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Chinatown

Daniel Liang

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Small Businesses to Benefit from this New Write-off

Small business owners can now benefit from a pass-through write-off. The deduction lowers tax liabilities for many small business owners. Entities that stand to benefit from the write-off include: sole proprietorships, LLCs, S corporation, and partnerships. Individuals, trusts, and estates will all be impacted with this deduction.

What is QBI? Qualified business income is income generated by the business that is not directed toward investments. The revenue amount of the business is used to calculate the deduction. The expenses are not factored into this amount. Calculating the qualified business income deduction An estimated 20 percent of the QBI from a sole proprietorship can be deducted. An LLC or S corporation can use the deduction. An estimated 20 percent of dividends can also be used for the purpose of deductions. REITs (real estate investment trusts), publicly traded partnerships, and cooperatives all qualify for these specialized deductions. The deduction doesn’t have to be itemized, but it is processed in the same manner of the typical deduction.

What is considered qualified business income? Some forms of income can be considered when calculating deductions. Your investment-related income items such as losses, interest, and dividend income do not qualify as QBI. You can use income from REITs, cooperatives, and publicly traded partnerships. Wages earned and payments made to you aren’t considered qualified income. Wages that are paid to you through a pass-through entity can qualify as income that is eligible for deduction. You can deduct up to 50 percent of your income paid through a pass-through entity. The alternate deduction equation is 25 percent of W-2 wages plus 2.5 percent of qualified property costs.

Service businesses, classified as SSTB at a disadvantage A Specified Service Trade of Business rule excludes certain groups operating in certain sectors. QBI centered around certain professions may not benefit from these deductions under the disallowance rule. Income generated from healthcare professions, actuarial sciences, consulting, performance arts, brokerage services, athletics, investment management, and financial services won’t be able to take advantage of the deductions. The rule applies if the taxable income exceeds $157,500 for individuals or $315,000 for couples.

The new deduction benefits small business owners who use entities for the purpose of generating pass-through income. Small business owners now have access to tax savings with the deduction. Strategic structuring and professional assistance can increase deduction opportunities for those who may otherwise find it difficult to qualify.

  –Tory Kiam, CEO of Kiam Ventures

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20 Great Businesses to Start with Little Capital

Not all businesses are expensive to start. Buying the right equipment that is within your budget, creating a business that does not need a specific piece of real estate to exist, and utilizing the grab bag of skills that are already in your skill set are just a few of the way that you could easily begin and maintain a business of your own without needing a serious amount of overhead to begin.  Here are 20 business ideas that can easily take flight with minimal capital.

1. Content Writing  If done correctly, content writing earns you hundreds or thousands of extra dollars per week. Venture into the business by yourself or start your own firm. 2. Salon Any skilled person can start a salon. Renting a small room in a building and paying for utilities costs $1,000 or less every month.

3. Dog Walking Dog walkers need no special tools to work. They do need personal health insurance and liability coverage to protect against accidents.

4. Gardening / Lawn Mowing Lawn mowers and gardening tools cost a few hundred dollars. Then, you’ll need a truck or SUV to transport the equipment from one location to another.

5. At-Home Child Care Consider taking care of children at home. Your salary exceeds the expenses that you make every month. 6. Tutoring As a tutor, work at home or start a company online. At home, you need only a computer to start.

7. Cleaning Services Host a cleaning business at home. Cleaning uniforms and supplies cost less than $1,000 a month.

8. Translating Services Many people use their bilingual skills to earn a living. Work as a freelancer or create a separate agency.

9. Photography Work for journalists, graphic designers or companies that sell stock photos. High-tech camera equipment costs only a few hundred dollars.

10. Delivery Driving Use your own car as a delivery driver. You’ll need insurance that costs less than a hundred dollars on average.

11. Transcribing Work mainly for lawyers, medical providers and translators. You need a computer, transcription software and good typing skills. 12. Art / Graphic Design Get paid to create drawings, computer-generated designs, paintings, etc. Build a large portfolio and work on a freelance basis.

13. Virtual Assisting Perform this job at home only. Use your own computer and software that cost an average total of $500 or less. 14. Personal Cooking People hire personal chefs to work within their homes. They also provide all of the necessary cooking tools.

15. Digital Marketer / Social Media Manager Businesses hire freelance digital marketers and social media managers when they can’t afford professional ones. As a freelancer, you work at home using basic tools.

