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Stock market news live updates: Stock futures jump amid vaccine hopes, reopenings
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How to Grow Your Small Businesses
Once you have established your business, the next step is to think of how you can grow it. Growth may not happen overnight, but it will surely happen if you take the right steps and are consistent with your efforts. Consider the following tips for growing a small business.
Work On a Strong Online Presence
Most searches for both goods and service providers are done online. Thus, as a small business owner, it will work to your advantage if you establish a strong online presence. Make sure you are listed on search directories, write about your products so people can easily find them, and consider setting up an online store. You don’t have to open an e-commerce store if you don’t have many products. You can just use some e-commerce plugins on your website. As you are doing all these, remember to do some keyword research so as to find the exact words customers are using to search for your goods and services. If you don’t have the expertise, consider hiring someone who is an expert in areas such as social media, copywriting, and SEO services.
Think of New Business
Introducing new products and services, or expanding your market, are two more steps you can take to grow your business. Be on the lookout for new customer needs that you can solve. Check if there is a new market you haven’t explored and find ways to tap into it. When you sell more products and make sales to more people, your profits will grow. However, make sure you test the viability of every new venture before investing your money to avoid losses.
Get the Right Services
As a small business owner, you need to purchase a number of services. Examples include utilities, insurance, software, marketing, and accounting. The key is to get the right services from a reputable service provider. For instance, for something like business insurance, you need a package that will cover your risks from a provider who will not let you down when you submit your claims. As outlined on The Hartford, some key examples of business insurance you can take to cover risks include commercial property insurance, general liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, commercial auto insurance, and data breach insurance. The Hartford is a company that provides a wide range of insurance solutions for small businesses.
When it comes to software, choose affordable solutions that are effective and efficient. Reputation is an important consideration when making a decision. With the right solutions, your operations will run smoothly, and growth will not be hampered.
Offer Exceptional Customer Service
Great customer service can give you two key benefits; one, customer retention, and two referrals. When your customers are satisfied, their chances of going elsewhere reduce. They can also share their satisfaction with others, and this leads to more business. Thus, as you work on other business processes, don’t forget to work on your customer service.
Keep reviewing everything you are doing and make changes if you don’t get the desired results. And, when you start to see some significant growth, don’t stop. Make the efforts continual if you want the results to be continual.
The post How to Grow Your Small Businesses appeared first on Wall Street Survivor.
source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/26/how-to-grow-your-small-businesses/
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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) Is the Most Recession-Resistant Stock to Buy Now
Giverny Capital recently released its Q1 2020 Investor Letter, a copy of which you can download below. You should check out Giverny Capital’s top 5 stock picks for investors to buy right now, which could be the biggest winners of the stock market crash. There weren’t a lot of funds who could deliver these kinds […]
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Hedge Funds Have Never Been This Bullish On Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
The financial regulations require hedge funds and wealthy investors that exceeded the $100 million equity holdings threshold to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn't the intention, these filings to a certain extent level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F […]
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Hedge Funds Started Cashing Out Of Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)
Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and successful value investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds' and successful investors' positions as of the end of the first quarter. You can find articles about an individual hedge fund's trades on numerous financial […]
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Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Anymore
In this article we will check out the progression of hedge fund sentiment towards Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and determine whether it is a good investment right now. We at Insider Monkey like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before spending days of research on it. Given their 2 […]
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PPP forgiveness Rules Clarified As First Recipients Face Payments’ Exhaustion
The release late Friday, May 22, of clarified rules on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) cleared up some aspects of the program, left some others uncertain but also drove home the point that for the first recipients, the end of the money isn't that far away.The primary purpose of the clarification issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was to reiterate earlier interim rules about qualifications and payback provisions for the PPP, which was designed to allow companies to help keep employees on the payroll rather than on the unemployment rolls. As the SBA rule released on May 22 notes, the eligible costs covered by PPP were to compensate for eight weeks of payroll expenses. With the first funds disbursed under the PPP on April 3, the 56-day period of payroll protection could be ending later this week for the first batch of recipients.The PPP has been cited by some trucking market observers as keeping capacity on the road that might otherwise have disappeared under the weight of a collapse in demand. In various webinars and reports, lawyers, financial advisors and others who have worked with trucking companies to get funds under PPP