#ENDviolence with BTS

Help end bullying in schools by sharing kind notes.

Have you ever felt afraid of violence in or around your school?

We asked this question to teens around the world and received more than a million responses. Two out of three of you said yes.

But many of you also believe that ending violence in schools is possible, and you told us how. Through the youth-written #ENDviolence Youth Manifesto, teens around the world agreed:

Being kind is the first step to making schools safer.

Be kind online

Tag your friend in a positive message on social media using the hashtag #ENDviolence.



DM someone sending a kind message.



Be kind in person



Write a note to your friend telling them why they’re great.



Write a positive message and leave it on a mirror.



Leave an anonymous kind letter for someone you know who needs it.

Why Small Businesses Need a Reliable Internet Connection

For a small business in the twenty-first century, fast internet access is essential. Dobson Technologies notes that faster internet speeds can have a significant impact on how a company performs online. The effect applies not solely to online businesses, but brick-and-mortar stores as well.  For a small business, having reliable, speedy internet is a primary concern. It can affect both how the company performs and how consumers see our store.

The Age of the Hotspot

In many areas of the country, it’s a common sight to see businesses boasting about free Wi-Fi access for customers. Small Business Trends reports that as many as 62% of companies that offer free Wi-Fi to customers saw their customers stay longer at their establishment, with 50% stating that the customers also spent more money.

Offering a hotspot is an excellent way to boost business and attract customers, but the connection must be good enough to entice those customers to stay. Nothing is more annoying for a buyer than getting free Wi-Fi from a business, but being unable to use it because it’s too slow.

Keeping Employees Connected

We’re not living in the ’90s anymore, and being continually connected is a major part of workplace culture. For companies that deal with remote hires or workers that have the opportunity to telecommute, having a dedicated, reliable internet connection ensures that they can always have access to the company’s resources. 

Email, chat, and online meetings are no longer cutting-edge technology. They’re the norm. Having a robust infrastructure to develop and maintain these essential business functions is critical to the long-term success of any small business enterprise.

Security Systems

Businesses need to be aware of both their physical security as well as their digital security. A robust internet infrastructure ensures that the company is meeting both of these needs. Digital security through software and firewalls keep the company’s data (as well as the data of its customers) secure. Internet-linked security cameras offer peace of mind to business owners no matter where in the world they may be. 

Cloud Storage Solutions

Small businesses, in particular, benefit from cloud storage services. Entrepreneur notes that small businesses that embrace cloud storage and computing are likely to see benefits in cost management, flexibility, collaboration, and integration. 

For online stores, the cloud offers a useful addition to their existing customer service system. There are many providers of automated customer service chatbots to aid small businesses in coping with customer feedback. These automated solutions can help a company be more customer-centric and drive referrals for their service.

One of the less-touted benefits of the cloud to a small business is the resilience of data in the event of a major disaster. In the event of hardware failure, having secure data backups can help the situation immensely, but restoring that data can take time and impact a company’s productivity. 

The cloud is an ideal solution since it automatically backs up data if any changes occur. The company just needs to establish a connection with the cloud provider to recover its data. The ease of this operation means businesses can return to regular efficiency in record time.

How Much Speed is Enough?

There’s no exact specification for how fast a small business internet connection should be. Business.org suggests that each enterprise should calculate its required link based on its needs. Companies that have a lot of connections simultaneously using the same point of access should consider a faster speed than those who only have a few people connected at the same time. It is also a pertinent concern that businesses ensure that the connection they pay for is the speed they get. ISP’s may perform throttling on companies that use a lot of bandwidth, so testing one’s internet connection speed is essential to ensure its reliability and efficiency.

Where Do We Start?

As a new entrepreneur, begin by determining the speed of internet connection your business needs. Also take into account which provider is the best choice. Start by outlining the ways the company will use its internet speed. This can help determine what’s the minimum viable rate the company needs. 

Consider remote workers and if the business uses any massive upload and download traffic. Connection speed direct affects these. Any infrastructure systems like public Wi-Fi or internet-based camera security will also increase that minimum speed requirement.

Most ISP’s offer solutions that businesses can tailor to their needs. Thus, if a company has a handful of employees, they can choose a lower connection speed with a focus on connectivity. As a company tacks on more options, a faster pace will prevent bottlenecks. 

The business wants to balance speed with efficiency. However, it’s only through practical application can we begin to appreciate the things our connection offers us and where it falls short. Once we figure out at what point that happens, we can readjust our expectations and upgrade or downgrade our speed to suit our needs.

6 Financing Options to Help You Survive a Cash Flow Crunch

As a small business owner, you’ve likely found yourself in a situation where cash is tight. When you’re squeezed for cash, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to cover payroll for your staff, keep your shelves stocked, and keep operations running smoothly on a day-to-day basis. 

A Few Ideas

Fortunately, there are several forms of business funding available that can help you survive a cash flow crunch. There are also some best practices you can implement to avoid the same situation moving forward. 