16. Business Consulting All you need is the right mix of education and experience to work. Get involved if you have already some skills in business. 17. Catering Caterers need the right uniforms, serving utensils and cooking skills. You also need a van to move from one location to another.

18. Personal Training Teach others to improve their exercises. It’s an added bonus if you have an education or some experience in fitness.

19. Accounting Some accountants work as freelancers and work for different businesses. Choose to do basic accounting or provide a specialty in taxation or financial management. 20. Personal Assisting Personal assistants work in homes or businesses. Offer your skills to work with one or more individuals.

  –Tory Kiam, CEO of lia sophia

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10 Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read

Reading is a hobby that many successful entrepreneurs share. Reading on a regular basis is an important part of becoming an entrepreneur. Reading can help give you the knowledge to succeed as you open your own business. With so much information available, picking the best material to read can be an overwhelming process. To assist you, here is a look at the most insightful books available that focus on entrepreneurship.

Be Obsessed or Be Average (Grant Cardone)  Grant Cardone has become a millionaire threw opening several businesses and writing books. However, the road to success for Cardone was filled with adversity, as Cardone found himself broke and addicted to drugs. Cardone eventually became obsessed with being successful, and now he wants to help others. Cardone’s book teaches entrepreneurs to set unimaginable goals and how to use negativity as fuel to do something great.

Start With Why (Simon Sinek) In Start With Why, Sinek seeks to answer the question of why some companies are more creative and profitable than their peers. Sinek also wonders why many people are unable to duplicate their success once they have achieved something great. The Barefoot Executive (Carrie Wilkerson)  Wilkerson gives entrepreneurs tips to help them live life on their terms. Wilkerson believes that most people are equipped with the tools to change their lives. The Barefoot Executive will help you create the business that you want in order to reach your dreams.

The Founder’s Dilemmas (Noam Wasserman) The Founder’s Dilemmas looks at the critical decisions that entrepreneurs face that could hurt their business. Wasserman uses research to explain the common mistakes that entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them.

The Power of Broke (Daymond John)  The founder of FUBU, Daymond John shows entrepreneurs how being broke can become an advantage. In the Power of Broke, John shows entrepreneurs how being broke should allow them to be more creative and efficient with their limited resources.

Behind The Cloud (Marc Benioff and Carlye Adler) Marc Benioff, The Chief Executive Officer of salesforce.com, tells the story of how the company grew from a small startup to one of the World’s largest software companies within 10 years. Benioff explains the different strategies that he used to help his company grow.

In The Company of Women (Grace Bonney)  In The Company of Women features over 50 successful women talking about how their creative spirit helped them become successful entrepreneurs.

The E Myth Revisited (Michael E. Gerber) After listing some common myths surrounding entrepreneurship, Gerber outlines the steps in running a business. Gerber explains the difference between working on your business and working in your business.

Lucky or Smart (Bo Peabody) Bo Peabody became a successful entrepreneur at a young age, and he explores whether he was simply lucky. Peabody describes some of the lessons that he learned on his way to success.

Escape From Cubicle Nation (Pamela Slim)  Slim explains all of the important variables to consider before coming an entrepreneur. After reading Escape From Cubicle Nation, you should have a clear idea on if entrepreneurship is right for you.

–Tory Kiam, CEO of lia sophia and Kiam Ventures

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Inside the Profitable Business that is Professional Tennis

Wimbledon is the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. Its success as a draw and a money-maker is one indication that tennis is a booming spectator sport. Attendance was 484,391 for the two-week event in 2015. Its revenues were $238.8 million in 2015 for the All-England Club, which sponsors the event. The profit was $44.9 million for that two-week event.

Good Causes Ninety percent of the Wimbledon profits go to the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body for the sport in England. The U.S. Open, another of the four major professional tennis championships, had revenue in 2015 of $253 million. Attendance was 691,280. The United States Tennis Association’s regional districts (17) receive a portion of the proceeds to continue work in support of grassroots tennis.

Corporations Money from the media and sponsors paid to the Association of Tennis Professionals, which operates the global men’s tour, increased 215 percent in six years. In 2014, its revenue was $37.4 million. All tennis events like The Championships—the official name for Wimbledon—and the ATP World Tour Finals have corporations and brands to help pay for the event. Wimbledon calls its helpmates Official Suppliers rather than sponsors.

