Created by an economist, for the people. In these uncertain economic times, effective resource management is crucial to your personal development because it allows you to sustain yourself and control your destiny, regardless of the business cycle.
This simple, yet functional, budgeting tool gives visibility into where your money is going and enables you to plan your finances accordingly.
The life of an entrepreneur is not easy. With so many demands on their time coming from every direction, they’re always looking for ways to make their lives easier and be more productive. The Junior Economist recommends some great productivity apps that will help you manage your time and tasks and be more efficient in all areas of your business.
1. Asana. The simple but effective task management system that Asana offers makes remote teamwork effortless. It provides features such as assigning tasks to team members, setting deadlines, and sharing files.
2. Calendly. Schedule meetings easily across different time zones with this app (or similar). Or let your customers or coworkers schedule appointments with you, as you can sync Calendly with your Google Calendar so that they can easily see your availability.
3. Everhour. This time tracking app adds up the hours your team spends working on a project to track any inefficiencies and simplify your client billing process. It also comes in handy for managing your payroll at the end of the month.
4. Loom. Record your screen and yourself while you work online so that you can create instructional videos to share with your team and customers.
5. Clickup. Another great app for team management and organization, Clickup aims to have all of your work in one place. It lets you track your tasks, goals, and projects, chat with other team members for collaboration, and upload documents. It offers integration with most of the major apps that we commonly use, making it easier to stay organized with less effort.
6. Stripe. Manage your payments and invoicing through Stripe. It lets you integrate many types of payment forms, including credit cards and invoices in many different currencies, making it easier for your customers to pay you.
7. QuickBooks Enterprise. If you run an inventory-based business, you need a platform that offers yet simplifies advanced inventory management functions. This helps you eliminate inefficiencies in stocking and order management, maintain more productive operations and staff, and, most importantly, keep your customers happy with efficient order fulfillment.
8. Wise. If you have to manage payments across different countries, Wise is a great option. This app lets you have an international bank account that receives money in most of the major currencies. It also has the lowest feesso that you can save time and money versus traditional banking.
9. Canva. If designing is not your thing, make great-looking presentations, letterheads, and all types of assets quickly and easily with Canva. It also helps you design your social media posts so that everything that you’re putting out for customers to see has the same branding look and feel. With thousands of free and paid templates, you’re sure to find one that fits your business.
10. QuickBooks Payroll. Manage your payroll wherever you are with this mobile app. It simplifies your payroll management by having all your HR and employee benefits in one place. It lets you process your payroll faster and can even calculate and file your payroll taxes for you, wherever you are.
It’s been said that time is money, and with the right productivity apps, you can save a lot of both. You can download these apps onto your smartphone or computer and get started today!
I hope you enjoy our list and learn a thing or two about managing your time better to achieve more success as an entrepreneur. And if you need a critical eye to ensure your business’s financial health now and in the future, schedule a free consultation with Economically Speaking.
The consequences of business inaction in regards to ESG are detrimental. When companies adjust and take action, it pays off. Richard shows the irreversible trend of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as key success factors, as well as the emergence of socially responsible investing (SRI), and provides a framework for how to take your business forward In ‘Elevated Economics’.
Richard Steel is an American entrepreneur, investor, and consultant. He has run private and public companies, served on nonprofit boards, and advised the White House Business Council. He is an advisor to large and mid-size companies, governments, startups, and nonprofits. Currently, he is the CEO of a venture firm and chairs a philanthropic fund. Richard is an alumnus of Harvard Business School where he serves on the Alumni Board.
The 2020 Presidential Election is less than 60 days away and in a media landscape filled with fake news and propaganda, Walton Mabuto (@FinanceFridaysPod), and I decided to team up and do a podcast discussing the facts. Particularly the facts regarding each candidate’s proposed economic policies. Our goal is to gear you all with the information to make an informed opinion regarding each candidates platform.
#DefundThePolice is currently a trending hashtag that has transformed into a movement that aims to combat police brutality through fiscal accountability. You may be wondering what exactly does this look like? Don’t worry it all is explained in this podcast.
Did standing in solidarity with ‘Black Lives Matter’ help or hurt publicly traded companies in the USA?
Purpose:
George Floyd’s murder prompted an international outcry denouncing police brutality and white supremacy. Unlike previously recorded police murders and violence against black people, this death prompted big corporations to make public statements along with donations to support organizations against racism and injustices. As the Junior Economist, I was very interested in exploring the stock prices of the companies who pledged their support of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and how this has affected their perceived value.
