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Key Takeaways Incorporation Basics: Incorporating your business establishes it as a separate legal entity, affecting liability, taxes, and growth potential; choose the structure that best fits your needs (LLC, corporation, etc.). Financial Organization: Open a corporate bank account to separate personal and business finances, simplify tax preparation, and enhance business credibility. Tax Compliance: Understand and meet your tax obligations by obtaining an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and keeping accurate records to avoid penalties. Ongoing Compliance: Maintain proper records, conduct annual meetings, and file necessary reports to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, essential for continuing your corporate status. Liability Protection: Enjoy the benefits of limited liability protection, which safeguards your personal assets from business-related risks and liabilities. Funding and Credibility: Incorporation enhances your business’s credibility, making it more attractive to investors and providing access to various funding opportunities. Incorporating a business is just the first step on your entrepreneurial journey. Once you’ve taken this leap, a new world of responsibilities and opportunities opens up. Understanding what comes next is crucial for your success and growth. From managing your finances to navigating legal requirements, you’ll need to adapt to a new way of operating. Whether it’s setting up a corporate bank account or ensuring compliance with state regulations, each decision you make shapes the future of your business. Embrace this exciting phase, and let’s explore the essential steps you should take after incorporating your business to thrive in today’s competitive landscape. Understanding The Incorporation Process Incorporating a business introduces significant changes, including new responsibilities and opportunities. Understanding the incorporation process will help you navigate these changes effectively. What It Means To Incorporate Incorporation means creating a legal entity separate from its owners. Options include LLCs (Limited Liability Companies), corporations, and partnerships. Each structure affects your taxes, liability, and growth potential. For example, a corporation offers liability protection but comes with more regulations. Recognizing these differences will help you choose the right legal structure for your startup. Key Steps In The Incorporation Process Choose Your Business Structure: Decide between an LLC, corporation, or other options based on your business model and goals. Select a Business Name: Ensure the name aligns with your branding and is unique in your state. Check for trademark conflicts to protect your intellectual property. File Articles of Incorporation: Submit the required documents to your state, including details about your business, its purpose, and structure. Create By-Laws: Draft by-laws that govern your business operations, including meeting protocols, voting processes, and roles of officers. Obtain an EIN: Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS for tax purposes. This number is essential for opening a corporate bank account and hiring employees. Open a Corporate Bank Account: Separate personal and business finances to ensure clear cash flow management and accounting. Comply With State Regulations: Stay informed about ongoing compliance requirements, including permits or licenses specific to your business type. Establish a Record-Keeping System: Implement an accounting method to track income, expenses, and perform tax reporting efficiently. By understanding the incorporation process and its key steps, you’ll position your small business for success in the competitive market. Immediate Considerations After Incorporating A Business After incorporating a business, you face important tasks that ensure compliance with legal and operational requirements. Addressing these immediately sets a solid foundation for your small business. Setting Up A Business Bank Account Opening a separate business bank account is essential for maintaining clear distinctions between personal and business finances. This practice not only simplifies tax preparation but also keeps accurate financial records. Make sure that the bank account is registered in the corporation’s name, and list all authorized officers as signatories. Many banks offer options specifically tailored for small businesses, which can provide additional services like bookkeeping or access to loans that facilitate your growth strategy. Understanding Tax Obligations Understanding your tax obligations is critical for long-term success. First, obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS if you haven’t yet. This number identifies your business for tax purposes and is required before hiring employees or opening a business bank account. Accurate record-keeping aids in managing accounting needs and staying compliant with tax laws. Furthermore, familiarizing yourself with local, state, and federal tax obligations can help avoid penalties and streamline financial planning for your small business. Consider consulting with a tax advisor or accountant to navigate these complexities effectively. Ongoing Compliance Requirements After incorporating a business, you face ongoing compliance requirements to maintain your company’s legal status and avoid penalties. Understanding these requirements ensures smooth operations and compliance with regulations. Keeping Records And Filing Reports You must keep accurate records and file reports regularly. Maintaining statutory registers such as the Register of Directors and Register of Members is essential for compliance. In India, these records undergo regulatory audits and inspections as stipulated under the Companies Act, 2013. Additionally, you must have proper books of accounts, which accurately reflect your financial situation. This requirement applies to all types of companies, including corporations and LLCs. Regular filing of financial statements and other reports ensures adherence to tax obligations and regulatory standards. Annual Meetings And Documentation Conducting annual meetings is a vital part of compliance for incorporated businesses. These meetings allow you to discuss strategic decisions, review performance, and address any functional issues. Proper documentation of these meetings, including minutes, is crucial for maintaining legal integrity. Ensure you follow state guidelines regarding the timing and structure of these meetings. Documentation also serves as a record for stakeholders and investors, reinforcing transparency. By adhering to these practices, you can position your business for continued growth and success. Benefits Of Incorporating Incorporating your business offers various significant benefits that can enhance your startup’s sustainability and growth potential. This legal structure is vital for protecting your interests and improving your credibility in the marketplace. Limited Liability Protection Limited liability protection acts as a safety net for your personal assets. Incorporation creates a distinct legal entity separate from you as the owner. This separation means that in case of business liabilities—like debts or lawsuits—creditors can only target corporate assets. Your home, car, and personal savings remain shielded from business-related risks. Shareholders enjoy this protection, ensuring that personal financial stability isn’t jeopardized by corporate obligations. Increased Credibility And Funding Opportunities Incorporation increases your small business’s credibility with customers, suppliers, and financial institutions. Operating as a corporation or LLC signals professionalism and commitment. This setup also opens doors to various funding options. Many investors, including angel investors and venture capitalists, prefer to invest in incorporated entities due to the legal protections involved. Incorporation enhances your chances of securing business grants, loans, and other financial resources, fueling your growth strategy and helping you develop a robust business model. Additionally, this credibility can attract potential partnerships and collaborations, essential for market penetration and expanding your target audience. Common Challenges Faced After Incorporation After incorporating, several challenges arise that require your attention as a small business owner. Addressing these challenges effectively helps you establish a solid foundation for your venture. Navigating Legal Requirements Navigating legal requirements involves ensuring compliance with local and state regulations. You must obtain the necessary licenses and permits specific to your business type. Ignoring these legalities can lead to costly fines or penalties. Maintaining your LLC or corporate status is equally vital. You must file annual reports, pay franchise taxes, and submit beneficial ownership information according to state and federal mandates. Managing Business Operations Effectively Managing business operations effectively entails coordinating various aspects, including finance, marketing, and employee management. Maintaining accurate accounting practices is crucial for tracking expenses and cash flow. Developing a strong business model helps you identify your target audience and align your operations accordingly. Implementing a growth strategy can drive customer acquisition efforts, enhance sales, and improve profit margins. Prioritizing customer service reinforces your brand image and builds loyalty, essential for long-term success in a competitive market. Conclusion Embracing the journey after incorporating your business sets the stage for future success. By managing your finances and adhering to legal requirements, you create a solid foundation for growth. Remember to keep your business operations organized and compliant, as this not only protects your assets but also enhances your credibility in the market. As you navigate this new phase, focus on implementing effective strategies that prioritize customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. This proactive approach will help you build a thriving enterprise that stands out in today’s competitive landscape. Frequently Asked Questions What should I do first after incorporating my business? After incorporating your business, the first step is to open a corporate bank account. This ensures a clear separation between your personal and business finances, which simplifies bookkeeping and tax preparation. Why is it important to set up an Employer Identification Number (EIN)? Obtaining an EIN is crucial for tax purposes. It allows you to hire employees, apply for business licenses, and file corporate taxes, helping you comply with local, state, and federal regulations. What are the benefits of incorporating a business? Incorporating offers limited liability protection, separating your personal assets from business debts. It also enhances credibility and opens up funding opportunities, as investors often prefer incorporated businesses for their legal protections. How do I choose the right business structure for incorporation? When choosing a business structure, consider factors such as liability, taxation, and growth potential. Common options include LLCs, corporations, and partnerships, each with unique advantages and obligations. What ongoing compliance requirements should I be aware of? Ongoing compliance involves maintaining accurate records, filing regular reports, conducting annual meetings, and ensuring you meet state regulations. These practices are essential for retaining your business’s legal status and avoiding penalties. How can I effectively manage my business finances post-incorporation? To manage your finances, establish a clear accounting system, track expenses diligently, and create a budget. Regularly review your financial performance and adapt your strategies to align with business goals. What licenses and permits do I need after incorporating? The specific licenses and permits required depend on your business type and location. Research local, state, and federal regulations to ensure compliance with all necessary legal requirements for your industry. How can I build credibility for my newly incorporated business? You can enhance credibility by showcasing your incorporation status, maintaining transparency in operations, delivering quality products or services, and engaging in professional marketing strategies to attract customers and partners. Image Via Envato This article, "Essential Steps to Take After Incorporating a Business for Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Google's Gary Illyes explains how web standards benefit SEO, focusing on the differences between robots.txt and sitemaps. The post Why Do Web Standards Matter? Google Explains SEO Benefits appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a significant increase in 7(a) loan approvals for small manufacturers during the first 90 days of the The President Administration. According to data released April 17, the number of loans issued through the SBA’s flagship lending program has risen by 74% compared to the same period during the start of the Biden Administration. Since January 20, 2025, SBA has approved more than 1,120 7(a) loans for manufacturers, totaling $677 million. By comparison, during the first 90 days of 2021, fewer