These brands pay for tournament essentials, including the event itself, the compiling and dissemination of statistics, billboards and more. At these events, sponsors foot the bill for activities that engage fans too. These could include fans being able to see the re-stringing of a racket or an interactive booth where they get to see how their serve stacks up against the pros. They might also be able to enter a contest to win a prize.

Players Tennis is a sport in which individuals are front and center, and they are rewarded handsomely. Roger Federer made $79 million in 2015 and Rafael Nadal earned $64 million, Females in tennis are at the top of the list of sportswomen who have the most lucrative endorsements. In 2016, Serena Williams earned $28.9 million through her play and sponsors and Maria Sharapova, second on the earnings list, made $21.9 million.

The Future Despite the success of Wimbledon and other tournaments, tennis organizers are not complacent. They want to keep up with the times. Tennis is an entertainment as well as a sport. When people have a choice between biking, hiking or playing tennis, for example, proponents of the sport want them to choose tennis. Some organizations are setting their eyes on getting more people in their 20s to hit the courts. Ways to increase the numbers of players of any age include more online booking for court time as well as websites that help people find partners.

With the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open—the four majors—plus just the ATP tour, tennis spans the globe. Cities the latter group has taken its players to include Houston, Monte Carlo, Marrakech, Barcelona, Budapest, Munich, Geneva and Madrid. Tennis can give brands wide exposure.

–Tory Kiam, Board of the NYJTL

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Crowdsourcing: A Visionary and Promising Practice

Are you constantly uttering the phrase ‘Good people are hard to find”.  If so, a promising, new technique might just be the answer to the question that looms – Crowdsourcing!

For those new to the idea, crowdsourcing works as a reverse pipeline to see that all your deliverables are completed and in a timely fashion. Instead of finding the person and then attach them to the work, you put the work out in front of many people and let the work find the right person. There are many advantages to this type of outreach that can make certain that deadlines are met, the work is accomplished flawlessly, and you are still out to happy hour by 5pm as always!

You Gain Flexibility Over Your Content With more people competing for your content, you gain flexibility in the sheer number of people who are looking your way. From this improved talent pool, you will be able to pick the content creator who can best match your brand message. This is one of the major advantages of using crowdsourcing to complete work, and it is the reason that companies in many industries look to it instead of hiring in house help.

You Do Not Have to Pay Overhead Employment Costs With crowdsourcing, you gain the ability to pay only for the work that you get without any additional costs. When you hire a single in house employee, you have to pay health insurance, employment insurance, training costs, intake costs, and pay for the floor space that person takes up in your office. You have to pay for all of this before you can get one bit of work from the person. When you crowdsource, you immediately save yourself money on these upfront costs. More than that, you get to set the price. You do not have to worry about any minimum wage laws or pay scale problems.

You Can Actually Find the Best Person for the Job When you crowdsource, you can actually find the most talented person in the room! All of the people in the room will be looking at you, and you can set the intake metrics to be whatever you want. What does this mean? The best person for the job will eventually rise to the top of the pack. They will set themselves apart with their portfolio or with examples of work that actually correspond to what you need in your current project. Why settle for someone with only a little bit of the experience that you need when you can have someone exact?

The Power is Back in Your Hands Potential employees are in abundance. No matter how much it seem like elite talent is uncommon, crowdsourcing will continually give you faith that the talent pool is deep and wide. Once you get over the shock of having a room full of talented people all vying to help you succeed, you can quickly choose the best person for the project and get to work

Crowdsourcing can also be beneficial in keeping costs at a minimum and will help put that extra cash back in your wallet.

You Can Build Relationships with Great Workers When you crowd source, it is not necessary to employee any one person consistently as you are hiring them on a project by project basis. You can pick those people who own the correct skill set for your brand and continue to give them work on an ongoing basis once they prove they have what it takes. This helps the free market overall, as freelancers who consistently give good work will gain more notoriety. Everyone will step their game up to match these people, and you will eventually have a more talented crowd from which to source.

Creating relationships with great workers on your terms is also good for your brand. You will not have to worry about paying for overhead costs that deplete your resources, meaning that you can give more of that money directly to the people you really like.

There is nothing better than finding the perfect person for the job. Crowdsourcing is beginning to make this an easy task saving you time and money in the process. Make use of this new and exciting method of hiring and you will find the benefits are endless.

