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Many entrepreneurs find themselves searching for ways to boost their profits, but can often be overwhelmed by the amount of information and complex strategies out there. In this blog post, we will explore some tips that are essential elements in setting up small businesses for success! From utilizing legacy technology to using analytics effectively - these strategies provide concrete steps toward increasing your overall monetary value. With actionable advice and examples from proven winners, let’s jump straight in and discover how you can maximize your profitability.

Focus on SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a critical component of any successful marketing strategy. By targeting specific keywords and optimizing your website structure to rank highly on search engines, you can dramatically increase the visibility of your business online. To make sure you are effectively leveraging SEO in your business plan, it’s important to take advantage of analytics tools that provide keyword data and insights into website performance. Additionally, consider hiring an SEO specialist to help you make sure your content is optimized for search engine visibility. You can find an agency that does SEO in Brisbane or anywhere else for that matter. When it comes to SEO, having an expert on board will ensure you are getting the most out of your efforts and increasing your chances of success. 

Utilize Online Advertising Platforms 

Online advertising has become a must for any business looking to get ahead. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become not only a place to connect with friends and family but also a powerful tool for reaching new audiences and markets. By utilizing the tools and features available on these platforms, businesses can create targeted ads that reach the right people at the right time. From promoting a new product to boosting brand awareness, there are endless possibilities when it comes to online advertising. So don't miss out on the chance to expand your reach and grow your business online! With a bit of creativity and strategy, you can start leveraging these platforms to achieve your goals. 

Make Your Website Mobile Friendly 

Businesses must have a strong online presence. However, simply having a website is not enough. With the rise of mobile devices, it's become increasingly important to ensure that your website is easily accessible and user-friendly on any device. This is where responsive design comes into play. By employing responsive design techniques, you can make sure that your website adapts seamlessly to any screen size and looks great whether it's viewed on a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. Not only does this improve the user experience, but it can also increase engagement, boost conversions, and ultimately help your business succeed in the online world. In addition, make sure you are optimizing all of your website content for mobile devices to ensure maximum visibility and engagement. 

Collect Feedback From Customers 

As a business owner, it's essential to stay on top of your customers' ever-changing needs and preferences. Thankfully, collecting feedback from your customers has never been easier. You can use online surveys or customer feedback cards to gather valuable insights and tailor your products and services to better meet your customers’ needs. Not only does this help improve customer satisfaction, but it also strengthens their loyalty to your brand. Plus, by making it easier for customers to share their experiences and suggestions, you'll be able to stay ahead of your competition and continue to grow your business.

Promote Your Business on Local Events 

Getting exposure in your community can be crucial to attracting new customers and generating leads. One effective way to accomplish this is by partnering up with local events. By aligning your business with an event that is already established in your community, you can gain instant recognition and trust from the attendees. Plus, it's an excellent opportunity to showcase your products or services in front of a captive audience. Whether it's a charity event, a music festival, or a food fair, there's bound to be an event in your community that aligns with your business. So why not take advantage of it? By participating in such events, not only will you build brand awareness, but you'll also have the opportunity to generate potential leads and grow your customer base.

Invest in Quality Content Marketing 

Creating quality content is no longer an option but a necessity. Investing in it is crucial for businesses to make their brand stand out among competitors and connect with their target audience. Quality content marketing provides an avenue where businesses can demonstrate their expertise and offer value to customers, resulting in increased brand awareness and customer loyalty. Creating quality content is not just about having a blog post or social media posts, but it's about crafting a message that resonates with customers and adds value to their lives. Thus, investing in quality content enables businesses to build customer trust and stand out as an authoritative voice in their industry. It's a great way to create meaningful relationships with customers and increase your chances of success. 

Offer Loyalty Programs 

In the competitive business landscape of today, retaining customers is as important as attracting new ones. So, offering loyalty programs can be an effective way to keep your customers coming back for more. These programs can range from simple punch cards to more sophisticated point systems that offer discounts, exclusive offers, and perks to returning customers. Such programs work well because people tend to return to places where they feel valued and appreciated. By rewarding your returning customers, you not only maintain their loyalty but also establish a relationship that keeps on giving - generating long-term revenue for your business. So, it's time to show some love to your loyal customers!

As you can see, there are a variety of creative and effective ways that you can grow your business. You just need to take the necessary steps to implement these strategies - from creating a mobile-friendly website to utilizing online advertising platforms, and investing in quality content marketing. Consider trying out some of these ideas today and reap the rewards that come with them! Don't forget to also consider offering loyalty programs or special rewards for returning customers - as this will help show your appreciation for long-term patronage. With just a few simple steps, you'll be on your way to increasing sales, boosting revenue, and ultimately growing your business.

This blog post will discuss some of the key strategies modern retailers need to utilize to harness the power of digital marketing and eCommerce solutions. There are endless possibilities when it comes to leveraging online resources for maximum retail success! Keep reading to explore how any business owner can start using the internet today as an invaluable strategic tool for boosting their profits.

