Several customers owe you money, but you have no idea when those payments will arrive. Meanwhile, your vendors and contractors are contacting you daily to pay your own invoices. For small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs), this is an all-too-common cash-flow conundrum.

A recent Kabbage survey of 500 successful entrepreneurs showed cash-flow issues are front of mind for SMB owners. Of the respondents surveyed, 63 percent said they are regularly stressed or have anxiety due to cash-flow concerns. Yet, respondents have run successful companies for an average of 10.5 years.

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How does a leader manage to harness the talents of a group without letting things descend into chaos? How does a leader give firm direction without stifling creativity and individuality?

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High-profile entrepreneurs like Stitch Fixs Katrina Lake and The Riveter's Amy Stern Nelson are using Stories to answer questions about everything from managing cash flow to storing breast milk during business trips.

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Running a small business or being self-employed can offer flexibility, freedom and control over your earning potential. While the perks are plentiful, there’s one thing thats usually missing when you own a small business: an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Self-employed people do not have 401(k)s, and small business owners tend not offer them, citing the time and cost to set up and administer them. The good news is there are several other retirement plan options available to small business owners. If you have yet to begin saving for retirement as an entrepreneur, here is how you can change that.

Small Business Retirement Plan Basics

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The climb to the top can be tough going for anyone. But as women, there are particular hurdles that can make the journey upward toward positions of power and influence -- in myriad spheres -- especially challenging.

Here, in 50 inspiring quotes, businesswomen, role models, activists, entertainers, authors and politicians share their thoughts on leadership and success -- and what exactly those words mean to them.

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The entrepreneurs on Inc.s second annual Female Founders 100 list have transformed every major industry in America. Meet the boundless dreamers making the biggest difference in 2019.

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The start of a new year provides the perfect opportunity for business owners to set new goals and find unique ways to improve their operations. There are plenty of different options for your 2020 resolutions, from shoring up your finances to organizing your online presence. Here are some suggestions and tips from members of the online small business community.

Grow Your Savings with Money New Mindset
If one of your resolutions for 2020 is to save more money for your business, you may need to shift your mindset. So how can you look at things a bit differently in the new year? Jamie T. Wiseman of Miss Millennia Magazine explores a handful of mindset shifts in this post.

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Here is something good that has come out of the pandemic. Because people have had fewer buying opportunities, the countrys personal savings rate is the highest it’s been in 30 years. Retail sales have continued to grow and consumer confidence is at a six-month high.

But the biggest impact on the sales of smaller retailers has been online. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, online sales have increased more than 44% compared with the previous year and, as more shutdowns, quarantines and other disruptions potentially loom, many expect this trend to continue. Small retailers in this area know this, and many have been investing heavily in e-commerce to succeed this holiday season.

Minimum wage is a complex issue for small businesses, says the Small Business Development Center in Binghamton.

The SBDC adds that, typically, small businesses have a close relationship with their employees and if they could pay them more originally, they would.

They add that they believe some business owners may have to pick up the slack in order to keep costs low.

The Small Business Administration has extended deferment periods for all of l its disaster loans made either in 2020 or 2021, the agency announced on Monday.

The extended deferment includes the SBAs Economic Injury Disaster Loan – or EIDL – program, which many businesses that did not qualify for Paycheck Protection Program loans or other funding used to bridge the losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All SBA disaster loans made in 2020 will have the first payment due date extended from 12-months to 24-months from the date of the note, the agency said. Disaster loans made in 2021 will have a first payment due date extended from 12-months to 18-months from the date of the note.

Except for McGehee, you all come here for American Idol updates, don't you? Or, perhaps, to mock me for my...

Since Playgirl editor-in-chief, Michele Zipp, has outed herself as a Republican, can a Conservative Men of the Blogosphere special...

Many, many years ago (it was Hallowe'en 1989, for the curious, the year before Good Omens was published) Terry Pratchett and I were sharing a room at the World Fantasy Convention in Seattle, to keep the costs down, because we were both young authors, and taking ourselves to America and conventions were expensive. It was a wonderful convention. I remember a huge Seattle second-hand bookstore in which I found a dozen or so green-bound Storisende Edition James Branch Cabell books, each signed so neatly by the author that the bookshop people assured me that the signatures were printed, and really ten dollars a book was the correct price. 

