STAF Staffing 360 Solutions Inc

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

There are numerous and varied risks that may prevent us from achieving our goals, including those described below. You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information included in this Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations, could be harmed by any of the following risks. If any of the events or circumstances described below were to occur, our business, the financial condition and the results of operations could be materially adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and investors could lose part or all of their investment. The risks below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We have incurred significant losses since our inception and may continue to incur losses and thus may never achieve or maintain profitability.

We may incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the staffing industry, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses or when we will become profitable, if at all.  Expected future operating losses will have an adverse effect on our cash resources, stockholders’ equity and working capital.

Our failure to become and remain profitable could depress the value of our stock and impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our development efforts, diversify our portfolio of staffing companies, or continue our operations. A decline in our value could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

Our debt level could negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects.

As of December 29, 2018, our total gross debt payables amount to approximately $37,393. Our level of debt could have significant consequences to our stockholders, including the following:

Our ability to make payments of principal and interest, or to refinance our indebtedness, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors. Our business is generating positive cash flow however it may not generate cash flow in the future sufficient to service our debt because of factors beyond our control, including but not limited to our ability to expand our operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt

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obligations. A default on our debt obligations could have a material adverse effect on ou r business, financial condition and results of operations and may cause you to lose all or part of your investment.  

Our debt instruments and the certificate of designation for our Series E Preferred Stock contain covenants that could limit our financing options and liquidity position, which would limit our ability to grow our business.

Covenants in our debt instruments and the certificate of designations for our Series E Preferred Stock impose operating and financial restrictions on us . These restrictions prohibit or limit our ability to, among other things:

Our failure to comply with the restrictions in our debt instruments and/or our certificate of designations for the Series E Preferred Stock could result in events of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in us being required to repay these borrowings before their due date or require us to redeem our Series E Preferred Stock. The holders of our debt and Series E Preferred Stock may require fees and expenses to be paid or other changes to terms in connection with waivers or amendments. If we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by increased costs and rates.

In addition, these restrictions may limit our ability to obtain additional financing, withstand downturns in our business or take advantage of business opportunities.  In further addition, certain provisions of the certificate of designations of our Series E Preferred Stock require us to use proceeds from any sales of our common stock to redeem shares of the Series E Preferred Stock, which could  limit our ability to grow our business, acquire needed assets, or take other actions we might otherwise consider appropriate or desirable.

The Jackson Note is secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets and the terms of the Jackson Note may restrict the Company’s current and future operations. Additionally, Jackson may be able to exert significant influence over us as our senior secured and the beneficial owner of a substantial percentage of our outstanding shares of common stock.

The Jackson Note (as defined herein) contains a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interests. The Jackson Note includes covenants limiting or restricting, among other things, our ability to:

In addition, the Jackson Note contains financial covenants including, among other things, a fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum liquidity requirements and total leverage ratio.  A breach of any of these financial covenants could result in a default under the Jackson Note. If any such default occurs, Jackson may elect to declare all outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other amounts payable thereunder, to be immediately due and payable.  In addition, following an event of default under the Jackson Note, Jackson will have the right to proceed against the collateral granted to it to secure the debt, which includes our available cash. If the debt under the Jackson Note was to be accelerated, we cannot assure you that our assets would be sufficient to repay in full our debt.

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In addition to being our senior secured lender, Jackson owns in excess of 17.8 % of the Company’s outstanding common stock, not including shares issu able upon conversion of certain warrants and Series E and Series E-1 Preferred Stoc k. Jackson beneficially owns 5 9 . 1 % including such warrants and Series E and Series E-1 Preferred Stock . Accordingly, Jackson may be able to exert significant infl uence over the Company.

We have significant working capital needs and if we are unable to satisfy those needs from cash generated from our operations or borrowings under our debt instruments, we may not be able to continue our operations.