Use The Right Platform 

When it comes to online retail, finding the right platform to reach customers, and then keeping it up to date at all times, is essential if you want to boost your retail revenue. Lots of businesses are upgrading Magento 2 to the latest version to realise its full potential and get a huge competitive advantage in their niche. Having this kind of aid at your disposal will surely make your day-to-day operations a lot easier and your customers will thank you for it. 

It is important to consider issues such as ease of use, payment options, customer service capabilities, mobile commerce options, shipping and return policies, and much more. By making sure you have the right platform for your business, you can make sure that you are truly taking advantage of today's technology to gain the most success possible in the retail world.

Build A Professional Website 

Having a professional-looking website is an essential step toward unlocking the full potential of the Internet as a platform to boost retail revenue. By having an attractive page with a clean user interface, your audience will be able to find your store more easily and confidently and make purchases without any hesitation. Make sure that it contains the following things:

Having these features can help customers to trust that they are getting the best value for their money by buying from you. Furthermore, creating videos or tutorials on how to use particular products or show off looks or trends can be an effective way to drive further interest in your store. With these tools and strategies, you can create an engaging online presence for your business and tap into more potential customers from around the world, allowing you to scale up faster than ever.

Describe Your Products 

To attract customers' attention and maximize profits, online retail businesses need to accurately and engagingly describe the products they have for sale. Pictures and videos are essential, as they allow customers to gain a better understanding of what they’re looking at, while clever, creative writing can draw potential buyers in and intrigue them into wanting to learn more. 

product description should provide potential customers with all the necessary information they would need to make an informed decision. Providing something that is both informative and imaginative enables online retailers to make their offerings stand out from their competitors and boost sales significantly.

Promote On Social Media

Promoting your online retail business through social media can be a great way to boost revenue, giving you an edge over traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. By sharing content and engaging with potential customers, you can drive awareness of your store and even generate leads, which may convert into sales. Additionally, creating an omnichannel experience by simultaneously increasing your presence on multiple marketing channels expands your overall reach and puts more eyes on the products and services that you're offering. 

Developing high-quality content tailored to each platform helps distinguish you from other competitors and can also help build relationships with audiences that may not otherwise be reached. With plenty of data collection opportunities along the way, the strategic evaluation will be key to if social media can truly help drive retail success for your business.

Collaborate With Influencers

Collaborating with influencers is an effective way to reach a wider audience. By tapping into their extensive network of followers, businesses can showcase products and services through authentic, dedicated advocates. Influencer partnerships also foster trust by delivering honest reviews to potential customers who may be uneasy about making online purchases. 

Additionally, engaging with influencers can add credibility and brand recognition, allowing retailers to further expand their reach beyond existing customer circles. Overall, collaborating with an influencer is a powerful method of utilizing the Internet as a platform for growing retail revenue.

Use Email Marketing 

For entrepreneurs looking to boost their retail revenue through the Internet, email marketing should be a no-brainer. After all, most businesses are utilizing digital communication more than ever before. Leveraging this strategy allows retailers to connect with their customers in an intimate, personalized way. 

Through email marketing, businesses can maintain and grow relationships with their customers by sending them timely promotions and discounts that keep them engaged with their brand. Coupled with the upsurge in consumer demand for eCommerce and contactless solutions during the pandemic, this strategy has become even more important for driving sales growth. With just a little effort, entrepreneurs can make use of powerful email automation tools that allow easy outreach and cultivate customer loyalty - a valuable tool for boosting online retail revenue.

Create A Sales Funnel 

sales funnel is one of the best ways to boost retail revenue online. It starts with clearly defining your target audience and understanding how to capture their attention through specialized content marketing strategies. With an established customer base, you can better optimize your website for customers who already know about your products, and utilize sales automation tools for higher conversions. 

Finally, it’s important to understand analytics and user-generated data to monitor growing trends in your industry and enhance lead generation for potential customers. Overall, creating a sales funnel is beneficial for any retailer looking to maximize their online presence and profits.

Build A Good Brand Image 

A good brand image is essential for any business, especially those in retail. To this end, building your brand presence online should be a top priority. Here are some tips to improve it:

define the brand

develop a consistent visual identity

focus on customers

be authentic

monitor your reputation

Creating a social media presence and ensuring the content you post is well curated, using targeted advertising to reach potential customers, and replying to interactions with customers quickly are all essential components of developing an online identity that resonates strongly in today's digital age. Equally important is the webpage itself: having a modern look and feel along with an online store that is easy to access and navigate can help draw attention to your products and contribute positively towards boosting your company's reputation and revenue in the long run.

Offer Incentives 

Offering incentives to your customers can be a clever way to use the internet for retail success. These come in many shapes and sizes, from discounts or free shipping offers to exclusive access to certain products. By offering incentives, you can create a sense of excitement and anticipation while also encouraging your customers to remain engaged with your business. 