than 650 loans were approved, amounting to $497 million in total loan volume. The 7(a) program provides government-backed financing for small businesses to fund equipment purchases, real estate, working capital, and business expansion. “Loan applications and approvals for small manufacturers are surging – a clear sign that American manufacturing is roaring back, fueled by pro-growth policies that put American workers and businesses first,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “Thanks to President The President’s agenda to restore economic and national security, SBA is helping to power an industrial comeback – meeting massive demand to help America’s small producers expand operations, create good-paying jobs, and restore our supply chains.” Nearly 99% of American manufacturers are classified as small businesses, and the SBA continues to prioritize this segment of the economy through targeted initiatives and lending support. The increase in lending activity coincides with the The President Administration’s focus on domestic production. SBA attributes the growth in loan volume to pro-business measures such as tax cuts, deregulation, energy independence policies, and tariffs. The agency noted that 10,000 manufacturing jobs were gained during President The President’s first full month in office, in contrast to the more than 111,000 jobs lost in the sector during 2024 under the previous administration. In March, SBA launched the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, a campaign aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, improving access to capital, and supporting workforce development in manufacturing. The agency stated that the initiative’s goal is to cut $100 billion in red tape and provide direct support to small producers. This article, "SBA Reports Major Increase in Manufacturing Loans Under The President Administration" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a significant increase in 7(a) loan approvals for small manufacturers during the first 90 days of the The President Administration. According to data released April 17, the number of loans issued through the SBA’s flagship lending program has risen by 74% compared to the same period during the start of the Biden Administration. Since January 20, 2025, SBA has approved more than 1,120 7(a) loans for manufacturers, totaling $677 million. By comparison, during the first 90 days of 2021, fewer than 650 loans were approved, amounting to $497 million in total loan volume. The 7(a) program provides government-backed financing for small businesses to fund equipment purchases, real estate, working capital, and business expansion. “Loan applications and approvals for small manufacturers are surging – a clear sign that American manufacturing is roaring back, fueled by pro-growth policies that put American workers and businesses first,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “Thanks to President The President’s agenda to restore economic and national security, SBA is helping to power an industrial comeback – meeting massive demand to help America’s small producers expand operations, create good-paying jobs, and restore our supply chains.” Nearly 99% of American manufacturers are classified as small businesses, and the SBA continues to prioritize this segment of the economy through targeted initiatives and lending support. The increase in lending activity coincides with the The President Administration’s focus on domestic production. SBA attributes the growth in loan volume to pro-business measures such as tax cuts, deregulation, energy independence policies, and tariffs. The agency noted that 10,000 manufacturing jobs were gained during President The President’s first full month in office, in contrast to the more than 111,000 jobs lost in the sector during 2024 under the previous administration. In March, SBA launched the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, a campaign aimed at reducing regulatory burdens, improving access to capital, and supporting workforce development in manufacturing. The agency stated that the initiative’s goal is to cut $100 billion in red tape and provide direct support to small producers. This article, "SBA Reports Major Increase in Manufacturing Loans Under The President Administration" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

AI adoption among businesses has reached 78%, and costs have dropped 280 times. See more highlights from Stanford's 2025 AI Index report. The post AI Use Jumps to 78% Among Businesses As Costs Drop appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. There’s no question that artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. However, as the initial excitement over the technology fades, we find ourselves in a new phase of thoughtful exploration. There are many innovative AI startups that have captured the world’s attention; however, many organizations still struggle to develop a clear roadmap to take full advantage of this transformative technology. So, what’s the hold up? And how can business leaders avoid fleeting trends, effectively align their teams, and successfully integrate AI to achieve measurable impact and ROI for their business? Embrace the journey AI is already transforming industries, boosting efficiency and automating tasks ranging from data entry and language translation to document processing. And the benefits are clear—recent Accenture research found that the vast majority of organizations are seeing stronger-than-expected returns from their generative AI investments. Still, it’s important to keep a balanced perspective. While many AI solutions promise substantial benefits, the real challenge is identifying those that add tangible value. With new technologies emerging almost weekly, some leaders may also hesitate to invest because they are unsure if a better option is just around the corner. AI’s true power comes from practical, enterprise-ready applications. For business leaders wondering where to start, the key is identifying the right challenges to tackle and knowing when and how to implement solutions effectively. Here are seven actionable tips to help you navigate this exciting landscape and build an AI decision-making framework tailored to your organization’s needs. 1. Identify the use case First, pinpoint your specific needs and business objectives. Start within your organization, identifying pain points AI can address. Think about what AI does well, like spotting patterns, crunching numbers, and making predictions. Could it help with document translation, content creation, or customer insights? With so many potential applications, determining where to start might seem daunting. A focused, purposeful approach ensures you’re investing in AI solutions that deliver real results. 2. Consider specialized models Over the last two years, we’ve seen much of the excitement around general purpose AI models outpace their value. As you evaluate AI tools for your organization, consider specialized AI models offering tailored solutions for specific industry needs. General AI models can do many things pretty well, but for higher stakes and more specific demands, specialized models often address complex, industry-specific challenges more effectively. For example, healthcare AI models can help doctors identify diseases more accurately, while banks use credit-scoring AI to determine who’s likely to pay back loans. Language AI tools like DeepL are also specialized to businesses communicating across languages and markets. Specialized AI offerings are trained on domain-specific data optimized for particular tasks or industries, delivering enhanced quality and accuracy with lower risk of errors. They’re also often designed with built-in compliance features aligned with industry regulations. This makes them more cost-effective, with clearer ROI. 3. Are humans the answer? When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right? As the founder of an AI company, you might be surprised to hear me say this, but just because AI is the big thing right now doesn’t mean it’s the singular solution for every problem or opportunity. So before diving into the deep end, consider if a human solution might actually be more effective than AI. Weighing what people, supported by AI, do best versus what AI can offer on its own, will help ensure you take the right approach for your organization’s needs. 4. Start with pilot projects If you’re about to deploy an AI solution for the first time, begin with pilot projects to test your AI integrations in smaller, controlled environments. Starting small with a more limited investment reduces overall risk and can allow you to gather real-world data, monitor performance, and assess alignment with business goals before scaling. Pilot projects can also help build confidence within your teams and among leadership, making way for more successful full-scale AI deployments. 5. Invest in tech (and training) To truly harness AI’s potential, focus on bringing in new talent and continuously training existing employees. Depending on the implementation’s complexity, you might need new positions like data scientists, machine learning engineers or specialists. Upskilling your existing workforce can be equally essential to ensure employees can adapt and thrive alongside technological advancements. 6. Have a solid data strategy in place AI requires large volumes of data to perform its best, so it’s essential to have a solid data strategy infrastructure in place. Your plan should address how your organization will collect, securely store and access data; ensure compliance with evolving data privacy regulations, copyright standards and ethical guidelines; and assign responsibility for ongoing data governance and management. Answering these questions up front will save your company stress and problems later. 7. Refresh your ROI framework and adjust it regularly Most business leaders can recall digital initiatives that didn’t meet expectations, which can lead to concerns that their AI investments might follow a similar path. To enhance your ROI, outline your initiative’s measurable goals, such as efficiency, cost savings, or an enhanced customer experience. Establish baseline metrics to understand current performance; then track improvements directly linked to AI. It’s important to be adaptable, regularly revisiting goals and metrics to reflect evolving business priorities, market conditions, and technological changes. Unlike standard digital projects, AI initiatives can uncover new opportunities or shift mid-course. Also consider AI’s long-term strategic advantages, which may take time to come to fruition. From hyperbole to high performance To make AI work, organizations should shift their focus from what’s trending to enterprise-ready solutions that deliver lasting and specific value. Define your use cases up front, adopt an agile ROI framework, a robust data strategy, and commit to continuous improvement. This will unlock AI’s transformative potential and build a foundation for long-term competitive advantage. Jarek Kutylowski is CEO and founder of DeepL. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Across industries, a new era of climate innovation is accelerating. The momentum is visible in the data: Global clean energy investment surpassed $2 trillion for the first time in 2024, double the amount invested in fossil fuels. While solar panels, wind turbines, and grid-connected batteries often grab the headlines, the low carbon economy is growing in far more corners than many realize. Since founding Supercool last summer to cover proven and scaling climate solutions, I’ve seen needle-moving innovation accelerating across farms, factories, and finance departments. One sector in particular shows remarkable progress—the built environment, which accounts for 34% of global carbon emissions. From hard tech and material breakthroughs to AI-powered intelligence to novel business models, here are three approaches to decarbonizing buildings happening now. 1. Hardtech innovation: Build with carbon-negative materials The engineered materials we use to build our suburbs and cities—primarily timber, concrete, and steel—create a lot of carbon emissions in their manufacture. Concrete and steel account for nearly 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Wood-based materials like oriented strand board (OSB), which are commonly installed in new homes, generate most of their manufacturing carbon emissions from burning wood to generate heat during production. Plantd transforms the built environment using carbon-negative building materials derived from alternative biomass—a hardy, fast-growing grass. Four years ago, I cofounded the company with two former SpaceX engineers. To realize its ambitions, Plantd established a new agricultural supply chain innovating at every step, from building an in-house tissue culture lab to establishing full-scale greenhouse operations to supplying commercial farmers with the company’s proprietary grass. Why grass? Because it grows incredibly fast, like bamboo, rapidly removing atmospheric carbon in the process, and possesses the structural characteristics to be transformed into durable engineered building materials. Yet, the key to sequestering carbon in our materials is Plantd’s manufacturing technology. Our team pioneered a modular, electric-powered production line that turns grass into finished products that replace plywood and OSB in new home construction. It’s a first-of-its-kind technology that distinguishes a Plantd production facility from every other engineered wood facility in the world; ours is the only one without a smoke stack on top of the building. This past fall, D.R. Horton, the largest homebuilder in America, which builds about one in every 10 U.S. homes, ordered 10 million Plantd panels, enough to form the walls and roofs of 90,000 new single-family homes. 