Saudi Arabia recorded a budget deficit of 125.7 billion riyals, approximately $33.5 billion, in the first quarter of 2026. That is almost as large as the $44 billion deficit the government projected for the entire year. Spending increased by 20% while oil revenue declined by 3%, creating the very contradiction Vision 2030 was intended to eliminate. The kingdom is spending enormous amounts of oil revenue and borrowed money to build an economy that will supposedly no longer depend upon oil. The government approved financing needs of 217 billion riyals, or nearly $58 billion, for 2026. This includes 165 billion riyals…
Author: Staff Writer
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Stop waiting for delinquent customers to magically pay you. Every month you stall, your odds of collecting drop and your cash-flow risk rises. Having founders, bookkeepers and sales reps chase past-due invoices is an invisible labor tax that drags your whole business away from growth. Empathy-led, professional collectors using modern digital tools consistently recover more—without torching customer relationships—than overworked in-house teams ever will. It happens to every business at some point or another. A customer stops paying, the in-house accounting team sends one reminder after another, and seemingly overnight, that…
The politicians continue to speak about the Strait of Hormuz as though this were merely a regional dispute between Iran and its neighbors. That is complete nonsense. The strait is one of the most important arteries in the global economy, carrying roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments. Brent crude has moved above $91, but the headline price of oil is only the beginning. The real economic damage appears in shipping rates, insurance premiums, refinery margins, diesel prices, electricity costs, and ultimately government borrowing. War does not remain confined to the battlefield. It enters every household through inflation.…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Customer service has declined significantly in recent years. Some attribute it to a lack of communication skills among younger workers, but I have observed a decline across all age groups. As a business owner, I continually seek ways to improve ours. We handle unsatisfied customers with common courtesy and by educating our customers on our capabilities and service offerings. Providing outstanding customer service begins with building a customer-focused culture, hiring the right employees and offering quality training. Nearly every company claims to deliver superior customer service. Yet, despite the focus…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Experience coherence breaks when internal decision-making no longer shares a single reference point. The cost appears in lost leads, higher support volume and marketing spend that must constantly rebuild recognition. Four stable anchors — core premise, decision rights, translation rules and change protocol — reduce inherited friction as organizations scale. Companies that maintain these anchors recover faster from platform changes and team growth. As companies grow, the clarity that once shaped every customer interaction often disappears. What begins as a single, consistent premise changes across teams and channels they’re working…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Customer surveys can reveal what people say, but deeper qualitative research is needed to understand what actually drives their behavior. Companies shouldn’t freeze out of fear; they should learn what customers fear losing and bring them along through meaningful change. Cracker Barrel’s Julie Masino didn’t step down for making changes. Masino stepped down, in effect, because of how she found out what to change. Masino came in, modernized a beloved brand, customers revolted, President Trump weighed in, she reversed course, and now she’s gone anyway even after steering a real…
Key Takeaways Molina and Williams had to get scrappy to finance their business in the early days. After a long road to launch and slow start, a viral moment led to millions of dollars in sales. Now, the sisters are continuing to grow their company and its community. In 2013, St. Louis, Missouri-based sisters Jane Molina and Joy Williams were in a busy season of life, running their family’s long-time heating and cooling business and raising five young children between them. Image Credit: Ninni Co. Joy Williams, left, and Jane Molina, right. Despite having no shortage of to-dos on her…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Key Takeaways Boring can be a goldmine. Unsexy industries often have outdated systems, frustrated customers and less competition.u003cbru003e Distribution matters as much as the product. Solving the problem is only half the battle — you also need to reach customers at the moment they actually care.u003cbru003e Don’t confuse growth with success. A smaller, overlooked market that solves a real problem and makes money can be more valuable than chasing the latest trend. Many entrepreneurs are drawn to exciting sectors such as AI, crypto or whatever is trending, and it’s easy to understand…
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Talk about a winning combo. The first dual-brand IHOP-Applebee’s location opened in Seguin, Texas, and nearly tripled sales compared to what the standalone IHOP was doing before, according to FSR Magazine. Dine Brands, the parent company of both chains, is betting the format can do that again and again, targeting 80 combined locations by year’s end. That’s nearly double its current 45, and CEO John Peyton projects room for 900 dual-branded units over the next decade. The layout shares one entrance, with Applebee’s and IHOP each getting their own seating zone, red…
ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a green day today: • NIKKEI 225 increased 890.37 points or 1.36% to 66,216.79 • Shanghai increased 9.299 points or 0.24% to 3,903.721 • Hang Seng increased 203.42 points or 0.80% to 25,698.49 • ASX 200 increased 30.00 points or 0.33% to 9,083.80 • SENSEX increased 628.04 points or 0.82% to 77,537.72 • Nifty50 increased 153.55 points or 0.64% to 24,231.85 The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today: • AUDUSD decreased 0.00119 or -0.17% to 0.71132 • NZDUSD increased 0.00057 or 0.10% to 0.59417 • USDJPY increased 0.894 or 0.57%…