Furthermore, when word of your offers spreads, it can help create new leads and drive more people to use your services. Don't forget that an incentive doesn't have to cost a large amount – anything from small token gifts such as stickers or postcards, to bigger reward systems, can help engage customers and increase revenue.

Improve Customer Experience 

For online retailers looking to maximise their revenue potential, improving the customer experience should be a top priority. From creating a positive, easy-to-navigate website to personalizing interactions with shoppers, engaging them at every stage of the buying journey is crucial for driving sales and increasing loyalty. Leveraging modern technology and incorporating feedback from shoppers can help online retailers improve the way they approach their customers, positioning them perfectly to capitalize on the digital revolution in retail. 

By thinking of ways to enhance any customer touchpoints, both online and offline, and employing new tools like automated order processing systems and personalized product recommendations, savvy retailers can create an outstanding customer experience that will keep people coming back for more. For example, creating a loyalty program or rewards system can be an effective way to increase customer retention and build long-term relationships. 

Make The Most Out Of Testimonials

Utilizing testimonials from happy customers and other stakeholders is an excellent way to leverage the power of the Internet for retail businesses. By sharing positive reviews about the quality of your products or services and any memorable experiences that result from shopping with you, potential buyers can learn more about what makes your business unique. 

These written recommendations can serve as persuasive endorsements, helping to convince customers why they should trust you when making a purchase online. Additionally, real-time integration with review platforms built into your online checkout can also provide validation of your business in real-time while customers wait to complete their purchases, further increasing conversions and boosting revenue.

Implement A Loyalty Program 

Implementing a loyalty program can be an effective way to take advantage of the internet when boosting your retail revenue. It helps to create positive relationships with customers and compels them to come back for more purchases, both online and in-store. With many customers opting for loyalty programs via apps or cards, it’s important to understand how best to cater to that base. When designing the program, it’s important to consider factors such as having multi-channel interactions and offering rewards that capture a customer’s attention. 

Utilizing data analytics can help you better tailor the loyalties they offer as well as track their effectiveness so future changes can be made if needed. However, understanding exactly what kind of loyalty program makes sense for your specific business is key before making any decisions.

For example, if you are a restaurant offering takeout and delivery services, you may want to consider offering discounts for orders above a certain amount of money or free items on future orders. Or, if your business is more B2B-oriented, a loyalty program could include incentives such as exclusive access to new products or discounted rates on bulk purchases. 

Keep Up With Trends 

As an online retail business, it's essential to stay on top of trends so that you can make the most of your internet-based sales. Trends in consumer behavior change rapidly, and understanding those shifts gives you a competitive edge. Staying up to date means researching popular items and services online, and finding out what your target audience likes and feels comfortable buying. 

You should also be tuned into the latest content creators and influencers that share useful tips on staying ahead of the curve in the ever-changing retail industry. By giving potential customers exactly what they are looking for and positioning yourself as an expert on industry trends, you will be well on your way to boosting sales and becoming more successful with your online retail business.

You can easily follow all that's modern by subscribing to various newsletters, websites, blogs, YouTube channels, etc, to stay up to date on the latest trends in the retail world. Additionally, you should also make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices and regularly update its content so customers can quickly find what they're looking for when browsing through your virtual store. 

By taking advantage of the opportunities that come with running an online retail business, you can increase customer satisfaction, boost revenue, and create long-term relationships with your customer base. Utilizing these tips can help you move forward in making the most out of working on the Internet while helping to ensure success in all aspects of running a successful online retail business.

As an online retail business owner, you have to stay ahead of the competition by learning and leveraging different strategies. Investing in SEO, advertising, and optimizing site design is essential for a successful business. Keep up with trends, use email marketing wisely, and promote your products on social media platforms. Reach out to influencers for collaboration or to create an effective loyalty program that entices customers. Keep customers happy by offering incentives but more importantly improving their overall experience with your brand. Rely on the power of quality testimonials so potential customers can become loyal ones. With every step, be sure to build a good and professional image around your online retail outlet that best represents who you are and what you want to offer to the world.

Tell us about MiCamp Solution's mission and commitment to clients?

MiCamp is much more than credit card processing and merchant services. Our key relationships across the international banking and financial landscape have put us in a position to provide solutions inaccessible to most ISOs and even larger companies. Being sensitive to the needs of our customers incited us to develop new product offerings in financing, funding, PCI compliance and payment analytics software.

With today’s environment of constant technology changes, security concerns and disruptive innovations, MiCamp Solutions is small enough to be responsive, yet strategically networked to be competitive against the largest competitors.

What is Mi-Payment Gateway?

Mi-Payment Gateway is a white-label, optimised and forward-thinking gateway that offers merchants the ability to take advantage of all traditional and non-traditional forms of payments—even QR Codes, AliPay, email, and more. And of course, it has support to reduce processing costs and lower interchange fees.

What makes your approach unique?