We require significant amounts of working capital to operate our business. We often have high receivables from our customers, and as a staffing company, we are prone to cash flow imbalances because we funnel payroll payments from employers to temporary workers. Cash flow imbalances also occur because we must pay temporary workers even when we have not been paid by our customers. If we experience a significant and sustained drop in operating profits, or if there are unanticipated reductions in cash inflows or increases in cash outlays, we may be subject to cash shortfalls. If such a shortfall were to occur for even a brief period of time, it may have a significant adverse effect on our business. In particular, we use working capital to pay expenses relating to our temporary workers and to satisfy our workers’ compensation liabilities. As a result, we must maintain sufficient cash availability to pay temporary workers and fund related tax liabilities prior to receiving payment from customers.

In addition, our operating results tend to be unpredictable from quarter to quarter.  Demand for our services is typically lower during traditional national vacation periods in the United States and United Kingdom when customers and candidates are on vacation.  No single quarter is predictive of results of future periods. Any extended period of time with low operating results or cash flow imbalances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.    

We derive working capital for our operations through cash generated by our operating activities and borrowings under our debt instruments. We believe that our current sources of capital are adequate to meet our working capital needs. However, our available sources of capital are limited. If our working capital needs increase in the future, we may be forced to seek additional sources of capital, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms. The amount we are entitled to borrow under our debt instruments is calculated monthly based on the aggregate value of certain eligible trade accounts receivable generated from our operations, which are affected by financial, business, economic and other factors, as well as by the daily timing of cash collections and cash outflows. The aggregate value of our eligible accounts receivable may not be adequate to allow for borrowings for other corporate purposes, such as capital expenditures or growth opportunities, which could reduce our ability to react to changes in the market or industry conditions.

We will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future, which is likely to be challenging, could be highly dilutive and may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

As of December 29, 2018, the Company had a working capital deficiency of $14,894, an accumulated deficit of $71,643 and a net loss of $6,501 in Fiscal 2018.   As a result of our recent financings, we believe that we will be able to fund our operations, implement our business plan and pursue the acquisition of broad spectrum staffing companies through the next twelve months. However, we will need to raise additional capital to pursue growth opportunities, improve our infrastructure, finance our operations and otherwise make investments in assets and personnel that will allow us to remain competitive. Additional capital would be used to accomplish the following:

To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of those securities could result in substantial dilution for our current stockholders. The terms of any securities issued by us in future capital transactions may be more favorable to new investors, and may include preferences, superior voting rights and the issuance of warrants or other derivative securities, which may have a further dilutive effect on the holders of any of our securities then-outstanding. We may issue additional shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for our common stock in connection with hiring or retaining personnel, option or warrant exercises, future acquisitions or future placements of our securities for

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capital-raising or othe r business purposes. The issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us , or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline further and existing stockholders may not agree with our financing pla ns or the terms of such financings.

In addition, we may incur substantial costs in pursuing future capital financing, including investment banking fees, legal fees, accounting fees, securities law compliance fees, printing and distribution expenses and other costs. We may also be required to recognize non-cash expenses in connection with certain securities we issue, such as convertible notes and warrants, which may adversely impact our financial condition.

Furthermore, any additional debt or equity financing that we may need may not be available on terms favorable to us , or at all. If we are unable to obtain such additional financing on a timely basis, we may have to curtail our development activities and growth plans and/or be forced to sell assets, perhaps on unfavorable terms, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations , and ultimately could be forced to discontinue our operations and liquidate, in which event it is unlikely that stockholders would receive any distribution on their shares. Further, we may not be able to continue operating if we do not generate sufficient revenues from operations needed to stay in business.

A more active, liquid trading market for our common stock may not develop, and the price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.

