Tag Archives: best

Where U.S. Adults Are Active on Social Media

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Source: Statista

Both Instagram and Snapchat have risen to fame by winning over young digital natives before breaking through to the mainstream. These days, both platforms are still particularly popular among teenagers and people in their twenties, but both are gradually increasing their reach across all age groups.

According to a recent Pew Research study, 40 and 26 percent of Americans aged 30 to 49 are using Instagram and Snapchat, respectively, these days, making them much less of a parents-free zone than many teenagers might like. Both platforms are no match for Facebook in terms of their reach across all age groups however, as the following chart illustrates.

Social Media Infographic

LendingTree Ranks the Best and Worst Cities for New Small Businesses

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Charlotte, NC – Feb. 27, 2018 (PRNewswire) LendingTree®, the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, today released the findings of its study on the best and worst cities for new small businesses. While the success of a new small business is impacted by a combination of factors, some U.S. cities tend to produce more successful start-ups than others.

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In a new study, LendingTree used data from more than 80,000 queries submitted by new small business owners seeking loan offers through its small business loan marketplace to determine where businesses tend to do the best.

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Annual revenue was the first factor LendingTree researchers considered when ranking cities, as all businesses strive to bring in as much revenue as possible. It’s important to note here that gross revenue doesn’t always correlate directly to profitability, as expenses can vary based on an array of influences, including business type and geography. Therefore, LendingTree analyzed the percentage of businesses that reported they were profitable at the time of their queries. By combining these two data series, they were able to draw a picture of how small businesses are performing, relative to their peers in other places.

The self-reported data was then limited to the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Then, the two factors were scaled to 100, added and divided by two, for the highest possible score of 100 and a lowest possible score of zero. The highest actual score was 90; the lowest score was eight.

The best cities for new small businesses

First place goes to Sacramento, Calif., where the average annual revenue of businesses was $315,661, and 84.3 percent of rising small businesses were profitable. In fact, three California cities — Sacramento, Los Angeles and Fresno — ranked among the top 10 best places for new small businesses.

Coming in second place overall was Grand Rapids, Mich. Businesses reported an average annual revenue of $293,495 and 85.2 percent of applicants were profitable. Businesses in Grand Rapids reported they were profitable more often than businesses in top-ranked Sacramento.

The opposite happened with Portland, Ore. Rounding out the top three, the city reported an average $317,765 in business revenues and 83.2 percent of businesses reported they were profitable. While Portland’s revenue was higher than top-ranked Sacramento, fewer businesses reported they were profitable, dropping its final score to 83.

The worst cities for new small businesses

Young companies in Cincinnati reported an average annual revenue of $198,516, and about 79.8 percent of businesses reported they were profitable.

The city netted itself a low score of eight, the lowest of any other city. Rochester, N.Y., and Philadelphia follow with final scores of 14 and 17, respectively.

Hunter Stunzi, SVP of Small Business at LendingTree, said every small business should consider the questions below before opening day:

1. What problem are you solving? Every business needs to solve a specific problem or a part of a problem. If you’re not solving a problem for a customer or partner, odds are you are not creating value and don’t have a business.

2. How much capital do you need to fund the first year of the business? Whatever you think you need double it. Most businesses fail because they don’t have a capital cushion to absorb mistakes – and there will be plenty.

3. How is the business being funded? Friends and family, personal funds, a loan? The source of funds can have nasty consequences if not thought through.

4. How will you acquire customers? Will you grow your business organically (i.e. word of mouth) or online search? Have a plan and don’t overpay.

5. Will you have partners? Everyone’s responsibilities must be clearly agreed upon in writing before you get started. Is your partner active in the business or silent? What happens when a partner doesn’t do his/her job?

6. Will you pay yourself a salary? If so how much? Be prepared to pay yourself last and take a pay cut-period.

7. Do you have an operating agreement? Set up a proper operating agreement with all partners when you from/fund the business. This will clearly define the owners, ownership stakes and responsibilities.

8. Who will keep the books? You need to know your numbers. It’s important to start off on the right foot and track every expense and receivable. Otherwise you’re sailing with no compass.

9. Where do you see your business in 3, 5 and 10 years? How much revenue will you be generating, how many employees will you have, how profitable will you be?

10. How much pain can you take? At what point do you shut the business down? It’s a tough conversation but worth exploring your limits and when to fold. Unfortunately, the reality is that is many businesses fail.

Businesses included in the analysis met the following requirements:

1. Earn an annual revenue of less than $7,500,000
2. Have been in business for at least six months and no longer than 60 months
3. Submitted a loan query to LendingTree between Jan. 1, 2016 and Jan. 23, 2018

Applicants self-reported their business’s annual revenue, if the business was profitable at the time they applied for the loan and the zip code of the business.

