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Financial technology (fintech), for all of its faults, helps us get more things done more efficiently. Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes it even further, allowing us to conduct business and have conversations when there isn’t even another human involved.
We can have online chats with bots, for example, to accomplish or learn myriad things. Innovation is always on the horizon, though, especially in the fintech realm.
As more fintech options become commonplace, every industry must either adapt or be phased out.
With the turn of the new year, 2020 promises big changes in how we manage, spend and access our money, so you'll want to keep an eye on some of these emerging trends as you make financial decisions regarding partnerships and investments.
Minimizing Traditional Institutions
Several types of financial business elements that have been handled manually or by standard institutions, like payroll, insurance and securities, are becoming automated.
We’re seeing online-only banking that eliminates the cost of brick-and-mortar buildings, and the best of them will be sharing the benefits with their customers in the form of higher returns and lower fees.
Companies adapting quickly to fintech and automation should also work to uphold compliance and maintain good standing with the governing agencies.
As regulation and risk-management for fraud, money-laundering and identity theft are becoming big business, regulation technology (regtech) companies are utilizing AI to combat these crimes faster and more efficiently than humans can.
The growth of fintech is causing a wave of startups and the opportunity for investment in the regtech realm.
Stepping Up Online Trading
Black box trading is a proprietary, fully automated option for your investments that has been talked up and down for its attributes.
It’s legal since it’s not expressly illegal, and relies on algorithmic and low-latency technologies. Computers and data-mining are not infallible, though, so you might want to consider a more personal approach.
Copy trading is basically crowd-sourcing applied to your portfolio. You can choose your favorite investors to follow and mirror their investment moves based on whatever percentage you want to allocate. Not only can it open you up to investments you might not know about, but you’ll also be able to interact with and gain insight from other members and influencers in real-time.
Monitoring Cryptocurrency Advancements and Conversions
In the digital world, financial assets can be used and exchanged with cryptocurrency, which isn’t tied to standard currency systems.
Its online, open-source administration doesn’t require banks or governments for regulation or exchanges, allowing anyone to participate in the system from anywhere in the world.
However, since there is so little regulation, the cryptocurrency market is extremely volatile. Several companies are trying to be competitive with Bitcoin as the space continues to evolve.
Smart contracts represent one such innovation by allowing people to enter into business contracts online with the terms managed by the system automatically as the parties verify that they’ve held up their end of the deal.
This could be revolutionary for the real estate market.
While blockchain transactions normally take place on public ledgers, many people don’t want their financial transactions to be public knowledge for a multitude of valid (or shady) reasons.
There are companies out there offering a type of cryptography that makes transactions anonymous and untraceable without damaging the blockchains.
This can create interesting options for investors and further regtech developments as well.
Although converting your cryptocurrency to real-world currency is possible with Bitcoin ATMs in many major cities, it’s not easily accessible.
There are a few online-conversion services and crypto debit cards. These methods often have fees, taxes and delays that hinder access to your money, which means it’s a wide-open avenue for innovation and new technology to emerge.
Considering Mergers and Collaborations
Finally, as you watch for opportunities to invest or invent, I predict you’ll continue to find that banks are trying to create partnerships with fintech and regtech companies as a means to stay relevant. Don’t be surprised if these are unsuccessful at saving the traditional institutions, because most of them are still trying to operate under the same old standards. They need new strategies for marketing and product offerings, not just new accounts on their books. As you move into 2020, keep that in mind for your own business decisions as well.
source:entrepreneur
6 Things You Need To Get Over To Become A Successful Entrepreneur
01 Dec 2019 Written by Admin AdminWhat’s stopping you fulfilling your potential, preventing you from taking action or slowing your progress as a business owner?
Conditioning your mind for success involves letting these things well and truly slide:
The opinions of naysayers
If you have a plan that you are convinced will work, go for it. If it’s true to your values, fits with your vision and you feel good about it, why not? Not everyone will agree with you because they don’t know what you are capable of. They don’t realise you’ve already done your research, weighed up the pros and cons and crafted a strategy. You know your audience and only they determine your fate.
Many an entrepreneur has been told that their business idea will never take off. It doesn’t mean it’s true. Someone airing their doubts about your business is a projection of their reality, not yours. Don’t internalise negativity levelled at you and don’t let someone else’s limited beliefs be yours.
Thinking too small
As Daniel Burnham, architect of Chicago, once said, “make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.” Make plans so big they scare you. Make plans so big that thinking about achieving them spurs you into action and motivates you to keep going. The small wins will happen along the way as you consistently put the work in, but it’s the big juicy needle-moving accomplishments that make you remarkable.
