(Updated on December 17, 2019) Here are the holiday shipment deadlines provided by the three most-used overnight and two-day delivery services in the U.S. We’ve included links to the holiday schedules of each service for pricing and location availability. Good luck!

USPS Schedule through December 26, 2019

UPS Schedule through December 26, 2019

(Note: To see if your shipment needs an additional day in transit, check for Holiday Air Service Impacts.) Source and more information: UPS

December 17, 2019: Normal UPS service.

A limited number of UPS 2nd Day Air and UPS 3 Day Select shipments tendered to UPS today, and with certain origins and destinations, may require an additional day in transit. (Note that UPS 2nd Day Air and UPS 3 Day Select shipments are guaranteed throughout the holiday season.)

December 18, 2019: Normal UPS service.

• A limited number of UPS 2nd Day Air® shipments tendered to UPS this day may require an additional day in transit

December 19, 2019: Normal UPS service. Last day to ship via UPS 3 Day Select

• Last day to send UPS 3 Day Select packages scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, Dec. 24. This is the last day to prearrange pickup service for Air and international Air packages if needed on Dec. 24.

December 20, 2019: Normal UPS service. Last day to ship via UPS 2nd Day Air

• Last day to ship UPS 2nd Day Air packages scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, Dec. 24. All UPS Next Day Air packages picked up today will be scheduled for delivery on Monday, Dec. 23 unless processed and labeled for Saturday delivery on Dec. 21. Saturday Delivery is not available to all ZIP codes.UPS Air and Ground service modifications and the suspension of the UPS Service Guarantee for Ground shipments are in effect.

December 21, 2019: Normal UPS Saturday service.

Delivery of UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air packages processed and labeled for Saturday Delivery.

Pickup service is available for UPS Air and international Air packages for regular Saturday pickup customers.

UPS On-Call Pickup service is available to all customers for UPS Air and international Air packages.

Pickup and delivery of UPS Ground on Saturday packages available in many metro area ZIP codes.

December 22, 2019: No UPS service except UPS Express Critical.

No UPS pickup or delivery service. UPS Express Critical service is available. Call 1-800-714-8779 or visit upsexpresscritical.com.

December 23, 2019: Normal UPS service. Last day to ship via UPS Next Day Air

Last day to ship UPS Next Day Air packages scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, December 24 with a UPS On-Call, or scheduled, Pickup, or by visiting a The UPS Store location or a UPS Authorized Service Location.

UPS Air and Ground service modifications and the suspension of the UPS Service Guarantee for Ground shipments are in effect.

December 24, 2019: Christmas Eve: Limited UPS service.

Pickup service available only for Air and international Air packages if prearranged by Thursday, Dec. 19. UPS On-Call Pickup service and UPS Drop Boxes are available for Air and international Air packages.

The Air service modifications that commenced on Monday, Dec. 16 and The UPS Service Guarantee suspension for Ground shipments that commenced on Dec. 2 will cease at midnight.

December 25, 2019: Christmas. UPS holiday.

No UPS pickup or delivery service. UPS Express Critical service is available. Call 1-800-714-8779 or visit upsexpresscritical.com.

December 26, 2019: Normal UPS service.

UPS 2nd Day Air packages picked up today will be scheduled for delivery on Monday, Dec. 30. UPS 3 Day Select packages picked up today will be scheduled for delivery on Thursday, Jan. 2.

UPS Ground service modifications are in effect.

December 27, 2019: Normal UPS service.