Steps:
To explore this empirically, I decided to use R to compare stock prices of publicly traded companies from the date George Floyd was murdered until June 10th (the day I wrote this). I separated the companies by those who made donations and those who made statements. When making this list, I used parent companies of some subsidiaries and the data that was available through R’s ‘getSymbol‘ function.
Public companies that have made/pledged public donations to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement
From May 25th to June 10th
Public companies that have made statements in solidarity with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement
From May 25th to June 10th
After refining the R code and reviewing each graph, the results were somewhat surprising. Most public companies that stood in solidarity with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement faired better than they originally started before George Floyd’s death went mainstream. However, Shopify and Slack were two companies that were not as lucky. Both tech companies initially rose, then had a steady decline, and as of June 10th have decreased below their lowest price, which was recorded on May 25th. Moreover, 1/3rd of the companies that donated experienced very tumultuous climbs which include: Intel, Facebook, Bank of America, Disney, Lyft, Nintendo, Uber, Gap, and Google. The same thing was observed by 3 companies who made statements, which include Twitter, General Motors, and Starbucks.
Conclusion
When big corporations decided to give their support to ‘Black Lives Matter’, they took a bold stance and a possible blow to their bottom line. However, all companies that decided to take acknowledge racial injustices gained more favorability through pricing in the stock market, even if it was just for a few days. This begs the questions of, “Do Big Corporations care, or is this interest convergence to protect their black dollar?”, which can only be answered through an analysis of their future C-Suite diversity, and their annual reports.
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The Junior Economist would love to hear your thoughts on this, please feel free to add to the conversation through comments!
Black American unemployment has ticked to 16.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s May Unemployment Report.
Black Americans earn 20% lower than white workers regardless of education.
Black Americans only own one half of a percentage point of wealth in the United States.
Single black women with a bachelor’s degree ages 20-39 have a median net worth of -11,000 to $0 while the white woman has a net worth range of $3,400 – $7,500.
Jobs with the highest median annual salaries, white workers outnumber black workers with proportions no lower than 7-to-1 and as high as 28-to-1.
It is predicted that black wealth may fall to 0 by 2053.
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From the congressional mismanagement of the Freedman’s Savings Bank to the GI Bill, systemic racism is a strategy that continues to oppress black lives and livelihoods. Wealth has been legally stripped from black communities before it even had the opportunity to grow. We have constantly protested for our humanity and rights as citizens to be recognized in a country where we were once only considered three-fifths human. It is time for the black community to demand substantial social standing through economics, not just civil reforms. It is time we unite to counter these effects by establishing platforms and wealth creation vessels that work in our self-interest. For this reason, I curated an action plan inspired by the likes of Dr. Claud Anderson, Operation Breadbasket, and Ten Point Plan by the Black Panther Party. It is time to pivot from working hard to no vail to working smarter through intentional efforts.
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It is time to change the narrative by speaking truth to power by changing our actions and hone in on economic development and progression. Look for an expanded version of this list in an upcoming podcast!
Meet Rebecca Fornie (@_bombshellbecky)! She is an Atlanta native and a ‘Jill of All Trades’! Rebecca is a beauty entrepreneur and Corporate Allstar. During this interview, Rebecca imparts some gems for the modern business owner, as she details how she is navigating her lash business (@__bombshelllashes) and having to pivot her event planning company (@_bottlesandbeats). She also gives us insight on her career with the National Black MBA Association (@atlbmba) and the benefits of joining! We also speak very candidly about the implications to George Floyd’s untimely death, Amy Cooper’s actions, and more! This is a conversation that will surely being value to you, especially if you’ve been laid off or furloughed!
COVID-19 is changing the way we spend our time and the way we work. The Junior Economist is compiling stories of millennials around the world to let you all know how they are coping with the pandemic.
This economic news update covers economic news ranging from May 25 – May 30. In this episode, the Junior Economist details unemployment numbers, the economic implications of George Floyd’s death, President Trump’s historic actions as it relates to global organizations, and much more!
An economic update of the events that occurred beginning May 11 to May 15. The podcast details the contents of the Fed’s Bi-Annual Financial Stability Report, a general overview of markets, and the stock market!