I could afford books. Good Omens had just been sold to UK publishers and then to US publishers for more money than Terry or I had ever received for anything. (Terry had been incredibly worried about this, certain that receiving a healthy advance would mean the end of his career. When his career didn't end, Terry suggested to his agent that perhaps he ought to be getting that kind of advance for every book from now on, and his life changed, and he stopped having to share a hotel room to save money. But I digress.) Advance reading copies of Good Omens had not yet gone out, but a few editors had read it (ones who had bid for it but failed to buy it) and they all seemed very excited about it, and thrilled for us.

On the Saturday evening Terry left the bar quite early and headed off to bed. I stayed up talking to people and having a marvelous time, hung in there until the small hours of the morning when they closed the hotel bar and all the people went away, and then headed up to the hotel room room. 

I opened the door as quietly as I could and tiptoed in the dark across the room to where my bed was located.

I'd just reached the bed when, from the far side of the room, a voice said, “What time of the night do you call this then? Your mother and I have been worried sick about you.”

Terry was wide awake. Jet lag had taken its toll.

And I was wide awake too. So we lay in our respective beds and having nothing else to do, we plotted the sequel to Good Omens. It was a good one, too. We fully intended to write it, whenever we next had three or four months free. Only I went to live in America and Terry stayed in the UK, and after Good Omens was published Sandman became SANDMAN and Discworld became DISCWORLD™ and there wasn't ever a good time.

But we never forgot it.

It's been thirty-one years since Good Omens was published, which means it's thirty-two years since Terry Pratchett and I lay in our respective beds in a Seattle hotel room at a World Fantasy Convention, and plotted the sequel. (I got to use bits of the sequel in the TV series version of Good Omens -- that's where our angels came from.)

Terry was clear on what he wanted from Good Omens on the telly. He wanted the story told, and if that worked, he wanted the rest of the story told.

So in September 2017 I sat down in St James' Park, beside the director, Douglas Mackinnon, on a chair with my name on it, as Showrunner of Good Omens. The chair slowly and elegantly lowered itself to the ground underneath me and fell apart, and I thought, that's not really a good omen. Fortunately, under Douglas's leadership, that chair was the only thing that collapsed. 

So, once Good Omens the TV series had been released by Amazon and the BBC, to global acclaim, many awards and joy,  Rob Wilkins (Terry's representative on Earth) and I had the conversation with the BBC and Amazon about doing some more. And they got very excited. We talked to Michael Sheen and David Tennant about doing some more. They also got very excited. We told them a little about the plot. They got even more excited.

I'd been a fan of John Finnemore's for years, and had had the joy of working with him on a radio show called With Great Pleasure, where I picked passages I loved, had amazing readers read them aloud and talked about them.

(Here's a clip from that show of me talking about working with Terry Pratchett, and reading a poem by Terry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06x3syv. Here's the whole show from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OsS_JWbzQ with John Finnemore's bits too.)

I asked John if he'd be willing to work with me on writing the next round of Good Omens, and was overjoyed when he said yes. We have some surprise guest collaborators too. And Douglas Mackinnon is returning to oversee the whole thing with me.

So that's the plan. We've been keeping it secret for a long time (mostly because otherwise my mail and Twitter feeds would have turned into gushing torrents of What Can You Tell Us About It? long ago) but we are now at the point where sets are being built in Scotland (which is where we're shooting, and more about filming things in Scotland soon), and we can't really keep it secret any longer.

There are so many questions people have asked about what happened next (and also, what happened before) to our favourite Angel and Demon. Here are, perhaps, some of the answers you've been hoping for. 

As Good Omens continues, we will be back in Soho, and all through time and space, solving a mystery which starts with one of the angels wandering through a Soho street market with no memory of who they might be, on their way to Aziraphale's bookshop. 

(Although our story actually begins about five minutes before anyone had got around to saying “Let there be Light”.)