Historically, the market price of our common stock has fluctuated over a wide range. Between our stock splits occurring on September 17, 2015, and January 3, 2018, our common stock traded in a range from $0.54 to $7.74 per share. There has been relatively limited trading volume in the market for our common stock, and a more active, liquid public trading market may not develop or may not be sustained. Limited liquidity in the trading market for our common stock may adversely affect a stockholder's ability to sell its shares of common stock at the time it wishes to sell them or at a price that it considers acceptable. If a more active, liquid public trading market does not develop we may be limited in our ability to raise capital by selling shares of common stock and our ability to acquire other companies or assets by using shares of our common stock as consideration. In addition, if there is a thin trading market or "float" for our stock, the market price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly more than the stock market as a whole. Without a large float, our common stock would be less liquid than the stock of companies with broader public ownership and, as a result, the trading prices of our common stock may be more volatile and it would be harder for a stockholder to liquidate any investment in our common stock. Furthermore, the stock market is subject to significant price and volume fluctuations, and the price of our common stock could fluctuate widely in response to several factors, including:

The stock market has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations in recent years that have significantly affected the quoted prices of the securities of many companies, including companies in the staffing industry. The changes often appear to occur without regard to specific operating performance. The price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with us and these fluctuations could materially reduce our stock price.

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There can be no assurance that that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of NASDAQ.

Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market. If the NASDAQ Capital Market delists our common stock from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the listing standards, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

An investment in our common stock should be considered illiquid and high risk.

An investment in our common stock requires a long-term commitment, with no certainty of return. Because we did not become a public reporting company by the traditional means of conducting an underwritten initial public offering of our common stock, we may be unable to establish a liquid market for our common stock. In addition, investment banks may be less likely to agree to underwrite primary or secondary offerings on our behalf or our stockholders in the future than they would if we had become a public reporting company by means of an underwritten initial public offering of common stock. If all or any of the foregoing risks occur, it would have a material adverse effect on us.

The United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, sales practice requirements may also limit your ability to buy and sell our common stock, which could depress the price of our shares.  FINRA rules require broker-dealers to have reasonable grounds for believing that an investment is suitable for a customer before recommending that investment to the customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status and investment objectives, among other things. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability such speculative low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. Thus, FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our shares, have an adverse effect on the market for our shares, and thereby depress our share price.

Our growth of operations could strain our resources and cause our business to suffer.

We plan to continue growing our business organically through expansion, sales efforts, and strategic acquisitions, while maintaining tight controls on our expenses and overhead. Lean overhead functions combined with focused growth may place a strain on our management systems, infrastructure and resources, resulting in internal control failures, missed opportunities, and staff attrition which could impact our business and results of operations.

We may be unable to develop, implement and maintain appropriate internal controls over financial reporting. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results and current and potential stockholders may lose confidence in our financial reporting.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Securities and Exchange Commission rules require that our management report annually on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and our disclosure controls and procedures. Among other things, our management must conduct an assessment of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. As disclosed in our prior periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting relating to the accounting for complex debt and equity instruments. While we believe that we have remediated this material weakness, we cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses will not be identified in the future.

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Any failure to implement or maintain required new or improved controls, or any difficulties we encounter in their implementation, could result in additional material weaknesses , or could result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements. These misstatements could result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, reduce our ability to obta in financing or cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, leading to a decline in our stock price.

There are inherent limitations in all control systems, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

The ongoing internal control provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 require us to identify material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, which is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our internal controls and disclosure controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefit of controls must be relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, in our company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple errors or mistakes. Further, controls can be circumvented by individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more persons, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving our stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, a control may be inadequate because of changes in conditions, such as growth of the company or increased transaction volume, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

In addition, discovery and disclosure of a material weakness, by definition, could have a material adverse impact on our financial statements. Such an occurrence could discourage certain customers or suppliers from doing business with us, cause downgrades in our future debt ratings leading to higher borrowing costs and affect how our stock trades. This could, in turn, negatively affect our ability to access public debt or equity markets for capital.

Our strategy of growing through acquisitions may impact our business in unexpected ways.

Our growth strategy involves acquisitions that help us expand our service offerings and diversify our geographic footprint. We continuously evaluate acquisition opportunities, but there are no assurances that we will be able to identify acquisition targets that complement our strategy and are available at valuation levels accretive to our business.