You don’t need to tell everyone your grandiose plans. Just know them yourself and know the steps ahead of achieving them. As Seth Godin said, “you’re either remarkable or invisible.”
Feeling embarrassed
No matter what you’re creating or selling, you will, at some point, need to put yourself out there. For your customers to buy into your brand and your story they will need to see it. This is no time to shy away from the limelight for fear of ridicule.
If you have a niggling feeling that something isn’t right, work out what it is and fix it. If the only niggling feeling is the adrenalin you get from being centre stage, channel it into action, start taking action and find your audience.
Maybe it is embarrassing telling people that you’re starting a business, or growing a business, or looking for customers. But who cares? Be shameless. You’d much rather do that than sit in silence and let opportunities pass you by.
Dreams without plans and action
There must be a connection between the dreams you have and the actions you are putting in place. Avoid having dreams that don’t link to plans because you will just get frustrated at not achieving them. You might think you want to be fluent in Spanish, but have you signed up to the courses, downloaded the language apps and booked the trip to Madrid? A dream without a plan is just a wish, and wishing is not a strategy for success.
Turning up to an arbitrary desk for eight hours a day to tap away at a keyboard answering emails and going to pointless meetings isn’t progress. It’s definitely busyness, it’s definitely activity, but wasting time in between weekends isn’t going to get you to the milestones you have in mind. If you really want to get somewhere, work out the route there and ignore everything else.
Feeling like it’s too soon
If your current situation is cushy or if you are daunted by the thought of starting a business, it will never feel like the right time to begin. If you’re already running a profitable and stable organisation, it might not ever feel like the right time to think bigger, reinvest or take risks. Sure, you could hang back, take it slower and play golf on weekdays, but you’re capable of so much more than that and you’d be doing yourself and the world a disservice to succumb.
The hardest thing is starting. Once you’ve started, you know the drill and you learn quickly from there. You develop conscious competence, then unconscious competence, and then suddenly you can do the basics excellently without even trying. That’s where the real magic happens and that’s the time to keep pushing, not the time to back off. Get started now.
Being all talk
In the 2015 film The Big Short, Christian Bale plays Michael Burry, one of the first people to discover the American housing market bubble.
When he’s working, operating his own hedge fund, he is running through the numbers doing the work that his clients commission him to do.
He could spend his days gossiping with them or talking vaguely about investing, but he doesn’t.
He communicates only when he has something important to say. He has something important to say because he’s working at it and not looking for excuses not to.
Deep down, you know what you should be doing and how spending your time will add the most value.
But there’s a difference between saying you want to write a book and actually writing a book. Between launching a brilliant product and just talking about it. Progress, not busyness. Action, not words.
Fear of failure
When starting or scaling a business, things will crop up that you haven’t foreseen. It’s inevitable. But working out how to move past obstacles, as well as seeing them as fun challenges to be solved, is what separates great entrepreneurs from those who never quite reach their potential.
What’s the worst that can happen? It doesn’t work out, you have to close down and then you start again. I’d choose that over never starting any day.
If you don’t view anything as failure then it’s not failure. If someone else views it as failure then they have no place in your life. Only your labels for you count. You only fail when you give up.
Get comfortable in that unknown space and don’t tie your own success to outcomes you can’t control, or winning the support of people who don’t have your back.
If you need some motivation to see past potential failure, talk to someone who has achieved things you aspire to achieve, make yourself a hype playlist or remind yourself that one day you won’t be here and neither will anyone you know.
source: forbes
This past week, I attended Ernst & Young’s Strategic Growth Forum U.S. event. With some of the smartest founders in the country, I chatted about best practices and trends that will shape 2020.
Although my prior co-founder and I received the “Best Emerging Company” award at the 2016 event, I joined this year not as a competitor but as a listener.
I came away with new ideas for growing my company while playing it safe, which will be key in what I and others expect to be a volatile election year. With uncertainty ahead, I paid special attention to the trends on attendees’ minds. These five came up again and again:
1- Optimization is becoming the new risk management.
With political tensions running high and a potential recession on everyone’s radar, it’s no wonder this year’s event was focused on playing it safe while doubling down. Lee Henderson, EY Americas Growth Markets Leader, hit on the importance of Playing it Safe, but still doubling down. Lee said “Companies need to look at things like contracts, vendors, costs, and business operations so that there’s comfort in efficiency, but they should still be looking for areas to grow and innovate. There will certainly be opportunities, and you want to be ready to capitalize on them when the time comes.”
According to EY data, entrepreneurs are more optimistic about those opportunities than other business leaders. Among entrepreneurs, 67% said they were focused on “pursuing new market opportunities,” compared to just 19% of leaders at large companies.