  —Tory Kiam, Former CEO at lia sophia

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Top Five Countries for Female Executives

Women continue to emerge as business leaders/executives around the world, however, not all countries are as promising as the five listed below. These countries offer women the opportunity to rise to the highest ranks in the business world. Women who are willing to relocate to one of these countries will find amazing opportunities just waiting for the right female candidate to arrive.

Read More:

https://medium.com/@torykiam/top-five-countries-for-women-executives-cfa82f2afc30

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Top Ten Global Tech Companies on the Last Day of 2017

Tech companies have quickly grown to become one of the largest sectors in the world. That is why the following list of the top ten global tech companies at the end of 2017… Read more: https://medium.com/@torykiam/the-top-ten-global-tech-companies-on-the-last-day-of-2017-883f86e9ffe0

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Three Ways Business Innovators are Using Tomorrow’s Technology Today

If you are a business owner, it is crucial that you use technology to innovate. Without moving forward, you risk being left behind by competitors and causing your customers to jump ship. So don’t miss out on chances to gain more profits and success. Look at these three powerful ways that businesses are innovating with technology.

Use Anomaly Detection to Manage Equipment

With the help of AI, many hospitals are able to prevent their machines from breaking down or causing an issue with patient outcomes. Machines run the lives of many people at the hospital today. They help them breathe, pump blood, and get the medicine they need.

When a machine breaks down, it is not just costly for the hospital. It is also dangerous for the patient. Luckily, business innovators in the health space are using AI to compare the patterns they detect from a healthy machine that has no problems with a machine that needs to get serviced soon. This reduces down time and allows the health companies to operate more efficiently. They can then reinvest these savings into better care for the patients and profits.

Security Solutions and Monitoring

Security is of the utmost importance in today’s world. It is not just large companies that are prey to hackers. Any sized company can fall at risk due to the valuable customer information they have collected. Credit cards and entire identities are stolen every day because hackers found a way to get through a company’s security protocol.

One of the ways you can protect against this invasion is to set up firewalls. These are at the TCP/IP layer of your computer systems. They are like putting up a fence as opposed to waiting until a crime happens in your home and triggering the alarm system. Speaking of which: Network monitoring tools are great ways to reduce cybercrime on your business. Your devices are all connected, and if a cyber terrorist were to access one device, they could get access to it all. They could take over your site, your database, or any banking information your company has. Not only would they potentially sell this off to the black market, they might even hold it for ransom by locking you out.

Connect with Customers on More Levels

Businesses in every sector are finding that through the use of modern technology and innovation, they can connect with customers on more levels. They can use big data collected to analyze every facet of their business from product likeability to customer experience whether online or in a retail location. Using testing mechanisms, they can run the data to see which business initiatives would be both more profitable for them and beneficial for their audience.

When it comes to modern day business, things are moving faster than ever. In order to stand out from the crowd, you need to be able to leverage technology as it emerges. Failure to do so will result in you losing chances to grow and compete at the highest levels. So implement the ideas above and see how innovation can change your business today and going forward.

-Tory Kiam, Freelance Investor & CEO of lia sophia

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10 U.S. Cities Seeing Tremendous Business Growth

San Francisco, CA (sunset)

The U.S. economy is moving in the right direction so far in 2018, and it is expected to get better throughout the rest of the year. Unemployment is low, the federal government recently cut the corporate tax rate, and entrepreneurs are starting businesses across the country. Here is a list of ten U.S cities that present the best business growth and employment opportunities.

San Francisco, California

High taxes and property values haven’t prevented San Francisco and nearby Silicon Valley from being the tech capital of the world. The growth in the number of new tech companies in the San Francisco Bay area is 60% higher than the rest of the country.

Dallas, Texas

Many businesses that are fleeing high-tax states like California are heading to Texas. The Dallas region ranks in the top 10 in the nation for having a strong overall economy. The area is also in the top 10 in employment gains for high-skilled professional, scientific, and technical jobs. Houston and Austin are other cities in Texas that present good business growth opportunities.

Atlanta, Georgia

Dining, health, construction, and media all make Atlanta a hotspot for business growth. Employment grew by over 45,000 jobs in 2016. Atlanta’s low median home price of around $220,000 makes it an attractive place for both new entrepreneurs and job seekers.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Like many big cities in the south, businesses and job seekers are attracted to Charlotte’s low cost of doing business and low cost of living. The number of professional, scientific, and technical jobs increased by 9% from 2015 to 2016.