Even if we are successful in acquiring, our acquisitions may subject our business to risks that may impact our results of operation:

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We face risks associated with litigation and claims.

We are a party to certain legal proceedings as further described in this Form 10-K.  In addition, from time to time, we may become involved in various claims, disputes and legal or regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business and relate to contractual and other obligations. Due to the uncertainties of litigation, we can give no assurance that we will prevail on any claims made against us in any such lawsuit. Also, we can give no assurance that any other lawsuits or claims brought in the future will not have an adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity or operating results. Adverse outcomes in some or all of these claims may result in significant monetary damages that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.

The potential U.K. exit from the European Union as a result of the U.K. triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

On March 29, 2017, the U.K. triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (“EU”) by notifying the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union (commonly referred to as “Brexit”). The U.K’s exit from EU is scheduled to occur on March 29, 2019 (“Separation Date”). As a result of a vote in the U.K. Parliament on January 29, 2019, the UK is seeking to negotiate one of the terms of the withdrawal agreed to in draft form with the EU on November 14, 2018. If a withdrawal agreement is not executed between the UK and the EU by the Separation Date, it is possible that the Separation Date may be extended or the U.K. may withdraw from the EU without an agreement in place. Because this is an unprecedented event, it is unclear what long-term economic, financial, trade and legal implications the withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU will have and how such withdrawal could affect our business. The actual exit of the U.K. from the EU could cause disruptions to and create uncertainty surrounding our business and generally have a negative effect on the U.K. economy. In addition, the initial Brexit vote in 2016 caused significant volatility in currency exchange rates and continued uncertainty regarding Brexit may result in future exchange rate volatility. Any of these effects of Brexit, could materially harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our revenue may be adversely affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

A significant portion of our expenditures are expected to be derived or spent in British pounds. However, we report our financial condition and results of operations in U.S. dollars. As a result, fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the British pound will impact the amount of our revenues and net income. For example, if the British pound appreciates relative to the U.S. dollar, the fluctuation will result in a positive impact on the revenues that we report. However, if the British pound depreciates relative to the U.S. dollar, which was the case during 2016, there will be a negative impact on the revenues we report due to such fluctuation. It is possible that the impact of currency fluctuations will result in a decrease in reported consolidated sales even though we may have experienced an increase in sales transacted in the British pound. Conversely, the impact of currency fluctuations may result in an increase in reported consolidated sales despite declining sales transacted in the British pound. The exchange rate from the U.S. dollar to the British pound has fluctuated substantially in the past and may continue to do so in the future. Though we may choose to hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate changes in the future, there is no guarantee such hedging, if undertaken, will be successful.

We depend on attracting, integrating, managing, and retaining qualified personnel .

Our success is substantially dependent upon our ability to attract, integrate, manage and retain personnel who possess the skills and experience necessary to fulfill our customers’ needs. Our ability to hire and retain qualified personnel could be impaired by any diminution of our reputation, decrease in compensation levels relative to our competitors or modifications to our total compensation philosophy or competitor hiring programs. If we cannot attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. Our future success also depends upon our ability to manage the performance of our personnel. Failure to successfully manage the performance of our personnel could affect our profitability by causing operating inefficiencies that could increase operating expenses and reduce operating income.

We depend on our ability to attract and retain qualified temporary workers.

In addition to the members of our own team, our success is substantially dependent on our ability to recruit and retain qualified temporary workers who possess the skills and experience necessary to meet the staffing requirements of our customers. We are required to continually evaluate our base of available qualified personnel to keep pace with changing customer needs. Competition for individuals with proven professional skills is intense, and demand for these individuals is expected to remain strong for the foreseeable future. There can be no assurance that qualified personnel will continue to be available.

Our revenue can vary because our customers can terminate their relationship with us at any time with limited or no penalty.

