Many experts feel that being an entrepreneur and facing challenges is synonymous with each other. If you are not facing challenges as an entrepreneur, you are not doing something right. The more challenges you face and conquer the further you are on the path to success.

As an entrepreneur, you should know how to read challenges, prepare for them, and be ready to face the eventualities of the decision. Shirking at the first sign of a problem means that you are not cut out for being an entrepreneur.

In this article, we discuss five of the biggest challenges, which entrepreneurs are going to face on their entrepreneurial journey. We are also going to suggest some ways, they will be able to tackle them.

List of 5 Challenges and how Entrepreneurs should prepare for them

• Getting yourself mentally ready-

Everyone has toyed with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur at some point or the other. However, it is the first step, which is the toughest. It might be something as difficult as making a decision of quitting your job, or going up to someone and handing them a leaflet of your business. It is important to take the plunge wholeheartedly. If you do not, then you will always keep second-guessing your decision.

• Financial challenges-

At some point or the other, you will realize that your savings are proving to be too small to fuel your business. At this stage, the financial challenge will start looking insurmountable. However, you need to start looking at other avenues like self employed loans, getting an investor on board, or even reaching out to friends and family members for help. Once you are able to move ahead of the financial challenge, you will see things smoothening out.

• Managing your time-

An entrepreneur at the start is the Marketing Head, the Accountant, the CEO, and also the HR Manager. You will have to face the challenge of time. Every entrepreneur needs to ensure that the most pressing thing takes up most of his or her time. Learning to properly manage time is one of the most stressful challenges young entrepreneurs are likely to face. There will be days where you will simply run out of time and you need to live with that.

• Balancing work-life pressures-

Talk to any of the successful entrepreneurs and they will always mention a supporting partner or a family as an integral part of their success. Once you start running a business, you will realize that you are not being able to give enough time to your loved ones. The key is to manage both and strike a healthy balance between the two. Having a great personal life can give a huge boost to your professional aspirations.

• Checking your ego at all costs-

Yes, you are the boss, but you should stop impressing that upon everyone. This includes your employees, vendors, baking partners, and any other individual or institution connected to your business. Entrepreneurs need to acknowledge the fact that they can also be wrong at certain points and be humble enough to admit that. Keeping your ego under check will prove to be a massive challenge when you are advancing in your new business.

The Final Word

There is a reason why everyone out there is not running their own business. Entrepreneurship is not easy. In fact, it is one of the toughest things you can possibly do. Running a successful new venture might just be the most difficult thing to do in the world. However, if you are aware of the challenges, which are going to come your way and address them accordingly, nothing is going to stop you from getting success.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering if you’re on the right career path and what can you do to prepare yourself for the future. Is an undergraduate’s degree in accounting enough or should you continue further in school? A perk about getting a master’s degree in accounting is that you can study online while continuing in your current job to earn income. Let’s have a look at what advantages an MSA offers you and also whether you can apply.

Who can Apply for an MSA?

An MSA online degree is open to anyone who has an undergraduate degree in accounting or business, or even to those who have an undergraduate degree in a different field. Obviously, if you come from a different educational background, you will need to earn a few extra credits, but that’s all.

For instance, those who have an undergraduate degree in business or accounting need 32 credits, while those with a degree from a non-business field must earn 38 credits. A master’s degree in accounting can be completed in only 16 months, depending on the specific program.

Is it worth it? Absolutely; you only need to consider the job perspectives that a master’s degree opens to realize that point. You can look forward to stable employment as your work is always in demand, from small organizations to larger ones. Look forward to working you way up to managerial positions, with job prospects being greater in number once you have an MSA.

Refresh Your Knowledge

If you earned your undergraduate accounting degree a few years ago, you might have forgotten some of the theory and other concepts covered in class. Everybody does, but a master’s degree in accounting can help you reinforce your core financial knowledge and dig deeper than the undergraduate program into the topics.

Gain New Skills

By going back to school, you will inevitably learn new tools and skills. From using the latest technology to learning efficient ways to process documents, there is always something to learn. The MSA experience will get you ready for the modern workplace.

Prepare for Leadership Roles

Do you want to be an accountant for the rest of your life, or can you try other roles too? By learning how to use new technology in your field and adding new skills to your resume, you put yourself on a better career path.

Those additional qualities are ones you can enjoy as an MSA grad; taking on a management role, for example.

Concluding Words about Getting an MSA

Even if you like the place where you work today, going back to school will help you to open doors in the future to more opportunities. Enjoy being able to vary what you do for work within the accounting profession once you graduate from a master’s degree program.