MiCamp has become a premier member of Fiserv, Chairman's Circle (the highest level possible in the payment processing realm) and is proud to be the trusted business partner for over 25,000 merchants across the United States.

How have you achieved this?

Simple: by putting people first.

Without our agents, ISOs, clients, and employees…we’re nothing. We know and we respect that.

What made you decide to work with businesses that are considered high-risk?

I believe in being agnostic when it comes to capitalism. If you’re operating legally in the United States, you should have the same rights as every other company. While some may object to the nature of the products being sold by high-risk companies, we believe they still deserve equal representation and service.

We describe high-risk companies and industries as those that require special attention from their payment providers, due to the potential for commercial disputes and legal restrictions.

What future goals is the company working towards? 

Very simple – to continue to put people first, continue to develop and advance our technology, and always be at least five years ahead of our competition in every product offering within the FinTech space.

Website: https://www.micamp.com/

James Pow, senior retail adviser at business advisory firm Quantuma, analyses the departure of Asos CEO Nick Beighton and the reasons for the profit drop the company is expected to see.

The departure of Nick Beighton from Asos as chief executive should not have come as a complete surprise. There are multiple reasons for his departure, culminating in the profit drop the company is expecting to see throughout the remainder of this year and into 2022.

Asos had become a darling of the online sector, selling well over 850 brands globally and the share price had performed extremely well in the last year. However, the retailer had warned of slowing revenue growth and attracting increased costs related initially to Brexit, but with growing issues in the global supply chain becoming increasingly evident. All this was against a positive background of reported revenues accelerating to circa £1.3 billion for the four months to 30 June. This was well up on the £1.1 billion of like for like revenues of last year.

The immediate impact of the pandemic on its supply chain, freight and associated indirect labour costs have started and will continue to dampen profits. The company reported that it still expected to meet annual profit expectations and not surprisingly the shares closed 18% wiping circa £750 million from its market valuation and thrusting it to its lowest stock level in almost a year.

Reading behind this somewhat contradictory statement on expected annual profit, the group stated that the costs of shipping from China had risen ten-fold along with increased airfreight associated costs and further premiums now being incurred with fewer planes in the sky. It went on to state that Brexit had added two weeks to its existing supply chain between the UK and Europe. The company acknowledged that this was negatively affecting consumer anticipated delivery and one would ascertain that their existing systems were struggling to respond to these mounting changes on demand.

What is concerning and illustrates in some part the downgrading in the share price, is that this was not factored in earlier in the company’s risk assessments as most other companies would have done in their strategic response, particularly with strong balance sheets.

Nick Beighton initially said that customer prices for Asos had not risen and that the company had “invested heavily” in keeping prices low and was committed to continuing to do so. The chief executive said the company would be “mindful of the continued impacts of the pandemic on our customers in the short term” adding that the changes brought about by COVID-19 would still benefit online retailers in the long run.

There is a degree of contradiction in Beighton’s remarks, suggesting strategically that Asos would maintain lower prices to its customers while announcing such increasing costs on its retail model. All of this while declaring the expectation of meeting the annual profit outturn.

The recent quarterly drop in the margin of 1.5% due to higher freight costs and unfavourable foreign exchange rate movements is another factor and reason for the Asos share price drop and the CEO’s departure.

The Asos share price had performed well over the last year. However, the share dropped after the company released its trading statement. Management cited the continued uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, inclement weather and supply chain issues as contributors to their weak market demand. This clearly raised fears of the sustainability of their share price.

Like other businesses, management urged caution on the outlook for the rest of 2021 in light of the rising cases of COVID-19. Travel restrictions, delayed and cancelled holidays were a factor in making planned wardrobe purchases difficult. Total group revenue did grow by 21% to £1.3 billion, mainly driven by the strong performance of 36% in the UK domestic market. Impressive growth in the USA of 20% market share also assisted in driving the active customer base from 24.9 million to 26.1 million at the end of February 2021.

Asos did have cause to celebrate following the announcement of its partnership with

US-based multi-channel retailer Nordstrom, based on the West Coast. Nordstrom is embarking on a minority interest in the company’s brands including Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT and previously sold Topshop and Topman clothes in the US when the brands were owned and run by Arcadia.

In securing the collaboration, Nick Beighton had performed well. The deal demonstrates the future need of businesses to team up where over-lying synergies exist in their consumer profiles. This is a strategically important requirement that intelligent businesses will embrace as they seek to both retain and increase their customer numbers.

Asos revenue growth has been exemplary in the past, notably benefiting from the pandemic as High Street retailers were closed. This led to a windfall and strong demand for e-commerce platforms.

However, changes to customer habits were cited by management in Asos’ earnings statement as a factor; the inclement weather assertions drove customers to winter wear from spring/summer wear. This all points to pressure on their current systems in dealing with these fluxing impacts from the supply chain, the pandemic, Brexit and resultantly the management of the cost base.