We focus on providing mid-level professional and light industrial personnel on a temporary assignment-by-assignment basis, which customers can generally terminate at any time or reduce their level of use when compared to prior periods. To avoid large placement

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agency fees, large companies may use in-house personnel staff, current employee referrals, or human resources consulting companies to find and hire new personnel. Because placement agencies typically char ge a fee based on a percentage of the first year’s salary of a new worker, companies with many jobs to fill have a large financial incentive to avoid agencies.

Our business is also significantly affected by our customers’ hiring needs and their views of their future prospects. Our customers may, on very short notice, terminate, reduce or postpone their recruiting assignments with us and, therefore, affect demand for our services. As a result, a significant number of our customers can terminate their agreements with us at any time, making us particularly vulnerable to a significant decrease in revenue within a short period of time that could be difficult to quickly replace. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.  

Most of our contracts do not obligate our customers to utilize a significant amount of our staffing services and may be cancelled on limited notice, so our revenue is not guaranteed.

Substantially all of our revenue is derived from multi-year contracts that are terminable for convenience. Under our multi-year agreements, we contract to provide customers with staffing services through work or service orders at the customers’ request. Under these agreements, our customers often have little or no obligation to request our staffing services. In addition, most of our contracts are cancellable on limited notice, even if we are not in default under the contract. We may hire employees permanently to meet anticipated demand for services under these agreements that may ultimately be delayed or cancelled. We could face a significant decline in revenues and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected if:

If we are unable to retain existing customers or attract new customers, our results of operations could suffer.

Increasing the growth and profitability of our business is particularly dependent upon our ability to retain existing customers and capture additional customers. Our ability to do so is dependent upon our ability to provide high quality services and offer competitive prices. If we are unable to execute these tasks effectively, we may not be able to attract a significant number of new customers and our existing customer base could decrease, either or both of which could have an adverse impact on our revenues.

We operate in an intensely competitive and rapidly changing business environment, and there is a substantial risk that our services could become obsolete or uncompetitive.

The markets for our services are highly competitive. Our markets are characterized by pressures to provide high levels of service, incorporate new capabilities and technologies, accelerate job completion schedules and reduce prices. Furthermore, we face competition from a number of sources, including other executive search firms and professional search, staffing and consulting firms. Several of our competitors have greater financial and marketing resources than we do.  New and existing competitors are aided by technology, and the market has low barriers to entry.  Furthermore, Internet employment sites expand a company’s ability to find workers without the help of traditional agencies. Personnel agencies often work as intermediaries, helping employers accurately describe job openings and screen candidates. Increasing the use of sophisticated, automated job description and candidate screening tools could make many traditional functions of staffing companies obsolete. Specifically, the increased use of the internet may attract technology-oriented companies to the professional staffing industry. Free social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are also becoming a common way for recruiters and employees to connect without the assistance of a staffing company.

Our future success will depend largely upon our ability to anticipate and keep pace with those developments and advances. Current or future competitors could develop alternative capabilities and technologies that are more effective, easier to use or more economical than our services . In addition, we believe that, with continuing development and increased availability of information technology, the industries in which we compete may attract new competitors. If our capabilities and technologies become obsolete or uncompetitive, our related sales and revenue would decrease. Due to competition, we may experience reduced margins on our services, loss of market share, and loss of customers. If we are not able to compete effectively with current or future competitors as a result of these and other factors, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Our operations may be affected by global economic fluctuations.

Customers’ demand for our services may fluctuate widely with changes in economic conditions in the markets in which we operate. Those conditions include slower employment growth or reductions in employment, which directly impact our service offerings. As a staffing company, our revenue depends on the number of jobs we fill, which in turn depends on economic growth. During economic slowdowns, many customer companies stop hiring altogether. For example, in prior economic downturns, many employers in our

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opera ting regions reduced their overall workforce to reflect the slowing demand for their products and services. We may face lower demand and increased pricing pressures during these periods, which this could have a material adverse effect on our business, fina ncial condition and results of operations.