FedEx Schedule through December 26, 2019

Note: See this detailed schedule on FedEx.com

Saturday, December 21, 2019

• No pickups for FedEx SmartPost but deliveries will be made as usual
• FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight unavailable

Sunday, December 22, 2019

FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost, and FedEx Freight

Monday, December 23, 2019

• FedEx Freight will be open with normal pickup and delivery operations and a modified linehaul schedule. Shipments picked up that are not moved will resume transit on December 26, 2019.
• Tuesday, December 24, 2019
• FedEx Express will have early station, on-call pickup, and drop box closings in some areas
• FedEx Office will close by 6 p.m.
• FedEx Freight unavailable Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Saturday, December 21, 2019

No pickups for FedEx SmartPost but deliveries will be made as usual
FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight unavailable

Sunday, December 22, 2019

•FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost, and FedEx Freight

Monday, December 23, 2019

•FedEx Freight will be open with normal pickup and delivery operations and a modified linehaul schedule. Shipments picked up that are not moved will resume transit on December 26, 2019.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

• FedEx Express will have early station, on-call pickup, and drop box closings in some areas
• FedEx Office will close by 6 p.m.
• FedEx Freight unavailable

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

• FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Office unavailable

iStock

Mastercard announced Friday (June 12, 2019) that it is expanding globally its partnership with the business software company, Zoho. According to Mastercard’s media release, the partnership will enable small business owners to have access to Zoho’s comprehensive array to software products and services. The Mastercard, Zoho partnership will provide global access to a business-solution suite of 40+ integrated business and productivity applications.

“We are excited to partner with Mastercard, a company committed to empowering small business owners across the globe. said Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation. “This partnership connects small businesses to the innovative applications that enable them to access, manage and analyze real-time information that are critical to their success.”

“Mastercard and Zoho together are able to pair our smart solutions and scale them to address some of the challenges small businesses owners face every day,” said Zahir Khoja, executive vice president, Global Acceptance at Mastercard. “(Small business drives) job creation, productivity and growth globally; it’s critical that we find partners and develop solutions that allow us to help small businesses succeed.”

According to Khoja, small businesses will now have access to various solutions such as resource planning and finance software, customer relationship management marketing solutions, and more.

Printing and copying can be one of those areas of “hidden overhead” that small businesses may overlook in budget planning. Over time, their costs (and the paper they use) can become a drag on the bottom line.

There are ways to slow down printing and copying costs. Whether you’re printing large orders or just some for small office needs, there are simple ways to save. Here are just a few.

Print more | If you constantly reprint materials like business cards, labels, stationery, and brochures several times a year, you may want to increase your volume of printing and decrease the number of times you print. . Chances are your printer will offer volume discounts. Printing has a set-up fee that makes the last piece off the press is the least expensive.

Print less | If, however, you own a company that rarely reprints large quantities of printed materials, you may be better off printing small batches of materials using digital printing techniques. Money saved on storage space or spoilage from re-printing because of a change in location or e-mail address can unnecessarily run up your printing costs. In some cases, on-demand printing can provide savings in storage and distribution costs.

Print any amount | The savings on typical office needs like business cards or simple forms may change at anytime — no matter what the quantity –thanks to ever changing technology and capabilities of printing. Talk to your printer about recent options or technology they offer.

Use grayscale or draft printing if color versions are not necessary | For the internal review of documents, try printing in black and white to cut down on usage of color ink.

Use two printers |Although it may sound counterintuitive, having two printers may actually save money. Use an efficient (and much less expensive) laser printer for everyday black and white printing, and save the quality inkjet printer for higher-end quality jobs only. This way, the more expensive inkjet cartridges are used less frequently.

Create a “screen-first” office culture | While memos and interesting articles left on a coworker’s desk can be an attention-grabber, these needs can be satisfied through the use of workplace texting and email. There are times when print-on-paper makes sense and is more effective. Work with you staff on determining what office communications and processes can be better served via print or digital.

Save on ink and toner cartridges | One of the most obvious costs of printing and copying is the high expense of toner and ink cartridges. By purchasing compatible cartridges with private lable brands, you can save money on supplies that are manufactured and engineered to meet the performance standards of the original manufacturers, but are priced less.

“UPS understands that small businesses want the same high-quality services as large e-commerce companies without the same amount of complexity,” said Kevin Warren, UPS’s chief marketing officer. “We are laser-focused on giving merchants the tools for success by offering:

• Easy-to-use technology platform
• Full-service fulfillment capabilities
• Simplified pricing and billing that many smaller business couldn’t afford to offer or build.

