Our Head of PR & Coms, Caroline Hoffmann, recently wrote an article for Kivo Daily on ways to get press coverage without any budget.
In her article ‘8 Tips to Get Press Coverage Without Spending A Penny’, Caroline gives 8 tips on how to build your profile, find the right strategy that answers your needs, and pitch journalist.
Read it now!
Author: Caroline Hoffmann
Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was recently quoted in E-Crypto News article ‘How The Coronavirus Is Affecting The Crypto And Blockchain Markets (Exclusive Interview)’.
She said: “As with all financial assets market volatility can have a strong impact due to the panic and instability created when global epidemics occur. Most financial stock exchanges have been affected as investors are gripped with fear and worry. In most cases, it is fear that drives the markets! So I expect to see continued volatility in crypto-assets and markets as the Coronavirus pandemic continues.”
You can read the full article here.
11th of March 2020 was an important day in the UK as new chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his first budget post-Brexit.
Whilst there was a heavy emphasis to address the Coronavirus crisis it was reassuring to see the Government was aware of the impact on small businesses this crisis has bought and more crucially, announced measures on how it can support SMEs which make up the lifeblood of the UK economy. Most startups, like MarketOrders fall under this category so here we look at how the Budget will affect our customers and industry and how best to prepare for the changes.
The Chancellor did not shy away from the reality of the situation we find ourselves in saying:
“There is likely to be a temporary disruption and “challenging times” to our economy. For a period, it’s going to be tough, ‘’ said chancellor Rishi Sunak.
The consumption of gold jewellery during these challenging times may be impacted with fewer visitors to high street jewellers as people opt to stay at home or self-isolate.
The reassuring news is that the UK government has put in place various measures to help with this difficult and hopefully temporary situation.
With a £30bn fiscal stimulus to support British people, the new 2020 budget should help British jobs and British businesses to face the virus.
Here are some of the points that are addressed with this new 2020 budget and the impact on our industry:
Business Rate Discounts for Small businesses with a rateable value below £51,000
With countries going into lockdown, the biggest concern is for SMEs and how they will survive if there is no footfall or visitors to their stores. For jewellery retailers who already have limited online presence, their physical stores are a key way to generate sales and revenues and they are heavily reliant on keeping their stores open. But there are no customers then overhead costs will continue to be difficult to pay for. Business discounts will provide some relief for these retailers
Business interruption loans for small businesses
SMEs could apply for loans to help them cover the next few months of uncertainty especially if the country goes into lockdown or more people start to self-isolate which will cause ghost-like high streets and empty shopping malls.
Bank of England announced an emergency cut in interest rates
So far, the high duty of 12.5 percent on gold coupled with the goods and services tax has made buying jewellery very costly, thus affecting consumer demand. But things might change as gold is seen as a safe haven asset in troubled times. as we see rates cut this may encourage savers to put their cash into assets typically seen as safe options in times of uncertainly.
We may actually see purchases of gold jewellery rise in this instance as a result as gold is typically seen as a reliable and safe store of value that can be liquidated with ease.
Some jewellers believe “this could see gold jewellery, in particular, emerge as a favourable investment option in 2020”, says Shreyansh Kapoor, Vice-President, Kashi Jewellers.
Employment allowance increase for small businesses
Most SMEs have limited cashflow so help with sick pay and employee leave will be a huge source of assistance to smaller enterprises who may not be able to fund employees to self-isolate if needed.
Cancelled events
Organisers for the Istanbul Jewellery Show have confirmed that the event will be postponed amid the recent coronavirus outbreak. The event, which was due to take place later this month, is now scheduled to take place between 18-21 June 2020.
Concluding Notes
Small Business looking at their business expenditures and at getting more creative in their product order might be struggling with stock, delivery, and inventory management.
This is where MarketOrders platform could come handy by helping these jewellery retailers having an online presence and by reducing unnecessary stock of gold jewellery.
In times of uncertainty, MarketOrders could help them make smarter purchase decisions and help their business grow without typically tying up too much unnecessary capital in holding products and inventory they may struggle to sell.
Our CEO, Ram Krishnna Rao, was recently quoted in Finance Magnates article ‘Will Malaysia Become Fintech’s Next Global Hub?’.
Journalist Rachel McIntosh wrote:
Indeed, Ram Krishnna Rao, chief executive and co-founder of blockchain-based gold jewelry platform MarketOrders, told Finance Magnates that “geographically, [Malaysia is] located close to where the innovation is happening in this space: Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Korea, [which] all have been leading the way when it comes to Fintech innovations including blockchain and cryptocurrencies.”
Rao also pointed out that the country is also becoming increasingly attractive to Western countries who have an interest in finding a low-cost workforce: “we are seeing an increasing number of western companies utilising the tech talent in Asian countries where the population is increasingly becoming English fluent and the tech pool is growing and cheaper to employ,” he said.
Indeed, “as a Malaysian myself, I have seen the country as a whole and its people start to become aware of the Fintech opportunities available to them,” Rao commented.
Of course, technological advances are also boost ing business in Malaysia–” the infrastructure is also being developed with an increasing number of co-working spaces, good internet connectivity and the introduction of Digital Free Trade Zone (‘DFTZ’) by the Malaysian Government in 2017 to help local businesses export goods printing those in e-commerce,” Rao said.
You can read the full article here.
Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was recently quoted in E-Crypto News article ‘Is Bitcoin Jinxed At $10,000? E-Crypto News Talks To Industry Heavyweights(Exclusive)’.
She said: “Wild fluctuations in cryptocurrencies (and any currency for that matter) typically happen when markets are unregulated and uncertainty is high, though bitcoin is still an unregulated currency, the markets are getting more comfortable with bitcoin as it reaches wider adoption and trust.
We are now seeing markets stabilise a little as bitcoin is seen as one of the most trustworthy cryptocurrencies out there. Will BTC rise above 10,000USD? This could still happen if we see more volatility in global financial markets otherwise we may actually see signs of stabilization in the markets which is actually a good thing for the long term as this will encourage wider adoption of cryptocurrencies and show that it is the currency of tomorrow.”
Read the article now!
Our Head of PR & Coms, Caroline Hoffmann, was recently nominated for the Rising Star Awards by WeAreTheCity.
The shortlist will be announced on 20 April 2020 on the WeAreTheCity and Rising Star websites and through Twitter @watc_updates.
Caroline reacted to the news: “I’m really honoured to be nominated for the Rising Star Award. It means a lot to me and shows how much I’ve accomplished since I joined the MarketOrders team and how much my team and supporters believe in me!”
Fingers crossed!
Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was recently featured in Eastern Eye article ‘International Women’s Day: ‘Stand up and speak out to affect change’’.
She said: “Financial equality is a vital complement of ensuring a gender-equal world as it ensures opportunities are available to all and not just those who can afford it. My pledge this year will be to ensure there is gender pay transparency in my company to ensure equal pay for equal work.”
Read the article now!
(Photo credit: AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was recently interviewed by E-Crypto News for the International Women’s Day.
In the article, titled ‘Ten Questions: One-On-One With Sukhi Jutla’, Sukhi tells us about what it’s like to be a leading figure in Fintech, to be a woman working in technology, and more.
Read the interview now!
Our Co-Founder & COO, Sukhi Jutla, was recently asked by the Global Banking and Finance review to write a piece on cryptocurrency and its value compared to gold.
The article, titled ‘Has Cryptocurrency become the new digital gold?’, gives insights into Bitcoin, the volatility of cryptocurrencies, its correlation to the price of gold and how crypto could become the digital gold.
Read the full article here.