The recent quarterly drop in the margin of 1.5% due to higher freight costs and unfavourable foreign exchange rate movements is another factor and reason for the Asos share price drop and the CEO’s departure.

With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the opening of retail, I would expect that the demand for online retail may soften somewhat. In my view, the company has experienced timing mismanagement of expectations - both in its statements and trading updates, worsened by the contractions alluded to earlier.In realising this, the Asos board were left with no other option than to part company with its chief executive in a bid to appease disgruntled shareholders and the financial analysts who had reacted so alarmingly to the trading releases. Moving forward, Asos will appoint a new chief executive, hoping to resolve their current fall from grace under the new leadership.

Unsurprisingly, the market’s reaction to the grand breakthrough G7 announcement of a landmark “minimum corporate tax rate of 15%” is one such moment of noise over substance. While the announcement played brilliantly with the political classes who argued: “at last global corporate tax rates are being addressed and the largest tech firms will now pay their fair share”, does it mean corporates will suffer the ignominy of paying actual taxes?

Of course they will…not.

The share prices of the largest tech firms with the finest tuned tax-minimisation corporate structures barely yawned. The salaries of Corporate Tax Lawyers and Tax Accountants are already going North in anticipation of a feeding frenzy for their services. These professions set to reap windfall profits from the political posturing around the tax noise. They will dissect the deal’s underpinnings with a fine comb, identify the back doors, engage lobbyists to push for advantageous clauses, and get set to arbitrage every single facet of the deal – assuming it ever happens and becomes a reality.

If any European country ever receives anything close to a cheque for 15% of the profits made by a big digital tech company selling in their borders, I shall eat my hat. (I get to choose which one…) I’ve already seen a scheme from one accounting firm outlining how a major internet retailer that isn’t a river in Egypt can wriggle out because of the marginal cost calculations… something to with governments getting “the right to tax 20% of profits exceeding a 10% margin” – which sounds much less than 15% of profits the politicians blithely assure us they have secured.

But, of course, and tax deal is a win/win for everyone:

On the face of it, the Irish should not be particularly happy at the loss of the jurisdictional arbitrage advantage – but even they are smiling. They know big European-tax dodgers aren’t going to haul out of Dublin any time soon. Many may decide to beef up their tax special-forces in Ireland in the expectation any tax deal is still years away from full ratification by all the members of the OECD, and that it may not happen at all… ever.

And there is no guarantee the Americans are going to accept it. Political gridlock and a Republican Party in thrall to the Beast of Mar-a-Lago means if it looks bad for America, then it hasn’t a breeze of passing. The reality is the new G7 minimum tax proposal is going to struggle to get through the slough of despond that is deepening US political gridlock. The Republicans are already parroting Trump that such a deal can’t be good for US Company revenues, therefore should be rejected.

What will the G7 tax deal mean for markets?

It’s going to be a busy time for the credit agencies, figuring out if the shock horror of corporates actually paying taxes in countries where they sell stuff, pushes a few names down a credit notch or two because paying taxes comes before paying bondholders. I’d be surprised if they find many lame ducks – but the credit agencies won’t miss the opportunity to be relevant and will no doubt start pumping out research for bond managers to fall asleep over.

In the real markets, experience equity investors know corporates will find new and better tax avoidance schemes to supersede whatever the agreement outlaws. As one wag once pointed out: “if you’re paying taxes on profits, you ain’t doing it right.”

That leaves an interesting thought: what about all the US tech firms now sitting on enormous cash piles, built up from untaxed profits channelled through corporate headquarters in nations willing to charge zero taxes – like Ireland? Retroactively taxing these untaxed gains isn’t on the agenda and will never ever happen…. Better spend the money on acquisitions, infrastructure, etc… heaven forbid paying staff better. But company spending is an economic multiplier – so it’s a good thing. Right? It will push up the stock price and allow Jeff Bezos to fund his trip to the moon…

I suspect that in the long run, all we will ever remember about the successful G7 agreement on tax was that there was an agreement… it will be rigorously enforced… and the tech giants still won’t pay very much tax.

Shell’s Q2 earnings report, released on Thursday, revealed that the company had suffered a net loss of $18.3 billion, a striking departure from its $3 billion profit during the same period in 2020 and a $2.7 billion profit in the first quarter of 2020.

What might have been Shell’s worst quarter in company history was saved by its oil trading business, which went some way towards shoring up profit margins.

Investor attitudes were largely unaffected by the disappointing earnings report; shares were only down by 0.5% in early London trading. A reason for traders’ optimism can be found in Shell’s adjusted income: while the reported $663 million represents an 82% drop from the same period in 2019, it greatly surpassed analysts’ expectations of a $664 million loss.

However, Shell was still forced to downgrade the value of its oil and gas assets, confirming $16.8 billion in post-tax impairments costs in its release.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden praised the company’s “resilient cash flow in a remarkably challenging environment” in a statement on Thursday.