2. Software innovation: Give buildings brains An even bigger source of building-related carbon emissions is the energy required to operate them. Globally, this accounts for 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions. The top culprit: HVAC systems. The heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment needed to keep us comfortable indoors are responsible for about 35% of all energy used in U.S. buildings. The challenge is that thermostats, even the smart ones, aren’t very bright. They can track what’s already happened and react to what’s happening right now, but they cannot anticipate changes in weather, occupancy, carbon intensity of the grid, and energy costs. BrainBox AI can. Using AI-powered intelligence, its cloud-based control system connects to the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of HVAC components in a building and sends them real-time instructions. The company’s platform provides over 15,000 buildings worldwide—from Nordstrom to Family Dollar—with the intelligence to see six hours into the future with 96% accuracy. By knowing the future, BrainBox AI cuts energy, costs, and carbon emissions and improves comfort. It’s an easy-to-install solution that works with existing systems and equipment. The results? HVAC-related emissions reductions of up to 40% and energy savings as high as 25%. 3. Finance innovation: Make efficiency upgrades free Many buildings are stuck with legacy equipment that gets the job done but consumes far more energy than their more efficient modern counterparts. Yet, new equipment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, often placing upgrades out of reach. Budderfly has built one of the fastest-growing businesses in America by removing the cost barrier. The company identifies energy-intensive businesses like fast food chains and offers them a deal that sounds almost too good to be true: free upgrades to energy-efficient systems, including HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, and security. Budderfly foots the bills and shares the monthly energy savings with its customers. Scale is key to making this business model work. Budderfly has raised nearly $1 billion to pay for the equipment it installs in customer locations. Its rapid expansion enables it to secure preferential pricing from global equipment suppliers that individual owners and franchisees could never obtain independently. Budderfly also takes over billing, which is one less thing for customers to worry about, and gives the company a trove of data to drive further energy reductions and cost savings. From Taco Bell to McDonald’s to Sonic, clients are guaranteed to see savings from day one. In 2024, Budderfly generated $200 million in revenue and now operates in more than 7,000 locations nationwide. Its customers’ collective energy use dropped 43% last year. The takeaway Whether it’s growing new materials, giving buildings the ability to think ahead, or reimagining who pays for energy systems, the low carbon economy isn’t just coming someday. It’s already being built. Josh Dorfman is the CEO and host of Supercool. View the full article

Tesla has reached a potentially lethal moment in its history, and it isn’t solely due to CEO Elon Musk’s political radicalization. Years of design and technology stagnation have led to a languishing model line and outdated technology. Back in 2023, I wrote that the beleaguered carmaker should aspire to survive and become yet another car manufacturer. Now that objective feels more pressing—and distant—than ever. The company just announced a new quarter of abysmal vehicle sales. Tesla’s first quarter of 2025 was a disaster—a 71% decline in net income compared to the same quarter last year—except for a better-than-expected gross margin thanks to its energy business. Its EV sales cratered, with a 13% sales drop in relation to the previous quarter. Worse yet: The company would have posted a loss if it weren’t for the government’s zero-emission credits. Predictably, Musk tried to distract from all of this with more of his usual empty promises about self-driving cabs and magical robots. During the Q1 financials conference call, he declared—with a faltering train of thought—that he remained optimistic about the future of the company. A future that is “based on a large number of autonomous cars and autonomous humanoid robots.” He said that he expects autonomy to start moving Tesla’s financial needle in mid-2026. Musk also claimed Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus will be working at Tesla’s factories by year’s end. “I feel confident we will make a million units per year in less than five years, maybe four years,” he said. Tesla will be the most valuable company in the world by far “if we execute well,” he declared after a pause. Then he said it will be “maybe as valuable as the next five companies combined.” Delay tactics Is anyone falling for all this bluster? I’m not. You shouldn’t either. Musk’s promises have a tendency to end in the graveyard of delusions, some of them literally buried, most delayed for many years. During the Cybercab reveal in October 2024, he promised the two-seater with scissor doors and no steering wheel by 2026, a claim that was met with derision. Remember that he promised robotaxis for 2020. The company declared in its Q1 report that the Cybercab “is scheduled for volume production starting in 2026.” That’s very unlikely to happen, as fully autonomous Tesla cars have not been approved anywhere, and they are far from going through the certification process needed for “volume” to happen. Waymo is still progressing slowly in its approval process and it’s years ahead of Tesla. “Full Self-Driving manages just 489 miles between disengagements, dwarfed by Waymo’s 17,311,” notes industry expert Ashok Elluswamy. To achieve human-level safety, analysts say, Tesla needs a 1,400x improvement. Which is why Musk’s claim of launching unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) in June 2025 sounds so absurd. Tesla’s FSD currently remains a beta experiment linked to federal probes and crashes. Meanwhile, Volvo and Mercedes currently deploy safer autonomous tech made by Waymo, a company that already has self-driving cabs on the road. Even if Musk could actually deliver on his Cybercab promise, Tesla’s internal analysis admitted Robotaxis would hemorrhage cash. According to a report by The Information, the company’s own executives warned Musk that the payback around FSD and Robotaxi would “be slow . . . very, very hard outside the U.S.” He ignored them. Instead, he canceled the Model 2—the alleged name for an affordable Tesla model—to chase the “geofenced 5mph Disneyland ride” of Robotaxis, as critic Dan O’Dowd mocked. The company is now implicitly recognizing it made a mistake in its first quarter financial report, saying that “more affordable options are as critical as ever.” No wonder its top designers and engineers are leaving the company. Rotting design and cybertruck carnage During the call, Musk said he will focus more on Tesla and less on the government, blaming “people benefiting from fraudulent government money” for the protests against him. In his mind, these fraudsters are responsible for the company’s ongoing disaster, not him. But that shouldn’t distract from the real reasons for the “Teslapocalypse.” This didn’t happen because of Musk’s support for Donald The President, though it did accelerate it. Even without Musk’s recent behavior, Tesla would still suffer from its preexisting condition and the bare facts of its business model: stale design, no forward vision, no technological innovation. This is a trifecta for failure. Tesla lacks what it needs to save itself from the current realities of the automobile market. China—mainly BYD and brands like Xiaomi and Xpeng—has established itself as the clear design and technological car manufacturing leader in the world, resulting in its top spot in global sales, despite U.S. tariffs. And in Europe, Japan, and South Korea, the old brands have finally risen to the challenge, with BMW’s EV sales in Europe overtaking Tesla for the first time in February of this year. Tesla’s collapse began with its rotting design DNA. “The Model S is 10 years old now,” Adrian Clarke, a veteran car designer, told me in 2023. “Its other cars—Models 3, X, and Y—look like spitting-image cousins.” It’s 2025, and except for a lackluster refresh of Model Y so unappealing that the company has just announced a zero-interest five-year buying plan, nothing has changed. Tesla’s lineup remains a museum of stagnation in an industry where everyone refreshes models yearly. “Most manufacturers would replace a model after about seven or eight years,” Clarke told me. But Tesla clings to a decade-old template, a strategy former Jaguar designer Jeremy Newman calls “strategically irresponsible.” How can anyone expect the market to keep buying Teslas when every other manufacturer is releasing new models, like BYD’s Yangwang U7 and its magical suspension system that eliminates all bumps. Then there’s the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and its supercar features that come at regular sports car prices. Or the BMW iX—the best 2024 EV according to Consumer Reports. With this in mind, can anyone truly be surprised to see Tesla’s U.S. market share plummeting from 79.4% in 2020 to 65.4% in 2022 to 48.7% in 2024? Only the most deluded fanboys and Tesla bulls could ignore this. Everyone else is seeing the writing on the wall. The Cybertruck epitomizes Musk’s delusional leadership. When it launched, industry experts criticized and warned about its design. “Cold, sterile, and almost repulsive,” legendary designer Frank Stephenson spat. “Everyone I know thought there’s no way they’re gonna get that into production,” Clarke said at the time. They were partially right. The truck’s “dead straight panels” defied manufacturing logic, leading to countless recalls for razor-sharp frunks that slice fingers, accelerators that stick mid-drive, and “bulletproof” windows that can shatter from hail. By June 2024, more than 11,000 units faced recalls for failing wipers and loose trim. Sales cratered: After peaking at 16,692 units in Q3 2024, sales dropped to 12,991 in Q4—a 22% decrease—and fell further to 6,406 in Q1 2025, marking a 50% decline from the previous quarter. Can it be saved? Now you can add cratering financials to this technological and design mayhem. Tesla’s Q4 2024 deliveries hit a record 495,570 vehicles, but the cost was catastrophic. Price cuts and 0% financing slashed profit margins, with average sales prices plunging to $41,000—the lowest in four years. Annual deliveries fell 1.1% to 1.79 million, Tesla’s first decline since 2011. Meanwhile, BYD sold 595,413 battery electric vehicles in the same quarter. Analysts called Tesla’s performance an “unmitigated disaster” masked by temporary incentives. Today confirmed what we knew. Tesla’s first-quarter 2025 revenue came short of the estimated $21.1 billion at only $19.3 billion. Auto revenue fell 20%. It’s the worst quarter in almost three years, and the company’s first-ever year-to-year drop in sales. Sure, the protests at stores and vandalism of Tesla lots fueled by Musk’s polarizing politics didn’t help this situation. But at the end of the day, if you give consumers the choice of buying a new EV design with superior technology at a lower price or a tired Tesla model, they will choose the former. Having a better product at the best price possible is the most important part for the long-term survival of any company. Talking to CNBC, Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs, said the biggest operational challenge in the latest quarter was “the nuts-and-bolts job of being a car company.” For a car company that runs on, you know, car sales, things like robocabs and humanoid robots are a distraction. It’s no wonder that Tesla’s stock plummeted since December. Meanwhile, the rest of the market keeps innovating at record speeds. BYD’s flash-charging tech—refueling EVs in five minutes—and its Blade battery, hailed as “the world’s safest,” have left Tesla in the dust. The Xiaomi SU7, a luxury sports sedan priced like a Toyota, sold 88,898 units in 24 hours, proving Chinese brands can out-innovate and undercut. In Europe, BMW and Mercedes leveraged 60% customer loyalty to reclaim the luxury segment. “People want cars that fit into their lives,” Clarke told me two years ago. It was an industry lesson that Musk ignored. Legendary investor and economist Bruce Greenwald warned about all this in 2021, way before Musk descended into the political mud: “Twenty years from now, you really think they’ll dominate? Not a chance.” He was wrong by almost two decades. After today’s results, there are only two questions in my mind. First: How much more value Musk will obliterate before shareholders eject him? And the other, more pressing question: Will the next CEO be able to save the company? The car company needs to do something radical right now. And that should start with Musk leaving the company. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. With the U.S. government reducing and, in some cases even freezing federal funding, many nonprofits will need to seek other sources of philanthropic support. According to the 2024 Giving USA Report, corporate charitable giving in the U.S. totaled $36.6 billion in 2023, making it the fastest-growing nonprofit revenue source over the past five years. But less quantifiable is the value many corporate funders provide in addition to financial support. Most corporate philanthropies are not interested in merely signing a check or attaching their logo to an event. Instead, they are looking for ways to strategically collaborate with organizations and the communities they serve through time, talent, and treasure. The 3T’s: Time, talent, and treasure Companies want to make a difference in the places where their employees and key stakeholders live, work, and play. One of the greatest corporate resources that the country’s 1.8 million nonprofits can tap into is time, especially through skills—and service-based volunteer opportunities for companies’ employees. A 2023 global study conducted for Ares Management by Edge Research found that employees who volunteer through their workplace are twice as likely to recommend their organization to job seekers than those who don’t volunteer. In addition, do not overlook the ways your nonprofit can benefit by leveraging those employees’ talents. Nonprofits can request pro bono support in the form of guidance and counsel from employees who are subject matter experts and will find that employees are generally more than willing to share their skills at no cost. Of course, it is critical for nonprofits to pair the benefits of time and talent with treasure, i.e., the funds needed to help them increase their reach and impact. But building connections by first seeking employees’ time and talent can actually strengthen grant applications and unlock corporate fiscal support because there’s already corporate buy-in. 5 ways to unlock corporate support Here are five ideas to increase the likelihood that corporate philanthropies will collaborate with and fund your nonprofit. 1. Align with the corporate mission Understand the funder’s giving priorities, funding cycles, and core values. Make sure you can answer these questions: Does your nonprofit share a similar mission, vision, and strategic objectives? What other nonprofits has the company previously supported? Was the company’s support in the form of time, talent, treasure, or some combination of these? 2. Make a connection Introduce yourself to the corporate giving or philanthropy officer by sending a quick email or LinkedIn message. Share information about your organization and how it aligns with the company’s philanthropic priorities and values. Include two potential ways you could collaborate, but do not send a proposal until you have had a chance to learn more about the company and are certain there is alignment. 3. Build partnership Before asking for funding, establish a relationship with the company. One method with proven success is connecting through a project that allows the company’s employees to identify with your nonprofit’s mission through volunteerism. The more you can communicate the importance of your organization’s work to a potential corporate funder’s employees and engage them, the greater the opportunity for you to make the case for grant support or sponsorship. 4. Be clear, concise, cogent, and compelling Be clear about the type of support you are seeking and be able to talk about the potential geographic and demographic reach of what you’re proposing for support. Share your past accomplishments and proven impact, and be very clear about the societal challenge you are seeking to solve with the requested funding. Keep in mind that proposals that introduce new approaches to solving long-term problems are often favored. 5. Engage in storytelling Describe what success will look like and explain how you will communicate that success to the world. Showcase the story you will tell about your nonprofit’s achievements and how your funder played a role in that success. As we head into a sustained period of change, keep in mind that corporate philanthropies are looking to partner with organizations that address societal challenges and bring meaningful benefits to their local communities where they do business. When nonprofits bring partnership opportunities that demonstrate a deep sense of purpose and compelling vision, they can unlock a treasure chest of benefits. Michelle Armstrong is president of the Ares Charitable Foundation. View the full article

OpenPhone has launched Sona, a new AI-powered agent designed to ensure businesses never miss a customer call again. The announcement, made April 17, introduces Sona as the first AI agent purpose-built for the essential front-office needs of small businesses and startups. OpenPhone describes Sona as a tool that helps businesses resolve customer issues instantly and convert every interaction into a growth opportunity. With 24/7 availability, Sona aims to eliminate missed calls and the potential revenue loss that can follow. “At OpenPhone, we bring all customer data and communication into one place. We organize customer communications from start to finish, enabling teams to focus on building reliable, personal relationships with their customers. We have already seen—with over 60,000 businesses—that it increases our customers’ top-line sales,” said Mahyar Raissi, CEO and co-founder of OpenPhone. “Sona adds a new layer of powerful automations that take things off of our customers’ mind while maintaining the level of service they want, so their businesses can be always-on as today’s consumers expect.” OpenPhone serves a broad base of small businesses, which make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States and account for 45% of all jobs. Whether it’s a Main Street service provider or a scaling startup, the company says its users share a desire to connect with customers and provide high-quality service. However, many business owners struggle to manage calls amid competing priorities, leading to missed messages and lost opportunities. Sona is designed to meet this challenge by functioning as a smart, reliable answering service integrated into OpenPhone’s existing platform. The software combines calls, texts, and voicemails in one interface, integrates with CRM systems, and allows team collaboration. “Sona has completely changed how we handle calls. It used to take six months, five vendors, and a lot of frustration to find an answering service that worked. Now we have Sona, and it just works—we couldn’t be happier,” said Chris Sands, CEO of the New York law firm Hannon De Palma & Associates. “It’s like if Siri went to law school and got its act together. Sona sounded polished and professional right away. If consistency were a superpower, Sona would have a cape. We’ve been looking for a solution like this for years, and OpenPhone delivered.” The law firm credits Sona with enhancing its 24/7 client response system while maintaining the professionalism essential to its practice. OpenPhone believes this level of service reflects what many small businesses need to stay competitive. “There comes a critical moment in every growing business where you feel stretched thin — like you can’t possibly scale while maintaining the personal care that defines your relationships,” said Daryna Kulya, co-founder of OpenPhone. “That’s why we built OpenPhone: to help businesses scale the ‘unscalable.’ When you can deliver on your promises, communicate clearly, and keep that human touch alive — even as you grow — that’s how you stand out and win.” Sona expands OpenPhone’s automation capabilities by managing missed calls, answering questions with information drawn from customer knowledge bases, and collecting detailed messages. Future feature rollouts will continue to build on the product’s core principles: ease of use, team collaboration, and unified communications. The new AI agent is fully integrated into OpenPhone’s platform and is designed to be simple to deploy, even for non-technical users. Sona enhances service without reducing control and adds capacity for communication without requiring additional staff. More information and a free trial are available at openphone.com. The company says additional Sona features will roll out throughout the year. This article, "OpenPhone Unveils Sona, an AI Agent Built to Eliminate Missed Customer Calls" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

OpenPhone has launched Sona, a new AI-powered agent designed to ensure businesses never miss a customer call again. The announcement, made April 17, introduces Sona as the first AI agent purpose-built for the essential front-office needs of small businesses and startups. OpenPhone describes Sona as a tool that helps businesses resolve customer issues instantly and convert every interaction into a growth opportunity. With 24/7 availability, Sona aims to eliminate missed calls and the potential revenue loss that can follow. “At OpenPhone, we bring all customer data and communication into one place. We organize customer communications from start to finish, enabling teams to focus on building reliable, personal relationships with their customers. We have already seen—with over 60,000 businesses—that it increases our customers’ top-line sales,” said Mahyar Raissi, CEO and co-founder of OpenPhone. “Sona adds a new layer of powerful automations that take things off of our customers’ mind while maintaining the level of service they want, so their businesses can be always-on as today’s consumers expect.” OpenPhone serves a broad base of small businesses, which make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States and account for 45% of all jobs. Whether it’s a Main Street service provider or a scaling startup, the company says its users share a desire to connect with customers and provide high-quality service. However, many business owners struggle to manage calls amid competing priorities, leading to missed messages and lost opportunities. Sona is designed to meet this challenge by functioning as a smart, reliable answering service integrated into OpenPhone’s existing platform. The software combines calls, texts, and voicemails in one interface, integrates with CRM systems, and allows team collaboration. “Sona has completely changed how we handle calls. It used to take six months, five vendors, and a lot of frustration to find an answering service that worked. Now we have Sona, and it just works—we couldn’t be happier,” said Chris Sands, CEO of the New York law firm Hannon De Palma & Associates. “It’s like if Siri went to law school and got its act together. Sona sounded polished and professional right away. If consistency were a superpower, Sona would have a cape. We’ve been looking for a solution like this for years, and OpenPhone delivered.” The law firm credits Sona with enhancing its 24/7 client response system while maintaining the professionalism essential to its practice. OpenPhone believes this level of service reflects what many small businesses need to stay competitive. “There comes a critical moment in every growing business where you feel stretched thin — like you can’t possibly scale while maintaining the personal care that defines your relationships,” said Daryna Kulya, co-founder of OpenPhone. “That’s why we built OpenPhone: to help businesses scale the ‘unscalable.’ When you can deliver on your promises, communicate clearly, and keep that human touch alive — even as you grow — that’s how you stand out and win.” Sona expands OpenPhone’s automation capabilities by managing missed calls, answering questions with information drawn from customer knowledge bases, and collecting detailed messages. Future feature rollouts will continue to build on the product’s core principles: ease of use, team collaboration, and unified communications. The new AI agent is fully integrated into OpenPhone’s platform and is designed to be simple to deploy, even for non-technical users. Sona enhances service without reducing control and adds capacity for communication without requiring additional staff. More information and a free trial are available at openphone.com. The company says additional Sona features will roll out throughout the year. This article, "OpenPhone Unveils Sona, an AI Agent Built to Eliminate Missed Customer Calls" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Late for a meeting across town, you check a map app for the fastest route, toggle to the city’s transit site for schedules, and work out options for traveling the “last mile” from the train station to your destination. You think through the logistics—metro card, e-tickets, scanning app, method of payment—for each leg of the trip. Then you open a ride-hailing app as backup. MaaS: Cities slicker It’s a fragmented, frustrating experience, which has prompted an innovative response. Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) integrates various modes of transportation into a single, seamless platform—usually an app or website. In some cities it’s already a reality. Platforms like Jelbi in Berlin, or Floya in Brussels are prime examples of MaaS in action, and similar schemes have been established in cities as far apart as Sydney, Bangalore, Abu Dhabi, and Denver. By aggregating data across different transport services, MaaS apps offer users a unified platform to plan, book, and pay for travel while also providing cities and businesses with critical insights into mobility patterns. At their best, they give users greater flexibility, streamline costs, and mitigate traffic congestion and carbon emissions by reducing the need for car trips. They’re not without their challenges. One of the first MaaS apps, Helsinki’s Whim, folded last year because of problems with its subscription model. MaaS adoption is often impeded by technical, operational, regulatory, and human challenges, too. These include issues around data integration and standardization, API and platform compatibility, competition between service providers, and poor user experiences coupled with slow shifts in user behavior. The direction of travel is clear, though: Urban mobility is getting an upgrade through innovations which prioritize seamlessness and enhance interoperability. Journey to enlightenment The potential of MaaS extends beyond convenience. The real power lies in the insights generated by millions of journeys. These insights are turbocharged by the application of AI to the underlying data, helping cities to optimize transit routes, reduce inefficiencies, and guide infrastructure investments. They also enable businesses to analyze commuting trends, predict workforce needs, and enhance sustainability efforts by measuring and managing their carbon footprints. Over the past decade, integrated transit payment systems have encouraged the use of sustainable public transport worldwide by allowing commuters to seamlessly switch between buses, subways, and trains with a single payment method. That breakthrough in convenience helped drive multimodal transit adoption in cities from London to Tokyo. MaaS builds on that foundation, expanding the model through digital mobility wallets and app-based platforms that link public and private transportation in a fluid transit experience. Through advanced data analytics and AI, for example, MaaS providers can forecast demand surges, adapt dynamic pricing in real-time, and facilitate predictive maintenance for public transportation fleets. By standardizing and sharing mobility data across operators, cities could reduce bottlenecks, enhance safety, and create more user-centric urban transportation policies. Tokenization: A ticket to ride Tokenization is a proven way to secure and streamline payments. It replaces sensitive payment card details with a unique, randomly generated code—the token—to protect the actual cardholder information during transactions. This is what happens when you tap your phone to pay, for example. By assigning digital tokens to mobility services and transactions, MaaS platforms can create more secure, flexible, and interoperable experiences. Tokenization could enable: Seamless multi-modal payments: Users could store a universal mobility token in their digital wallet, allowing them to switch between transit options effortlessly. Personalized mobility subscriptions: Employers and cities could offer customized MaaS packages tailored to individual commuting habits, reducing reliance on private vehicles. Enhanced security and privacy: Tokenized transactions would minimize the need for sharing sensitive payment details across multiple platforms, addressing concerns around data protection. If integrated effectively, tokenization could accelerate MaaS adoption by improving user trust, simplifying transactions, and unlocking new business models for transportation providers. No more juggling four apps just to get to work—one token, one tap, every route. The road ahead The trajectory of MaaS adoption will be shaped by how well data is harnessed—both to enhance user experience and to drive public and private sector innovation. Advances in AI-driven analytics, new tokenization use cases, and real-time data sharing could unlock the full potential of MaaS—making mobility smarter, more efficient, and more adaptable to future urban challenges. By embracing the power of data and emerging technologies, MaaS could fulfill its potential as a transformative force in urban mobility. Ken Moore is the chief innovation officer at Mastercard.  View the full article

Chairman and CEO David Spector, in weighing Rocket Cos.' purchase of Mr. Cooper, suggested Pennymac's balanced business model couldn't be duplicated. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. There was a time when data centers were quietly built throughout the country…just another utility necessary to meet the need of businesses and consumers. Today, they’re bigger and more power hungry, and that’s drawing a new level of attention. So much so that, in a recent rezoning hearing attended by hundreds of residents, attendees expressed concerns about the proliferation of data and data centers. Clearly, big data applications are driving the surge in the data center industry’s expansion today. But we started to wonder how much wasted data is out there and if consumers understand how they connect to data centers. Are people paying (increasingly high) fees to store waste? Do they understand it all lives in a physical, powered location? As a company, we are dogged about zero waste. We’re certainly not in the business of building virtual landfills. Being curious, we set out to dig deeper, to understand how Americans see digital accumulation. Between January 21 and February 5, 2025, Compass Datacenters polled 1,005 Americans for their perspectives on digital accumulation. At the heart of the study was this question: Are we a nation of digital hoarders? The results We learned that few people connect the dots between “the cloud” and the physical infrastructure behind it. Nearly 60% of respondents claimed they use cloud storage, but only 23% recognized that as being a physical location. While people said they do delete files on occasion, those occasions are few and far between. People are motivated to hit delete to keep their devices functioning; few exercise good digital hygiene as a matter of security. Respondents were quick to say they’re afraid of deleting something they might need later. One-third of respondents said the prospect of dealing with digital accumulation makes them feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed—so much so that 60% said they’d rather wash dishes than clean out digital files. Further, there is an out of sight, out of mind mentality when it comes to digital files. It’s troubling to see younger generations buying their way out of practicing good digital hygiene. Nearly half (49%) of Gen Z and millennials polled say they pay for data storage. Of the Gen Z group: 48% pay $1-$20 each month 40% pay $20-$40 per month 11% pay $40-$60 monthly Accounting for a 3% inflation rate, assuming a 25-year-old pays $20/month for data storage until the age of 85, they will spend $40,000 over their lifetime on digital storage. Data retention in the workplace This trend is not relegated to consumers. Studies indicate that less than 20% of large businesses have procedures for data retention or information governance. Businesses can set the tone and be champions for better digital hygiene by prioritizing clear policies for data retention and digital storage and ensuring compliance for security and efficiency. Best practice in the business world is not unlike consumer guidance. You have to identify the types of data to retain, the file retention duration, and the appropriate storage methods. Discipline around stored data review can help identify which redundant or outdated information to eliminate, thereby reducing storage costs and minimizing digital clutter. Additionally, leveraging encryption and secure access controls can protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and breaches. By adopting these best practices, companies can maintain a streamlined and secure digital environment supporting their operational needs and regulatory requirements. The bottom line on digital waste Digital waste is still waste. Just as a more orderly physical spaces fosters productivity and reduces stress, a more organized digital life can lead to greater efficiency and less anxiety. Taking small, consistent steps now to delete unused apps, unsubscribe from unnecessary emails, and regularly organize our files creates a more sustainable digital ecosystem. We share other tips for creating disciplines about what to store and where, and how to integrate best practices into daily life at Delete Digital Dust Bunnies, a site highlighting this kind of Earth Day cleanup. By recognizing the tangible impact of our digital lives and embracing the practice of digital decluttering, we can all contribute to a more sustainable digital future. Earth Day is a great time to swipe out the extraneous data and lighten the load, for us and for the future. Chris Crosby is CEO of Compass Datacenters. View the full article

In April 2023, the New York State Board of Regents unanimously voted to prohibit mascots, team names, and logos with any connection to Indigenous peoples in public schools. This move was made to ratify a notice sent months before by the New York State Education Department to public schools to change any mascots depicting Native Americans that do not have explicit permission from local tribal leaders or face “removal of school officers and the withholding of state aid.” Although dozens of schools began the process of changing mascots, school districts such as Massapequa stood fast. Eponymously named after the Massapequa tribe, the school district uses a “chief” mascot throughout the town and at Massapequa High School. The slogan “Once a Chief, always a Chief” can be often found on residents’ T-shirts and heard throughout the area. In a letter sent by the Massapequa Board of Education to the New York State Board of Regents, the council stated that the mascot was “more than a symbol to Massapequa,” and stated that “we in Massapequa will not sit idly by while an unelected group of officials tries to remove our history.” However, according to JP O’Hare, a spokesman for the state’s Education Department, the Massapequa school district did not make an attempt to ask permission from local Indigenous leaders. “Disrespecting entire groups of people is wrong in any context, but especially in our schools, where all students should feel welcome and supported,” O’Hare said in an interview with the New York Times. Now, two years into the conflict, President The President has added another wrench in the Board of Regents ruling. Taking to Truth Social on Monday, the president affirmed his support for the Massapequa Board of Education. “Forcing them to change the name, after all of these years, is ridiculous and, in actuality, an affront to our great Indian population,” The President said. “By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my highly capable Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, to fight for the people of Massapequa on this very important issue.” Federal funding at stake in broader DEI fight So far, it is unclear what power McMahon may actually have to oppose state education law. Fast Company reached out to the Department of Education (DOE) for comment. Nevertheless, attention like this from the The President administration should not be taken lightly. Earlier this month, The President threatened to withhold federal funding from public schools that have enacted what the administration considered to be unfair diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. In response to the president’s comments, the Massapequa School Board released a statement thanking The President for speaking out, local media reported. “We are honored that President The President has recognized our efforts and brought national attention to our cause. His support is a powerful affirmation of what we’re fighting for.” Fast Company was unable to reach the school board for further comment as its press mailbox was full and email requests bounced back. We also reached out to the New York State Education Department and the National Congress of American Indians. We will update this post if we hear back. View the full article

US president’s comments come after he has heaped pressure on the Fed chairView the full article

