What is Fintech?

Think about how you can access pretty much anything so easily that your location hardly matters. You can send money to someone in another country, you can order anything to your doorstep in a matter of days, even minutes and hours. These changes are a result of our desire for innovation. With each new development, our standards as consumers rise and we begin to demand more.

Turn the clocks back 100 years, everything we have today would be unimaginable, we even laugh at how inefficient the inventions of those times were. Yet, even the inventions of hundreds or thousands of years ago were leading to what we have today. This rate of development will be endless, generations 100 of years from now will laugh at the technology we think is great. If you want to keep up during this time, you should acknowledge this change and adapt to it.

Now the term “Fintech” (born out of a combination of the words “financial” and “technology”) is a broad term with many different aspects. Some examples that will ring a bell are PayPal or GoFundMe, Cryptocurrency, online banking… get the idea? The true wide spreading of fintech comes when major companies get involved. Tech companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook are major players in this field. Each of these highly trusted companies now offers a banking outlet. Why? Haven’t they done enough? Nope, and they see the potential this business has for the future. 

So why is this concept of fintech important? What does it mean to you? Here are some aspects of fintech that contribute to modern society:

Ease of Transaction

No matter who you are or where you are, you can buy nearly anything in an instant. Even the need to go to physical stores seems to be less relevant in this day and age. Additionally, what relevance does cash have other than the knowledge that your bank account didn’t change from a purchase? Need to pay someone back? One swipe and it’s done. 

Cost-Effective

Businesses and individuals can avoid hidden fees present with traditional banking. Instead, sending and receiving payments comes at a more reduced cost while being transparent about where the fees go. Why is that? Because fintech services are not deposit institutions, they operate virtually and are flexible. 

Customized Experience

Fintech services tend to be able to figure out the interests of their consumers. Think about how Instagram or TikTok shows you content that is relevant to your interests. This is the same concept, and while one may think “oh they want me to keep consuming” they are giving you access to the things you deem necessary. 

Security

You’ve most likely heard the term “blockchain” and probably rolled your eyes because you have no idea what it means. Going back to the ease of transaction feature, the blockchain is what makes this possible. When you send money somewhere, it is stored in this database for the transaction to be tracked and verified.

Still Only The Beginning

The features of fintech today are already amazing, but there is still confusion for some as to what it does. The good news is, that the state of fintech is at the bottom of a hill. Innovation will take place, people will become more educated on its features, and our experience of consumption will be far easier. 

Conclusion

Fintech is challenging the “traditional” ways we have always done things, but it is replacing them with features that suit the needs of our world today. Of Course, it can be intimidating as everyone becomes used to certain ways of doing things. Remember, people in the ’90s and early 2000s thought the internet wasn’t going to last. Innovation is what allows this world to stay connected and live our best lives. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

Are You Failing to Master the Soft Skills?

What’s on your to-do list for the next 7 days? Is that too much to think about? Or do you have a schedule that’s packed tight? No matter what it looks like, it’s likely longer than you just drew up. As a high performer, you have responsibilities and a standard that you must maintain. Holding that standard is not done by just going out and burning through your to-do list. It is done thanks to the little things that keep you composed. 

When you’ve been doing anything long enough, there’s a part of you that considers yourself an expert. You may not outwardly think or say this but your ego will remind you of it from time to time. With anything you do, knowing the specifics of what goes into the role you play is important. But how many times have you said “that’s so easy, I don’t need to worry about it now” or even thought you were too above doing something?

This feeling is an impulse that comes with achievement, but achievements are just the start of a new road. To maintain and further expand, high performers must have a level of humility and awareness to do the small things that make a big difference. A lot of people believe confidence is something you’re born with. This couldn’t be further from the truth. True confidence, especially in a business environment, comes from knowing you’ve done the things you need to do.

Whether you’re a leader trying to make a difference or an employee trying to do the best job you can, the small things go a long way. There’s always time to strategize and set major goals, but here are some smaller goals you should reach first: 

Listen

Giving someone their space to speak is a sure way to build rapport that will carry on to future opportunities. Whether this is taking time to understand how to best go about a task you’re taking on or evaluating the needs of your team, it is a must. 

Be On-Time

Very straightforward yet fundamental to benefit the impact of your professional presence is being on time. This sends the message that you value the time of the people in your organization. If you’re someone who is regularly on time or even shows up early it’s important to understand why this is beneficial. Trust is everything when building relationships, not being late is a positive data point when someone (boss, co-worker, or client) decides whether or not to give you a shot. 