2- Industry-specific startups are seeing the greatest growth.
One of my favorite people I met at this year’s event was Brad Keywell, CEO of Uptake and 2019’s World Entrepreneur of the Year. Brad echoed my belief that the best opportunities for entrepreneurs are not always found in broad business services. “Big companies like Amazon are great at delivering value through technology to mass market audiences,” Brad explained. “It’s the niches they do not deal in that offer real opportunity to entrepreneurs, who can be flexible and move quickly.”
3-Non-technical entrepreneurs are winning with partnerships.
Plenty of people with big ideas cannot code. Todd Buelow, founder of Dualboot Partners, pointed out to me that more non-technical entrepreneurs are trusting others to build out the technologies needed to turn their dreams into reality.
The reason for this, according to Todd, is that a lot of tech experts are also turning to entrepreneurship. They may have the skills to build the product, but they often need help on the sales and marketing side of things — where many non-technical founders shine.
4-Teams are using technology to maximize their operations.
One way companies are playing it safe, as Lee Henderson suggested they should, is through technology. Time-saving tools make it possible for entrepreneurs to accomplish more with fewer resources.One company at ground zero of this trend is Teamwork, a project management platform based in Ireland. CEO Peter Coppinger, who received the EY Ireland Entrepreneur of the Year award, and I talked at length about how efficiency improvements across operating systems are a great way to stay safe while pursuing growth.
5-Companies are becoming more culture-conscious.
A theme I heard over and over — and I wholeheartedly agree with — is that it’s people who make a business thrive. Many of the people who attended EY’s event this year wanted to learn about building diverse teams, bringing out the best in their employees, and creating the sort of work culture where the best employees want to stay. Especially with unemployment at record lows, a lot of entrepreneurs are struggling to find talent. The solution, I and others have found, is to invest in team members’ personal growth. That means providing a flexible work environment, plenty of autonomy, and performance-based compensation like profit sharing to maintain motivation.
Trend predictions do not always pan out, but I’m convinced EY attendees know what they’re talking about. With the new year just weeks away, I’ll be investing in areas like culture and technology that provide protection without putting a damper on growth. Bring it on, 2020.
source: forbes
The Second Conference of the International Compliance Society APAC
01 Nov 2019 Written by Admin AdminOn 16 October, the second APAC (the International Compliance Association) Conference was held in Singapore, and it is an important platform for the global compliance community, when The conference aims to meet the most important challenges on the compliance schedule and is a unique opportunity to connect with experts from 13 international countries.
So this year's conference included a content-rich program including bribery, corruption, anti-money laundering, technology and regulation.
During the two-day panel discussion and event, the participants reviewed the challenges and opportunities created by technology for the financial crime compliance community.
During the opening speech on the first day, Loo Siew Yee (AMD Policy, Payments & Financial Crime, MAS) invited specialists to commit to new methods and techniques to improve AML, Fighting the financing of terrorism CTF and risk mitigation strategies.
Ms. Lu commended the progress made by the industry in the past two years in the use of automation, data analysis and industrial intelligence to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of controls.
Nevertheless, Lu cautioned financial institutions about the risks posed by the new patterns and that institutions should remain vigilant and cautioned and focused on continuing to develop a strong government, a strong awareness of risks in all areas of defense and effective controls.
In preparation for the licensing of the new Digital Payment Banana (DPT), Ms. Lo announced that MAS has begun to strengthen its supervisory and control capabilities to facilitate proactive detection of unlicensed DPT activities, and to use all “real-time” data to enhance ML / TF risk assessment of licensed entities
Ms. Lu added “Technological advances offer the promise of a more effective, efficient and inclusive financial sector, but present challenging and complex financial crime risks. This conference is an excellent chance to compare notes and share ideas as we make strides towards combating financial crime.”
Helen Langton (CEO of ICA) noted that the quality of the discussions for this year's APAC was tremendous.
It was driven by knowledge sharing and a great networking opportunity with counterparts from more than a dozen countries.
While we see emerging new technologies that continue to disrupt the global financial situation and regulatory landscapek ICA remains committed to strengthening standards, pushing meaningful conversations and preparing our cadres to meet future determinations - no matter what.
Even revolutionary ideas need a little help to get rolling. When an entrepreneur has a new business vision, he or she usually needs to raise money for development, marketing, and talent management. Unless the startup founders are high rollers with years of experience, they will look to venture capital and angel investors who will guide them through the first round of funding, the seed stage.
There are a few guidelines that founders should listen to carefully in order to raise seed capital and grow their startup. First and foremost, leaders should be prepared before meeting with prospective investors, and have a list of references who will back the idea.
Founders should get creative with funding, always willing to put themselves out there beyond a comfortable limit.