Key Takeaways Understanding Dropshipping: It’s a retail fulfillment model that allows businesses to sell products without holding inventory, reducing overhead costs and allowing focus on marketing and customer engagement. Market Demand: Identifying high-demand products is crucial for dropshipping success. Use tools like Google Trends and social media analytics to gauge customer preferences. Profit Margins: Aim for a minimum profit margin of 20%-30% when selecting products to ensure sustainability and allow for strategic upselling or cross-selling. Top Product Categories: Focus on electronics, fashion, home and kitchen, and health and beauty items, as these categories are consistently popular and can drive significant sales. Recommended Products: Basic apparel, skincare solutions, and innovative baby products are excellent choices for dropshipping as they meet current market demands. Effective Marketing Strategies: Utilize social media marketing, influencer partnerships, and targeted content to enhance product visibility and drive engagement, optimizing your overall sales performance. If you’re diving into the world of dropshipping, knowing which products to sell can make or break your success. The right products not only attract customers but also boost your profit margins. With countless options available, it’s crucial to identify the best dropshipping products that align with current trends and consumer demands. In this fast-paced e-commerce landscape, you’ll want to stand out from the competition. By focusing on high-demand items that resonate with your target audience, you can build a thriving online store. Get ready to explore the top picks that can elevate your dropshipping game and help you achieve your business goals. Understanding Dropshipping Dropshipping offers a unique e-commerce model that simplifies the sales process for small businesses. You can sell products without maintaining inventory, making it easier to focus on lead generation and customer engagement. What Is Dropshipping? Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where you don’t keep products in stock. Instead, when you receive a customer order, you purchase the item directly from a third party, typically a wholesaler or manufacturer. This third party ships the product to your customer. This approach minimizes overhead costs, allowing you to invest more in sales strategies and marketing. Benefits of Dropshipping Dropshipping provides several advantages for small businesses: Lower Startup Costs: You don’t need significant upfront investment in inventory. This allows for a more manageable sales funnel. Flexible Location: You can operate from anywhere with an internet connection, which aids in territory management. Wider Product Selection: You can offer a broader range of products without the risk associated with unsold inventory. This flexibility aligns with changing consumer needs. Scalable Operations: You can quickly scale your business without the constraints of physical stock, meeting your sales targets more efficiently. Focus on Marketing: With logistics handled by suppliers, you can concentrate on sales outreach, customer service, and relationship building. Increased Profit Margins: By sourcing products directly from manufacturers, you often enjoy better pricing, enhancing your potential profit margin. By adopting dropshipping, you can effectively enhance your sales process and drive business development, ensuring your product offerings align with customer expectations and market trends. Factors to Consider When Choosing Products Selecting the right products can greatly influence your dropshipping success. Consider essential factors that align with your sales strategy for optimal results. Market Demand Focus on the market demand for potential products. Research popular trends and consumer preferences to identify items that drive customer acquisition and revenue. Utilize sales metrics from platforms like Google Trends or social media analytics to spot high-demand products. Analyze the competition in your niche; understanding competitors’ offerings helps clarify what you’re up against. By aligning your product selection with tangible market needs, you increase the chance of closing sales and meeting sales targets. Profit Margins Evaluate profit margins carefully before choosing products. Calculate total costs, including the cost of goods, shipping fees, and related expenses while ensuring a sustainable profit margin remains. Typically, aim for a minimum profit margin of 20%-30% to support sales performance over time. Higher-margin products can absorb fluctuations in costs and allow room for upselling or cross-selling strategies. A solid pricing strategy contributes to your overall sales funnel, enhancing profitability and ensuring your small business thrives in a competitive landscape. Top Categories for Best Dropshipping Products Identifying the right product categories enhances your small business’s sales strategy. Here are top categories that consistently perform well in dropshipping. Electronics Electronics offer high demand, making them a perfect fit for your sales pipeline. Popular items include: Smart Home Devices: Video doorbells, motion sensors, and outdoor smart plugs attract tech-savvy customers. Phone Accessories: Wireless earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, USB adapters, and portable chargers serve as recurring purchases. Gaming Accessories: Headsets, controllers, and other gaming items are highly sought after, especially by younger demographics. Smartwatches and Scanners: These essential devices cater to both personal and professional needs and are lightweight for easy shipping. Fashion and Accessories Fashion remains a lucrative niche, allowing for effective cross-selling and upselling. Key items include: Clothing: Trendy apparel aligns with current styles, appealing to various customer needs. Jewelry: Unique pieces can enhance customer engagement and repeat business. Handbags and Wallets: Versatile accessories present opportunities for increased sales conversions. Footwear: Casual and formal shoes cater to a wide customer base, maximizing your revenue potential. Home and Kitchen Home and kitchen products create a steady market with possibilities for customer acquisition. Consider these items: Cookware and Utensils: Essential items encourage frequent purchases from cooking enthusiasts. Home Decor: Stylish decorations and furnishings attract customers looking to enhance their spaces. Storage Solutions: These products fulfill practical needs, promising consistent sales. Cleaning Supplies: Eco-friendly and efficient options resonate well with consumers focused on health and safety. Health and Beauty Health and beauty items remain a priority for many consumers, offering opportunities for strong sales metrics. Top products encompass: Skincare: High-quality creams and serums meet growing customer needs for personal care. Fitness Accessories: Items like resistance bands and yoga mats appeal to health-conscious individuals. Nutritional Supplements: Natural and organic products attract a dedicated audience focused on wellness. Makeup: Trending cosmetic items present avenues for engaging promotional strategies. Focusing on these categories positions your business for enhanced profitability. Targeting high-demand items can streamline your sales process and drive revenue growth. Recommended Best Dropshipping Products Selecting the right products can enhance your sales strategy and streamline customer acquisition. Here are some recommended dropshipping products that align well with current trends and market demands. Product 1: Basic Short-Sleeve T-Shirts Basic short-sleeve t-shirts serve as a backbone in the apparel category, attracting a broad audience. You can customize these shirts through suppliers like AliExpress, catering to various customer needs. Their versatility and high demand create opportunities for upselling and cross-selling within your existing product offerings. Consider implementing promotional strategies to boost sales performance and increase your revenue. Product 2: Hydrocolloid Pimple Patches Hydrocolloid pimple patches address a common skincare concern, making them a popular choice in the beauty and personal care sectors. These patches are easy to market on platforms like TikTok due to their effective results and growing audience interest. Positioning them within your sales funnel can improve sales conversion rates and enhance customer engagement. Leverage customer relationship management (CRM) tools to track performance metrics and adjust your sales tactics accordingly. Product 3: Portable Baby Bed Diaper Bag The portable baby bed diaper bag creatively combines convenience and practicality, appealing to parents on the go. This highly demanded product resolves common parenting challenges, which increases its attractiveness. Use effective sales presentations to demonstrate its features and benefits during customer interactions. Highlighting its value proposition can help you meet sales targets and increase customer retention through repeat business. Strategies for Marketing Dropshipping Products Effective marketing strategies play a crucial role in driving sales and enhancing customer engagement for your dropshipping business. Focus on the following approaches to maximize your sales potential. Social Media Marketing Select the right social media platforms to reach your target audience. Visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok excel for beauty and fashion products due to their engaging format. Share valuable content, including product demonstrations, tutorials, and customer reviews. Structure your posts to foster discussions and invite audience interaction, enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) efforts. Schedule posts consistently to maintain visibility, and utilize analytics to track engagement metrics, adjusting your strategy based on what resonates with your audience. Utilize hashtags, keywords, and tags to enhance your posts’ visibility. For instance, incorporate trending hashtags relevant to the products you sell. This tactic can increase reach and attract more sales leads, benefiting your sales pipeline. Influencer Partnerships Forge partnerships with influencers in your niche to leverage their established audiences. Identify influencers whose followers align with your target market. Use these relationships as a sales strategy to promote your products. Collaborate on content that highlights your offerings, such as product reviews or live demonstrations. Ensure your influencers understand your value proposition clearly, as this helps them convey your brand message effectively. Measure the effectiveness of these partnerships by tracking referral sales and assessing conversions. Implement relationship-building techniques to nurture ongoing collaborations with influencers, enhancing the credibility of your small business. Focus on building a robust network of influencers, as this can lead to repeat business and increased customer acquisition over time. Conclusion Choosing the right dropshipping products is crucial for your business’s success. By focusing on high-demand items and understanding market trends, you can attract customers and boost your profit margins. Remember to evaluate your competition and ensure your profit margins are sustainable. Implementing effective marketing strategies will further enhance your sales potential. Engaging with your audience on social media and collaborating with influencers can elevate your brand presence. With the right product selection and marketing approach, you’re well on your way to thriving in the competitive e-commerce landscape. Keep exploring and adapting to stay ahead in the game. Frequently Asked Questions What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. This model allows businesses to sell without handling inventory, simplifying operations and reducing startup costs. Why is product selection important in dropshipping? Choosing the right products is crucial in dropshipping because it directly affects sales and profit margins. High-demand items that resonate with current trends can attract more customers and enhance profitability. A well-researched product selection helps businesses succeed in a competitive market. How can I find high-demand products for dropshipping? To identify high-demand products, use tools like Google Trends, social media analytics, and market research. Monitor trending items and consumer preferences to find products that attract attention. Analyze competitors in your niche to understand what sells well and refine your selection accordingly. What profit margin should I aim for in dropshipping? Aiming for a profit margin of 20%-30% is recommended in dropshipping. This margin helps ensure sustainable profitability after covering costs like shipping, marketing, and product sourcing. Careful calculation of total expenses is essential for maintaining healthy financial performance. What product categories perform well in dropshipping? Popular dropshipping product categories include electronics, fashion and accessories, home and kitchen items, and health and beauty products. Selecting items from these categories can lead to better sales potential, as they align with consumer interests and current market trends. How can marketing strategies enhance dropshipping sales? Effective marketing strategies help drive sales and improve customer engagement. Utilizing social media platforms for content sharing, audience interaction, and analytics can boost visibility. Additionally, collaborating with influencers whose audiences match your target market can expand your reach and attract more customers. What are some recommended dropshipping products? Some recommended dropshipping products include basic short-sleeve t-shirts, hydrocolloid pimple patches, and portable baby bed diaper bags. These items align with current consumer interests and market demands, making them good choices for boosting your dropshipping enterprise. Can dropshipping be scalable? Yes, dropshipping can be highly scalable. As your business grows, you can easily expand your product range without the constraints of inventory management. This flexibility allows you to focus on lead generation, marketing, and customer engagement while keeping operational costs relatively low. Image Via Envato This article, "Discover the Best Dropshipping Products to Boost Your E-Commerce Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Key