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the state capital, and it is in the middle of an area known as the Research Triangle. The Research Triangle has Duke University, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University all within a short distance from each other. Job growth in the Raleigh area is expected to be over 42% during the next ten years.

Provo, Utah

Provo has a robust tech sector, and it is the home of Brigham Young University. The Milken Institute recently ranked Provo the best performing city in the country regarding wage and job growth.

Fort Collins, Colorado

This is another college town with a booming tech sector. Colorado State University and tech companies like Agilent account for a significant portion of the wage and job growth in the area.

Seattle, Washington

Software developers and other high-skilled professionals continue to flock this city. It is the home of Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech companies. The cost of living in Seattle is also a lot lower than San Francisco.

Nashville, Tennessee

Music City is home to Vanderbilt University, which employs over 60,000 people alone. Nashville is one of the top areas in wage and job growth with plenty of job opportunities in the scientific, technical, administrative, and support services fields.

New York, New York

New York City is the commercial capital of the country with plenty of job opportunities in several lucrative sectors of the business world. Whether you are destined for Wall Street or Broadway, New York City will always have a job waiting for you.

—Tory Kiam, CEO of Kiam Ventures and lia sophia

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The Seven Must Read Business Books of 2018

Whether you want to start your own business, grow your existing business or simply gain an edge over the competitors in your company, books that are up-to-date with the newest and most important information about the business world today can help you in a variety of ways. From understanding what drives your  consumers to knowing the importance of establishing great rapport with your coworkers, the concepts that make up the foundation of the business world never change, but the times do. The best business books can help you understand them. Here are 7 business books you need to read this year.

1. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience by Robert Spector and Breanne O. Reeves:

Not all the best business books are new, some of them are classics. In this new edition of an old classic, however, the authors explore the legendary customer service that Nordstrom’s has become synonymous with. No matter what industry you are in, customer service will always be a critical factor in business, making this book a must-read for all generations.

2. Hacking Innovation by Josh Linkner

While many may instantly associate “hacking” with something ne’er-do-wells do with computers, the underlying meaning of the term has to do with finding unorthodox or unconventional ways to solve complex problems. In this book, the author will teach you how to look at problems in a new and fresh way in order to devise unconventional and fresh ways of creating innovation.

3. The Anticipatory Organization by Daniel Burrus

There is a difference between seeing something that you know is genuinely going to happen and taking action and taking action in response to something that may or may not happen. In this book, Burrus introduces the concept of “hard trends” (things that are definitely going to happen) and “soft trends” (things that might happen) and teaches you how to recognize and deal with both.

4. Top of Mind by John Hall:

John hall is one of the top experts in the field of content marketing. In this book, he shares many of his most valuable content marketing secrets and how he has used them to skyrocket some of his top clients into the stratosphere. The best news about content marketing is that it often costs you little more than some sweat equity, making this an incredibly valuable book for entrepreneurs and small businesses with no marketing budget.

5. Be Like Amazon: Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It by Jeffrey Eisenberg and Bryan Eisenberg:

Contrary to what the name implies, Be Like Amazon actually looks at a number of successful businesses such as Kodak, Costco, General Motors and Walmart to get an in-depth look at what made them successful. The Eisenberg’s break the most successful strategies of some of the nation’s leading companies into four pillars that are so easily repeatable that even a lemonade stand can utilize them.

6. The Potential Principal by Mark Sanborn:

Having great potential will not automatically guarantee you success, but success generally only comes from living up to your potential. In this book, Mark Sanborn helps you determine just what your potential is and whether or not you are living up to it. If you aren’t, this book can help you get there.

7. Winning at Social Customer Care by Dan Gingiss:

In the 21st century, it is no longer enough for businesses to just provide customer service, they also have to create engagement via social media. In this book, Gingiss, an experienced marketing and customer care executive, explores how top brands are using social media to create engagement with their consumer base and building their brands in the process.

-Tory Kiam, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer – lia sophia

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Kids Can Do Anything: New England Teen Organizes Tennis Charity Event

I was recently doing a bit of research for the NYJTL, when I came across a local news story  in a small New England town and the tale was so inspiring, I felt very strongly about sharing it with you.

