With just over two weeks remaining, last-minute shoppers may be starting to feel the noose of the December 25th deadline circling around their necks when it comes to gifts. But coming up empty-handed now doesn’t mean consumers won’t pay a pretty penny for what eventually lands in their shopping carts.
What do Carrie Bradshaw, Cher Horowitz, Elle Woods, and Sophie Kinsella’s Rebecca Bloomwood all have in common? They’re all fashionably chic pop culture heroines that perpetuate the notion of women as shopaholics. And while women may scoff at such a generalization, many can admit to coveting their Jimmy Choo’s and Louis Vuitton purses.
In the current uphill economy, it takes more than the obvious for businesses to excel. Not everyone can get by with cutting labor and reducing utilities to stay in the black. When you’re dealing with economic factors beyond your immediate control, it may take creativity and serious reflection of your operations to find a light at the end of the tunnel.
Now that the dust has settled after Hurricane Sandy, many East Coasters are facing the unfortunate reality of how the storm has rattled their finances. Time Magazine estimates that Sandy will cost $60 billion between property damage and lost business. But banks and lenders have placed a sliver of hope on the horizon.
During your eleventh-hour of financial need, it may become difficult to distinguish an honest lender from a predator. When a lender is saying all of the right things that make you want to sign on the dotted line, your normally sound judgment can start to show some cracks.