September 16, 2020 6 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. From mom and pops to global brands, we’ve all felt frustrated at times with paying money to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, or any number of other paid search platforms for your own brand name.  The biggest question that everyone has is, “Why should we pay to show ads on our own branded terms? Shouldn’t we be investing in ads that help us compete for all the other non-branded terms people search for?” Fair questions — after all, if someone is searching for the name of your brand…

Using a beer can, a measuring tape, spray cans full of starter fluid, and Styrofoam mannequin heads, the YouTube personality Uncle Rob made a popular video illustrating the power of face masks to stop aerosol spray at various distances. The video is my hands-down favorite among the wide range of messaging tools individuals and organizations have used to persuade people to take steps to reduce risks to themselves and others amid COVID-19. A close second would be the widely shared “Stay Home, Save Lives” memes that my fellow Chicagoans made using a cardboard cutout of our mayor with a stern…

The markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday allowed emerging investment vehicles —REITs and InvITs — to list on stock exchanges operating in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Besides, the watchdog has asked bourses in the IFSC to evolve a detailed framework prescribing the initial and continuous listing requirements for Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) whose units are proposed to be listed. In a circular, Sebi said units of InvITs and REITs meeting certain conditions may be permitted to list on…

September 15, 2020 10 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When I graduated from college, the best career advice I never followed was to build my professional network. As an introvert with a borderline avoidant-personality-disorder, I preferred the mellow illumination of my computer screen, and the sound of a keyboard clicking like rain on a tin roof, over actually meeting people. In retrospect, my understanding of business and sales was naïve. Now I know that networking is the key to success. Fifteen years of working with other professionals taught me that. More recently, interviews with over…

General insurers and standalone health insurers are facing a double whammy. With exponential rise in coronavirus-positive cases, reported Covid claims have topped 200,000, worth over Rs 3,000 crore, and are set to rise further as cases explode. Furthermore, non-Covid claims, which were muted in the initial months of the pandemic, have also picked up pace and are more or less at pre-Covid levels. Although insurers feel loss ratios in the health segment may get impacted, and profitability will take a hit, capital erosion will not take place, at least for the large entities. …

Assets under management (AUM) for domestic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have crossed the Rs 2-trillion mark. In the past five months of FY21, AUM have surged more than Rs 60,000 crore, or 41 per cent. A large portion of this was driven by the surge in share prices, while net inflows were also healthy at Rs 20,000 crore. Further, more than half a million new ETF folios were opened. Market players said the huge number of actively-managed schemes in the large-cap space have failed to outperform the Nifty and…

Effective branding is about much more than just making an impression. Here’s how to build your business by properly developing your brand. September 14, 2020 6 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. As an entrepreneur, you are who you are because you’ve decided to separate yourself from the crowd. You’ve got a good idea that you think is either totally unique or can be done better by you than anyone else. But that’s rarely enough to see your entrepreneurial dream become a reality. Branding can be the difference maker between having a good idea and actually…

Imagine two call centers. In the first, you see smiles and concentrating faces, and overhear heartfelt efforts to help. There is a tangible buzz of hard work but also a feeling of energy and commitment. In the second call center, you see scowls, pained expressions, and eye rolls. Representatives carefully adhere to rote scripts, but their voices lack empathy and warmth. Despite frequent breaks and lags between calls, employees already seem exhausted halfway through the day. Many would chalk up these differences to culture, the seemingly nebulous and hard-to-control factor that contributes to business success. Our work over the last…