Small businesses across the country continue their recovery efforts. Everyone’s trying to dig out of the hole left by the pandemic response.
And you may be thinking you’re alone in being unprepared for the future. You shouldn’t.
This week, we learned that many companies aren’t as prepared as they may wish. And a lot don’t even know how long their recovery will take.
A new survey from Infrascale reveals about 1 in 6 small business executives aren’t sure of their own pandemic recovery timelines.
So, it may be cliche to say it, but taking recovery one day at a time may be the best course right now.
For more on this story, check out: 1 in 6 Executives Don’t Know Their Own Recovery Time Objectives
And for the rest of this week in small business headlines, check out our weekly news roundup below:
Small Business News – Week of June 19, 2020
Here are the big stories making news for small businesses this wee:
Skrill Expands Knect Loyalty and Rewards Program to US
Paysafe, specialists in online payments, has expanded its global Knect loyalty program for its Skrill digital wallet to the US. Skrill customers in the US can now earn free points that are redeemable for cash rewards. Customers obtain the points when they make transactions using the Skrill digital wallet of the associated Skrill Visa Prepaid Card.
New Tool Searches Customer Reviews to Find Terms Consumers Use to Reach Your Brand Online
Revuze has launched a new tool that allows businesses to map and analyze customers’ experience reviews to help boost brand image. The tool uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) that automates semantic text analysis. It segments the data based on relevance to help better inform business decisions on products and brands.
Lightspeed Introduces New Ecommerce Tools for Small Businesses Going Digital
Lightspeed has unveiled its latest Lightspeed eCommerce features for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) which provides sales support for online shopping across multiple channels. The new feature will help boost online shopping through incorporating inventory management, delivery, marketing and reporting tools on one platform.
Treehouse Spaces Helps Companies with Open Office Plans Adapt to Virus Containment Efforts
Are you planning to redesign your office to ensure social distancing and follow the best hygiene practices? If yes, then Treehouse Spaces, a recently launched division of Treehouse Fabrication & Scenic, can help you do that.
Speedify 10 VPN Promises More Reliable Video Calls, Addresses Privacy Issues
Speedify 10 recently launched and provides a VPN to users while demand for security and privacy more important than ever. Speedify 10 VPN for Small Business In order to find out what differentiates Speedify 10 from other VPNs, Small Business Trends interviewed Alex Gizis, CEO of Connectify. This is the company that makes Speedify 10.
Website and Email Updates the Best Way to Reach Customers, Adobe Survey Finds
You may see other brands updating customers on social media about new policies, hours, or upcoming events. But you may be surprised to learn that website updates and emails remain the best way to keep your customers up to date. This comes from a survey of 1,000 customers completed by Adobe Spark.
Walmart Marketplace Opens to Shopify Small Business Sellers
Walmart has joined forces with Shopify to open Walmart Marketplace to new small and medium businesses. The venture is designed to help small businesses reach customers who regularly shop on Walmart.com. Walmart Marketplace Partners with Shopify More than 1 million businesses use Shopify’s all-in-one ecommerce platform.
Humanscale Offers Ergonomic Services to Employees and Freelancers Working from Home
Working from home may be more than a trend. Many Americans may be calling home their workplace long into the future. As of April 2020, 66% of employees were working from home. And all those people may be developing poor habits situated at their desk. For the many businesses and professionals, new remote working practices look set to be made long-term.
6 Former Ebay Employees Targeted Publishers Critical of Company, Charged with Cyberstalking
Six former eBay employees face charges they cyberstalked a husband and wife publishing team that publicly criticized the company on their website. According to information from U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, those eBay employees led a harassment campaign against the publishers of an online ecommerce newsletter. That couple routinely wrote articles about eBay.
AirMeet is an Interactive Virtual Events Platform for Conferences, Chats, and More
AirMeet, the online events hosting platform is offering online meetups, virtual conferences, and webinars with a unique twist. It comes with side sessions, better administrative controls for organizers and even a networking table in between sessions. This offering by AirMeet helps businesses to create interactive virtual events using its scalable platform.
SignEasy Designed for Hiring Remote Employees, Especially During Pandemic Times
The way businesses operate continues to change. Face-to-face business is slowly returning to normal. But collaborating remotely remains. However, some business operations are difficult to perform remotely, especially if your company needs new employees. You need people to start quickly but they’ve got to mitigate the onboarding process that includes signing a raft of forms.
Just 52% of Airlines Have Digital Optimization Plans in Place Right Now
Just over half (52%) of airlines have digital optimization plans in place. And 45% of airlines say they don’t have a budget for digital optimization and experimentation. These were the findings of a new report by Glassbox, a leading analytics platform which analyses digital customer interaction.
FreshBooks Launches Collaborative Accounting Professionals Program for Small Businesses
The new FreshBooks Accounting Professionals Program attempts to connect modern accounting firms with small businesses. Just launched last week, the new program takes aim at small businesses which don’t necessarily consider their bookkeeping the strongest asset.
Small Business Loan Approval Rates Rebound from Record Lows
Small business loan approval rates have rebounded in May to 11.5% up from 8.9% in April according to a Biz2Credit Report. Indicating an uptick of approval rates among big banks ($10 billion + assets) for small businesses as the coronavirus cases are going down. Biz2Credit Lending Index May 2020 Loan approval rate among small banks also improved with the figure climbing to 16.
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This article, “In the News – Small Business Pandemic Recovery Times Unknown” was first published on Small Business Trends