Hullo,

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 25, 2024 ) The global dietary supplements market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4%, increasing from $167.5 billion in 2023 to $239.4 billion by 2028. Key factors driving this growth include the rising elderly population, a shift from traditional...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 26, 2024 ) Gallium Nitride, also known as GaN, is a semiconductor material that optimizes power density. Utilizing GaN components in an RF amplifier enables the attainment of high-output power without the need for size and weight expansion. High frequency, high power, and...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 26, 2024 ) There is anticipation for a steady growth in the Shea Butter Market because of its rising popularity in both food and cosmetics industries. Consumers who prefer natural products often choose Raw & Unrefined Shea Butter. The Personal Care & Cosmetics sector consumes...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 28, 2024 ) Women’s Activewear Market overview Women's activewear is clothing designed specifically for women to wear while engaging in physical activity and working out. It typically includes sports bras, leggings, shorts, tops, and jackets made from breathable, moisture-wicking...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 30, 2024 ) The Integrated Visual Augmentation System market is valued at USD 1.0 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 1.7 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 11.1% from 2024 to 2029. Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) are advanced solutions enhancing military...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) The Digital Asset Management Market is expected to grow from USD 5.3 billion in 2024 to USD 10.3 billion by 2029 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.0% during the forecast period. The growing number of digital assets across industries will boost the growth...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) The UAV-Drone-Navigation System Market is expected to grow from USD 960 million in 2024 to USD 1,520 million by 2029, representing a CAGR of 11.2%. The increase in demand for UAVs across sectors, including commercial applications, military operations, and public...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) The global Digital Instrument Cluster market is witnessing rapid growth, fueled by increasing demand for advanced automotive displays and enhanced in-car experiences. Driven by advancements in digital interfaces, these clusters provide customizable, high-resolution...

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(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 04, 2024 ) The global Exposure Management Market size is projected to grow from USD 2.2 billion in 2024 to USD 7.6 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 28.3% during the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure@ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=193629602&utm_source=emailwire.com&utm_medium=paidpr&utm_campaign=exposure-management-market The...

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Prime Management Consultants Ltd leads the way as Aviation Consultants with a unique, diverse and practical approach to all matters affecting the aviation industry. Historically it’s key personnel and global team are selected with strong Aviation Management backgrounds.

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I just got an email from my hosting company…apparently the old Movable Type comment script is causing some sort of server malfunction, so they’ve disabled all comments on this site.

Since I refuse to pay for the new version of MT, I may end up doing what I’ve been thinking about for a while: namely, switching to WordPress or some other alternative. Which seems to be the thing to do these days, anyway. Fortunately, spring break is coming up next week, so I may actually have some free time to wrestle with it.

In the meantime, feel free to email any comments you may have.

Over at Catallarchy, Micha Ghertner discusses “How To Tell You’ve Won An Argument;” namely, when your opponent concedes that his position is less coherent than your own, you’ve won. Now, I don’t want to dispute his point, but rather to question how relevant it is. I’ve touched on this before, but I’m a bit dubious of the notion that the “correct” position is the one that wins arguments between advocates of two different positions.

Obviously, in the first place, there’s nothing to prevent both arguers from being wrong; the relative lack of coherence of one of their positions means, at best, that the other’s position is “less” wrong (assuming that even makes sense and assuming that coherence is a measure of correctness).¹ But this is somewhat superficial (and besides, already mentioned and acknowledged in the comments to Ghertner’s post); more importantly, I want to cast doubts upon the parenthetical assumption I made above, that coherence is some sort of infallible metric for measuring correctness/validity.

In fact, Ghertner (perhaps unconsciously) alludes to this very issue when he quotes Wittgenstein’s famous seventh proposition from the Tractatus: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” Within the context of the Tractatus (as an attempt to construct or at least describe a perfect language), this supports the notion that being right and being coherent are synonymous, but Wittgenstein himself later rejects this perspective and, to me, the more apropos quotation is: “Explanations come to an end somewhere” (Philosophical Investigations, I§1). That is, no argument (and certainly none about abstract principles) is completely coherent; we always run up against that whereof we cannot speak and therefore must be silent. The question is simply at what stage in the investigation we enter the realm of unsupported assertion.

And even if we scale back our expectations and choose to embrace the position that manages to maintain coherence as far back as possible, there’s still no guarantee that we’re on the right track. Although much of the world can apparently be explained without the need to stipulate a deity, this doesn’t really make it any less likely that theism is right. In the words of Chuck Klosterman:

Math [or, perhaps more fittingly in this context, logic] is the antireligion, because it splinters the gravity of life’s only imperative equation: Either something is true, or it isn’t.