What Is Seed Capital?
Seed capital rounds differ from proceeding rounds quite significantly. More than a few players are involved, as multiple funds invest an average of $200 to $700K each.
In addition, there are usually a few individual angel investors who invest more than just financially in the company. Angel investors usually get to know the founders and have an interest in the business that transcends the necessary belief in a high return on investment (ROI).
Some distinguished angel investors include serial entrepreneurs and former CEOs who have a track record of bringing businesses public.
The seed stage “plants the seed” for a startup to thrive, in order to launch business operations and show revenue data for the next rounds of funding.
Above All, Be Prepared
Business leaders need to have specified projections and hard numbers ready on demand for venture capitalists before diving head-first into the seed capital round.
A compelling business plan will include strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis (SWOT). Founders need to have a thorough understanding of how venture capitalists make investment decisions.
Venture capitalists will need to know exactly how much funding a business will need and specific plans for allocating investment resources.
A detailed cost projection will need to be explained and defended. In order to uphold credibility and shield oneself from entering an unfair deal, founders should have a strong idea of how much of the business they are willing to give up.
They should also have a clear concept of the interests and goals of the investors, and an understanding of the capital structure of proposed funding.
Many upside provisions are confusing and if not understood can prevent founders from realizing future profits.
Everything should be based on hard numbers that give best-case and worst-case ROI scenarios to founders.
The numbers will ultimately drive negotiations for the VC's percentage stock ownership.
Rob Go, partner at Next View Ventures, a seed stage investment firm, recommends on the company website that leaders develop a list of supporters prior to meeting with venture capitalists. Founders should identify references and make sure that they are on board, understand the business idea and know what to say when questioned by investors.
Gather Committed Investors
Wait, isn't winning over investors what seed capital rounds are all about? Yes; however, this will be easier if businesses have established themselves prior to seed fundraising. Human psychology has shown time and time again that if someone else already went through the decision process, another will be more comfortable in making the same decision.
No one wants to be the first one to take a risk, even risk-loving venture capitalists. Founders should solidify investor commitments.
This way, when prospective investors make contact, the committed angels can confirm their decision to invest X amount in the startup.
Founders may strategically shoot for relatively small commitments, around $20-$50K.
They should also consider giving reasonable provisions on these promises, such as “provided that the funding round is at least X and reasonable terms are met.” This will make early investors more willing to negotiate, given the downside protection.
Put Yourself Out There
If a founder doesn’t have mentors and angel investors as contacts, they cannot be afraid to get out there and go to the VC community directly.
Networking is the most essential tool and skill that an entrepreneur needs, ahead of business acumen.
Gagan Biyani, the co-founder of Udemy, a platform for online courses, told his story of seed funding wherein he was initially rejected by over 30 top investors. He wrote on the Udemy blog: “I went to every conference I could and literally killed myself while there.
I attending tons of networking events and met as many entrepreneurs and investors as I could."
Startup mentorship programs and incubator firms are open for applications. Y Combinator and TechStars are two well-known programs that churn out a mass of successful startups.
Many programs choose applications that receive on-premise coaching and a small investment to get the businesses off the ground, in turn for a percentage of equity ownership.
Ways to Plant Seeds
In the technology age, it's easier than ever to reach angels, who enjoy using social media channels and interacting with enthusiastic entrepreneurs.
Many lesser-known VC firms focus on local entrepreneurship funding, in counties and communities outside big startup hubs like San Francisco and New York.
Additionally, founders may consider the newly popularized crowdfunding method for raising seed capital. Kickstart.com and many others now act as a platform to match investors and startups.
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act of 2012, lifted restrictions on investing in early-stage companies so that the common person could have the opportunity to invest.
Companies that aim to raise less than $1 million in total capital can do business with aspiring investors.
source: investopedia
Unified Communications Will Make Your Remote Workforce More Productive
29 Oct 2019 Written by Admin AdminThanks to international clients, flexible work options for employees, increased travel in a global market and the surging gig economy, a digital workspace is now a cornerstone of the modern business office.
One struggle that organizational leaders face in their respective digital-workspace environments is fostering a sense of connectedness.
A recent story from Small Business Trends indicates that 70 percent of remote employees feel left out of the workplace.
Compounding this fundamental issue is the fact that many organizations are working with limited budgets for what is often an ever-expanding feature, according to the 2018 CMS Wire Digital Workplace Survey.
The ongoing battle to fund competing initiatives or departments is one of the highest-ranking obstacles to developing an optimal digital workspace.
As a rapidly increasing number of employees work remotely and organizations begin to scale, the need for collaborative communication solutions beyond the usual Google Hangouts or Zoom is quickly becoming a top priority.