Signing up uses an online, onboarding process — and listing products. UPS, which is currently offering a 60-day trial, handles storing the merchandise, packaging products once a sale is made and shipping from warehouses strategically located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and Bloomington, California.

SmallBusiness.com Explainer | Here’s a Warehouse of Information About the Fulfillment of Your Products

Inventory stored in other locations, such as an existing warehouse, can be added to the platform to ensure dynamic updates as sales occur. Merchants select when the package needs to be delivered. UPS eFulfillment can be used by merchants around the world who want to list on U.S. marketplaces and send to customers in the U.S. and in Canada.

UPS began piloting the program in 2017 as “a way to provide fulfillment and logistics options with access to multiple marketplaces.

UPS eFulfillment includes a technology platform, physical fulfillment services and such features as:

• The small business can manage sales across multiple marketplaces and customize delivery times
• Using a single login, sellers can manage sales on 21 marketplaces and web stores, including eBay, Etsy and Amazon Prime
• The program handles storage, order processing, packaging and shipping
• 60-day trial

According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study, shopping on marketplaces is almost universal. More than 96% percent of U.S. online shoppers report making a purchase at a marketplace. With this in mind, smart sellers try to sell on as many marketplaces as possible to access the widest swath of potential customers.

Photo | UPS

Amara’s Law was later illustrated by a line chart from the research company, Gartner, that calls it “the hype cycle.”

In the past, we’ve been extremely precise in explaining why we believe small business is the term best used to describe a small business. One reason is that terms or acronyms other than “small business” weaken the “institutional brand” of the second most trusted institution in the United States. However, the most important reasons are ones we’ve explored before that are related to the importance of knowing whether the people who work with you are employees or independent contractors.

Independent contractor or nonemployer businesses?

Here’s the first thing you need to know: Independent contractors and nonemployer businesses are the same things. Most U.S. government agencies use the term “small business” exclusively, like the Small Business Administration and congressional committees. The U.S. Code of federal statutes (where all the laws are stored) contains the term “small business” 1,034 times. “Nonemployer” is found only once there.

Terms like microbusiness or biz or independent contractor or freelancer are mentioned nowhere in the tax code but show up occasionally in IRS guidelines.

The agency that uses it most (in our unscientific research) is the U.S. Census Bureau who use the term “nonemployer business often.”

Recently, the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy put out a “fact sheet” on the topic of nonemployer businesses. We can understand how their usage helps clearup some confusion, but believe that using the term “nonemployerbusiness” only adds to the confusion.

How the U.S. Census Bureau defines a “nonemployer” business

According to the SBA Office of Advocacy fact sheet, here is the definition of a nonemployer business “derived from administrative record sources”:

“A business that has no paid employees, has annual business receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction industries) and is subject to federal income taxes. Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating very small unincorporated businesses, which may or may not be the owner’s principal source of income.”

40% | Percentage of nonemployer businesses that are the primary source of income of their owners
20% | Percentage of  nonemployer businesses in which the owner spends between 20 – 40 hours a week
50% | Percentage of  nonemployer businesses in which the owner spends less than 20 hours a week
30% | Percentage of nonemployer business owners who spend 40 hours a week on the business

80% | Percentage of all businesses that are nonemployee business

15.4 million | Nonemployee businesses in 1997
24.3 million | Nonemployee businesses in 2015

58% | Growth in the number of nonemployee businesses
6% | Growth in the number of businesses with employees since 1997

The chart above reveals that the number of net non-employer businesses has been growing about 2% a year during the past 15 years, reaching 25 million in 2016. Steve King, a partner in Emergent Research and a regular contributor to SmallBusiness.com, explains some possible reasons for the disparity in the growth.