We could be adversely affected by risks associated with acquisitions and joint ventures .

We are engaged in the acquisition of U.S . and U.K . based staffing companies, and our typical acquisition model is based on paying consideration in the form of cash, stock, earn-outs and/or promissory notes.  To date, we have completed eight acquisitions.  We intend to expand our business through acquisitions of complementary businesses, services or products, subject to our business plans and management's ability to identify, acquire and develop suitable investments or acquisition targets in both new and existing service categories. In certain circumstances, acceptable investments or acquisition targets might not be available. Acquisitions involve a number of risks, including:

Our business plan for continued growth through acquisitions is subject to certain inherent risks, including accessing capital resources, potential cost overruns and possible rejection of our business model and/or sales methods. Therefore, we provide no assurance that we will be successful in carrying out our business plan. We continue to pursue additional debt and equity financing to fund our business plan. We have no assurance that future financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.

In addition, if we incur indebtedness to finance an acquisition, it may reduce our capacity to borrow additional amounts and require us to dedicate a greater percentage of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing the cash resources available to us to fund capital expenditures, pursue other acquisitions or investments in new business initiatives and meet general corporate and working capital needs. This increased indebtedness may also limit our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in or challenges relating to our business and industry.  The use of our common stock or other securities (including those convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for our common stock ) to finance any such acquisition may also result in dilution of our existing shareholders.

The potential risks associated with future acquisitions could disrupt our ongoing business, result in the loss of key customers or personnel, increase expenses and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are dependent upon technology services, and if we experience damage, service interruptions or failures in our computer and telecommunications systems, our customer relationships and our ability to attract new customers may be adversely affected.

Our business could be interrupted by damage to or disruption of our computer and telecommunications equipment and software systems, and we may lose data. Our customers’ businesses may be adversely affected by any system or equipment failure we experience. As a result of any of the foregoing, our relationships with our customers may be impaired, we may lose customers, our ability to attract new customers may be adversely affected and we could be exposed to contractual liability. Precautions in place to protect us from, or minimize the effect of, such events may not be adequate. If an interruption by damage to or disruption of our computer and telecommunications equipment and software systems occurs, we could be liable and the market perception of our services could be harmed.

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We could be harmed by improper disclosure or loss of sensitive or confidential company , employee, associate or customer data, including personal data.

In connection with the operation of our business, we store, process and transmit a large amount of data, including personnel and payment information, about our employees, customers, associates and candidates, a portion of which is confidential and/or personally sensitive. In doing so, we rely on our own technology and systems, and those of third party vendors we use for a variety of processes. We and our third party vendors have established policies and procedures to help protect the security and privacy of this information. Unauthorized disclosure or loss of sensitive or confidential data may occur through a variety of methods. These include, but are not limited to, systems failure, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, or unauthorized access to or through our information systems, whether by our employees or third parties, including a cyberattack by computer programmers, hackers, members of organized crime and/or state-sponsored organizations, who may develop and deploy viruses, worms or other malicious software programs.

Such disclosure, loss or breach could harm our reputation and subject us to government sanctions and liability under our contracts and laws that protect sensitive or personal data and confidential information, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenues. It is possible that security controls over sensitive or confidential data and other practices we and our third party vendors follow may not prevent the improper access to, disclosure of, or loss of such information. The potential risk of security breaches and cyberattacks may increase as we introduce new services and offerings, such as mobile technology. Further, data privacy is subject to frequently changing rules and regulations, which sometimes conflict among the various jurisdictions in which we provide services. Any failure or perceived failure to successfully manage the collection, use, disclosure, or security of personal information or other privacy related matters, or any failure to comply with changing regulatory requirements in this area, could result in legal liability or impairment to our reputation in the marketplace.