Takeaways Understanding Dropshipping: It’s a retail fulfillment model that allows businesses to sell products without holding inventory, reducing overhead costs and allowing focus on marketing and customer engagement. Market Demand: Identifying high-demand products is crucial for dropshipping success. Use tools like Google Trends and social media analytics to gauge customer preferences. Profit Margins: Aim for a minimum profit margin of 20%-30% when selecting products to ensure sustainability and allow for strategic upselling or cross-selling. Top Product Categories: Focus on electronics, fashion, home and kitchen, and health and beauty items, as these categories are consistently popular and can drive significant sales. Recommended Products: Basic apparel, skincare solutions, and innovative baby products are excellent choices for dropshipping as they meet current market demands. Effective Marketing Strategies: Utilize social media marketing, influencer partnerships, and targeted content to enhance product visibility and drive engagement, optimizing your overall sales performance. If you’re diving into the world of dropshipping, knowing which products to sell can make or break your success. The right products not only attract customers but also boost your profit margins. With countless options available, it’s crucial to identify the best dropshipping products that align with current trends and consumer demands. In this fast-paced e-commerce landscape, you’ll want to stand out from the competition. By focusing on high-demand items that resonate with your target audience, you can build a thriving online store. Get ready to explore the top picks that can elevate your dropshipping game and help you achieve your business goals. Understanding Dropshipping Dropshipping offers a unique e-commerce model that simplifies the sales process for small businesses. You can sell products without maintaining inventory, making it easier to focus on lead generation and customer engagement. What Is Dropshipping? Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where you don’t keep products in stock. Instead, when you receive a customer order, you purchase the item directly from a third party, typically a wholesaler or manufacturer. This third party ships the product to your customer. This approach minimizes overhead costs, allowing you to invest more in sales strategies and marketing. Benefits of Dropshipping Dropshipping provides several advantages for small businesses: Lower Startup Costs: You don’t need significant upfront investment in inventory. This allows for a more manageable sales funnel. Flexible Location: You can operate from anywhere with an internet connection, which aids in territory management. Wider Product Selection: You can offer a broader range of products without the risk associated with unsold inventory. This flexibility aligns with changing consumer needs. Scalable Operations: You can quickly scale your business without the constraints of physical stock, meeting your sales targets more efficiently. Focus on Marketing: With logistics handled by suppliers, you can concentrate on sales outreach, customer service, and relationship building. Increased Profit Margins: By sourcing products directly from manufacturers, you often enjoy better pricing, enhancing your potential profit margin. By adopting dropshipping, you can effectively enhance your sales process and drive business development, ensuring your product offerings align with customer expectations and market trends. Factors to Consider When Choosing Products Selecting the right products can greatly influence your dropshipping success. Consider essential factors that align with your sales strategy for optimal results. Market Demand Focus on the market demand for potential products. Research popular trends and consumer preferences to identify items that drive customer acquisition and revenue. Utilize sales metrics from platforms like Google Trends or social media analytics to spot high-demand products. Analyze the competition in your niche; understanding competitors’ offerings helps clarify what you’re up against. By aligning your product selection with tangible market needs, you increase the chance of closing sales and meeting sales targets. Profit Margins Evaluate profit margins carefully before choosing products. Calculate total costs, including the cost of goods, shipping fees, and related expenses while ensuring a sustainable profit margin remains. Typically, aim for a minimum profit margin of 20%-30% to support sales performance over time. Higher-margin products can absorb fluctuations in costs and allow room for upselling or cross-selling strategies. A solid pricing strategy contributes to your overall sales funnel, enhancing profitability and ensuring your small business thrives in a competitive landscape. Top Categories for Best Dropshipping Products Identifying the right product categories enhances your small business’s sales strategy. Here are top categories that consistently perform well in dropshipping. Electronics Electronics offer high demand, making them a perfect fit for your sales pipeline. Popular items include: Smart Home Devices: Video doorbells, motion sensors, and outdoor smart plugs attract tech-savvy customers. Phone Accessories: Wireless earbuds, Bluetooth speakers, USB adapters, and portable chargers serve as recurring purchases. Gaming Accessories: Headsets, controllers, and other gaming items are highly sought after, especially by younger demographics. Smartwatches and Scanners: These essential devices cater to both personal and professional needs and are lightweight for easy shipping. Fashion and Accessories Fashion remains a lucrative niche, allowing for effective cross-selling and upselling. Key items include: Clothing: Trendy apparel aligns with current styles, appealing to various customer needs. Jewelry: Unique pieces can enhance customer engagement and repeat business. Handbags and Wallets: Versatile accessories present opportunities for increased sales conversions. Footwear: Casual and formal shoes cater to a wide customer base, maximizing your revenue potential. Home and Kitchen Home and kitchen products create a steady market with possibilities for customer acquisition. Consider these items: Cookware and Utensils: Essential items encourage frequent purchases from cooking enthusiasts. Home Decor: Stylish decorations and furnishings attract customers looking to enhance their spaces. Storage Solutions: These products fulfill practical needs, promising consistent sales. Cleaning Supplies: Eco-friendly and efficient options resonate well with consumers focused on health and safety. Health and Beauty Health and beauty items remain a priority for many consumers, offering opportunities for strong sales metrics. Top products encompass: Skincare: High-quality creams and serums meet growing customer needs for personal care. Fitness Accessories: Items like resistance bands and yoga mats appeal to health-conscious individuals. Nutritional Supplements: Natural and organic products attract a dedicated audience focused on wellness. Makeup: Trending cosmetic items present avenues for engaging promotional strategies. Focusing on these categories positions your business for enhanced profitability. Targeting high-demand items can streamline your sales process and drive revenue growth. Recommended Best Dropshipping Products Selecting the right products can enhance your sales strategy and streamline customer acquisition. Here are some recommended dropshipping products that align well with current trends and market demands. Product 1: Basic Short-Sleeve T-Shirts Basic short-sleeve t-shirts serve as a backbone in the apparel category, attracting a broad audience. You can customize these shirts through suppliers like AliExpress, catering to various customer needs. Their versatility and high demand create opportunities for upselling and cross-selling within your existing product offerings. Consider implementing promotional strategies to boost sales performance and increase your revenue. Product 2: Hydrocolloid Pimple Patches Hydrocolloid pimple patches address a common skincare concern, making them a popular choice in the beauty and personal care sectors. These patches are easy to market on platforms like TikTok due to their effective results and growing audience interest. Positioning them within your sales funnel can improve sales conversion rates and enhance customer engagement. Leverage customer relationship management (CRM) tools to track performance metrics and adjust your sales tactics accordingly. Product 3: Portable Baby Bed Diaper Bag The portable baby bed diaper bag creatively combines convenience and practicality, appealing to parents on the go. This highly demanded product resolves common parenting challenges, which increases its attractiveness. Use effective sales presentations to demonstrate its features and benefits during customer interactions. Highlighting its value proposition can help you meet sales targets and increase customer retention through repeat business. Strategies for Marketing Dropshipping Products Effective marketing strategies play a crucial role in driving sales and enhancing customer engagement for your dropshipping business. Focus on the following approaches to maximize your sales potential. Social Media Marketing Select the right social media platforms to reach your target audience. Visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok excel for beauty and fashion products due to their engaging format. Share valuable content, including product demonstrations, tutorials, and customer reviews. Structure your posts to foster discussions and invite audience interaction, enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) efforts. Schedule posts consistently to maintain visibility, and utilize analytics to track engagement metrics, adjusting your strategy based on what resonates with your audience. Utilize hashtags, keywords, and tags to enhance your posts’ visibility. For instance, incorporate trending hashtags relevant to the products you sell. This tactic can increase reach and attract more sales leads, benefiting your sales pipeline. Influencer Partnerships Forge partnerships with influencers in your niche to leverage their established audiences. Identify influencers whose followers align with your target market. Use these relationships as a sales strategy to promote your products. Collaborate on content that highlights your offerings, such as product reviews or live demonstrations. Ensure your influencers understand your value proposition clearly, as this helps them convey your brand message effectively. Measure the effectiveness of these partnerships by tracking referral sales and assessing conversions. Implement relationship-building techniques to nurture ongoing collaborations with influencers, enhancing the credibility of your small business. Focus on building a robust network of influencers, as this can lead to repeat business and increased customer acquisition over time. Conclusion Choosing the right dropshipping products is crucial for your business’s success. By focusing on high-demand items and understanding market trends, you can attract customers and boost your profit margins. Remember to evaluate your competition and ensure your profit margins are sustainable. Implementing effective marketing strategies will further enhance your sales potential. Engaging with your audience on social media and collaborating with influencers can elevate your brand presence. With the right product selection and marketing approach, you’re well on your way to thriving in the competitive e-commerce landscape. Keep exploring and adapting to stay ahead in the game. Frequently Asked Questions What is dropshipping? Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, when a store sells a product, it purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to the customer. This model allows businesses to sell without handling inventory, simplifying operations and reducing startup costs. Why is product selection important in dropshipping? Choosing the right products is crucial in dropshipping because it directly affects sales and profit margins. High-demand items that resonate with current trends can attract more customers and enhance profitability. A well-researched product selection helps businesses succeed in a competitive market. How can I find high-demand products for dropshipping? To identify high-demand products, use tools like Google Trends, social media analytics, and market research. Monitor trending items and consumer preferences to find products that attract attention. Analyze competitors in your niche to understand what sells well and refine your selection accordingly. What profit margin should I aim for in dropshipping? Aiming for a profit margin of 20%-30% is recommended in dropshipping. This margin helps ensure sustainable profitability after covering costs like shipping, marketing, and product sourcing. Careful calculation of total expenses is essential for maintaining healthy financial performance. What product categories perform well in dropshipping? Popular dropshipping product categories include electronics, fashion and accessories, home and kitchen items, and health and beauty products. Selecting items from these categories can lead to better sales potential, as they align with consumer interests and current market trends. How can marketing strategies enhance dropshipping sales? Effective marketing strategies help drive sales and improve customer engagement. Utilizing social media platforms for content sharing, audience interaction, and analytics can boost visibility. Additionally, collaborating with influencers whose audiences match your target market can expand your reach and attract more customers. What are some recommended dropshipping products? Some recommended dropshipping products include basic short-sleeve t-shirts, hydrocolloid pimple patches, and portable baby bed diaper bags. These items align with current consumer interests and market demands, making them good choices for boosting your dropshipping enterprise. Can dropshipping be scalable? Yes, dropshipping can be highly scalable. As your business grows, you can easily expand your product range without the constraints of inventory management. This flexibility allows you to focus on lead generation, marketing, and customer engagement while keeping operational costs relatively low. Image Via Envato This article, "Discover the Best Dropshipping Products to Boost Your E-Commerce Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