• It’s easier and cheaper to start and operate a non-employer business today.
• More people are starting part-time businesses to supplement their income or pursue a passion
• Small businesses no longer need to hire traditional (W2) employees when they can use contract labor, outsourcing, freelancer and automation.

So what’s wrong with the term “nonemployee business”?

Frankly, it’s not a big deal except for a few folks like me. Many years ago in a book I can’t recall, I read a comment that has stuck with me for decades:

Rarely does great marketing come from telling the customer what a product isn’t. Of course, there are a few exceptions that prove the rule: de-cafe coffee, mirrorless cameras, smokeless tobacco. On the other hand, there are positively names that fail, like Google+.

So what should the name be, if not nonemployee business?

Again, when compared to all issues small businesses face, this is the least one you’ll encounter (unless you run int the buzzsaw with the IRS over an issue related to employee vs. contractor. However, I think “nonemployer business” is government agency gobbledegook.

What about the term, “One-person small business.”?

Do you have a suggestion? Share it on Twitter with the hashtag #OnePersonSmallBusiness

As we’ve stressed in numerous articles that are part of the SmallBusiness.com Guide to Disaster Planning, preparing for disasters helps you avoid being among the 20%-60% businesses that don’t reopen after a disaster. 

Just think of the types of disasters that can occur.

• Natural hazards like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcano eruptions, and earthquakes.
• Health hazards such as widespread and serious illnesses like the flu.
• Human-caused hazards including accidents and acts of violence.
• Technology-related hazards like power outages and equipment failure.

After the 9/11 tragedy, U.S. Homeland Security and several other government agencies were tasked to develop Ready Business (Ready.gov/business), a program to help business leaders develop preparedness plans for their companies.

Below are Ready.gov links to specific types of disasters and ways to prepare and respond.

Earthquake “QuakeSmart” Ready Business Toolkit

Unlike other natural disasters, earthquakes occur without warning and cannot be predicted. Most of the United States is at some risk for earthquakes, not just the West Coast, so it is important that you understand your risk, develop preparedness and mitigation plans, and take action.

• Link | QuakeSmart Ready Business Toolkit
• Link | Spanish Ready Business QuakeSmart Toolkit

Hurricane Ready Business Toolkit

Many parts of the United States, including Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas, Hawaii, parts of the Southwest, Puerto Rico, the Pacific Coast, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and territories in the Pacific may be directly affected by heavy rains, strong winds, wind-driven rain, coastal and inland floods, tornadoes, and coastal storm surges resulting from tropical storms and hurricanes. The Ready Business Hurricane Toolkit helps leaders take action to protect employees, protect customers, and help ensure business continuity as well.

• Link | Hurricane Ready Business Toolkit
• Link | Spanish Ready Business Hurricane Toolkit

Inland Flooding Ready Business Toolkit

Most of the United States is at some risk for flooding, so it is important that organizations, businesses, and community groups understand the potential impacts.

• Link | Inland Flooding Ready Business Toolkit
• Link |  Spanish Ready Business Inland Flooding Toolkit

Power Outage Ready Business Toolkit

While a Power Outage may not seem as dangerous as a tornado or earthquake, they can still cause damage to homes, businesses and communities. Power Outages cost the U.S. economy $20 billion and $55 billion annually and continue to increase each year (CRS, 2012).

• Link | Power Outage Ready Business Toolkit
• Link | Spanish Ready Business Power Outages Toolkit

Severe Wind/Tornado Ready Business Toolkit

It is not just in Tornado Alley. Most of the United States is at some risk for severe wind and tornadoes

• Link |  Severe Wind Tornado Ready Business Toolkit
• Link | Spanish Ready Business Severe Wind Tornado Toolkit

Links to additional Ready Business resources

• Crisis Communications Plan
• Business Continuity Plan
• IT Disaster Recovery Plan
• Employee Assistance & Support
• Incident Management
• Training
• Testing & Exercises
• Testing
• Exercises
• Program Improvement
• Program Reviews
• Corrective Action
• Business Continuity Planning Suite

Hurricane Harvey | Spencer Platt / GettyImages
Redding Fire | Terray Sylvester / GettyImages

Recently Steve King, a partner in Emergent Research and a regular contributor to SmallBusiness.com, wrote an article for Harvard Business Review, Coworking Is Not About Workspace — It’s About Feeling Less Lonely. It covers the research Emergent has conducted relating to the social and professional sides of coworking space membership. From Steve, here is a roundup of some of Emergent’s key survey findings that relate to coworking space.

