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Pattern Inspires Mother-Daughter Entrepreneurs

December 13, 2022

By Amanda Kuhnert

Mother-daughter business duo, Sophia Manzi and Gail Borden, are both artists. Sophia is a painter and Gail is a quilter. Their company, Vivace Vermont, is the intersection of these two disciplines. They produce clothing and home accessories using colorful, one-of-a-kind fabrics.

The plan was hatched on a 2019 trip to New York City. “We visited Mood Fabrics in the Garment District and it left us reeling with ideas,” Sophia said. “At a diner, we started brainstorming what became Vivace Vermont.”

Sophia and Gail have always been inspired by each other’s work. “Growing up, I’d be painting and she’d be quilting in the same room, and we’d ask each other for tips and advice when we’d run into a problem,” Sophia said. On that memorable trip to New York, the two were able to pinpoint the common denominator in both of their practices—pattern.

Next steps: Preparing for holiday shopping season

December 8, 2022

Drawing on the experience and insights of Cybersource Managed Risk Analysts worldwide, we’ve put together a series of tips to help you prepare for holiday shopping season and protect your business against fraud and risk while delivering a frictionless experience for genuine customers.

Now that you have spent some time evaluating the different parts of your business, connecting the dots, and planning next steps, let’s put it all together with tips for implementation and preparation. If you missed it, you can check out the first blog in this series.

Get ready for the holiday shopping season

December 8, 2022

Holiday shopping season is just around the corner. (Yes, really.) There’s plenty to do over the next few weeks to get ready, so we’ve put together a series of tips to help you prepare.

The reality is that, for some of you, it has felt like the holiday season year-round since the onset of the pandemic. Still, peak season transactions can account for 30 percent or more of some retailers’ total yearly volume. Combine increased transaction volumes with targeted promotions, new payment methods, and new transaction channels and you may find it is harder to keep up with emerging fraud trends. A common way to combat increased fraud is to send more transactions to manual review—ultimately increasing overhead costs and potentially delaying customers from receiving their purchases.

5 Tips for Using the Right Data to Improve Your Marketing

December 6, 2022

In the age of technology, data-driven marketing is a powerful tool for your small business. Much like knowing your customer base, accessing the right data can help drive customer engagement and help you advertise more effectively.

However, it can take time to ensure you’re using the correct data to influence your marketing strategy. With so much information on the internet, data collection can become overwhelming. So let’s take a look at data-driven marketing and discuss five hands-on tips for using the right data to improve your marketing strategies.

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7 tips for gracefully managing employees during the holidays

November 29, 2022

By Alysha Love

There’s no changing the holiday rush, but small business owners can help lower the stress of the season for everyone by managing employees with grace.

That can be easier said than done. The National Retail Foundation predicts a 6-8% increase in total retail sales for the winter holidays this year. At the same time, 9 out of 10 small business owners told QuickBooks that they’ve been ensnared by supply chain issues this year. Those kinds of stressors can make graceful leadership feel unimportant or impossible by comparison.

But how you curate your work culture and manage your employees makes a huge difference in their job satisfaction — and, ultimately, your employee retention. The three overarching reasons that employees leave are because of subpar benefits, like paid time off; a lack of recognition; and poor company practices, like an unhealthy culture, a 2021 QuickBooks study found.

Small actions can speak volumes. These seven tips are a good place to start to manage your employees through the holidays with grace.

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