Category: Business Information Companies

How to File a Beneficial Ownership Report for Your Small Business | CO

 Woman working at a desk on a laptop in a modern-concept office with a red brick wall and greenery.

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), aimed at combating illicit financial activity, went into effect on January 1, 2024. — Getty Images/Tom Werner

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), aimed at combating illicit financial activity, went into effect on January 1, 2024. Under the act, small businesses across the United States need to file beneficial ownership information reports, also known as corporate transparency reports.

Here’s everything small business owners need to know about filing a corporate transparency report.

[Read More: What Every Small Business Needs to Know About the Corporate Transparency Act]

What to know about beneficial ownership information reporting

The CTA was developed to increase transparency in business ownership and curtail the use of anonymous shell corporations for tax fraud, money laundering, and other illegal financial activity. Under this act, all businesses that fall under the definition of a reporting company must file a beneficial ownership information report (BOIR) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

A reporting company is any privately held company, whether domestic or foreign, registered to conduct business in the U.S. Publicly traded companies do not fall under the CTA, as they are subject to their own reporting requirements.

A beneficial owner is any individual who owns or controls at least 25% of an organization, or directly or indirectly exercises substantial control in any of the following roles:

  • They serve as a senior officer, such as a president, CEO, or general counsel.
  • They have the authority to appoint or remove senior officers, board members, or other similar roles.
  • They make important decisions concerning the company’s business, finances, and/or structure.

[Read More: How to Prevent Bank Fraud and Protect Your Business Account]

Reporting requirements for small businesses

Eligible small businesses will need to report the following information about their companies:

  • The full legal name of
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A look at Black-owned businesses in the US by sector, state and more

The owner of Marcus Book Store, the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the U.S., talks with her employee about a shop display in Oakland, California, in December 2021. (Amy Osborne/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The owner of Marcus Book Store, the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the U.S., talks with her employee about a shop display in Oakland, California, in December 2021. (Amy Osborne/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

More than one-in-five Black adults in the United States say owning a business is essential to financial success, according to a September 2023 Pew Research Center survey. While Black-owned businesses have grown significantly in the U.S. in recent years, they still make up a small share of overall firms and revenue, according to our analysis of federal data.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to examine the characteristics of Black-owned businesses in the United States. The analysis relies primarily on data from the 2022 Annual Business Survey (ABS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

The survey – conducted annually since 2017 – includes all non-farm U.S. firms with paid employees and receipts of $1,000 or more in 2021. Firms are defined as businesses “consisting of one or more domestic establishments under its ownership or control.” Majority business ownership is characterized in the survey as having 51% or more of the stock or equity in the firm. The Census Bureau counts multiracial firm owners under all racial categories they identify with; Hispanic firm owners may be of any race. Read more about the ABS methodology.

A bar chart showing that about 3% of U.S. businesses were Black-or African American-owned in 2021.

In 2021, there were 161,031 U.S. firms with majority Black or African American ownership, up from 124,004 in 2017, according to the latest estimates from the Annual Business Survey (ABS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation. Black-owned firms’ gross revenue soared by 43% during this timespan, from an estimated $127.9 billion in 2017 to $183.3 billion in 2021.

Despite this growth, majority Black-owned

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Sharing sensitive business data with ChatGPT could be risky

“Those queries are stored and will almost certainly be used for developing the LLM service or model at some point. This could mean that the LLM provider (or its partners/contractors) are able to read queries and may incorporate them in some way into future versions,” it added. Another risk, which increases as more organizations produce and use LLMs, is that queries stored online may be hacked, leaked, or accidentally made publicly accessible, the NCSC wrote.

Ultimately, there is genuine cause for concern regarding sensitive business data being inputted into and used by ChatGPT, although the risks are likely less pervasive than some headlines make out.

Likely risks of inputting sensitive data to ChatGPT

LLMs exhibit an emergent behavior called in-context learning. During a session, as the model receives inputs, it can become conditioned to perform tasks based upon the context contained within those inputs. “This is likely the phenomenon people are referring to when they worry about information leakage. However, it is not possible for information from one user’s session to leak to another’s,” Andy Patel, senior researcher at WithSecure, tells CSO. “Another concern is that prompts entered into the ChatGPT interface will be collected and used in future training data.”

Although it’s valid to be concerned that chatbots will ingest and then regurgitate sensitive information, a new model would need to be trained in order to incorporate that data, Patel says. Training LLMs is an expensive and lengthy procedure, and he says he would be surprised if a model were trained on data collected by ChatGPT in the near future. “If a new model is eventually created that includes collected ChatGPT prompts, our fears turn to membership inference attacks. Such attacks have the potential to expose credit card numbers or personal information that were in the training data. However,

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15 Top Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Business

The use of artificial intelligence in business is now mainstream, with many organizations using AI as a standalone technology for specialized use cases or embedding it within common enterprise software systems that handle core business processes.