Short-Term Loan

One option to finance your way out of a tough spot is to take out a short-term loan. With this loan, you can stay afloat through a slower period. Since they are designed to help you out quickly, they are generally smaller sums of money loaned out at interest rates of 10% or higher with repayment periods of 12 months or less. Most short-term loans come with factor rates, and a daily or weekly repayment schedule. This makes the annual rates of short-term loans more costly than longer-term business loans. 

Business Line of Credit

If a short-term loan isn’t for you, you may want to look into a business line of credit. As one of the most popular choices of financing, business credit lines are known for being both flexible and fast. 

They come with a maximum withdrawal limit set by the lender from which you, the business, can withdraw up to that amount as needed and pay that back. This is what sets them apart from a business loan, as you are only responsible for paying back what you need and use (plus interest), rather than a set lump sum.

Business Credit Card

There is also the option of opening a business credit card. This can offer almost instant access to funds in lieu of waiting potentially weeks for an approval, as in the case of traditional loans. With a credit card, like a line of credit, you only pay interest on what you use, and your available credit is restored when you pay back what you borrow. You are technically only required to make minimum monthly payments, but it’s best practice to pay back everything in full.Otherwise, you may find yourself in a downward debt spiral. 

Invoice Financing (and Invoice Factoring)

Invoice financing is another route for funding your business, and is generally used if the root cause of your cash flow crunch is slow payments. It allows you to borrow against your accounts receivable (with outstanding invoices serving as collateral) in exchange for upfront cash. 

Invoice factoring is similar but involves the sale of those outstanding invoices to a lender. The lender then takes over the process of collecting from your customers. Both options, however, should be used when you need cash, but accounts simply aren’t paying up.

Keep in mind that factoring rates and fees tend to be higher than those of traditional business loans. Additionally, most factoring and financing companies work exclusively with B2B businesses—so if you’re a B2C enterprise, this likely isn’t for you. 

Merchant Cash Advance

A merchant cash advance is a quick means to an end. Because they are so instantaneous, the funds are unsecured, meaning you are free from having to forfeit any assets if the business goes under. There are no fixed terms, but they do generally come with APRs that can skyrocket quickly, so tread carefully. You may be on the hook for paying much more than expected.

Business Term Loans

With a business term loan, you borrow a lump sum of money which you pay back at fixed intervals over a predetermined period of time. Repayment periods for term loans can range from six months to as long as 20 years. And with a new crop of online lenders, you can now get funds in just a few days. This is opposed to the several months it can take with traditional banks or the SBA. 

3 Other Tips to Help You Survive a Cash Flow Crunch

If financing isn’t the right route for your business, there are still other ways you can manage through a cash crisis.

1. Negotiate with Your Vendors

If you have a good relationship with vendors or certain suppliers, you may be able to ask for an extension of the due date. You may also be able to adjust payment terms moving forward. For instance, if you currently have 30-day terms, see if you can extend payables to 45 days, or even 60 days. 

2. Evaluate Your Current Expenses

Take a look at your costs, and identify any miscellaneous expenses or “money leaks” that could be hurting your cash flow. Are there any services that you’re not using that you’re still being charged for? Facebook Ads that are not converting? Overpaying your accountant or insurance provider?

3. Reevaluate Pricing

How long has it been since you’ve evaluated your pricing structure? If inventory prices have increased, but you haven’t raised your prices in tandem, you could be losing money. Beyond direct costs, you also want to make sure you’re factoring indirect costs into the equation, which could include everything from accounting fees to office supplies. Additionally, check out how much your competitors are charging, and see where you stack up. 

5 Tips to Avoid Cash Flow Crunches Moving Forward

As you recover from financial crunch, you will want to be proactive in avoiding a similar situation in the future.

Track expenses

The most straightforward way is to obsessively track your expenses. Knowing every little detail about what money you have on hand and what you are spending on will only make you be hyper-aware of where you stand financially. The more you know, the better prepared you are and the quicker you can make or reevaluate spending choices to save money.

Perform regular cash flow analysis and projections

You should also perform a cash flow analysis on a regular basis, which will help you identify trends in ebbs and flows in your cash reserves. Additionally, look ahead six to twelve months at a time and forecast where you want to be and where you expect to be, so you can budget more effectively and readjust your planning if it looks like you may be experiencing another slow period ahead.

Plan for seasonal ebbs and flows

And, in conjunction with that forecast, you should always be prepared for the seasonal ebbs and flows of money coming in. Customer spending fluctuates and so you should plan your expenses and financial forecasts around them. 

For example, in the retail world, you should expect to see an uptick in incoming cash around the holidays and then a decrease right after. However, if you are providing professional services, plan differently.  Most of your clients will be taking off around the holidays and thus causing a decrease in the capital coming in.

Incentivize customers to pay early

Lastly, you can stay ahead of the game by incentivizing your customers to make early payments. If you have a reliable stream of money coming in ahead of planned due dates, it will be much easier to stay afloat.

Establishing a standardized payment plan and then encouraging early payments, such as discounts or options to bundle bills, will increase the chances of customers making on-time payments and reduce the risk for less reliable customers to miss payments.