🍺Outsourcing, outer space, & America's very real hiring problem.
🍺Outsourcing, outer space, & America's very real hiring problem.
The Weekly from The Liquid Lunch Project, Issue No. 27 | July 15, 2022
This Day in 1965: The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 4 passes over Mars at an altitude of 6,000 feet and sends the first close-up images of the red planet (sans green aliens 👽) to Earth.
Stop trying to be a Jack of All Trades. (We know where that leads.) Today's Lesson is all about outsourcing for success. 🙌🏼
Flight cancellations and lost luggage by damned! 🧳 There's never been a better time to take a European holiday.
Smile, you're on camera. Deep space 🌌 is having its privacy invaded. Because we don't have enough to deal with on our own planet.
Delivery companies 🚚 are doing the Electric Slide as they race to invest in and transition to EVs.
Europe's population is in decline; color us shocked. Did that whole "keep 6-feet-apart" for the last two years have something to do with it? 🤡
📢 Small business owners take note: Don't make these 5 common financial mistakes.
Too many employers, too few employees? On the 🎧 podcast, we talk about America's hiring problem with Rick Girard.
And from Around the Web, signs of 👽 extra-terrestrial life, signs your 🚨small business is under a cyber attack, and ☕ Starbucks signs that are going dark.
A Lesson from the Professor: Outsourcing for Success
By Luigi Rosabianca
Running a business can be expensive and time-consuming—especially when you're first starting out or operating a one-man (or one-woman) show. Hiring full-time or even part-time help may be out of the question, but you know that if you want to grow and scale your business, something has to give.
The concept of outsourcing has grown in popularity over the years, both for its time-saving and money-saving benefits. Recent statistics show that 37% of small businesses outsource at least part of their process to focus on their core business, improve quality of service, solve capacity issues, or meet their business needs. Even big-name companies like Peloton are outsourcing production as a way to cut costs.
If you're ready to start outsourcing for success but have questions on the hows, whys, and logistics of it all, keep reading.
European Holiday ✈🍾🥐🍻
Americans headed to Europe are bottle popping their Prosecco, doubling their espressos, and buying rounds of lager at the pub. The dollar and the euro are now on equal footing, meaning your money may go further this summer. The greenback has strengthened amid general risk aversion and the prospect of more Fed rate hikes. The € has weakened as the war in Ukraine dims the outlook for growth in the EU, and the pair are now looking to parity, with €-$ hitting its lowest since 2002.
The dollar is up 12% against the euro this year - but it’s also up 13% on the British pound and an astounding 19% against the Japanese yen. More bang for your literal buck, which includes our Government as they owe $30 Trillion+.
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The James Webb Space Telescope’s Kodak Moment 🔭
Dust off that childhood diorama and tap into your inner Astronaut: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), released its first full-color images and spectroscopic data. As the largest and most complex observatory ever launched into space, Webb will allow Astronomers to observe the infrared universe, analyze the data collected, publish scientific papers on their discoveries, and Earth-based humanoids to make inane posts on social media.
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Backing the Right Horse…Power 🚛
Walmart’s electric-vehicle start-up, Canoo, sets up an EV battle with Amazon, which has an existing relationship with EV maker Rivian Automotive. Walmart’s agreement bars Canoo from selling EVs to Amazon. Walmart ordered 4,500 of its delivery vans with an option to purchase 5,500 more to expand its e-commerce business, especially the last-mile delivery fleet, which could potentially smooth same-day deliveries.
Amazon has ordered 100,000 vehicles from Rivian, owning about 18% of the EV start-up. Rivian has sent some delivery vehicles to Amazon, with more to come. Canoo vehicles are due to be delivered to Walmart beginning in 2023.
Also in the EV Derby, delivery giants United Parcel Service and FedEx. UPS, for instance, has invested in EV start-up Arrival, while FedEx added 600 EVs from General Motors to its fleet of delivery vehicles in June.
While EVs are more expensive upfront than gas-powered vehicles, they are cheaper to maintain. The daily mileage range is typically enough to finish a delivery route, and the vehicles can be charged at a dedicated facility overnight. The Big Boys in Delivery are hoping to back the right horse for the home stretch.
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Un-intended Consequences 💔
For the first time since WWII, the global population grew by less than 1% between 2020 and 2021. Europe’s population declined during the pandemic, and one-third of all nations are expected to see population declines of 1%+ between 2022 and 2050. This also coincided with reduced downloads of Barry White tunes, lower sales of wax candles, and plummeted farming volume of long-stem red roses. Who woulda guessed social distancing had social repercussions?
5 Business Financial Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
It’s no secret that a majority of small businesses fail within the first five years. (That’s why we’ve shared extensively about the benefits of purchasing already-established businesses.) Even so, whether you have an established business or getting ready to start one, it’s never a bad idea to be reminded of some common financial mistakes - and, more importantly, how you can avoid them. Check out the full article below.
Ep 60: Why Company Core Values Are So Important with Rick Girard
There’s a hiring problem in America. Potential employees are getting more selective, and employers aren’t asking the right questions. Author of Healing Career Wounds, host of the Hire Power Radio Podcast, and self-proclaimed hiring geek, Rick Gerard is here to address that problem.
In this episode, he explains why a company’s core values are so important, what questions you should be asking potential employees, what emotional buy-in means, and much more. If you’re a business owner and struggling to attract and hire top talent, don’t miss this conversation!
Take Your Time Back!
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E.T. Phone Home? China claimed its mammoth-sized radio telescope picked up signals from alien civilizations…and then deleted the report and posts about the discovery. Not suss at all.
Speaking of suspicious behavior, there’s a new type of ransomware attack targeting small businesses. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about right now. Read up to make sure you don’t fall victim to the scam.
Starbucks is closing up shop at 16 locations due to safety concerns…with possibly more on the way if they can’t create a safe environment for their employees. America: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Can’t Even Buy Overpriced Coffee Because a Few Ruin it For All of Us. It begs the question, should this even be a Starbucks problem? Shouldn’t community safety be, I don’t know, an issue for city leadership? Looking at you, Seattle, L.A., Philly, D.C., and Portland.
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