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Our friends at WestBridge Vocational will celebrate their 50th anniversary on October 16. WestBridge is a social enterprise whose manufacturing operation empowers people and breaks down barriers to employment. They offer training and employment in the manufacture of medical devices (surgical drapes and wraps), and the organization is widely known for the high quality of their products and their work environment. If you or your organization would like to contribute, sponsorship opportunities for the celebration event are available, as are individual giving avenues that will support their work. Congratulations, WestBridge!
No, guerilla marketing techniques are not trash. Well, except for Red Bull. Total trash! Back in the late 1980s, when no one knew what a Red Bull was, they had a stroke of marketing genius. The company filled garbage bins across London with empty Red Bull cans, giving the illusion that it was a popular drink. It didn't take long for local shops to be flooded with requests to stock the drink everyone was apparently consuming. In a world full of bad marketing ideas, the simplest and cheapest ideas can be the ones that win out.
We've written about companies that advertise ghost jobs. These are jobs that either don't really exist or jobs for which employers have no intention of hiring. But what about those of you who are having genuine difficulty filling frontline positions? Great Wolf Lodge realized they were losing good candidates because their hiring process was taking too long - in some cases, over two weeks. They mapped the number of touchpoints requiring manual scheduling or a game of phone tag. The delays were a two-way street, with some of the blame falling equally on the candidate and the company. By replacing their screening and interview coordination with automated text-based workflows, Great Wolf saw 423% more scheduled interviews and cut $700,000 in recruiting spend by removing human bottlenecks from initial candidate engagement.
How is your business addressing the Grandparent Economy? We wrote a few weeks ago of the Sandwich Generation - those who are taking care of both kids and aging parents. The $900 billion Grandparent Economy centers around the average American grandparent who has six grandchildren, according to the University of Michigan’s Health and Retirement study. If you think you’re stretched thin, know that 19% of today’s grandparents reported having 7-10 grandkids, and 14% had 10+. Grandma needs a day off!
Is your business or organization the victim of "friendly fraud?" Also known as "first party misuse," it's anything but friendly. It occurs when a customer uses their own card for a real purchase but later disputes the charge with their bank instead of contacting the merchant. This forces a chargeback even though the transaction was legitimate.
It can happen for any number of reasons, but the top few are:
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Descriptor confusion: Cardholder doesn’t recognize the merchant name on their statement.
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Household misuse: A family member uses a saved card without the cardholder realizing.
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Forgetfulness or misunderstanding: Customer forgets the purchase or misinterprets terms.
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Deliberate abuse: Customer disputes to keep goods for free (“free goods” attempts).
The retail, travel, and hospitality industries are most susceptible. Often, a customer doesn't remember making a purchase or dining in your restaurant, thus the moniker, "friendly" fraud. Some fraud is very intentional, but some customers defraud you believing they're in the right.
Businesses are often put in a position of having to defend a chargeback with little or no evidence on their side. It's hard to fight customer photos or convincing stories, even if they're fake. Here are some ways you can protect yourself:
1. Use Clear and Recognizable Billing Descriptors
Ensure that your business name, website, or phone number appears clearly on customer statements. Confusing or truncated (shortened) descriptors are a common cause of accidental chargebacks, as customers may not recognize the transaction and assume it is fraudulent.
2. Communicate Effectively with Customers
Send order confirmations, shipping notifications, and renewal reminders. Include details like order amount, date, and expected delivery. Clear communication reduces confusion and helps customers remember legitimate purchases.
3. Provide Easy and Transparent Refund Processes
Make returns and refunds straightforward. Include return forms and instructions with shipments, and ensure your refund policy is easy to find and understand. Customers who can resolve issues directly with you are less likely to file a chargeback.
4. Implement Strong Authentication and Verification
Use 3D Secure, AVS (Address Verification System), CVV checks, and device fingerprinting to confirm the cardholder’s identity. Positive authentication data strengthens your case if a dispute arises. Ask your bank or merchant services provider about options.