Attending an MSA program online will enable you to keep working while getting a higher education. Enjoy being able to study and work on papers when you have time. You’re well on your way to expanding your career and enjoying a satisfying career.

 

Handling user reviews like a pro requires a seriousness of intent to appreciate just how serious customer reviews are for your business.

According to Statista, of the top major influences of whether a customer will likely buy, 4 of them have absolutely nothing to do with reviews at all. The top four being price, shipping cost, and speed, available discounts, and the variety of options.

However, #5 is the key operative factor for this article, and that’s Trustworthy reviews, which goes hand in hand with #7 out of the top 15, which is brand reputation.

The plain fact is that many businesses simply ignore negative reviews and that the number 1 way to not handle reviews like a pro. You can’t be like an ostrich, sticking your head in the sand to the review process.

Why you need to be aware of and respond to reviews.

One big reason: 88 percent of people trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations.

And for obvious reasons. Maybe after asking a small circle of friends none of them turns out to have ever contracted a roofing contractor or needed a local plumber to take care of plumbing leaks.

In addition, 72 percent will only buy from a local business that has positive reviews, and an equal number, 72 percent, say positive reviews cause them to trust a business.

Meanwhile, over 86 percent said they would hesitate to buy from a company that has negative reviews.

So is your business toast in the local community if a negative review pops up here and there?

Absolutely not, for the simple reason that 44.6 percent of people say they are much more likely to visit a business, even if they have the occasional negative review if the business responds to them in a polite, non-judgmental manner and explains how they want to do better in the customer’s eyes and ask them to contact you personally so that you can discuss the matter in greater detail.

So what are the elements of successfully handling reviews?

Most experts say there are actually three principal elements:

• #1. Being aware of all reviews about a company’s business.

  Good or bad, a small business should be aware of reviews on Yelp, Google, Facebook, Tripadvisor and up to nearly a dozen other places where reviews show up.

  That’s a lot of monitoring for a local one-man shop to keep track of and chances are you have better things to do than monitor the internet all day. So that’s one a business should consider an online review management service.

• #2. Respond and with speed

  Not only should you respond personally (not with a template) to every new review, but if the review is negative, you should be responding within hours, not days.

  The longer a negative review goes unanswered, the more damage that negative review can cause.

  Still another reason to consider an online review management company that can help you craft a positive response to a negative review that other customers will find to be reasonable and measured rather than defensive.

• #3. Fight fire with fire by getting more positive reviews.

  SEO guru Neil Patel says that while some people will be put off by a negative review, the opposite happens to many. People want to find trusted reviews, not just glowing recommendations.

  Patel says that many people are put off by nothing but 5-star reviews. They just don’t trust that any business is perfect.

  But the obvious answer, besides doing your best to make every customer satisfied as best you can, is to obtain more reviews.

  If a negative review appears, but then four more recent positive reviews pop-up, you can rest assured people will take the negative review with a grain of salt.

  And is that accomplished. Simply ask your customers to write reviews, or have your online management and reputation company ask for them on your behalf.

 

In this highly digital world, people are not only wanting but needing an app for basically everything, and with the recent Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve all seen how necessary and how useful shopping apps can be when you can’t leave the house. In the lines below, you’ll find an easy guide on how to create your own shopping app.

Learn from the best.

Before you begin making your very own app, it’s smart to do your homework and study various successful shopping apps, such as Amazon, Ebay, Wish and so on. Careful, by that we don’t mean just take their ideas and replicate them. If you set out to create an exact copy of Amazon, all you’ll get will be a faded Amazon copy, and your users will soon see that, ditch it and go back to the original.

No, what you need to do is make a list of all the best features of each of these successful shopping apps, while also paying attention to the downsides – what would you, as a customer, like to see improved? What are other users complaining most about? Use this info to design a flawless shopping app.

Spend time finding the ideal payment solution.

One of the biggest concerns with online shopping apps is payments. In the past, there have been instances of stolen data, which can be disastrous both for you and your users. So a good shopping app, regardless of interface, product range, or anything like that, will need a strong, encrypted payment portal. You want your customers to feel safe filling in their credit card details, don’t you?

So put in the time and the work and figure out what the best possible solution is for transferring money from users to you.

Invest in Customer Service.

Another big issue that people have with shopping portals is the shady Customer Service. Indeed, many of these apps hire people hurriedly and without ensuring they’re the possible fit for the job. This leads to an unhelpful, rude, arrogant Customer Service experience that will affect your rating and usage rate.