We continue to focus on safe and reliable operations and our decisive cash preservation measures will underpin the strengthening of our balance sheet,” he continued.

In April, Shell announced its intention to scrap all executive bonuses for the financial year, in addition to cutting budgets and costs in an effort to save up to $9 billion. It may also consider issuing voluntary redundancies later in the year.

Employees essentially keep the wheels of industry turning and they have the ability to send a very small SME to the top - look at Facebook, for example, once a two-man-band headed up by Mark Zuckerberg, now a multi billion company that has produced some of the best innovations in the world.

In 2017, Facebook was recorded to have 25,105 employees across the globe and that will only increase if their profits maintain their steady progression.

With that said, how much profit do the world’s most successful tech companies make per employee?

Research by PostBeyond shows how the tech companies listed in the Fortune 500 compare for profit made per employee.

Highest profit per employee:

  1. Facebook - $634,694
  2. Apple - $393,097
  3. Microsoft - $171,000
  4. Alphabet - $158,057
  5. Cisco - $131,81
  6. Netflix - $109,588
  7. Booking holdings - $102,218
  8. Adobe - $94,252
  9. Oracle - $67,645
  10. HP - $51,551

Despite Facebook’s big lawsuit this year in regard to user privacy, they still have a total profit margin of $15,934 million which is a 5.9% increase from the previous year. Although Apple having a total profit of $48,351 million in 2017, their profit per employee averages out at just $393,097 and is down -0.19% since last year.

Microsoft is one of the longest standing tech companies, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. However, longest standing doesn’t always mean biggest profit - Microsoft has a total profit of $21,204 million (less than half of Apple’s) and it’s profit per employee stands at $171,000. Despite ranking below Facebook and Apple, it’s percentage change from the previous year is 16.05%.

The companies who have had the biggest percentage growth change from their previous year are NetApp (170.81%), Netflix (125.99%) and Amphenol (109.88%) - all of which combined have a total profit per employee of $169,277 million, just under Microsoft’s profit per employee total.

In regard to the companies which have had a negative percentage change from their previous years, Xerox (-264.42%), eBay (-104.46%) and Motorola Solutions (-89.01%) have been hit the hardest. Data on PostBeyond’s interactive piece here also shows that Dell, eBay and Motorola Solutions are also within the bottom Fortune 500 companies by having the lowest profit: Dell losing $-3,728 million, eBay losing $1,016 million and Motorola Solutions losing $-155 million.

What is the worth of each employee in the industry you work in? Do you think your company is floating or falling?

How does development finance work and what are the criteria? Below Gary Hemming at ABC Finance explains the ins and outs of project financing and development loans in the property sector and beyond.

  1. What is development finance?

Development finance is a type of short-term, secured finance which is used to fund the conversion, development or heavy refurbishment of property or properties. Property development finance can be used for a range of different building projects but tend to be used for ‘heavier’ projects, which require serious building works.

Projects which require ‘lighter’ works, such as internal refurbishment are likely to be better suited to a bridging loan.

  1. How does it work?

Development finance can be more complex than residential mortgages, with funds advanced upfront and then throughout the build.

Funds are initially advanced against the value of the site, with most lenders happy to advance up to 60-65% of the value.

Once the build has begun, further funds are released at agreed intervals, with lenders often willing to advance up to 100% of the build costs. In order to agree to each stage release payment, the site will be re-inspected by either a lender representative or monitoring surveyor. If they feel that works are being done to a high standard and there is sufficient value in the site to release the next stage, funds will generally be released quickly.

The reinspection and further staged drawdown are then repeated until the project is completed.

  1. How is the interest paid?

The interest is retained by the lender as each stage is drawn down, meaning there are no monthly payments to make. When the development is complete, the loan is redeemed along with any interest that has accrued.

This generally suits both the borrower and lender as cash flow can be difficult to mage during a build. As such, the removal of monthly payments makes the loan easier to manage for all parties.

  1. How much does it cost?

The rate charged will depend on several factors, with the main ones being

Larger loans of say £500,000 or above will usually be between 4-9% per annum depending on the above factors.

Smaller loans of say below £500,000 will usually range from 9-12% per annum however if the deal is strong you could pay around 6.5% per annum. Usually, lenders price each application individually.

In addition to the interest charged, the will usually be a number of other fees, the main ones are:

  1. Understanding the maximum loan available

Property development finance lenders use a number of key metrics to calculate the maximum loan, they are:

The lender will combine all 3 of these metrics to calculate the maximum loan. Where there is a conflict between the 3 figures, the lower of the 3 will be chosen to cap the loan.

  1. What happens when construction works are complete?

When the works are complete, the loan will generally need to be repaid. Often, people look to refinance to a term loan such as a mortgage or switch to a development exit product whilst the site is sold as this can be cheaper than the development finance, maximising profit.

The facility will be set up to last for only the build period, with a grace period to allow time to refinance or sell. Development finance should never be used as a long-term finance solution.

