Small Business Labs

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The United Nation Reports There are 4.9 Billion Internet Users

Small Business Labs

The UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates that 4.9 billion people are using the Internet in 2021 , which is about 63% of the world's population. This, of course, means about 37% of the world's population are not Internet users, and not surprisingly, most of these folks are in developing countries.   Key quote from the Washington Post's 1 in 3 people around the world have never used the Internet, a U.N. report estimates : " across the U.N.’s 46 lea

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Telehealth for Pets

Small Business Labs

Forerunner's Pet health is going the way of human health; our investment in Dutch covers the reasons the VC firm has invested in the pet telehealth startup Dutch. The main reason is fairly obvious. The pandemic accelerated the already growing trend towards pet ownership.   According to the ASPCA, 23 million American households acquired a dog or cat during the pandemic.    And as the article points out, the increases in pet ownership came with increases in the demand f

Health 40
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The Anti-Work Movement and the Surge in Self-Employment

Small Business Labs

The antiwork movement (also referred to as the post-work movement) is getting much attention these days.   This attention has been spurred by the growth of  Reddit's/antiwork forum , which has over 900,000 members - who are called "idlers" on Reddit.  According to Reddit, the forum is for: " those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on antiwork ideas and want personal help

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The Number of Digital Nomads Surged Again in 2021

Small Business Labs

The pandemic-driven seismic shift to remote led to continued strong growth in the number of American digital nomads in 2021. The MBO Partners 2021 State of Independence research study found that 15.5 million American workers currently describe themselves as digital nomads, increasing 42% from 2020 and 112% from the pre-pandemic year 2019 (click on the study chart below to enlarge).  The main reason for the growth is that traditional job holders have been unleashed from their offices and ma

2021 259
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The Independent Worker Surge

Small Business Labs

After falling by 7% in 2020 due to the pandemic, the number of independent workers (freelancers, independent contractors, gig workers, etc.) rose to 51.1 million in 2021, an unprecedented 34% increase. This is the key finding from MBO Partners 2021 State of Independence research study. This is the 11th year this study has been conducted. As the study chart below shows (click to enlarge), the number of full-time independent workers increased by 25%.

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The Metaverse is Coming

Small Business Labs

The metaverse has been getting a lot of media attention recently, mainly because Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook plans to shift from being a social media company to a metaverse company. So what is the metaverse? There is no standard, widely accepted definition. The Wall Street Journal, in its article Facebook, Roblox See the 'Metaverse' as Key to the Internet's Next Phase , describes it as: "The metaverse concept, rooted in science-fiction novels such as "Snow Crash&#

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Small Business Mobile Banking Use Varies by Generation

Small Business Labs

Barlow Research Associates A Generational Shift in Business Banking Behaviors Is Upon Us, and It's Not Just Among Your Millennial Customers covers the banking transaction channels used by small businesses by the age cohort of the owner. As the Barlow chart below shows (click to enlarge), there's a big difference in the use of mobile banking applications. 64% of Gen X and Millennial SMB owners (those younger than 57) regularly use mobile apps for their banking transactions.  Only 41

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