On the other hand, a pleasant Customer Service experience can seriously improve your customer’s attitude. So even if they are calling with a problem and get an excellent service, they’re less likely to leave a bad review or to bear a grudge for a faulty product.

Remember that delivery is important.

If you browse product reviews for pretty much any type of product, you’ll see that a fair bit has to do with the delivery process. This is why you want to integrate a tracking option so that your customers are always in the loop on where their order is.

You’ll also want to research the best delivery options, to ensure that you partner up with a good, trustworthy delivery service that will handle orders with care and deliver in a good time frame.

Conclusion

While it’s important to consider the stores you’re partnering with, the interface, and the development process itself, don’t forget to put some time aside for the above details as well!

We can all agree that customer experience is the key to running a successful eCommerce. You have to invest in making your customers feel that you value and care about them, and the case is not any different in the B2B markets. The B2B owners also realize the need for a B2C feature from eCommerce sites and among those features are multiple pricing options, personalized recommendations, promos and offers, seamless checkout processes, among others. This is because, regardless of a B2B or B2C case, they all want the same thing and that is to offer their customers the best customer experience. This is the only way they can attract new buyers every time and retain the old ones. Buyers love it when they can buy a product in the most seamless, painless, and efficient way.

Luckily, Magento 2 customer groups feature has come in to make things easier for the business learners. Business owners can now integrate this feature to segment their customers and ensure that every buyer gets what s/he deserves in terms of quality, quantity, and pricing. How do B2B benefits from this feature and the Magento 2 in general?

It helps in customization

With this feature, you can easily customize your customer’s front-end buying experience by ensuring that you are offering them content that matches their needs. You can adjust the catalogs and price lists and customize what every customer can see depending on the kind of products that they prefer. This means that with the customer groups features, you can provide specific companies with dynamic pricing based on product type and the quantity. You can also segment the user experience as per the locations or product lines. This way, different firms can only view products that are available in the product of their preference or their preferred location.

Easier personalization and segmentation

The other benefit to expect from Magento 2 customer groups in your B2B is that it provides your customers with easy to use search and navigation tools. With these, they can easily find their way around your site and look for the exact products that they need. This, in return, ensures that you are offering your customers with relevant content based on their preferences and browsing behavior. Also, you can group them depending on their preferred products and quantity so you can provide each group with the kind of content that they expect you to. What’s more? The feature enables you to offer particular groups with discounted prices, product catalogs, and even site layout to specific customer groups.

Enhances easier pricing structures

With Magento 2, you can easily set up different process for different groups of customer groups. You can group the buyers under different product types, quantity or even group the loyal customer in one group, and this way, each of them will have access to a specific price structure. Some of the structured prices include discounts maybe for the loyal comers or tier prices for those that buy in bulk.

These are the top three reasons why you should consider the Magento 2 customer groups for your B2B and see just how much it can improve customer experience.

 

Software development is the driving force behind innovation and growth of the 21st century economy. An innovative idea becomes a solid product through the creativity and passion of software developers. At the same time, software development is the most unpredictable, chaotic, and costly business endeavor. Competitors are one wrong move away, and repositioning is more difficult than in any other business.

Venture-funded startups need to learn how to spend money wisely, manage the development process and deliver products. Large corporations can’t be betting on a single direction, they should be looking for new opportunities in technology, and their own research and development projects should be able to keep up with disruption.

Let us take a closer look at the ways how software developers can optimize the product development process.

1. Prioritize Features

What differentiates your software from your competitors? Does your solution do only that which is required, or does it provide advanced features that will win the competition? Software development of a new app or service obviously begins with brainstorming. Through this session, participants attempt to create as many use cases as possible. In the latter case, nothing is finished without trying it in practice. While you may have launched the product, it would be helpful to find features that could be enhanced. Take suggestions from your users or release a beta version to understand the scope of your progress.

2. Leverage the Lean Approach

The Lean approach is widely used in the software development process. It is based on Agile methodology and practices. Having adopted lean thinking, you need to eliminate waste in our development approach. The process is designed to deliver quality products early. Organizations using Agile methods organize their workflow in two-week sprints. Each sprint includes a development, testing, and release.

Adopting lean approaches helps to understand the full scope of product development. Time and effort are spent only on the most critical and high-priority activities. The activities that are not related to the product release are neither scheduled nor counted.

3. Avoid Technical Debt

Technical debt refers to a complex of the issues with the software disrupt the developers’ work, sometimes making it almost impossible. Technical debt is not an inevitable consequence of software development. It happens due to a wrong management of resources and priorities. The main reason for the debt’s growth is the attempt to do too much in too little time.

