Humor is a Serious Business
April in National Humor Month and according to Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, you are not as funny as you should be, and your business could be suffering because of it.
Statistically, people fall off the “humor cliff” when they enter the work force, with laugh frequency and self-perceptions of funniness decreasing. Stanford is aiming to change this since humor is an effective and underleveraged tool for power.
Humor can offer a competitive advantage against peers, higher retention rates of employees, innovative solutions, and teams that are more resilient to stress. Read more here to see how implementing humor in your work day can be beneficial for your business.
The American Rescue Plan Act
The ARPA was signed into law on March 11th, 2021, providing roughly $1.9 Trillion in financial relief to individuals, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, as well as state and local governments.
ARPA provisions will affect federal income taxes in 2020 and 2021 for Individuals regarding: Additional EIPS, Expanded and Partially Exempt Unemployment Benefits, Expanded and Increased Child Tax Credit (CTC), Expanded ETIC, Enhanced Child and Dependent Care Credit, and Exclusion for Student Loan Forgiveness
Key changes for Businesses include: Expanded Employee Retention Tax Credit, Exclusion for EIDL advances, Increased Exclusion for Employer-Provided Dependent Care Assistance, and more.
11 Ways a Sense of Humor Can Improve Your Business
1. People who laugh at themselves make fewer mistakes
2. People who laugh at themselves go lighter on others
3. Customers notice how lighthearted you are and want to be around you more
4. Your employees will work harder to please you and will have increased morale
5. Humor makes the day go faster
6. Humor boosts creativity
7. Opens up lines of communication
8. Diffuses conflict
9. Laughter leads to better relationships
10. People learn more and learn faster when they laugh
11. Getting people to laugh at work reduces absenteeism
Read More Here
On the Books Recommendations (Books, Podcasts, and More!
April Podcast: Let’s Make Billions with Simon Cumming
Every week a comedian joins Simon Cumming and they launch a new startup in the hopes of making billions. From Dog Gyms to Translation Glasses – Listen here to experience all that the idea of combining comedy and startup culture has to offer!
April Book: Humor, Seriously (Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life)
Learn how to harness the power of humor in not only business, but life! This bestseller based off the Stanford Graduate School of Business class, teaches you how humor can be one of the most powerful tools for accomplishing serious things in business. Get this book here to help ward off the “Resting Boss Face.
Upcoming Virtual Events:
Raleigh Creative Entrepreneurs Meetup – April 22nd @ 12:00pm-1:00pm – Raleigh Founded’s director, Jess Porta, will be hosting the second virtual Creative Entrepreneurs Meetup. All creatives welcome!
Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference 2021 – April 22nd – 23rd – A premier event for identifying trends, examining issues, and setting the agenda for the future of entrepreneurship research and policy. This two-day virtual conference will be led by globally prominent thought leaders in the field.
Red Hat Summit 2021 – April 27th-28th – The Red Hat Community comes together to uplift the perspectives in enterprise IT, ensuring that every contribution has a place, every person has a voice, and every question has a meaning.
Triangle Small Business Week – May 2nd-8th – A week dedicated to celebrating and supporting small businesses that strengthen the region.