Last year, young Gianluca Audia saw a video of Serbian star Novak Djokovic playing wheelchair tennis against Paralympic gold medalist Dylan Alcott. Once Djokovic got in the wheelchair, it was clear he was no match for Alcott.

Audia, a 13-year-old New Hampshire resident who has been playing tennis for five years, was inspired to help those with disabilities learn to play his favorite sport. So he started a local round-robin doubles tournament called Swing Into Spring to raise money for the nonprofit Buddy Up Tennis.

History of Giving Back

Audia is proof that giving back can start at a young age. Atjust seven years old, he painted and sold flower baskets so children could afford swimming lessons at his local aquatic center.

His belief that everyone, rich or poor, non-disabled or disabled, should be able to participate in sports inspired his latest project, Swing Into Spring.

Learning More Than Just Tennis

Swing Into Spring benefits Buddy Up Tennis, an Ohio-based charity that holds weekly tennis clinics for children and young adults with Down Syndrome. Beth Gibson, who has a son with Down Syndrome, started the nonprofit in 2008. It has since grown to 20 locations and helps more than 550 individuals stay fit, meet new people and learn important life skills.

Buddy Up Tennis is beneficial for parents of children with Down Syndrome, as well. Gibson has noted that the organization allows them to share stories and give advice to those who are going through similar experiences.

Huge Success

Swing Into Spring, which takes place on April 8, is already a massive success. As of March 25, it had raised nearly $5,000 in registration fees and donations. That includes a $1,000 matching donation from Positive Tracks, an organization that encourages kids to give back to their communities through sporting events.

River Valley Club, a local fitness center, is hosting the event and supplying courts and staff members. So one hundred percent of the tournament proceeds will go toward Buddy Up Tennis.

Continuing Partnership

This may just be the start of the relationship between Audia and Buddy Up Tennis. Gibson plans to attend Swing Into Spring, and she and Audia are discussing holding future Buddy Up clinics at River Valley Club.

Never Too Young

There are many youngsters like Audia who have given back to the less fortunate. One of the most famous is Alexandra Scott, who founded the childhood cancer charity Alex’s Lemonade Stand when she was just four years old.

There are countless other examples. Hannah Taylor started The Ladybug Foundation, a charity that benefits the homeless, when she was just eight years old. Janine Licare and Aislin Livingstone were only nine when they started Kids Save The Rainforest to preserve rainforests and protect the animals that live in them.

These kids prove that you can make a difference in your community even when you are still in grade school.

  -Tory Kiam, Vice Chairman of the New York Junior Tennis League (NYJTL)

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The Six Technologies Impacting Banking and Finance the Most

These days, succeeding in banking and finance relies heavily on properly exploiting the most up-to-date technologies available. Technological capabilities these days can make banking and finance more efficient and accurate than ever before. Technologies also offer extremely important security advantages that ensure that client data cannot be hacked into or stolen.

If you want to be at the top of your game in the world of finance, you should have some understanding of how you could potentially benefit from grasping any or all of the following six technologies:

Infrastructure originating from the cloud

There are many advantages to be had from using cloud services to run banking and financial operations. With the cloud, it’s possible to use a variety of services including databases, mobile technologies, analytical programming, and networks just from connecting to the Internet.

With cloud services, finance companies no longer need to spend a lot on their operations or infrastructure costs.

Taking advantage of Blockchain

If you don’t know what Blockchain is and you’re in the financial industry, you should consider exploring the low-cost platform that Blockchain offers for collaboration. Blockchain is a secure way to exchange sensitive financial data between two parties.

This is a system that offers transparency in exchanging values/assets or sharing financial data.

Using the Application programming interfaces (API) economy

APIs make it possible for individual organizations to allow customers to have connected experiences. Using API technologies, financial service providers are able to instantly extend different processes and present both content and data to partners. This is a great tool for allowing financial institutes to connect to different developers from a third party. It offers a great deal of security to users and can be relied on for cutting edge innovation in product design.

Analyzing with AI

Artificial intelligence is a new technology that is revitalizing a lot of different industries. The banking and financial services industry is no exception.

With AI, it’s possible to be more agile and innovative in analyzing information with the help of “deep learning” technology. These days, AI equipped financial services software can anticipate a customer’s needs and emotions. AI programs are designed to communicate with customers with a surprising level of perception.