Technical debt functions as an internal tax. It entails expenses in the form of time and effort that is spent to fix the problems and remove existing bugs. A software product can be optimized by identifying and eliminating technical debt from the beginning to launch its first version. Get rid of roadblocks and improve the efficiency of the development process.

4. Work with a DevOps Consulting Agency

It is vital to work on speed and speediness of delivering new features and functionalities. The Devops methodology has greatly advanced the speed of software development and delivery. Without the innovative practices and methods of Devops, the speed of the overall process was not possible. Thus, software developers could not release fast enough before DevOps. For a developer, this is a great opportunity to improve the speed of delivery of new updates to users.

By partnering up with the right DevOps consulting firm, you receive an expert guidance on the most efficient development practices. Moreover, such a team would be able to optimize the work of your development teams with new automated tools. The important result is continuous improvement of the development environment utilization.

Conclusion:

Software development is an exceptional domain. Nevertheless, it also poses a number of issues. The previous ways of working, no matter how well they were working in the past, are not helping anymore. In this context, software development consulting firms come to the rescue, providing advanced practices to accelerate the development process.

 

As of right now, Hemp farming is believed to be one of THE most lucrative businesses you can invest in. Especially after the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, growing and selling industrial hemp and CBD is legal in the US which makes it a billion-dollar market growing exponentially.

A) Common Questions About Hemp Farming Answered:

• What climate is ideal for hemp farming?

The beauty of hemp as a crop is that it can thrive in practically all kinds of climates/environments (with the exceptions of high mountains and desert regions). However, the ideal climatic conditions happen to be warm-weather areas with well-drained soil rich in organic materials.

Grounds with excessively wet soil or places with heavy rains that tend to remain saturated for the most part after rainfalls are not ideal. High-fertility grounds with low-weed pressure are ideal for hemp farming.

• Is Hemp the same as Marijuana?

No, it’s not. Both marijuana and hemp are types of cannabis plants. But, they differ genetically as well as in terms of cultivation. The differences extend well into their chemical properties and overall usage.

Farmers cultivate hemp for seed, fiber, CBD, oil IHF CBG isolate, and also for producing all kinds of products ranging from rope, foods, and fabric. Marijuana, on the other hand, is grown and cultivated to yield THC (a highly psychoactive cannabinoid/ingredient). The latter tend to have more than 20% THC while the industrial hemp has no more than 0.3% THC, as per US federal guidelines.

• What is the best season for hemp farming?

Any season with distinctively hot summers or a cold winter that has large day and night thermal spread is good for growing hemp. Flat grounds with good percolation, cool nights, and hot days with ideal water supply are ideal. Places good for growing high-valley fruits and vineyards are also ideal sights for hemp production.

• What kind of soil do you need?

This is a tricky/complex question to answer. The thing is, Hemp doesn’t really require particularly high-quality soil. However, the best ones are loose soils rich in organic matter. The fertile loams with pH values ranging from 6 – 7 are good.

Hemp doesn’t do well in wet soils as they can restrict the root while causing a significant plant growth. As a result, it can compromise the fiber quality as well as result in plants with uneven heights. All of that can present growers with a set of harvesting challenges.

Clay soils can be excessively wet and there’s also the issue of tillage difficulty. It is, therefore, recommended that you test out the soil months in advance before the actual plantation. Also, apply fertilizers and lime to encourage optimal yields.

B) Paths for hemp farming:

• History of hemp

Hemp has had such a rich history that simply cannot be talked about in one small section. But, you should know that, as a crop, it has a cultivation history of more than 10,000 years old with the earliest evidence supporting production all through ancient Mesopotamia and China.

It was used for applications like rope, fabric, paper, cloth, etc. The seeds and the flowers of the hemp were used for their medical properties. They were used to manage a variety of ailments all through the periods of 2700BC to Roman times.

Historically, hemp has always been one of the richest crops. Even in the 1600s, the law of the land dictated hemp production.

• Growing hemp plants for CBD oil

Apart from its myriad industrial uses, hemp oil has, over the years gained notoriety for the countless therapeutic benefits. It carries CBD which is a special type of cannabinoid that is naturally found in hemp in high quantities. It’s unlike THC which is a psychoactive cannabinoid.

A lot of research has gone into studying CBD for wellness benefits and had promising results.