Research related to the interpersonal or social aspects of co-working

87% | Percentage of coworking space members who say they’ve met other members of their co-working space for social reasons
54% | Socialize with other members after work and/or on weekends
79% | Say coworking has expanded their social networks
83% | Say they are less lonely since joining a coworking space
89% | Say they are happier since joining a coworking space

But coworking space membership is not just about being more social. Emergent’s research also shows significant business and professional benefits accrue to coworking members:

82% | Say coworking has expanded their professional networks
80% | Say they have turned to other coworking members for help or guidance
64% | Say their coworking networking was an important source of work and business referrals
84% | Say that working in a coworking space improved their work engagement and motivation

The bottom line from our research – and the research of others – is that there are very clear social benefits from belonging to a coworking space. This is especially true for those who work on their own. And given the concerns related a growing “loneliness epidemic” and its impact on those working remotely or alone, these are important findings.

Read the entire Harvard Business Review article here.

istock

Here’s a method to get two people who are having a disagreement (or two groups of people) to “soften their views”: Help both sides discover they may not understand what the other side is actually saying. 

Let’s say two office groups are in the midst of a “friendly disagreement” about a proposed change in office policy. The disagreement begins to grow into a major argument. What do you do? Here’s a suggestion shared by Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing.

Ask someone from each side of the argument to describe, point-by-point, the policy that the other side of the debate is saying.

What does that do (scientific version)?

According to a 2013 study, when it comes to deciding what we believe on certain issues, we often take “mental shortcuts” that can lead to a misunderstanding of something that’s more about what we think it is, than what it really is. Psychologists have dubbed this the “cognitive miser” theory. Apparently, we normal people are quick to cut out all the research, testing, editing, publishing and reviewing that experts use to develop ideas and theories.

What does that do (version for the rest of us)?

Unlike scientists and other experts who may spend a few hours before deciding where they stand on an issue, the rest of us read a few sentences—or just the headline—and we instantly start pumping what we’re hearing through a filter of previously held beliefs.

Voilà, we suddenly know where we stand on the issue—without all of that busy work associated with actually studying it.

By pausing the debate and making the opposing faction see the issue from the other side’s point of view, they will learn:

1 | There are some gaps in each side’s understanding of the topic
2 | They probably don’t disagree as much as they first thought

(via BoingBoing, BBC)

(Illustration: ThinkStock)

A new study of small businesses in 11 nations released today (September 12, 2017) suggests that time spent on administrative costs at a small business can represent up to 17% of total labor costs. The research was conducted by the consulting company Plum and commissioned by the accounting and financial software company, Sage. One reason for the high cost of administrative tasks is likely that 50% of small businesses do not use technology-based accounting and financial solutions.

Key Findings

5% | A 5% increase in small business productivity in the U.S. could lead to an increase of close to $325 billion in GDP.

17% | The percentage of manpower (time) spent by a small business on administrative tasks each year.

20% | Percentage of administrative time spent on accounting, the top administrative cost.

30% | Percentage of small businesses that manage their accounting digitally.

50% | Percentage of small businesses that have no accounting software solution in place at all.

When asked why they had not adopted technology-based tools to streamline their administrative tasks, the most common answers from small businesses were “nothing,” followed by “time-consuming,” and “implementation costs.”

Using technology to streamline administrative tasks
could have a significant, positive impact on an entire country’s GDP.

Source: Sweating the Small Stuff: the impact of the bureaucracy burden

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