The study was limited to businesses that submitted query forms between six and 60 months after the business was founded, as researchers considered six months a reasonable amount of time to predict annual revenue, and businesses older than five years could be considered established rather than new.

For the full report, visit: www.lendingtree.com.

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About LendingTree:

LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) is the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, empowering consumers as they comparison-shop across a full suite of loan and credit-based offerings. LendingTree provides an online marketplace which connects consumers with multiple lenders that compete for their business, as well as an array of online tools and information to help consumers find the best loan. Since inception, LendingTree has facilitated more than 65 million loan requests. LendingTree provides free monthly credit scores through My LendingTree and access to its network of over 500 lenders offering home loans, personal loans, credit cards, student loans, business loans, home equity loans/lines of credit, auto loans and more. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.

Media Contact:

Megan Greuling
(704) 943-8208
Megan.greuling@lendingtree.com

Redfin Report: Seattle and Honolulu Move up the Ranks of the Best Cities for Public Transit in 2018

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New York, San Francisco and Boston Top the 2018 Transit Score Rankings

Seattle, WA – Feb. 21, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) — New York, San Francisco and Boston are 2018’s best cities for public transit according to new Transit Score® rankings by Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. Transit Score, a tool by Redfin company Walk Score®, rates locations based on how convenient they are to public transportation. Each of the top three cities has a Transit Score above 70, meaning it has an excellent transit rating, with public transportation being a convenient option for most trips.

Redfin Logo

While the rank order for the six best cities for public transit has stayed the same since 2012 when Transit Score first launched, there was a lot of movement at the bottom of the top-10 list.

In 7th place, Seattle has a Transit Score of 59.6, up 2.6 points since 2016, the biggest jump among the top 10. In the past two years, Seattle has expanded its Link light rail service, adding two new stations in 2016, making it easier and faster to get to Capitol Hill and the University of Washington. A 2017 survey by the Seattle Department of Transportation found that public transit use had increased by 48 percent in the past seven years.

“Seattle is not only the coolest city in the country – we are now one of the most transit-friendly cities,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. “For our visitors, commuters and residents, public transit is safe, affordable, and a vital component in making sure our city is accessible to all. With the opening of new light rail stations and one of the highest bus riderships in the country, Seattle is making significant strides towards becoming a world-class transit city.”

Honolulu gained 1.6 points of Transit Score since 2016 and entered the top 10 list for the first time, replacing Miami. More than 69 million passengers in Honolulu ride TheBus annually and the city is planning a new rail system to further improve public transportation.

Real Estate Infographic

“Honolulu has been a public transportation city for many years now and the fact that our residents and visitors use TheBus an average of 214,000 trips every weekday is a testament to this fact,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “The new Transit Score ranking announced today by Redfin is proof that the nearly 2,000 workers who keep our bus system running strive for excellence each and every day, and our commitment to a transit system that covers all of O’ahu will only improve once our rail project begins service along our busiest and most populated corridor.”

Below is a ranking of the top 10 U.S. cities (with populations of more than 300,000) for public transit.

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Washington, D.C., had the largest decrease among all major cities in Transit Score, dropping 2.2 points over the past two years to 68.5 in 2018. The decrease can be attributed to changes in Metrobus and Metrorail scheduling, where some bus routes were discontinued and the frequency of trains during rush hour was lowered.

“Once touted as the gold standard for public transit, D.C.’s Metro is now reckoning with decades of deferred maintenance,” said Redfin Washington D.C. agent John Marcario. “Tough decisions to reduce service and shut down lines for extended periods for repair are causing short-term frustration, but will hopefully make the system better in the long run. Despite the fall in Transit Score, access to transit remains a top priority for D.C. home buyers, who are still willing to pay a premium to live near a metro station.”

Bakersfield, CA (-2.2), Miami, FL (-2.2), Boston, MA (-1.8) and Baltimore, MD (-0.6) rounded out the cities with the biggest Transit Score decreases from 2016 to 2018.

With the addition of 600 new U.S. cities and more than 4,000 new neighborhoods, Transit Score ratings are now available for more than 900 cities and nearly 15,000 neighborhoods on walkscore.com. Among the newly added cities are big ones like Jacksonville, FL (22.4) and Charlotte, NC (27.4), along with smaller cities with Transit Score ratings like Hartford, CT (54.2) and Syracuse, NY (44.1).

The full report that includes a breakdown of the cities with the biggest Transit Score increases and a detailed methodology can be found here.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $50 billion in home sales.