Absolutely nobody was talking about a banking panic a week ago, but the Silicon Valley Bank fallout sent Wall Street volatility levels to a new 2023 high on Monday as bank stocks (especially regional banks like First Republic) took significant hits. The Fed has promised to make SVB depositors whole, but it remains to be seen whether its actions thus far will spread the fear of contagion.

To calm that fear, President Biden assured Americans that “the banking system is safe” and “your deposits will be there when you need them,” although he called for a return of rolled-back banking regulations.

One actionable takeaway for business owners is not to keep all their cash — beyond the FDIC insured amount — sitting in just one bank. Short-term government bonds (T-bills) are another option, especially in a rising-rate environment where the long term is risky. But that’s the thing about panics: they come out of nowhere. Just when you think you’ve contained problems in one part of the financial sector, you get another problem somewhere else.

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Entrepreneurship: Why it’s so popular now.

Infographic: Job searching by the numbers.

The Phone Lady: Teaching Gen Z to make voice calls.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Five million new businesses got their start nationwide in 2022, more than a 40% jump from the pre-COVID number. You wouldn’t know it from gloomy economic headlines, but the U.S. is experiencing an entrepreneurship boom.

The movement is led by women and Black Americans: Female-founded companies are up about 10%; Black-owned businesses have increased by 30% percent since the start of the pandemic. Census Bureau data suggests we’ll continue seeing historically high business application rates this year.

Why has business creation exploded recently? Experts point toward various factors:

• Shoppers got used to e-commerce: During the pandemic, retail led the business-creation trend, particularly online retail. The high demand for online shopping will likely persist, even now that physical retail is back.
• The Great Resignation effect: Mass layoffs can galvanize business creation. A 2021 study from the Kauffman Foundation found that nearly 30% of new entrepreneurs were unemployed when they started their businesses. People had a lot of time and space during lockdown to reevaluate their lives and, perhaps, map out that business idea they’ve had since graduation.
• Stimulus and benefits: The federal government handed out unprecedented billions in economic assistance. Some aspiring entrepreneurs were finally able to save up enough cash to start their own businesses.

Will these historic rates of business creation persist, especially with the Great Resignation pretty much over? Only time will tell … but for now, ingenuity and ambition are alive and well.

60%

Teenagers who’d rather start a business than work for an

employer in 2022

[Source]

Entrepreneurship is at a record high, as mentioned above, but it’s not for everyone. For those considering a switch from working for an employer, the job market and application process could look different than the last time you updated your resume. Check out the current state of applying below:

(Source: Shutterstock)

More than 8 in 10 young workers feel anxious about getting on the phone, and about 78% simply ignore phone calls. For generations weaned on texts and WhatsApp, voice calls can feel like a nonstarter.

Enter business coach Mary Jane Copps, aka The Phone Lady. Her consultancy aims to take your Gen Z staff from phone-phobic to phone fluent at a cost of $480 per hour for one-on-one coaching. (A 30-minute webinar is $365. A corporate workshop is $3,500.)

Copps’ company, which started in 2006, has more than 700 clients. To become one of them, you might have to phone her yourself, though.

Written by Ali Saleh and Dan Ketchum.