Louise Green is the Chief Marketing Officer at Bureau van Dijk, a Moody's Analytics company. It is committed to empowering customers to make better, faster decisions, by providing the most reliable private company information in the market. Below, Louise tells us about Bureau van Dijk’s Corporate and Financial Solutions and the importance of comparability and efficiency when it comes to data and company information.

 

Tell us about the key corporate and financial solutions that Bureau van Dijk offers

We aim to make our customers more successful by providing company information solutions that help improve efficiency, grow revenue and mitigate risk.

How much do you know about who you are doing business with?

Whether it’s the financial strength and longevity of your suppliers, your clients’ ability to pay, complying with regulations, protecting your reputation or understanding new and existing markets, more certainty is always welcome.

We capture a wide variety of data, then we treat, append and standardise it to make it richer, more powerful and easier to interrogate. In fact, we capture and treat data from more than 160 separate providers, and hundreds of our own sources, to create Orbis, the world’s most powerful comparable data resource on private companies.

Orbis has information on around 300 million companies in all countries. It’s the resource for company data.

The company reports are detailed and comparable, and comprise:

Our customers, including financial institutions, corporates, governments and academia, use our products for a variety of purposes.

 

Compliance and reputation management

With comprehensive global coverage, the richest source of corporate structures and beneficial ownership data available, plus information on PEPs and Sanctions, we are the resource for compliance and onboarding.

Financial risk

Our standardised financials help to assess and benchmark companies globally. We offer financial strength metrics using a range of models and include a qualitative score when detailed financials are not available.

Tax and transfer pricing strategies

We combine our comprehensive company information with transfer pricing functionality, so customers can plan, set policies, manage risk and document compliance processes.

Customers can also fine-tune policies, create robust audit-defence analysis and prepare TP documentation. We’ve created a full document management system to help with BEPS and country-by-country reporting requirements that helps customers become more efficient.

Business growth and strategy

Research new markets and industries, understand the M&A landscape and foreign and direct investment.

Orbis includes information on:

 

Data is getting bigger all the time, which makes extracting value from the numbers more difficult and time consuming. One of the ways that we increase efficiency is by making it simple to compare companies internationally.

Using our solutions, customers can interpret data quickly, and automate and centralise much of their research.

 

In what ways have Bureau van Dijk’s offering evolved over the years?

Bureau van Dijk has been an innovator in private company information since its beginning. We first delivered company information to clients on CD - then DVD-ROMs. This was a ground breaking way for companies to quickly research other companies. While we still offer on-premise solutions, our data and analysis resources today are accessible in the cloud, in third-party platforms and through integration into systems and workflows.

Our products are just as innovative today. For example, it’s not just that we offer the world’s most powerful comparable data resource on private companies, or the extensive corporate ownership structures included within it, it’s often how you can combine datasets in new and innovative ways to create better solutions for customers. For example:

Customers can blend our data with internal data to refresh and enrich CRMs and other internal databases. Our unique company identifiers and bespoke matching services help to create links between disparate datasets across organisations and create single views from data silos.

We recently updated the interface for Orbis and several other products to make them even easier to search for and visualise data with pivot analyses, heat maps, dynamic company structures and more. These and other changes were made based on interactive feedback from our customers. We bring data to life in new ways with reports and dashboards that give a clear, intuitive view into the information that matters most.

 

How important is it for businesses to trust a data specialist like Bureau van Dijk when it comes to data and company information?

At Bureau van Dijk, we’re in the business of certainty. It’s vital that companies know who they are dealing with. Before embarking on a major investment, a new third-party relationship or procurement decision, companies need to have confidence that the information they base their decisions on is accurate and comprehensive.

As businesses can be global and often complex, it's harder to get a clear view of all entities involved and who holds control. We make it easy to analyse management and ownership structures. Orbis includes extensive corporate structures so you can assess the complete group or take the financial stability of the parent into account.

Having a clear view of ownership also helps our users comply with sanctions lists, anti-money laundering legislation and to perform the other crucial due diligence checks that are intrinsic to global business.

 

What are Bureau van Dijk’s goals for the future?

Our mission has always been to provide the most reliable private company data on the market. We will continue to enrich and expand our private company information database. This means identifying and integrating new, reliable information sources and standardising data to make it more comparable and useful for our customers’ decision-making processes.

 

 Contact details:

To find out about our free trial scheme, please visit www.bvdinfo.com or email bvd@bvdinfo.com.

Telephone (London): +44 207549 5000

A new study of the 50 largest banking groups in the UK and Europe calls for disruptive management strategies to reverse lacklustre profitability across the industry, warning that Return on Equity (RoE) and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratios are in danger of falling below the average market and regulatory minimum over the next five years.

The European Banking Study (EBS), recently launched by zeb, shows that European banks are lagging behind their international counterparts in profitability and operational efficiency. It goes on to predict four major trends that will dominate the European banking scene from now until 2021 in response to the current unhealthy state of the industry.