In fact, if we really want to get all Wittgensteinian about this (not that we necessarily should), we might even begin to question those positions which do appear to be coherent:

In the actual use of expressions we make detours, we go by side roads. We see the straight highway before us, but of course we cannot use it, because it is permanently closed. (PI, I§426)

Anyway, getting back to whatever semblance of a point I was trying to make, when someone admits that their position is incoherent, that does indeed mean that they’ve lost the argument, but I just wonder how important that really is. Giving up your high-paying job and live-in girlfriend to go back home and take care of your sick mother isn’t going to win a lot of arguments if we’re taking logical coherence as the criterion of victory (seriously, think about it), but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. That doesn’t mean that coherence is totally irrelevant to what is right/correct, either (and, I should point out, in the above example helping your sick mom isn’t necessarily the right thing to do; as is almost always true, it depends on the circumstances), but let’s not give argument-winning more importance than it merits. Or, as some smarmy new-age intellectual might put it, in the pursuit of knowledge, our goal shouldn’t be to win arguments, but, rather, to discover truth.

The law of the excluded middle says here: It must either look like this, or like that. So it really—and this is a truism—says nothing at all, but gives us a picture. And the problem ought now to be: does reality accord with the picture or not? And this picture seems to determine what we have to do, what to look for, and how—but it does not do so, just because we do not know how it is to be applied. Here saying “There is no third possibility” or “But there can’t be a third possibility!”—expresses our inability to turn our eyes away from this picture: a picture which looks as if it must already contain both the problem and its solution, while all the time we feel that it is not so. (PI I§352)

If you use a font that the recipient is unlike to have, select Files > Proprties > Font > Embed fonts in the document before exporting to PDF. Note that embedding will vastly increase the file size if you you have a large number of fonts.

You wouldn't be blamed for assuming Coralie Clément is a contemporary of Françoise Hardy or Jane Birkin's; her coquettish and sultry, whispered vocals, suave touches of bossa and samba, and splashy dabblings in yé-yé make her sound like Brigitte Fontaine buffing out her scratches and sanding down her bristly edges.

Her debut LP, Salle des pas perdus, is a collaboration with her brother Benjamin Biolay, who wrote and arranged it, only further reinforcing her throwback nature. For a time during the 90s, Momus did a lot of his own Serge Gainsbourg-styled team-ups with elegant yet wryly sassy chanteuses—the Kahimi Karie songs, the Poison Girl Friend songs, the Laila France songs—and this record plucks at the same heartstrings.

The subsequent albums are interesting and possessed with the same sort of low-key charisma, with Toystore perhaps being the most aggressively different: in place of gentle strings and unhurried horns are skippy ukuleles, tinny tambourines, frothy farfisas.

Part 5 of our series on 'The Holy Spirit' asks: is there a difference between the Holy Spirit in the Old and the New Testaments? Does He do the same things now as He did then? What can New Testament believers expect that's different in how the Spirit relates to us today? These are all questions we seek to answer in this new study, entitled 'The Holy Spirit In The Old Testament'. Join us for this helpful message, which is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format and in HD video on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/PreachTheWord)...

Part 7 of our series on 'The Holy Spirit' continues our look at 'The Work Of The Holy Spirit'. The Holy Spirit is the critical prime mover in the work of redemption. He established salvation for us but now He is also the One who applies salvation to us. We are learning how the Holy Spirit personally works in our lives to conform us to the image of Jesus. Last time we considered the Spirit's work of 'Conviction and Regeneration', in this episode we will look at the Spirit's work of 'Empowerment and Sanctification'. Why not share this message with others? It's available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format and in HD video on our YouTube Channel (https://youtube.com/PreachTheWord)...