The search for solutions to create a thriving digital workspace that fosters a sense of inclusion with office-based employees and the general atmosphere of the office has led to unified communications (UC) tools that add value for everyone, whether they're in the same office or on the other side of the world.
Top business and technology-advisory firm Gartner has explored trends in the UC universe and found that companies are expanding its range beyond the on-premises models to move to the cloud, opting for UC-as-a-Service (UCaaS). That shift is happening rapidly, since there is little additional investment required to move to a cloud-based solution according to the UC Magic Quadrant for UCaaS via Gartner.
Executive and IT leaders for businesses of all sizes are enthusiastic about the deployment of UCaaS, citing it as the preferred method of adopting budget-friendly communications solutions that enhance employee cohesion.
In fact, nearly all current UCaaS vendors are using microservices and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) architecture to a degree while running media in conventional data centers.
Cloud data centers like Google Compute Engine, Deltapath Managed Cloud, Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are largely hosting these platforms.
Four emerging trends provide organizational leaders exploring UCaaS with a good foundation in their search:
- Globalization. Given the need to reach employees and consultants in remote locations around the world, most providers offer global capacities.
- Improved Interfaces for Enhanced User Experience. Improved dashboards, tools and portals make use easier for everyone.
- Workstream Collaboration. A highlight in UCaaS trends involves workstream collaboration, which provides notifications, messaging, bots and tools that allow teams to effortlessly communicate -- in private or via group chats -- throughout the life of a specialized project.
- Video-Focused User Experiences. Key video improvements include high-definition resolution, collaboration-friendly features and the ability to invite large numbers of participants for video conferences, meetings and calls.
UC innovators continue to examine the needs of today’s business clients and work to answer the most pressing challenges.
The latest trends are set to bring UC up to speed to allow executives and IT teams to streamline communications for a better employee experience, which ultimately translates to better client experience and brand reputation.
source: entrepreneur
It can be hard to navigate the world of finance, much less the highly competitive startup ecosystem.
No matter what age you are, everyone should think about retirement planning, mutual funds, life insurance, savings and tax planning, all of which can be even more difficult if you’re already working to grow a new business (or keep an older one alive) at the same time.
What’s most important is that you plan to make your money work for you and establish financial goals, even if you’re running a company.
Here are five of the best tips financial advisors offer that entrepreneurs can apply to their journey.
1. Develop financial goals.
How much do you want to have in savings? Do you want your money to grow, save for a vacation or buy a home one day? It may not be possible all at while you lead your company, but it is all possible over the long term if you work with your best interests in mind.
If you’re not sure what you’re looking for with your finances or how to ensure a strong financial future, you may want to speak with a certified financial planner. They can help you develop goals and work towards achieving them systematically over the course of several months or years.
It may simply be a matter of putting money away each month. A financial advisor can help you build the strategy to make that happen.
2. Set a budget.
A budget is the core of any financial plan, and for good reason. Without it, you're like a ship without a rudder.
First, take stock of your expenses, including housing costs, weekly food spending, utilities and entertainment, among others. This will be your starting point. From there, look for opportunities to make cuts.
This will likely come in the form of extraneous spending on entertainment, but don’t fear -- you can still see friends and family, go out to dinner and see movies if you want.
You may just have to curb spending overall. Look into a budgeting system that works for you, whether that’s working in a spreadsheet or a financial planning app like Mint, PocketGuard, You Need a Budget or Wally.
One example is to follow the 50/30/20 approach, which allocates 50 percent of your funds to needs, 30 percent to wants and 20 percent to savings.
Your financial decisions are up to you, and setting a budget will help you define those goals and stick to them.
3. Explore investment opportunities.
Consider when you’d like to buy a home or when you’d like to have paid off your mortgage.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about taking more risks with investment, or perhaps it’s the time in your life when you need to be more conservative with investments.
No matter where you are on that spectrum, don’t shy away from exploring investment opportunities.
Look into vehicles like CDs, bonds, stocks and IRAs.
Each has its own benefits and drawbacks depending on where you are in life and the state of your finances.
In general, if you’re younger, it’s a good time to take risks.
If a stock drops off or that investment in Bitcoin (or some other crypto) goes south, you’ll have time to recover.
When you’re approaching retirement, on the other hand, it’s better to play it safe and make sure you don’t take a huge hit right before you move to living on a fixed income.
4. Plan for retirement.
Speaking of retirement, it’s never too early or too late to look forward to a time when you won’t be working.
Your early stage venture may be an all-consuming passion right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lay the groundwork for a more quiet future.
In fact, I've met many young entrepreneurs working hard to save enough money so they can retire in the 20s, 30s or 40s.
