-founder of several groundbreaking ventures, including Flickr and Hunch. Born on June 13, 1969, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Fake has been a driving force in reshaping the digital landscape through her innovative ideas and entrepreneurial acumen.
From her early days in Pittsburgh to her rise in Silicon Valley, Caterina Fake’s career has been marked by a relentless pursuit of excellence. Co-founding platforms like Flickr and Hunch, she has revolutionized how we connect and share information online. Her visionary leadership and creative brilliance have cemented her status as a trailblazer in the tech industry.
Caterina Fake Net Worth
As of 2024, according to TheRichest, Caterina Fake’s net worth stands at an impressive $25 million. Her entrepreneurial ventures, including Flickr and Hunch, have contributed significantly to her financial success. With a keen eye for emerging trends and a knack for innovation, Fake continues to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs around the world.
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Caterina Fake Age
Currently 54 years old, Caterina Fake was born on June 13, 1969. Despite her age, she remains a dynamic force in the business world, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in technology and entrepreneurship.
Caterina Fake Family: Husband and Children
Caterina Fake was previously married to Stewart Butterfield, with whom she co-founded Flickr. They tied the knot in 2001 but announced their split in 2007. They share one child, Mint Butterfield, who has recently been reported missing. Caterina Fake is currently in a relationship with Jaiku co-founder Jyri Engeström.
Caterina Fake Height and Weight
While specific details about Caterina Fake’s height and weight are not readily available, her stature in the tech industry is undeniable. Standing tall as a visionary leader and innovator, Fake’s impact transcends physical measurements, leaving an enduring legacy in the digital sphere.