And recent surveys speak to the growing number of companies experimenting with AI. For example, an April 2023 pulse poll of 254 technology leaders by professional services firm EY found that 90% of respondents are exploring AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Bing Chat. And 80% are planning to increase their investments in AI in the upcoming year.

Executives have indicated to EY researchers and others that they’re looking at AI to increase efficiencies, boost productivity, lower costs, create competitive advantages and meet rapidly changing market expectations. They’ve also credited advances in AI tools for making the technology more accessible to organizations.

Enterprise leaders said data security, process automation and customer care are the top areas where their companies have been applying AI. Natural language processing (NLP) is at the forefront of AI adoption.

However, executives also said their use of AI is moving out from those early areas of adoption and into nearly every part of the enterprise.

Here are 15 top applications of artificial intelligence in the enterprise.

1. AI-enabled innovations, products and services

Although organizations are only beginning to harness the potential of artificial intelligence, some are already using the technology to fuel innovation and create new products and services.

Amazon Alexa and other similar virtual assistants are some of the most well-known examples, but experts said companies across industries are finding ways to incorporate AI into their wares or use AI to develop new offerings.

Seth Earley, founder and CEO, Earley Information ScienceSeth Earley

As an example, Seth Earley, author of The AI-Powered Enterprise and founder and CEO of Earley Information Science, pointed to a company

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Top 10 IT Companies In India In 2023 By Market Cap | Top Software Companies In India


Top 10 IT companies in India in 2023 by market capitalisation

The Indian IT industry is a dynamic and vibrant sector, a testament to the country’s capacity for innovation and technological advancement. With its roots tracing back to the late 20th century, the industry has grown exponentially, transforming India into a global IT powerhouse. Today, India is recognised worldwide for its technological prowess and is home to some of the world’s leading IT companies.This article aims to spotlight India’s top 10 IT companies: We rank them based on their market capitalisations derived from respective stocks trading on the NSE as of September 25, 2023.Also Read: Top 10 companies in India by market valuation in 2023

Top 10 IT companies in India

Here’s a quick look at India’s top 10 IT powerhouses:














Name Market Cap (Rs Lakh Crore)
Employee Headcount (Approx)
Tata Consultancy Service 13.06 6,00,000
Infosys 6.12 3,36,294
HCL Technologies 3.43 2,25,944
Wipro Limited 2.16 2,40,000
LTIMindtree Ltd. 1.59 82,000
Tech Mahindra Ltd. 1.26 1,52,400
MphasiS Ltd. 0.468 29,473
Persistent 0.453 22,500
Oracle Fin Serv 0.358 8,001
Coforge Limited (New) 0.323 21,815

Top 10 IT companies in India: A closer look

Now that we know which ones rank the highest among India’s best IT companies let’s take a deeper insight into our current top 10 IT companies in India:Also Read: Top 10 biggest companies in the world by market cap in 2023

Tata Consultancy Services

  • CEO: K Krithivasan
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Founded on: April 1, 1968

TCS, the

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What Beneficial Ownership Information reporting means to small business owners.

There is a new reporting requirement that small business owners need to know about. As of January 1, 2024 tens of millions of small businesses will need to file a beneficial ownership information (BOI) report with a branch of the U.S. Department of Treasury called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (better known as FinCEN). A failure to comply can result in a company and the individuals responsible for the non-compliance being subject to hefty civil and criminal fines and even possible jail time.

If you haven’t heard about BOI reporting yet, or heard about it but don’t know the details, please keep reading. We’ll provide you with some of the facts you need to figure out if you need to file a BOI report, and if so, what that means for your small business and the people who own or control it. This information is taken from the federal law that mandates the filing of this report (the Corporate Transparency Act), the official Rule written by FinCEN, and some of the statements made by FinCEN about BOI reporting.

Does my small business have to file this report?

If you formed a corporation (S corp or C corp) or a limited liability company (LLC), a BOI report will have to be filed unless your corporation or LLC qualifies for an exemption (more on exemptions later). Corporations and LLCs are the only business entity types specifically referred to in the Rule. However, entities other than corporations and LLCs may also have to file. The key is whether you had to file a document with the secretary of state or a similar office to create your company. And while not addressed in the Rule, FinCEN has commented that it believes sole proprietorships and most general partnerships would not have to file a report

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How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example

What Is Market Research?

The term market research refers to the process of evaluating the viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with potential customers. It allows a company to define its target market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in a product or service.

Research may be conducted in-house or by a third party that specializes in market research. It can be done through surveys and focus groups, among other ways. Test subjects are usually compensated with product samples or a small stipend for their time.

Key Takeaways

  • Companies conduct market research before introducing new products to determine their appeal to potential customers.
  • Tools include focus groups, telephone interviews, and questionnaires.
  • The results of market research inform the final design of the product and determine how it will be positioned in the marketplace.
  • Market research usually combines primary information, gathered directly from consumers, and secondary information, which is data available from external sources.