Develop a savings plan specifically for retirement in an account where your money will grow without you touching it. Decide that money is off limits and stick to that rule.
Start a 401(k) match plan at your company and take advantage of that perk yourself. This can be a huge boost to your retirement-savings account. It also acts as a way for you to stay motivated as you see your money grow.
5. Keep learning.
Financial planning can be daunting, especially if you’re already managing a business. There are so many terms, acronyms, legal implications and steps to take.
From life-insurance policies to money-market accounts, IRAs, stocks and bonds, there’s a lot to learn about. Check out different apps that can make investing and budgeting more enjoyable.
Surround yourself with the right people, like an accountant or financial advisor, who can help you make sense of your current and future finances. Stay abreast of ongoing economic developments, not just in the space your company operates, but in the economy as a whole.
You can do this through audio books, reading online or taking classes.
Try not to get overwhelmed, and take it one step at a time.
Rather than looking at financial planning as a challenge, see it as an opportunity to keep learning.
The state of your personal finances may not be your highest priority, but don’t underestimate the importance of your individual financial future and the potential to keep learning and growing.
source: entrepreneur
The dawn of the 5G era has arrived. While it might seem too soon to go out and drop serious money on a 5G phone, major carriers such as Verizon have already switched on their 5G networks in a number of American cities, including New York Detroit and Atlanta.
The technology offers huge opportunities, especially for startups.
Think of it this way: If you wanted to connect 10 devices to the internet a couple of years ago, you needed a router.
But large-scale organizations with hundreds or thousands of terminals had to invest serious money in sophisticated networking technology to support their network needs.
Going forward, 5G eliminates that problem. It doesn’t require a router, and the towers can handle a million devices within a square kilometer.
The development of 5G technology is similar to the invention of the internal combustion engine.
It changes the rules of the game, and the massive fall in latency and increase in bandwidth will make new business models possible.
More processing will happen on the cloud rather than at device level, exponentially reducing software and hardware costs. And by freeing up the lower end of the electronic spectrum, 5G will make it easier to build a massive network of IoT-connected devices.
The opportunity for telecommunications companies to harness the 5G market is obvious, and they’re moving fast to roll out their networks and get staffs ready for changes.
For example, the FCC is working with the National Wireless Safety Alliance to train the 20,000 skilled workers it will take to maintain towers.
On the other side of that, companies that manufacture routers and provide cable internet services are going to come up against some struggles, but that doesn't mean all doors will be closed to them.
The swift transition to 5G will allow new players to move into old industries and adopt disruptive business models.
For example, consumers didn’t buy into Google Glass when it was launched back in 2013. People didn’t see the point, and the company botched its marketing strategy.
But lower-latency connections and the higher bandwidth that 5G affords will make AR and VR hardware more viable as cloud processing gets faster, making room for innovations that at one time seemed too much like something from The Jetsons.
Mojo Vision and Focals by North are already demonstrating the new potential for a once-mocked form of technology.
Further, the adoption of smart glasses, smart contact lenses and other AR devices will drive software developments.
New devices open new opportunities for software developers to shape the way consumers interact with technology and the world around them.
Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon are likely all working in secret on new operating systems for smart devices, but it will be interesting to see which new apps and tech take off and flood the market.
But 5G won’t just shake up the consumer market.
Smart devices and sensor technology have serious industrial applications, so you can bet that oil pipelines, factory floors and warehouses will soon be putting them to good use. The diminishing costs of connected devices will also make it easier to leverage technology to drive real innovation in business models that need it most.
Startups need to prepare if they want to reap the full benefits of the 5G revolution, and they need to start now.
Here are three tips on how to get started.
1. Build 5G into the company culture.
Eleven million people will be using 5G smartphones worldwide by the end of 2019, according to research from Statista, a figure that's expected to hit 627 million by 2022.
That’s a 57-fold increase across the span of three years, and the dizzying speed of that change means that employees will need solid support to adapt.
Training schemes and clear communication strategies are vital for getting everybody on board.
Business leaders can’t assume that everybody will understand what 5G means for the company.
They need to make the innovation a part of the company culture to ensure that everybody buys in.
2. Get everybody on the same page.
Every aspect of a business will be affected by 5G.
A lot of moving parts will need to be coordinated, and old management systems and ways of doing things might have to be abandoned to make companies more agile. Audi has already started working in that "out with the old, in with the new" philosophy by using Wi-Fi to connect the robots on its assembly line, but it has also started testing 5G and expects to roll it out across its German operations in the coming years.
Companies in other industries can learn from this example, too.
They should set up the processes that will enable them to make a success of 5G technology and make sure every department adapts in response.