Some studies show that CBD works best in synergy with other compounds like THC to produce even greater medicinal/therapeutic value. It’s for this very reason that many biotech companies dealing with hemp are being heavily favored on Wall Street.

It’s natural to presume that investing in hemp for CBD oil is, therefore, a lucrative option. However, regardless of what you intend to do with hemp crop, always follow the legal guidelines, get a license, and draw up contracts with buyers to create avenues for your product’s distribution.

• How are these plants grown

You have to know that the hemp plant grown for seed or fiber is treated much differently than the ones grown for CBD oil.

If you’re growing hemp for CBD, you are going to need a certain level of mastery because the cultivation is a little different if you want to maintain highest levels of cannabidiol all the while keeping THC in check (below 0.3% as per federal law)

For CBD, you are only going to need the female plant because the female is the only plant that carries CBD. Growing male and female side-by-side will increase production but reduce the final yield, thus leaving you with loss.

The actual cultivating and harvesting processes cannot be elaborated in one short paragraph.

C) Hemp storage and processing

After the crop has been securely harvested, the grain is cleansed to remove foreign materials. It is then prepared for storage until it is time for the final processing. To avoid the crop from spoiling, make sure that it is properly aerated. Dry it out to maintain 9% moisture.

Industrial farms have belt conveyors for drying purposes. You can also go with an auger but be sure to run it full and slow. This is necessary to keep the seeds from cracking.

Final Thoughts

Hemp is unequivocally the next big thing. Estimated to become a billion-dollar industry, it’s definitely a smart move if you are an investor looking for a promising area to put his/her money. For more information, talk to a hemp farming expert or a broker.

The healthcare system is complex, with many career paths. Thus, even when you have already begun to learn about it, there continues to be much to find out in further studies and different roles at work. Pursuing a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree can not only enrich your knowledge in the field, but also advance your career and take you a step closer to your dream job. Here are the ways that this graduate degree can help further your career.

Gain a better understanding of the healthcare system

An MHA degree covers a lot more than the basics in your area of expertise, be it nursing, mental health, or whatever else might catch your eye. Also, this master’s degree prepares you for a top position in the healthcare system by running you through some basic healthcare law principles, health policy, risk management, and more.

Obviously, when an institution is looking to hire someone in a top position, they will need someone who understands how the industry itself works. To prepare you for that are online MHA programs that will provide you the tools and knowledge base required for success.

Better pay

This point is true in many fields of work; the more you know, and the more accreditation you have, the more money you can ask for as an employee. Healthcare is no different in this regard. Employers often tailor job perks to your qualifications, too, because they want to make sure they pay appropriately for the skillset they get from you as an MHA grad.

Thus, obviously, someone with a higher degree will earn more and have better job opportunities simply because they have that extra accreditation. On average, a healthcare manager can expect to make a respectable salary of $77,528 per year.

It’s more flexible than you might realize

There are many different career paths for an MHA grad, which gives you a lot of flexibility. Many people make the mistake of thinking that a Master of Healthcare Administration ties them down to their chosen area of study, when in fact, it opens more doors for you. With an MHA on your resume (regardless of the specific area), more institutions will want you on their team and in a top position.

Conclusions on advancing your career as an MHA graduate

In summary, a master’s in Healthcare Administration provides a big way to move forward in your career. There are countless benefits to getting an MHA, from the fact that it will make you more desirable to employers and better pay.

Clearly, an MHA can be a big asset in advancing your career. The truth is that most institutions will consider your experience, but that will only propel you so far without further qualifications.

You can’t expect to occupy a managerial position in healthcare without an advanced healthcare degree. So, the short answer to the question, “Why should I get a master’s of healthcare administration?” is: “So that you can achieve your career goals and pursue your passion to help others.”

 

Legal issues can become complex as the company grows with time. It’s difficult to manage them without proper skills and experience. As a result, large companies hire full-time legal counsel to handle their legal affairs.

However, it’s not possible for small businesses that cannot afford an in-house lawyer. They hire outside lawyers or legal firms who manage their legal matters. But there are some problems with traditional methods such as overbilling, lack of legal management, management team distraction, etc.

Fortunately, a different type of legal advisor has evolved over the years who work as an in-house general counsel. Douglas Healy is a famous and trusted general counsel who works for the long-term sustainability of businesses. Here you will understand why every business needs a general counsel.

Importance of General Counsel in Business

As there are many structural changes in the legal industry, it’s important for businesses to hire skilled and experienced general counsel for their company. They can help businesses in many ways apart from legal matters.