5. Monitor Transactions for Suspicious Patterns
Track repeat offenders, unusual purchase behavior, or customers bypassing support channels. Early detection of suspicious activity allows you to intervene before a chargeback is filed.
6. Use Pre-Dispute Alerts and Real-Time Notifications
Set up alerts through card networks or dispute management platforms to catch disputes immediately. This gives you a short window to refund or resolve the issue before the bank finalizes the chargeback, avoiding fees and lost revenue
7. Maintain Comprehensive Documentation
Keep detailed records of transactions, delivery confirmations, tracking numbers, and customer communications. This evidence is crucial for contesting chargebacks and proving the legitimacy of the transaction.
8. Evaluate Chargebacks Strategically
Not every dispute is worth fighting. Focus on high-value transactions or repeat offenders where evidence is strong. For low-value disputes, sometimes accepting the chargeback is more cost-effective than pursuing it. Determine what your time is worth, then set a cutoff for the investigation and the fight.
9. Educate Customers
Clearly explain your billing, shipping, and refund policies at multiple touchpoints. Educated customers are less likely to mistakenly file a chargeback.
10. Leverage Technology and Fraud Prevention Tools
Use commerce protection platforms, automated dispute management, and analytics to detect patterns, prevent chargebacks, and streamline representment processes.
By combining these strategies—clear billing, proactive communication, strong verification, and strategic dispute management—merchants can significantly reduce the risk of friendly fraud, protect revenue, and maintain positive customer relationships.
From the horse's mouth... NC Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, says her office receives between 800 and 850 business start-up applications every business day. This doesn't include the small, owner-operated sole proprietorships who are not required to register with her office. This number only includes LLC and corporate registrations. North Carolinians are starting more businesses, but NC has also become a popular destination/new home for the entrepreneurially minded from more expensive states. NC has a robust support system for small businesses, including community colleges, universities, nonprofits, and CDFIs (like Sequoyah Fund). This deep support is certainly a contributing factor to small business growth. It could also be our proximity to the best BBQ in the world.
Tell someone you're an entrepreneur, and they may have the impression that you're Ebenezer Scrooge, living only to "extract wealth" from your downtrodden employees. In our Tip of the Week below, you'll read about a founder who is notorious for how well he takes care of employees. He's the kind of renegade who believes in going above and beyond for his workforce. He also doesn't want the government telling him how to do it - or even that he should. He's always wanted to be left alone to do what he believes is right - by doing right by employes. These entrepreneurs are more common than most people think. Scrooges are the exception, not the rule. Most founders understand how important a dedicated workforce is to their success, and they bend over backward to make their lives better. Andrew and Peggy Cherng adhere to that philosophy. They have a little restaurant you may have heard of, and in the face of rising housing costs, they are creating a path to homeownership for all their employees.
But since there are exceptions to every rule, let those real-life Scrooges be a warning. A record 5% of non-exempt employees earned less than the minimum wage last year. Most minimum wage theft occurred in states where the minimum wage is far above the federal $7.25.
It's late September, and another busy holiday season will soon be upon us. That means it's time to prepare for hordes of shoppers, and the best way to do that is to have sufficient inventory on hand. But you don't have to buy a trainload all at once. Strategically scaling up your inventory - whether you're purchasing it or making it - can preserve your cash, your space, and your sanity. This article contains practical advice on preparing for peak holiday sales. It's about a year old, but it's still as relevant as when it was hot off the digital presses. And if you're into e-commerce, here's an article from the same source on how to prepare your digital assets for a busy sales season.
As we prepare for the upcoming Christmas season, we also are preparing for the Christmas MOVIE season. Someone will undoubtedly want to debate whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it is). Have fun with that. Our old friend and former western North Carolinian, Jim Roberts, has a different take on the 1988 Bruce Willis classic. Jim is the founder of Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington, and it's his belief that Die Hard is actually a... wait for it... start-up movie. Interesting take, for sure.
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