OpenAI may seek to acquire Chrome if it's split from Google in the ongoing antitrust proceedings. The post OpenAI Expresses Interest In Buying Chrome Browser appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Obsidian is my favorite productivity tool. I use it for all of my writing, as a journaling app, and to replace multiple productivity tools. There's a big downside, though: no grammar checking tool. Grammarly is the best known grammar checking tool, but there's no way to add it to Obsidian. I also wouldn't enable it even if I could. Grammarly processes text on their own servers, which is a potential privacy issue and also generally inefficient. This is why I've come to love Harper, a free and open-source alternative that runs entirely on your device and can be added to Obsidian in a couple of clicks. Harper isn't just an Obsidian tool—there are also plugins for WordPress, Visual Studio Code, or any developer tool that supports the Language Server Protocol. If you'd like to see Harper in action before installing, there's a live demo on the Harper homepage—just type whatever you want and watch the recommendations. The Harper plugin for Obsidian can easily be installed from the Community Plugins tab in the Obsidian settings, the way you'd install any other extension. After you download and activate the plugin it will start working immediately. Harper can make spelling recommendations, while also pointing out grammatical and stylistic issues. I've been trying out Harper for a week now after missing a couple of embarrassing typos. It's helped me notice easy-to-overlook issues while, for the most part, staying out of my way. Potential issues are underlined. Hover the mouse over any highlighted issue and you'll see an explanation and suggestions. Credit: Justin Pot I find Harper noticeably faster than web-based tools, which makes sense, given that the developer was primarily motivated by speed during development. In the settings you can choose between American, Canadian, Australian, and British English. You can also change the settings for a specific Harper rule, allowing you to do things like use the Oxford comma. Right now Harper isn't easy to use outside of Obsidian—there's no browser extension. But if you do your writing in Obsidian, or are a developer who uses a supported IDE, Harper is a tool that integrates into your workflow right now—one well worth trying out. View the full article

Board of Deputies of British Jews suspends vice-chair and investigates signatories to criticism of Netanyahu policyView the full article

As the impact of President The President’s tariffs comes into focus during the coming months, hundreds of thousands of workers could stand to lose their jobs. Economists have warned that the tariffs could drive up the unemployment rate, and many experts fear they could spark a recession. This upheaval could place additional stress on the current unemployment insurance program, which already fails to adequately support laid-off employees and other Americans struggling to find work. While unemployment benefits continue to be a key resource for workers—offering relief to one in six U.S. adults when unemployment surged during the pandemic—a new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) illustrates that they fall short of offering the level of support that workers say they need. The limits of unemployment benefits Of the nearly 1,500 workers surveyed, about one in five said they found that unemployment benefits were “not adequate to meet their financial needs,” though this figure varied by state. Since unemployment benefits vary from state to state, the average percentage of wage replacement could be anywhere from 29% in Alabama to 49% in Washington, according to NELP. In states where coverage was less generous, workers were more likely to express that their benefits were inadequate. Barriers to accessing benefits But the system also seems to be riddled with inefficiencies that make it difficult for people to receive the benefits to which they are entitled. Many respondents said they faced challenges when trying to navigate unemployment benefits, between tech issues and delayed payments. This was exacerbated during the pandemic but continued afterward, per the NELP survey. While fewer applicants had issues with payments overall, they continued to experience underpayment and delays receiving checks, not to mention being denied benefits outright. (In fact, the share of applicants who were incorrectly denied benefits doubled from 9% to 18% in the aftermath of the pandemic.) How employers can help Employers, too, can play a significant role in how people navigate these benefits. Nearly a third of workers said their employer had a hand in how they approached unemployment benefits—and 19% claimed an employer actively discouraged them from applying for benefits. On the other hand, employers were more likely to encourage highly paid and educated workers to seek out unemployment benefits. There was also some correlation with location, with workers receiving more assistance from employers in states like New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The study indicates that Americans are in need of more generous unemployment benefits and expanded eligibility, in addition to basic improvements to how they access those benefits. At the same time, it reaffirms that any access to those benefits can be a crucial source of support for people facing unemployment, mitigating food insecurity and helping families manage the steep cost of medical bills and mortgage payments. With the looming threat of job losses, more workers may come to rely on those benefits to make ends meet. View the full article

Court in Abidjan rules former Credit Suisse CEO should be struck off electoral register, his lawyer saysView the full article

The hits keep coming for the world’s richest man. Tesla reported another weak quarter of performance as car buyers around the world increasingly opt for other brands. That wasn’t entirely surprising, however; analysts had forecasted dismal first-quarter quarter results, though the carmaker reported revenue and earnings that were significantly worse than the consensus of analysts’ estimates. The Austin-based carmaker reported that revenue fell 9.2% to $19.34 billion during the three months ended March 31, while the decline in the company’s automotive revenue was even worse, falling 20% from the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter came in at 27 cents. The company cited issues stemming from policy to politics for its performance. “Uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets continues to increase as rapidly evolving trade policy adversely impacts the global supply chain and cost structure of Tesla and our peers,” the company said in the report. “This dynamic, along with changing political sentiment, could have a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term.” An update from Elon Musk In an effort to revitalize the beleaguered carmaker, investors are hopeful that CEO Elon Musk will make a newsworthy announcement in a live company update following the release of the quarterly results, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. Investors have been looking for any silver linings, amid a 50% crash in the stock’s price since its all-time high in December. One long-awaited update that Musk could offer investors is regarding plans for a more affordable electric vehicle model. That said, three sources exclusively told Reuters last week that the launch of such a vehicle has been delayed by at least several months. Likewise, there’s been speculation on Wall Street that Musk might use the conference call to update infestors about the planned debut of robotaxis, driverless ride-hailing services, in Austin in June and in California later this year. There’s likewise been speculation that Musk might announce the timing of his departure from the The President administration. Tesla shares fell nearly 1% in after-hours trading after posting a 4.6% gain Tuesday alongside a broader rally in the U.S. stock market. Disdain reigns supreme Analysts and investors alike were bracing for what was widely expected to be a disastrous earnings report that coincides with Musk assuming a heavy-handed role as a senior advisor in President Donald The President’s second administration. Musk has become one of the most polarizing figures in the new administration, and there’s palpable disdain for the man and the brand: About half of Americans have a negative view of both Musk and Tesla, according to the results of a CNBC survey released Tuesday. Tesla has become “arguably the most scrutinized company in the world,” Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told The Associated Press ahead of the earnings results. In addition to being the subject of protests and vandalism, Tesla was recently dealt a blow by regulators, who issued a recall of nearly all Cybertrucks last month. Fork in the road Once a darling of Wall Street, Tesla’s performance has hit more than a few bumps in the road this year. Not only has vehicle production has slowed, so too has delivery of these vehicles. In a report released earlier this month, the Austin-based company reported 336,681 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, a 13% decline from the same period a year ago. This missed the mark of various estimates of analysts, who were expecting deliveries to number as much as nearly 378,000, according to the average estimate of select estimates that Tesla’s investor relations team sent to select analysts. That report highlighted a particular weakness for Tesla: Delivery of models other than the Model 3 and Model Y, the most-popular in its fleet, slumped more than 24% compared to less than 13,000 vehicles, compared with 17,027 in 2024. This group of vehicles includes the much-hyped—though increasingly much-maligned—Cybertruck model that debuted in 2023. Following the release of that report, Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, posted on the social media X platform that the numbers “were a disaster on every metric” and represented a “fork in the road moment” for the carmaker. View the full article

UnitedHealth Group spent nearly $1.7 million on security for its top executives in 2024, the healthcare conglomerate disclosed on Monday, months after the fatal shooting of senior executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December. The company also paid $207,931 on behalf of certain family members of the executives to provide them with personal and home security services, it said. The security spending disclosures, absent from UnitedHealth’s previous annual filings, underscore how the December shooting is prompting companies to reassess the risk of targeted violence against top management. U.S. drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly also increased spending on security for their top executives in 2024, regulatory filings showed last month. “We believe that these security services are appropriate and necessary given the risks associated with executive officer positions at the company,” UnitedHealth said in the filing. Brian Thompson, the former CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead on December 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel where the company was holding an investor conference. The filing also showed UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty’s total compensation for 2024 was $26.3 million, compared with $23.5 million a year ago. The conglomerate spent $150,951 towards Witty’s security, while $926,989 was paid for Heather Cianfrocco, the CEO of the company’s health services unit Optum. Following Thompson’s murder, health insurers removed pictures of their executives from corporate websites. In January, organizers at a major San Francisco healthcare meeting increased security for attendees inside and outside the venue. In past years, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies have typically covered the use of private jets and provided limited security-related compensation, according to earlier filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. —Sriparna Roy, Reuters View the full article