1) Specialized Legal Services

When you hire general counsel for your business, you can get substantive legal knowledge about different niches such as employment law, intellectual property law, securities law, tax laws, etc. Small businesses can hire general counsel to help in different business operations.

2) Personal Network

General counsel not just offers a particular legal service. They provide the broad aspects of your business and advise you on how to strategically plan for the future. They have a personal network of different types of legal advisors, and you can easily get access to every type of legal affairs.

3) Business Maintenance Plan

General counsel act as your company’s agent to maintain your corporate files and seal. They also offer corporate maintenance programs to meet the annual meeting, record keeping, and filing requirements.

4) Incorporate Social Responsibility

Nowadays, companies are working towards long-term sustainability by adopting corporate social responsibility. Incorporating social responsibility and sustainability does not happen overnight; it requires time. The general counsel can help you do it the right way and make your company more trustworthy and socially recognized.

5) Contract Drafting

A general counsel can help businesses in drafting contracts. Every business has some contracts with other businesses or organizations. The documentation of a contract is quite complex, which you may be unable to do on your own. A general counsel is familiar with such a process and can deal with drafting contracts and agreements.

6) Compliance Assessment

Another important thing is compliance assessment that ensures your company is meeting the legal requirements. So you may not be able to handle these things on your own as it requires a good understanding of laws and experience in this field.

7) Employment Laws

Next, you need to know about the employment laws which a general counsel can help you to understand effectively. You need to comply with the regulations of employment law. Moreover, you will also need a legal advisor during any dispute; for instance, if an employee tries to defame your company, you can take legal action against them.

8) Finance and Banking

Although you need an accountant to deal with your finance, you may need a general counsel for tax laws, any legal issues related to finance, and more.

Many business owners do not consider it necessary unless any dispute has arrived. They reach out to lawyers after a legal issue. Although they may build a quick relationship with the general counsel, it’s not effective. It can put unnecessary stress on the business owner to quickly explain the legal issue.

The Final Thoughts

In case you have built a good relationship with a general counsel, that lawyer can proactively deal with any emerging issues. Most of the business owners want that a general counsel could help them when they have a particular question during an ongoing legal affair. Hopefully, the above information has helped you to understand the importance of general counsel in businesses. Please feel free to share your feedback on this post in the comment section.

The housing market this year has made some historic shifts, due in large part to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the pandemic rocked the housing market, leading to incredibly low mortgage rates, hovering around an entire percentage point lower than the previous year.

But along with that, came many new challenges for the housing market. So, where does the U.S. housing market go from here? We wanted to bring in an expert to discuss this topic.

Jacques Poujade has worked in finance and real estate for decades and is an expert when it comes to real estate, and real estate investing. As a managing partner at LendPlus, he has unique insight into the world of lending and real estate, from behind the scenes.

Poujade sat down with us to give us his insight and predictions into the U.S. housing market.

Jacques, how did you get involved in real estate and real estate investing?

Well, I started in finance and financial services more than 30 years ago. I got my start after earning my Master’s Degree in Finance from McGill University. Then, I began my career in finance, with a few different positions that gave me a ton of diverse experiences.

I served in a supervisory position in Coopers & Lybrand, before moving onto the First National Bank of Boston and Zimcor Group.

Tell us about your work with LendPlus.

We are a real estate brokerage and financing firm, and we are not like all the others. The thing is, I personally operate from the standpoint that everyone in this country deserves to have their version of the American dream.

That may sound like a given, but the truth is that many people, whether they’re families or individuals, the biggest barrier to accomplishing that dream is financing their home.

What have you been noticing about the U.S. housing market recently?

We’re definitely in an unprecedented situation, and things have shifted dramatically in short amounts of time. For example, back in February, things were fairly “normal,” but then in March things took a very dramatic turn, related to COVID-19 obviously.

So, I’m paying attention to the fact that things can change very, very quickly, and in dramatic ways.

What is the state of things now?

A lot of the usual activity has bounced back, like in-person showings and other activities that were limited because of the pandemic, so that’s great. But we’re also definitely still in the thick of the pandemic, and the historically low mortgage rates we’ve been seeing reflects that.

Basically, if you’re looking to buy, and can afford to right now, it’s definitely an excellent time to.

Where do you think the U.S. housing market will go from here?

I think mortgage rates will stay relatively low for a while, although they are ticking up just a notch. There is plenty of demand for housing, which is great news, and more people are starting to trust the market again and make moves with listing their properties.

I think from here, things will definitely start to stabilize, but making moves quickly could be a smart thing to do, to take advantage of those low mortgage rates.