We may be exposed to employment-related claims and losses, including class action lawsuits, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We employ people internally and in the workplaces of other businesses. Many of these individuals have access to customer information systems and confidential information. The risks of these activities include possible claims relating to:

We may incur fines and other losses or negative publicity with respect to these problems. In addition, these claims may give rise to litigation, which could be time-consuming and expensive. New employment and labor laws and regulations may be proposed or adopted that may increase the potential exposure of employers to employment-related claims and litigation. There can be no assurance that the corporate policies we have in place to help reduce our exposure to these risks will be effective or that we will not experience losses as a result of these risks. There can also be no assurance that the insurance policies we have purchased to insure against certain risks will be adequate or that insurance coverage will remain available on reasonable terms or be sufficient in amount or scope of coverage.

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Our comp liance with complicated regulations concerning corporate governance and public disclosure has resulted in additional expenses. Moreover, our ability to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations is uncertain given our management’s relative inex perience with operating public companies.

We are faced with expensive, complicated and evolving disclosure, governance and compliance laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure.  In addition, as a staffing company, we are regulated by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and often by state authorities. New or changing laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing compliance work.

Our failure to comply with all laws, rules and regulations applicable to U.S. public companies could subject us or our management to regulatory scrutiny or sanction, which could harm our reputation and stock price. Our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards are likely to continue to result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

The requirements of being a public company place significant demands on our resources.

As a public company , we incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , as well as rules subsequently implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASDAQ Capital Market, have imposed various requirements on public companies. New laws and regulations as well as changes to existing laws and regulations affecting public companies, including the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and changes in required accounting practices and rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the by NASDAQ Capital Market, would likely result in increased costs to us as we respond to their requirements.

Shareholder activism, the current political environment, and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations have increased our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time consuming and costly. For example, these rules and regulations make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to incur substantial costs to maintain our current levels of such coverage.

We may reduce or suspend our dividend in the future.

We initiated a dividend program under which we intend to pay a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share to holders of our common stock. The first $0.01 per share dividend was paid on February 28, 2019 to shareholders of record as of February 15, 2019.  In the future, our Board of Directors may, without advance notice, determine to reduce or suspend our dividend in order to maintain our financial flexibility and best position our Company for long‑term success. The declaration and amount of future dividends is at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, prospects, industry conditions, capital requirements and other factors and restrictions our Board of Directors deems relevant. In addition, we are limited in our ability to pay dividends by certain of our existing agreements and the certificate of designations for our Series E Preferred Stock.  In particular, our debt agreements and certificate of designations for our Series E Preferred Stock only permit us to pay quarterly cash dividend of one cent per share of common stock issued and outstanding, provided, that such cash dividend does not exceed $100 in the aggregate per fiscal quarter.  We may not pay such dividends if any events of default exist under our debt agreements or the certificates of designations for our  Series E  Preferred Stock.  In addition, so long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, as they are at this time, we are not able to declare, pay or set apart for payment any dividend on any shares of common stock, unless at the time of such dividend we have paid all accrued and unpaid dividends on the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock.  

Accordingly, we cannot be certain if we will be able to continue payment of the quarterly cash dividends to holders of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors must mainly rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the primary way to realize any future gains on their investment. There is no guarantee that shares of our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which our stockholders have purchased their shares.

Upon our dissolution, you may not recoup all or any portion of your investment.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our company, whether voluntary or involuntary, the proceeds and/or assets of our company remaining after giving effect to such transaction, and the payment of all of our debts and liabilities will be distributed to the stockholders of common stock on a pro rata basis. There can be no assurance that we will have available assets to pay to the

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holde rs of common stock, or any amounts, upon such a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our company. In this event, you could lose some or all of your investment.

Comprehensive tax reform bills could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

The U.S. government has enacted comprehensive tax legislation that includes significant changes to the taxation of business entities. These changes include, among others, (i) a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, (ii) a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, (iii) a shift of the U.S. taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a territorial system (along with certain rules designed to prevent erosion of the U.S. income tax base) and (iv) a one-time tax on accumulated offshore earnings held in cash and illiquid assets, with the latter taxed at a lower rate. Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of this tax reform is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.