Gaining insight from machine learning

Machine learning is important when it comes to banking and finance because it can help to analyze important factors including creditworthiness and the risk analysis of making a particular investment. With the help of machine learning, those in the financial services industry can make clearer decisions and work at developing new products that perfectly meet client needs and fulfill an empty spot in the market.

With the prevalence of the Internet, it is especially important nowadays to find effective methods to protect electronic data. Sensitive client data must be protected from security breaches to ensure faith in a financial services company.

Responsive security systems allow client data in the cloud to be protected. Both sensitive information from institutions and consumers can be secured with responsive security systems that minimize the chances that an outside party will be capable of accessing protected information.

As a financial services professional, it’s important to stay on top of all of these technologies as they continue to develop. It’s also important to look out for more developing technologies that your clients may be interested in or that may make the job of managing your institutions and your clients’ funds more easy and profitable.

Every year brings with it new technologies that change the way business is done in the financial industry.

—Tory Kiam, CEO of lia sophia

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Ten Reasons You Should Start Your Own Business

Have you always wanted to start your own business but were afraid to pull the trigger? If you need a few compelling reasons to strike out on your own, this article will give you ten reasons why you should start your own business today. 

 1.    You Will Get to Determine Your Paycheck As an entrepreneur, you will need to figure out how much your services will cost. For example, what is your hourly rate? What is the return on investment that your client can get from using your services? 

 2.    Your Professional Point of View Will Change Business owners have to look at their services through the eyes of their clients. You will also need to figure out the identity of your ideal client. What do they want? What can you offer them? 

 3.    You Will Need to Find the Pain When you start talking to people who could potentially be customers, many of them are more than happy to talk about the issues that they're having with their business. Practice your listening skills and ask good questions. You should find that people will open up to you.

 4.    You Will Need to Think About Your Brand You will need to consider your professional brand as it will either make you or break you. Think a lot about the value that you will bring your clients. How will you show up every day at your business? What does your business mean to you? Answering these questions now will help you cement your brand. 

 5.    You Need To Keep Track of Time When we work for other people, we can quickly fall into a rut that can last for years and years. You can't do that when you run your own company, or you will become emotionally unhealthy. Entrepreneurs need to learn how to look beyond the work on their desk and manage their time much more effectively.

 6.    You Will Grow As An Entrepreneur and as a Person When you start your own business, you will develop skills that you never thought you could have. You will do more work for yourself in a month than you ever have at work.

 7.    You Will Learn to Value Work The first check that you will get after you start working for yourself will be ten times as valuable as your largest check that you got working for someone else. You will now see the work that you do as valuable. 

 8.    You Will Learn to Value Your Network Many people who work for others ignore their professional network. You can't do that as an entrepreneur. But networking for yourself will become a lot easier as you will be more invested in the results. After a few networking events, you will soon find that getting the word out about your company will become easier with time. 

 9.    You Will Think About Money Differently Entrepreneurs can't afford to waste a cent. Therefore, you will start to consider your financial decisions in a way you didn't when you worked for a company. 

 10. You're The Boss When you wake up in the morning, you'll go to work as the CEO, not an employee. Those mornings will become a lot better than the ones in which you had to do an unhappy commute to make other people money. 

[torykiam]

Create Your Own Content

A Simple, Effective Investment in Your Business

It is common marketing best practice to promote the writing, videos and images that fall in line with your company’s brand, help to promote the ideas that correspond, and most importantly that has already been created and pushed out across the internet. That content can and will always be effective and needed to gain visibility for your business, but if you really want to make an investment that will give back to you and your business time and time again… create your own content.

Read more:

https://medium.com/@torykiam/create-your-own-content-e388a8cc214f

[torykiam]

How 2017’s Top Philanthropists are Changing the Way We Give

In just the last several years, we have seen a major shift in the way we give as Americans. Traditional philanthropists and their classic style of giving has been eclipsed by a new class of ultra-wealthy. Tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill and Melinda Gates have upended the traditional norms for which big philanthropy was once known.

Read more:

http://torykiam.net/2018/03/how-2017s-top-philanthropists-are-changing-the-way-we-give/

[torykiam]

Manage Your Children's Social Media: Tips from the Experts

A common struggle for parents is how they should handle their children's social media use. Even tech executives for huge companies have the same concerns regarding the apps their children download and how they interact with each other on the many different social networks and apps.  Not every tech executive takes the same approach…

To read the article, click on the link below:

http://torykiam.net/2018/03/manage-childrens-social-media/