Latest news with #business
CTV News
3 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Quebec woman says scammers mimicked RBC, taking $15,000 in a convincing fraud
A Quebec woman says scammers posing as RBC representatives drained thousands from her business account in a convincing fraud.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PepsiCo Needs to Win Investor Confidence Amid Doubts Over US Strategy, Deutsche Bank Says
PepsiCo (PEP) needs to win investor confidence as the beverage and snacks company's current strategy Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Strong Administrative Support Systems Help Entrepreneurs Thrive
Entrepreneurs and business admins meeting in large conference room Although they try, entrepreneurs can't run everything. It takes support systems, including highly skilled admin staff, to keep a business performing at peak levels. A strong back-end infrastructure ensures that founders don't sweat the small stuff. They can devote their energy to vision, growth and strategy. While administrative support systems may not be as visible as those at the top, it doesn't mean the staff aren't leaders. They often need and desire some of the same training as entrepreneurs. After all, they're the ones by the executives' sides, handling operational details and interacting with external stakeholders. Admin staff are the reason entrepreneurs can thrive, and here's why. Reinforces Collaborative Communication Admin staff interact with employees across the organization, plus clients and vendors. They're the glue in terms of coordinating tasks and managing how information flows. Assistants are privy to the big picture, including whether communication and relationships are mutually productive. This means they're usually in the middle of conflicts and misunderstandings. A founder's assistant can also be at the center of what's happening with the company's overall direction. This can include negotiations and major projects or strategic initiatives. Despite this, administrative professionals don't always believe they have the training to help in every way they can. I had the opportunity to interview Joan Burge of Office Dynamics International about this. Her company delivers training and professional development for admin professionals. One of the areas the training focuses on is communication. Three areas support professionals feel they need the most development in are public speaking, assertiveness and conflict resolution. When they master these areas, assistants can reinforce collaborative communication, becoming strategic partners with entrepreneurs. Founders can rely on admin staff to not only put out fires, but also see them coming before they start. Operations can run more smoothly when there's empowered support to handle potential everyday obstacles to founders' objectives. Enhances Productivity Robert Solow, an American economist, championed the idea that increased productivity fuels the majority of economic growth. Productivity is driven by innovation, something entrepreneurs are responsible for. It's the big ideas and the implementation of them that move economic growth forward. But if entrepreneurs are busy trying to organize their days, they can't be effective visionaries. A strong administrative support system manages the documents, meetings, travel and day-to-day operations. Whether a founder is launching a startup or overseeing a transition to the next growth stage, time management is key. Having tools to automate information workflows is a critical part of a strong support system. Nevertheless, technology can't handle it all. And it's prone to glitches that humans can step in to prevent and fix. With skilled staff, entrepreneurs don't have to troubleshoot breakdowns in essential processes. Instead, they can learn where the problems lie and seek input on potential solutions. Admin staff are the eyes and ears of the organization. They keep everything organized so the business can run productively. They also offer insightful suggestions for improvements because they see how internal processes might be holding the company back. From a founder's email inbox to what happens on the production floor, administrative professionals play an instrumental role in boosting efficiency. Strengthens External Relationships Entrepreneurs might bring clients on board. However, admin assistants are usually the initial point of contact. They interact with external stakeholders throughout the day. Assistants also observe and coordinate communications. This coordination can include introducing clients to other internal employees responsible for overseeing critical project details. Furthermore, admin professionals could be charged with managing vendor relationships. They could be calling potential vendors for bids or to come onsite for introductions and communicating the company's needs. They're responsible for ensuring bids come in on time, according to specifications. Admin support staff are the ones following up, ensuring vendors complete work by the deadline and to satisfaction. Like founders, assistants can have great influence on a company's relationships with external stakeholders. They're responsible for establishing rapport, moving information through the pipeline and working through hiccups. Admin professionals can influence founders' decisions on whether to pursue relationships with vendors and clients. For instance, they can disclose their impressions of those they meet and interact with. In terms of vendors, assistants may be closer to the work results these stakeholders produce. Admin professionals can recommend contract renewals, spot additional needs as the company scales and advise founders about details they've come across. When the quality of external relationships improves, the output of the company's work can also improve. Helping Entrepreneurs Thrive There's more to a strong admin support system than taking meeting minutes and grabbing lattes. Administrative professionals are like the foundation of a home. If it's not solid enough, the entire structure collapses. But when entrepreneurs' support systems are skilled and efficient, the visions that brought the company to life can keep expanding innovation's possibilities.