were advising early on that recipients had better have their records in order to be able to show that when it came time for their eligibility for loan forgiveness to be determined, they would pass the SBA standards. The approval process for loan forgiveness is to ensure that the funds disbursed under PPP were going to meet the key goal of the program – making sure 75% of the money went to keep pay flowing into workers' hands. The SBA released its loan forgiveness application earlier this month.The details of the rule clarification did not impress the trucking law firm of Scopelitis Garvin Light Hanson & Feary. In an alert sent out on Saturday, May 23, the firm said the interim financial rule sent out "does not provide much by way of additional guidance." That additional guidance would have been on top of a series of other SBA interim rules sent out on a somewhat regular basis since the program began. The overriding question all along for companies that borrowed under PPP was whether they would use those funds in a way that would allow their loan to be forgiven. In other words, could they take a loan and turn it into a grant?The guidelines released on May 22, which follow up on earlier notices, review the procedure to have the loan forgiven: borrower completes a form; lender reviews the application; and lender makes a decision on forgiveness. The lender is supposed to let the borrower know within 60 days whether forgiveness is granted. The SBA then would send the money along to the lender. The latest SBA document spends a great deal of time discussing what constitutes acceptable payroll costs. Some of the key questions addressed:– If an employee is furloughed during the eight weeks but gets paid during that time, is that eligible for forgiveness? Yes, as long as the costs aren't more than $100,000 per employee, the cap on salaries eligible for coverage under PPP.– Is compensation paid out as "hazard pay" or other bonuses –somewhat common in the trucking industry during the pandemic– eligible to be covered under PPP? Yes. – Are owner-operators of a business eligible to have their loan forgiven? Yes. The document gives a fairly complicated answer to that question, and there are different ways of getting there, but yes, they are eligible. The calculation though is not straightforward. – Besides pay, what is eligible? As was noted in other clarifications by SBA, such things as rent or mortgage payments are eligible with the provision that they don't exceed 25% of the loan. One area that does not appear to be covered, much to the chagrin of smaller fleets, are lease payments or truck loan payments. – What is the definition of a full-time employee? One who works 40 hours or more. If the worker puts in 30 hours, that is considered a 0.75 employee for purposes of loan forgiveness. (Note that this is not in the wording of the original CARES Act that established PPP. It is an SBA definition.)The rule published by SBA also deals in such questions as pay reductions and how they are calculated into the eligible base for borrowing and forgiveness.The second document released by SBA on May 22 reiterated that the agency continues to hold the power to investigate loans or borrowers it believes do not meet the goals of the PPP, which is to protect the pay of non-public smaller companies. "SBA may review any PPP loan," the document states, spelling out several criteria that it might look at – eligibility, loan amounts and what it's used for, and whether the borrower is entitled to loan forgiveness. Under the provisions set elsewhere, it's the lender that determines the forgiveness, not the SBA. As the document says, lenders are expected to perform a "good faith review" to determine eligibility for loan forgiveness.And in case there was any doubt, the SBA answers a firm "no" to the question: "If SBA determines that a borrower is ineligible for a PPP loan, can the loan be forgiven?"See more from Benzinga * Cross-Border Summit Hits On International Trade, Cargo Visibility, USMCA * Air France-KLM bids adieu to A380 jumbo jet * Freight markets remain stable – On The Spot (with video)(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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Hedge Funds Piled Into Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) During The Crash
The financial regulations require hedge funds and wealthy investors that exceeded the $100 million equity holdings threshold to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn't the intention, these filings to a certain extent level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F […]
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Hertz awards over $16 million in retention bonus to key executives
The company paid President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Stone $700,000, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jamere Jackson $600,000 as retention bonuses, Hertz said in a filing to the U.S. regulators. Last week, the board of the company, which counts billionaire investor Carl Icahn as its largest shareholder with a nearly 39% stake, allowed it to seek chapter 11 protection in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. Since the virus outbreak, a large portion of Hertz’s revenue, which comes from car rentals at airports, have evaporated.
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3 “Strong Buy” Penny Stocks That Could See Outsized Gains
For investors willing to shoulder additional risk, these may be the best of times for buying stocks. Writing at Morgan Stanley, Michael Wilson, the firm’s head of US equity strategy, firmly believes that the signs are bullish, and that current conditions in the markets closely resemble those of March 2009. That was when market turned upwards after the 2008 financial crisis, beginning the longest bull run in history.Wilson wrote, “A significant driver of our bullish call … was based on the equity-risk premium reaching the same levels observed in March 2009. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past 10 years, it’s that when risk premium appears you need to grab it before it disappears.”Investors can maximize that premium by finding stocks with the lowest share price and the highest upside potential – in short, by buying into high-rated penny stocks. These equities, typically trading for under $5 per share, offer a minimal cost of entry – and can sometimes show triple digit upside potential. We’ve used the TipRanks database to pull up the details on three such opportunities. All three have received enough support from Wall Street analysts to earn a “Strong Buy” consensus rating. Not to mention each boasts substantial upside potential of over 100%.Organogenesis Holdings (ORGO)Organogenesis’ subsidiaries operate in the world of medical tech, developing new technologies in two markets: wound care, and surgical and sports medicine.Despite a sharp increase in earnings losses during the first quarter, Organogenesis had good news to report. Top-line revenue came in at $61.7 million, modestly beating the forecast but growing 8% year-over-year. Revenues grew substantially in both the wound care and surgical and sports medicine segments. The company finished the quarter with $46.9 million in cash on hand.Organogenesis returned to public trading at the beginning of last year, after 16 years as a private company. Like many high-tech medical companies, it has not yet turned a profit – but it does have exciting prospects for successful products in potentially lucrative sales fields.This potential lies behind 5-star analyst Richard Newitter’s comments. In his report for Leerink, Newitter writes, “As a relatively new public company, we believe ORGO has yet to be fully “discovered” by investors with a below-peer valuation that in our view is highly dislocated from the company’s longer-term sales growth prospects, healthy end-markets, and a scalable long term 70%+ GM business. Ultimately, as investors increasingly come to appreciate ORGO’s potential for sustainable DD top-line growth & increased profitability prospects into the out-years, we think the multiple will expand driving shares higher.”In line with his upbeat outlook, Newitter rates ORGO shares a Buy, and his $7 price target implies a 112% upside potential. In short, the analyst believes that now is the time for investors to get in at the ground level. (To watch Newitter’s track record, click here)All in all, Wall Street analysts are unanimous in their endorsement of the shares. Organogenesis stock has been endorsed with "buy" ratings by all four of the analysts who have voiced an opinion over the past year. Meanwhile, the consensus estimate of analysts is that ORGO, currently trading at $3.33, should rise over 120% to hit $7.50 within a year. (See Organogenesis stock analysis on TipRanks)Usio, Inc. (USIO)Next up on our list is a tech company, Usio. This company provides payment solutions for merchants and billers, offering credit, debit, and prepaid card processing, and automated clearing house payment platforms. Usio aims to combine card issuing and merchant payment processing options into a ‘one stop shop’ platform.A small-cap company, with a market capitalization of just $32 million, Usio is nevertheless in a strong position despite the coronavirus market disruptions. While markets have lost heavily in the current bear cycle – even accounting for the rally we’re experiencing – USIO shares have outperformed and are trading above their late-February levels. The company reported an 18% growth in revenues for Q1 2020, to $7.8 million, along with steady progress towards break-even cash flow. Usio ended the quarter with $1.7 million in cash on hand. These positive results came despite a net loss in Q1 – but it is important to note that Usio’s Q1 losses were 50% lower than in Q4, and beat the quarterly expectation by 14%.Usio has also been able to take advantage of Congressional stimulus funds. The company qualified for a CARES Act loan of $814,000. The loan comes with generous repayment terms, and provides Usio with needed liquidity to meet the coronavirus crisis.Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Jon Hickman sees a clear path forward for Usio, writing, “…we believe Usio's current market valuation is not reflective of the value of the company’s growing presence in the digital payments space. Given the expected increasing revenue growth and future earnings potential, we believe the company should be valued more in line with its current and potential earnings growth.”Hickman’s Buy rating is bolstered by his $4.50 price target, which indicates confidence in a robust 142% one-year upside potential. (To watch Hickman’s track record, click here)USIO shares have a Strong Buy analyst consensus rating, and it is unanimous. All three of the analysts who have reviewed this stock recently have come down with Buy recommendations. The shares are selling for just $1.75, and the average price target matches Hickman’s $4.50. The upside potential, 142%, implies that this stock will more than double in the coming year. (See Usio analyst ratings on TipRanks)Ramaco Resources (METC)The last stock on our list is Ramaco, a coal mining company operating in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The company focuses its output on metallurgical coal, a grade used to produce the refined coke that is required in the steel industry.Even with economic activity greatly reduced in Q1 by the responses to the coronavirus crisis, Ramaco reported a quarterly profit. The 5-cent EPS came in 67% over the forecast. Earnings weren’t the only positive in the Q1 report. Revenue came in at $41.9 million, or 2.5% over the estimates.Ramaco’s main sales theater is the eastern US – but demand there has collapsed due to the economic shutdowns. The company has countered this by turning to foreign customers and accepting aid through the Congressionally passed Paycheck Protection Program. The $8.4 million PPP loan has shored up the company’s liquidity position, and allowed it to resume operations at two mines which were idled on April 1.Lucas Pipes, covering the industry and Ramaco stock for B Riley FBR, notes, “…management pointed to a number of marketing successes in the first quarter, including renewing a relationship with a major European customer, their first test shipment to Asia, and a notice that their product was approved for purchase by major integrated steel mills in Brazil […] While we currently see investors focus on liquidity, then capital returns, and growth opportunities last, we regard these growth projects as long-term options when market conditions improve.”These successes put Ramaco in a solid position to move forward, and Pipes rates the stock a Buy. His price target, at $8, implies a sky-high 221% upside potential this year. (To watch Pipes’ track record, click here)It’s not often that the analysts all agree on a stock, so when it does happen, take note. Ramaco’s Strong Buy consensus rating is based on a unanimous 4 Buys. The stock’s $5.25 average price target suggests a potential upside of 103% and a change from the current share price of $2.56. (See Ramaco stock analysis on TipRanks)To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
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