“Profitability has become the critical concern for the European banking industry,” said Bertrand Lavayssière, Managing Director UK, zeb. “Actual organic profitability of Europe’s top 50 banks has declined significantly since 2012, and their average RoE has fallen to a level that is about half of what shareholders should expect based on a standard cost of equity calculation.

“And with Brexit looming ever-closer, it’s set to be an even bumpier road ahead. Although the top 50 European banks have strengthened their capital positions with a CET1 ratio of 13.5% in 2016, upcoming regulation and a continuation of the relatively low yield environment will increase the burden on these banks. If banks do not employ disruptive strategies to reverse their own fortunes, they risk becoming targets for acquisition. Without taking decisive action quickly, banks’ profitability and financial strength could deteriorate further by the end of the decade - we could see, in a baseline scenario, RoE fall to 1.5% and CET1 ratios below the average market and regulatory minimum.”

The zeb European Banking Study includes:

You can find a copy of the report here.

(Source: zeb)

Two of the UK’s largest insurance companies, Axa and Aviva, recently disclosed increased profits and dividends at a time when drivers are paying out car insurance premiums at a record high average of £690 for comprehensive cover.

Aviva’s half year results for 2017 show that its overall operating profit rose by 11%, and that operating profit from UK motor insurance increased 9% (2017: £580m; 2016: £530m). The dividend paid out to shareholders went up by 13%.

Axa also reported strong half year performance: a 4% increase in underlying earnings, with 6% growth in revenue from UK motor insurance. Axa even concedes in their report to the stock market that the UK motor insurance market was a factor in their overall growth in the first half of the financial year.

“Axa and Aviva haven't missed a trick in blaming everything and everyone else for insurance premium rises – whiplash, fraud, insurance premium tax, the discount rate – but today we can see the real reason in black and white. Yet another boost in profits and yet more pay outs for their shareholders. They run a good line in shifting the blame but the facts speak for themselves - their whinging is to distract from what is really going on here, healthy profits and well feathered nests,” said Tom Jones, head of policy at campaign law firm Thompsons Solicitors.

In the last week, insurers have again come under fire as an investigation found motorists were being charged as much as 100% over the odds for repair costs. The Telegraph published evidence of Axa ‘instructing a repairer to charge "not at fault" customers a labour rate 54% higher than the rate paid by other customers’.

There are concerns that a potential government U-turn on the discount rate which affects the damages paid out by insurers to those with long term, serious and life changing injuries as well as the government's willingness to increase the small claims limit against inflationary logic will only see further increases in profits and remuneration for insurer CEOs.

“The insurers are constantly crying wolf and the government needs to stop pandering to them. They claim their backs are against the wall but in reality, as Aviva and Axa’s figures prove, it's all looking pretty sunny for them and their investors,” continued Mr. Jones.

“Motor insurance is compulsory in the UK yet those who provide it and are making good profit from it are unabashed in punishing the consumer by continually bumping up premiums at the same time as lobbying for changes that will restrict access to justice.”

(Source: Thompsons Solicitors)

Financial gains in the UK housing market are being put on the back burner, as low noise levels, a place to relax and unwind and a home with good natural light and views of nature - are now seen as three times more important than a house that will improve in value - according to a new report by construction giant Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland.

The study, which shows that 90% of homeowners and renters want a home that doesn’t compromise their health and wellbeing, also unveiled that environmental factors are top of respondent’s minds - with high energy bills, the levels of cold in winter and noise from neighbours among the top three things people want to change in their home.

The study, which quizzed more than 3,000 homeowners and renters across the UK, delved further into the top desires of a home, finding 84% of people want a property to be environmentally friendly, but only 16% would be willing to pay more for it. Safety also ranked highly - for the under 50’s a neighbourhood where children can play outside safely, is the most important and for the over 50’s a home where they feel safe and secure is key.

Clare Murray, Head of Sustainability at Levitt Bernstein comments of the findings; “From the results of the survey there is a distinct opportunity to connect views of external green spaces with areas of safe and easily accessible play to suit all life stages. Linking homes and people with the visual comfort provided by views of nature, while allowing children the independence to experience it, should continue to be a priority for the homes we design and build in the future.”

Developed to influence the future of homes, ‘The UK Home, Health and Wellbeing Report’ conducted by Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, and released in collaboration with academia and other businesses in the built environment sector, including the UK Green Building Council, UCL and Levitt Bernstein – provides insight into better understanding householder needs and makes sure homes are truly fit for purpose.

Stacey Temprell, Habitat Marketing Director at Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, commented: “Looking to how the study can step change the industry, it’s clear that putting wellbeing at top billing for property and rental listings, as well as influencing the building factors for new properties could be huge. The report detailed that 91% of 18 — 24 year olds for example, are the most likely group to be influenced by energy ratings when it comes to choosing a home to rent or buy – and these are our future decision makers.”

(Source: Multi Comfort)

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