3. Open new channels for employee support.
According to Korn Ferry research, demand for skilled labor across the world is expected to exceed supply by more than 85.2 million people by the year 2030. Company leaders need to support their employees to ensure they don’t suffer the consequences of that shortage.
There will always be a learning curve for employees adjusting to new technology and processes in business.
Structured support before, during and after the change will ensure employees stay motivated as 5G technology makes its debut. Amazon, for example, is retraining a third of its employees to help them learn automation, machine learning and 5G, ultimately preparing them for the way of the future.
Make a note, too, that training is one part of the change, but employees need to feel like collaborators, not students.
They need opportunities to give feedback and help shape the process.
The widespread adoption of 5G technology will transform the business world over the next three to four years, so companies that want to experience the benefits need to get ready now.
The future, in the case of 5G, depends on the present.
source: entrepreneur
Every business requires an investment and business owners expect a return on their investments. There sure is an internal reward from the excitement of building something out of nothing, however, at the end of the day, wise entrepreneurs will always factor in the expected outcome of their investment and the potential of the product or service they’re investing to create.
In the technology space, the two biggest expenses required as an initial investment are in product (app) development and marketing.
However, unlike small businesses, even the most successful technology startups will rarely quickly generate revenue to cover operating expenses meaning that entrepreneurs must also have funds to run the venture for at least one year.
In today’s competitive funding environment, it’s no longer enough to attract investors with just an idea and even a few customers. Founders must be prepared to last.
Whether your startup idea is worth the investment depends on many variables.
The idea itself plays a big role. Here are what I found to be the three most important factors that will help you better predict the future of your idea based on your available investment resources.
1.The Business Model
Your startup business model is how you deliver your value proposition and make money.
The resources required to launch and operate a startup depend significantly on the validated business model.
For example, nowadays, it is a lot cheaper to start an e-commerce business than build a financial technology (FinTech) startup.
The cost of starting a content site like an online magazine is lower than the investment needed to build a social network.
On demand, virtual goods, auction, software as a service, peer to peer, membership and HealthTech startups vary in many ways, especially the human and financial capital required to start and operate the business.
As discussed in the third point below, the decision of the entrepreneur to invest in a startup idea should first consider their personal expected outcome from the business.
No matter the business model and investments required, everyone will suddenly want to contribute to a promising venture if there are tangible signs of success.
In other words, even if entrepreneurs don’t have the needed personal funds to start and operate a startup with a business model that needs a lot of cash, they should still execute as long as they have enough funds to reach certain levels of validation.
However, if the goal is to run a self-funded business that can quickly generate revenue and become self-sustainable, the business model should be on top of the startup idea evaluation list.
2. The Industry
The three things founders must consider in their decision to invest in their startup ideas with regards to the industry are competition, laws and their industry knowledge.
In a highly competitive industry, while founders may not have control over competitors’ actions, the end user will expect a significantly better solution to justify the switching cost to use their product instead.
Business models like FinTech and HealthTech tend to have more regulatory requirements as compared to other models.
This adds another layer of expenses that should be accounted for in the initial investment.
For entrepreneurs who have never worked or operated a business in a highly competitive and regulated space, the road to meeting their expected outcome is going to be extra challenging and will require significantly more resources.
3. The Resources
The four things founders must consider in their decision to invest in launching their ideas with regards to resources are cash, time, background (expertise) and team.
An incomplete product even if it cost half a million dollars doesn’t add any value to the user unless completed and adjusted to reflect their feedback.
Nowadays, there are many ways founders can release smaller versions of the app in order to quickly validate key hypotheses and build the next versions with higher predictability. While those smaller versions will vary based on the business model, founders who don’t follow this lean approach add another layer of startup risk. Additionally, the lean approach makes it feasible to start with a smaller budget since founders can divide the total investment to build progressively instead of spending it all in a product with many features that may or may not address user needs.
Data collected and analyzed by First Round capital shows that entrepreneurs with a technical background perform 230% better than non-technical founders building enterprise products.
However, the difference between the two backgrounds is not significant when it comes to consumer products. This goes back to the importance of considering the business model and target user in the evaluation of the investment in a startup idea.
Furthermore, the same company showed that teams with more than one founder outperform solo founders by 163%.
Is your startup idea worth your investment? Now you have three evaluation criteria that will help you make a wise investment decision.
The market is filled with business opportunities. Be honest with yourself about the expected return from your startup and keep in mind that no matter the business, success is for those who last.
At the end of the days, overnight success can take up to 10 years.
source: forbes
How companies invest in digital transformation to improve customer experience
29 Oct 2019 Written by Admin AdminTechnology is driving digital transformation across industry verticals, according to a new KPMG 2019 Customer Experience Excellence Report, which ranks US companies on their customer experience delivery.