In 'Revival Now', David Legge asks and seeks to answer the question: What might revival look like in the 2020s? Or, to consider it another way: What is the revival we need for today? Of course, there are common features to every revival, and yet there are always distinctives to every one. We can never second guess God in how He will move again - yet we do have desperate needs in our age that only God can meet. In this series, David looks at how we need a new move of God's Spirit to meet the contemporary needs in the church and our world in this present moment. In Part 1, we explore how the church and we as Christians need to get our focus back on Jesus. He must be the pre-eminent one and the centre of all we do and are. What idols have distracted us from the centrality of Christ? How can we give our Lord His rightful place in our lives and churches? This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

In Part 2 of 'Revival Now' as we contemplate the type of revival we might need in our day, David now considers how we need 'A New Prayer Movement'. What kind of praying is needed for revival? In this age of innovation, what 'old paths' of prayer might we need to rediscover in what God is doing anew? Be inspired to pray for revival through this message! This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

In Part 3 of 'Revival Now', we ask: what is the holiness that we are called to as Christians? It has been misrepresented and misunderstood by many in the church. In this message, David first establishes what holiness is not and then goes on to consider what is this holiness and most importantly how do we get it? In a day when sin and compromise is rampant in the church, we need 'A New Holiness Movement'. In 2021 we need a revival in true holiness. This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

The church very often cannot receive the message of revival because it is so bound. Like Lazarus, the church may be 'alive', but spiritually bound. Many Christians as individuals are in this position and need deliverance and freedom. In Part 4 of 'Revival Now', David talks about how we can be set free as individuals, and the incredible impact that one soul saved and set free can have, even on a whole community. We need to rediscover the message of freedom in the Gospel of the Kingdom. We need 'A New Freedom Movement'! This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

Very often in some streams of Christianity there is an emphasis upon the Word of God, as opposed to the Spirit of God, or vice versa. At times these strands are even in contention with each other. This is not the way New Testament Christianity is meant to be. It should not be a case of 'either or' but 'both and' as regards the Word and the Holy Spirit. In Part 5 of our 'Revival Now' series, David explores this disparity and how we desperately need a new movement of the Word and the Spirit: The Word with the Spirit - not the Word without the Spirit; and the Spirit with the Word - not the Spirit without the Word. There is great power when the Word and the Spirit are together. Join us for this challenging exhortation, which is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

In Part 6 of 'Revival Now' we see our need for 'A New Unity Movement'. If scriptures like Psalm 133 and the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 put such a high value on unity as a key to blessing, why is it so elusive in Christianity? David suggests two reasons for this: first, the devil's agenda at all costs to divide and conquer, and second, our fear of false unity. In this message, David considers what false unity is and also why we should not be afraid of true unity in Spirit and in truth. One thing is certain, God wants the body of Christ everywhere to be united for His Kingdom cause. If that much is clear, what difference should that make to our attitudes to others and our behaviours? This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

Can we have a move of God that doesn't resemble Christ? Obviously not, but is Christ-likeness our emphasis in the church and as individuals? Do we look like Jesus? Do we sound like Jesus? In Part 7 of 'Revival Now', David Legge, using two fruit of the Spirit - Gentleness and Kindness - shows that what the church and the world most needs are Christians that look like Christ and exhibit His attributes to all, even our enemies. We will see real change in the church and society when people see Jesus in us through 'A New Christlike Movement'. This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

Along with preceding prayer, the next most common external feature of historic revivals is probably the preaching of the gospel. Renewal in the church may not necessarily feature many souls being saved but revival certainly does. In Part 8 of his 'Revival Now' series, David Legge emphasises the need for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom in Holy Spirit power. We need to get back to preaching the good news of Jesus with passion and urgency. However, public preaching is only a part of what it means to spread the gospel; David also exhorts that we must be making disciples. He shares how simple disciple-making movements are spreading the flame of revival in some of the most persecuted countries on the planet and how this might well be a divine blueprint for us in the West to follow. This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...

In this concluding message of 'Revival Now' we see the need for 'A New Revival And Reform Movement', as David considers the difference between revival and reformation. From Matthew 9, he shares how revival is like the new wine God pours out from heaven, but the wineskins need to be fit for purpose to preserve and distribute the wine, otherwise the wine is spilled and wasted and the wineskins are ruined. God is wanting to reform the church again so that she is fit for purpose for the 'new thing' He wants to do among us. God is calling the church back to original New Testament Christianity, so therefore we must remove all obstacles in the way of this move of God. Perhaps that's part of what this current shaking in the church is all about? This message is available at https://www.preachtheword.com now in MP3 audio format...