There are businesses that do well and prosper during difficult economic time (recession, pandemic, legislative changes, inflation) while other businesses struggle or go out of business. Businesses that experienced an economic upside during the pandemic were real estate, home furnishings, home improvement and technology companies. People moved to the suburbs, set up home offices,…
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As of January 1, 2020, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. There are numerous states that have set their minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum wage. See the map below for your state’s minimum wage. An employer of tipped employees is only required to pay that employee $2.13 per hour in direct…
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“Willful Blindness” in a business is the conscious act of avoiding the truth, which gives credence to the knowledge of an issue in question, but never resolving the issue. Willful blindness can be at any level of management or on any type of business issue that needs to be addressed and resolved. A business’s willful…
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What is the path forward into 2021? A strategic plan will make the journey into 2021 easier.
Monetary policy affects interest rates, which affect mortgages, which affect decisions in the housing market. The red line in the graph is the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (right axis) from July 1974 to July 2020. The blue line in the graph is the ratio of housing starts built by contractors over housing starts built by…
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The chart shows producer price index (PPI) data that measure price changes. Percent changes in prices from a year ago are shown for both stand-alone hotels (the gold bar) and hotels attached to casinos (the red bar). Prices began dropping for hotels in February 2020 and the price reductions continue to persist, but hotels attached…
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The total assets held by the Federal Reserve include Treasury securities, Mortgage Backed Securities, and Repurchase agreements, in addition to other assets. As of September 2, 2020, the Federal Reserve had total assets of $7,017,492 (in millions of dollars) and as of September 4, 2019, the Federal Reserve had total assets of $3,761,508 (in millions…
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Recently, I have been having conversations with clients on how they need to get back in touch with what is going on with and in their business. Below is a simple methodology on how to get back in touch. Sign all the checks the business issues! Yes, it is that simple. Sign the business’s checks…
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At any point in time during a year a business may need to revise their annual budget or forecasting models and processes. The Differences Between Budgeting and Forecasting Budgeting is a planning process that is done on an annual basis to help the executive management team define what they want the business to achieve during…
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The economy is in flux, interest rates have increased over the past year and lenders are starting to be less flexible on their loan covenants. Business executives need to be completely aware of their business’s financial condition, especially how leveraged the balance sheet is and loan covenants that relate to the debt on the balance…
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