Problem Solving

Everyone can agree that life is a lot easier to navigate when everything is going well. But the true measure of someone’s character and competence is how they behave when faced with a crisis. Do they go back to healthy rituals that will allow them to address the situation accordingly? Or do they panic and perhaps make rash decisions? In leadership, problem-solving is essential, as an employee or subordinate, it will help advance your role within the team. 

Attitude

Going for a job interview? You want to make a good impression on the person offering the job, but how do you treat the receptionist? Your attitude is always on display and in a professional environment, everyone will be aware of it. It even goes beyond how people see you, it impacts how you handle situations and ultimately how you see yourself.

Conclusion

All actions, no matter how important you may classify them, serve a much bigger purpose in the broad spectrum of your day-to-day life. Yeah that assignment you’re working on is difficult, but the trash you left to take out later might be more stressful when you get home at the end of the day. If you deal with the small issues head-on, you can have far more time and energy to dominate the major sectors of your life.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

What Are You Working Towards?

Do you ever sit and question the meaning of everything you do? Reality can be overwhelming when you think of it in this context, but feeling anxious over what’s to come is to miss the point completely. Because it is the ‘right now’, the moment you’re living in, that matters. 

A lot of times we can get caught up in the process of reaching a goal that we miss the best part. The journey is what matters, whatever you’re a part of right now and will be a part of in the future, that is the gift. This concept can be confusing but it is largely responsible for the upswing of retired individuals looking to come back to the workforce.  

Most of us might see retirement as driving sports cars, mimosas every morning, and beaches, living off the fruits of our labour. A lot of the time, the reality is this; that life isn’t what you’re after. It may happen now and then but it isn’t the reason you’re studying or working. Instead of thinking about what you’re after, why not start thinking about how you can best impact what you’re doing now? The result of this will be an incredible reward down the line.

If you went to high school or college, consider the fact that the end goal is a piece of paper that says you were there. Now, does that piece of paper represent your experience in any way? Absolutely not, it’s the lessons you learn, the challenges you face, the people you meet, the pep rallies, the cool teacher or the witty professor. To neglect the process of doing takes all joy out of the reward. 

Imagine someone right now hands you a limitless supply of money. You’d have a lot of fun with it for a while but eventually, you’d hit a wall, and for some that wall would be a lack of purpose. This is not meant to be intimidating— this message is simply meant to give you insight into reality. Remember, what you do as a career will be where you spend the majority of your life. To maximize the value of this experience, take some of these points into consideration:

Recognize Your Value

Getting caught up in the “me mentality” will cloud your view of the value you could be providing others. Say for example you work a part-time job and have regular customers. While those people may just be part of your daily routine, you could be the interaction in their day that they look forward to the most. It’s hard to understand this when we’re caught up in our own lives, but a pivotal part of “the process” is how you affect others. 

Control What You Can 

You have a very finite amount of things going on that you can dictate the outcomes of. However, there will still be things outside this scope that cause you stress. Why would they cause you to stress if you can’t control them? Because most of us still choose to believe we can control them. But these things are black holes when it comes to focusing energy. If you take the time to pay attention solely to the issues you can control, you will be a lot more confident when dealing with problems.  

Define What You Want

Have you ever asked someone what their dream job is and it’s something radically different than what they’re currently doing? This is a result of not identifying what it is you want long term. Some things speak to us, fields of interest which we would do for free, never mind making it a career. That is passion, and if it’s something that benefits your happiness then why wouldn’t you want to keep it in your life? 

Unfortunately, the common saying is “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is”. But this statement is not true when it comes to planning your long-term goals. Believing it will keep you below your potential because if you commit enough effort to anything, you can succeed.

Set an Example

What’s more valuable than having a successful career that you enjoy? Imagine leaving a legacy that inspires the next generation, innovating the industry, or contributing something that will be relevant even after you’ve left it. We all have opinions on how things are done, but too often we talk about it rather than go out and implement what we know is right. 

Conclusion

Now, some people will read this and think “I remember when I used to believe anything was possible” or “yeah but this doesn’t apply to x, y or z in my life”. Thinking like that is what this idea is arguing against. Essentially, all action taken today whether in the workplace or not is directly correlated to a future result. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!