Among the companies that saw the biggest jump in ranking from last year are those investing in digitally-enabled technology to support personalization.
The report asks and answers: how can companies invest in technology to improve customer experience through personalization? KPMG said the answer is the ability to architect and engineer intelligent digital services, technologies, and platforms to deliver on the customer promise in an agile, cost effective and scalable manner.
It may surprise you to hear which US business clucked its way to the top by addressing the very issues noted in the KPMG survey.
Despite the negative publicity surrounding the company's LGBTQ policies, Chick-fil-A ranked third overall in the Customer Experience Excellence 2019 list and first in the Restaurants and Fast Food Category. Does this prove that boycotts are ineffective? It may be in this case: Chick-fil-A, which opened its first restaurant in 1967 in Atlanta, launched a customer-services driven app which now drives 20% of its sales from digital orders.
And, this summer, the Texas state legislature passed what's dubbed "Save Chick-fil-A," which forbids government entities from taking "adverse actions" against businesses because of those businesses' "religious beliefs and moral convictions, including beliefs and convictions regarding marriage."
The report cites five companies which they describe as "fastest risers" and 10 companies as overall winners in customer experience.
Among the faster risers, UnitedHealthcare tops the list, and it is investing heavily in new technology. "There is a lot more focus on consumer digital, a lot more focus on personalization, and a lot more focus on giving control back to the people that we serve," Phil McKoy, CIO at UnitedHealthcare, said in the report.
Kate-Lin Dennis, a UnitedHealthcare senior customer care representative, added, also in the report, "With the new technology, if somebody calls in and needs diabetic education, we're able to look up local pharmacies for them that service diabetic supplies, and set them up with home health agencies.
We can set them up with programs that help guide them through those processes."
Coming in second is PNC, a financial services company.
Among other innovations, the company has a digital team for the report asserted, "greater project flexibility and responsiveness."
State Farm insurance company ranked third, and the company, the report concluded, is focused on making its next-gen customer experience across digital and offline channels available throughout the company. "Automated data capture and synchronization into new CRM platforms has enabled State Farm to provide actionable insights to its agents, improving the customer experience and presenting agents with opportunities to grow their book of business," noted the KPMG report.
The movie theater chain AMC Loews was fourth, thanks to theaters featuring the upgrade of premium sight and sound formats and the continuation of its successful Stubs program (a credit-card styled membership for accumulating points and rewards with 15.8 million members), and introducing the subscription program, A-List, for customers who frequent the movies.
Lastly, the membership retail store Sam's Club was ranked fifth among faster risers. Sam's Club "has been investing in new technology to deliver multi-channel customer experiences," the report said. "For example, shoppers at a Sam's Club can open up their Sam's Club app and scan each item's barcode as they fill their shopping carts. The app keeps a running total of everything in the cart, and then, when the shopper is ready to checkout and pay, they can do so inside the app.
As they walk out of the Club, they show their digital receipt to a "greeter" at the exit. The receipt is scanned, and the customer goes on their way."
Online products can be browsed via in-store kiosks, added to the member's online cart, and then shipped to the shopper's home. Store associates are trained to become "problem solvers" for customers, it has boosted Sam's Club e-commerce sales.
If it's not available in the store, the associate will try to find it on samsclub.com. Sam's Club is trying out a new concept store, Sam's Club Now; instead of traditional store associates, the location will feature member hosts, who are digital concierges.
It will also begin the use of electronic shelf labels, which automatically update inventory prices and eliminate traditional signs. The stores will have more than 700 digital cameras to help manage inventory and make it easier to get around each location.
Sam's Club Now will be about one quarter the size of a traditional Sam's Club.
The 10 companies ranked as best in customer experience are, in order, Navy Federal Credit Union, H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, USAA, Edward Jones, Amazon, L.L. Bean, Costco Wholesale, Polo Ralph Lauren, and AAA.
High-performing organizations make connections through significant investments across varied connected enterprise capabilities.
A significant connected enterprise capability is called "digitally-enabled technology architecture," The ability to architect and engineer intelligent digital services, technologies, and platforms to deliver on the customer promise in an agile, cost effective, and scalable manner while maintaining security.
In conclusion, the report cited the importance of a customer-centric approach, and an integrated strategy to connect the layers of a company, to align its brand, products and services, interactions and people to capture business value. The report reiterated the top elements for excellence in customer service:
- Customer experience
- Sales transformation and CRM
- Customer data and analytics
- Marketing transformation and technology
- Customer service transformation and technology
- Connected enterprise
source: techrepublic