How Market Research Works

Market research is used to determine the viability of a new product or service. The results may be used to revise the product design and fine-tune the strategy for introducing it to the public. This can include information gathered for the purpose of determining market segmentation. It also informs product differentiation, which is used to tailor advertising.

A business engages in various tasks to complete the market research process. It gathers information based on the market sector being targeted by the product. This information is then analyzed and relevant data points are interpreted to draw conclusions about how the product may be optimally designed and marketed to the market segment for which it is intended.

It is a critical component in the research and development (R&D) phase of a new product or service

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Research Finds Companies May Be Embracing Misleading Information Rather Than Correcting It


Research finds companies may be embracing misleading information rather than correcting itDebunking is effective in changing customers’ beliefs, especially for those participants who had distorted beliefs before the experiment
Image: Shutterstock

The digital era and the ubiquity of social media have intensified the impact of misleading advertising. For example, some brands might take advantage of unsubstantiated claims trending online about product components, and offer ingredient-free alternatives that purport to be healthier than the current offerings in the market, sometimes at a higher price.

Tong Guo, a professor of marketing at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business studied the impact of advertisers adapting to false messages about products by offering alternative options, versus trying to correct information not validated by science.

In a paper, “Debunking Misinformation About Consumer Products: Effects on Beliefs and Purchase Behavior” published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Guo and colleagues examine the effectiveness of trying to correct misleading information and the motivations behind why companies often don’t engage in trying to set the record straight.

The Effectiveness of Correcting Inaccurate Information

The researchers ran experiments to measure the effects of debunking messages.

They picked three categories of consumer-packaged goods impacted by advertising campaigns raising safety questions about one of their key ingredients: fluoride in toothpastes, aluminum in deodorants, and genetically-modified ingredients in nutrition shakes.

Guo says the group wanted to test whether a counter-message could change minds and the resulting purchases, or whether the psychological theory of confirmation bias—in which people refuse any piece of information that is different from their prior beliefs—would be too difficult to overcome.

“We start with a short corrective message embedded in a social media post and measure whether it would work,” Guo said. “If confirmation bias persists, we shouldn’t expect any correcting message to work.”

The researchers conducted two waves of online experiments with more than 20,000 participants from

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How to Protect Your Business’s Sensitive Information

You don’t need to look far to see the repercussions when a business fails to protect sensitive information. Equifax, Adobe, Target were all victims of significant data breaches that resulted in a massive blow to their reputation and bottom line. [Learn the most effective ways of how to manage your online reputation.]

Data breaches and fraud are problems for businesses of every size, affecting over 25% of businesses with an average fraud loss of $38,000. That’s enough to push many small businesses into bankruptcy.

Types of security risks businesses face

Businesses face an increasing number of threats on a daily basis. Research shows that ransomware, phishing, data leakage, hacking and insider threats are all security issues businesses are dealing with.

Information security issues have a major impact on a business. Loss of revenue can result from remedying the problem and damage to your brand’s image.

Hackers are responsible for the majority of information security breaches. Cybercriminals look for ways to make monetary gain from businesses by using malware and phishing scams to collect sensitive data. The cost to remedy a data breach can be astronomical. Large companies that have to deal with major data breaches have paid out millions to specialists to become compliant once again. According to IBM Security, the average cost of a data breach in the United States in 2020 was $150 per record.

Here is more about some of the threats businesses are facing. 

Email phishing scams

Phishing is the act of a bad actor sending someone an email designed to look like an official communication from a legitimate, reputable company. This email may ask you to log in to an account or share your credit count information to prevent something drastic from happening. This information then goes not to the reputable company, but to

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Google Lets Businesses Add Social Media Links To Profiles

Google has introduced the ability for businesses to add social media profile links directly in their Google Business Profile.

This new option enables companies to showcase their social media presence alongside other information in Google Search and Maps.

By having social media links accessible on their Google Business Profile, businesses can provide customers with more ways to connect, acquire information, and resolve issues.

New Feature Rollout

A new Google support page explains businesses can now control which social media links are displayed on their Google Business Profile.

Businesses can add one link per social media platform to their Business Profile. The supported platforms include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.

This feature is being rolled out gradually and is available in specific regions.

How To Use the New Feature

To add a social media link to a Google Business Profile, businesses need to access their profile, click ‘Edit profile,’ then ‘Business information,’ and finally, ‘Contact.’

Under ‘Social profiles,’ they can select the social media platform they wish to link and enter the web address.

Editing or removing the link follows a similar process.

To edit a link, businesses must update the web address field for the designated social media link. To remove a link, click on the ‘Trash’ icon next to the social media profile that needs to be deleted.

Occasionally, Google automatically adds social media links to eligible Business Profiles. To modify these auto-added links, businesses can add a new link for the same social media platform following the same steps.

What This Means for Businesses

The ability to add social media links provides another way for local business owners to optimize their presence across Google’s ecosystem.

Consumers today expect to find social media and website links alongside local search results. Small to medium-sized businesses

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