Time-Banking

Ever wanted help with a project? What if you could exchange needed services with your friends and neighbors? This group did just that through the time-banking model.

Time-banking is a model for trading skills, goods, and labor instead of money—a sort of barter system where members “deposit” hours doing things like teaching, cooking, or repairing things, and “withdraw” hours of other members’ services. It’s been around in the U.S. since the 1980s, and there are close to 500 such banks across the country today. No Price Tags: These Neighbors Built Their Own Economy Without Money

Most function on a one-hour to one-hour system that helps members meet their needs in non-monetary ways, often saving money. This allows stay-at-home mothers, retirees, and business professionals alike to contribute.

No Need to Sign

Signature requirements for credit card transactions are about to become obsolete. Although many vendors have already quit asking patrons to sign, American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa will make it official in the coming month. Since the advent of the “chip card,” that offers a higher level of security and more specific identifiers per transaction, written signatures are no longer useful as proof in a disputed charge.

Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S.

Does Your Business Qualify?

The promising new tax break for business owners lacks well defined language and at the moment is causing more confusion than celebration. While businesses struggle to figure out if they will be able to take part in this tax break worth $415B, they await further definition from those drafting the paperwork.

No one’s sure who qualifies for this $415B tax deduction

Just Where Are Your Tips Going?

The debate continues about the fairness of paying wait staff less than minimum wage based on their ability to earn tips. Some states have already done away with this special exception to a federal wage law and are requiring restaurants to pay full minimum wage. Opponents suggest that this will affect smaller establishments, but studies show that this increase could bring a large number of workers above the poverty and deter tip theft as well.

Wage Theft in Restaurants

Do you eBay? Do you PayPal?

eBay announced last Thursday that it would no longer use PayPal as its primary processing service. Moving to Ayden, a Netherlands based firm and promising lower costs for consumers and a more streamlined customer experience. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 and spun off in 2014 after pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn. The two remain contractually related until 2023.

EBay is dropping PayPal; if you’re a customer, here’s what you need to know

Team Building 101

After interviewing over 500 business leaders, managing director of Merryck & Co and author, Adam Bryant compiled this detailed list of the best practices for creating and maintaining a strong and productive team. Start with a plan, set the rules of the road and work to foster a culture of communication and respect that goes both ways.

How to Build a Successful Team

It’s Business, Not Personal

As much as we all dream of companies who serve the greater good, supply amazing products and make money, it’s an almost unachievable business plan. Started as a marketplace for vintage arts and crafts, Etsy went public in 2015 and slowly began shifting its focus away from original tenants and toward making money.

Inside the Revolution at Etsy

Are You Oily?

How do you feel about essentials oils? Ever given them a try, just to see? What do you think about Multi-level Marketing businesses? Young Living and DoTerra, the two leading essential oil companies share a deep and ‘colorful’ past. Rachel Monroe for the New Yorker offers an in-depth history of the men who started both groups, as well as a personal look into what the people who sell their products actually gain from being part of these marketing schemes.

How Essential Oils Became the Cure for Our Age of Anxiety

A Little Auto-Reply Laugh

We all need a little levity at one time or another. Just like we need to unplug from our devices. Getting ready for the holidays? Check out these creative and humorous email, auto-replies in Tim Herrera’s article, Your Best Ways to Say ‘Sorry, I’m Out of the Office’.

Interview Questions

Ever had an interview that felt like an interrogation? Most managers agree that this time should be a way to learn more about the prospective employee and to offer them a safe space to ask questions about the company. Often, similar questions are used in this process but they might not always mean what you think. Rich Bellis for FastCompany, offers his advice for what interviewers actually hope to hear when they ask these questions. The Secret Meanings Behind Four Of The Most Common Interview Questions.