Wall Street Journal
8 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Score: Bumble, Tesla, Shell and More Stocks That Defined the Week
The Score is a weekly review of the biggest stock moves and the news that drove them. Bumble BMBL -0.92%decrease; red down pointing triangle is trying to get its buzz back after years of sluggish growth.
The National
8 hours ago
- Business
- The National
Beyond the Bottom Line: How UAE Companies Can Turn Tax Compliance into Competitive Advantage
This column focuses on different treatments of tax law. If you are in a certain industry, what is the correct timing when invoicing? What information is mandatory on supplier invoices? You can continue to ask questions of this nature up to and including internal document management and compulsory filing with external parties. By way of consequences, inevitably it is the stick, not the carrot, that delivers the greatest response. It is important to understand what penalties can be applied and the sum value of interest on those. This is because it is typically at a later time that problems are discovered. Focusing on the carrot, let us reframe this as a positive business proposition. It is a useful exercise to revisit, line by line, component by component, your profit-and-loss statement to see if contributing elements are optimised. One part often overlooked is tax. Not just corporate tax, but VAT – and depending on your business activities – excise and customs duties. You can tell a lot about a chief executive's leadership by what draws their attention first. 'Sales is vanity, profit is sanity and cash flow is reality.' In uncertain times this adage is never more true. Let's start with sales. From an organisational viewpoint, the location of sales should cause you to consider having a separate entity for non-Gulf business. Depending on what and where you do it, this business might be exempt from corporate tax. At the very least, you can elect to sit outside the UAE's VAT system having satisfied the relevant authorities that you comply with their conditions. What would be lost in reclaimable VAT would be counterbalanced by not having to comply with rules of treatment for client and supplier invoices. Add to that reporting and the potential for disruptive external audits to normal internal operations. Let us add another layer. As more rules are introduced to a tax regime, it requires more effort to manage the increased difficulty. Several regimes that are adding new or amending existing rules, often tugging operational practices in different directions, require an alternative management approach. The worst outcome is when the rules of one tax regime are permitted to dictate the actions of another and do so incorrectly. For example, I've worked with people who, for years, thought that VAT did not apply to their revenue. These businesses will discover that the people to whom they are filing their annual corporate tax return, detailing their revenue, are the same as those they are not reporting their VAT related revenue to. If this is the position you find yourself in, admit the error. The relevant authorities will work with you to correct matters. Yes, with penalties, but having dealt with and settled your dues, the issue is considered resolved and everyone moves on. The above are examples of what you might find when you review your sales processes. It's not a comprehensive list. Let us move on to cost of goods and services. Does your business track the profitability of each piece of work it does at a consolidated level? For a corporate tax perspective, you are interested in whether any of your suppliers are related or connected parties. This means understanding the different parties that make up your supply chain. While you are looking at that, take a look at your margins. While we are talking about transfer pricing, what happens when a related party is not a direct supplier, but instead supplies one who is. Do the same rules of proving that transactions are being carried out at arm's length apply? I do not know. It's possible that a business might be unaware that it's happening. Given ignorance is no defence in law, that might not be sufficient, should it be discovered. Would the value of such business matter? A one-off transaction of value verses multiple micro transactions. Given the breadth of what constitutes a related party in the UAE, it might be easier than you think to find your organisation in this position.
