Business Articles

lunedì 21 marzo 2011

Promoting Your Fundraiser

To achieve a successful fundraising event you will need to create awareness and excitement for your fundraising event. The bigger the crowd of people you attract for your fundraiser, the bigger amount of money that will be raised for your group. Below are some tips for generating interest in your fundraising event!
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Fundraiser Follow Up

One of the key factors to a successful fundraising event and future fundraising events is to follow up with the supporters, volunteers and participants after the fundraiser is completed and the numbers are tallied!
Taking the time to add that personal touch will go a long way in the eyes of your supporters, participants, volunteers and sponsors. Take the time to send them a thank you card and thank them for the time spent helping through out the fundraiser. This will help assure that they are pleased as well and they will want to participate again next year.
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MicroCap Business Cashflow Stabilization: ERP System, Divestitures & Spin-Offs

Company restructuring, merging & acquisition should be done in concert with ERP system tuning up or building up. Sometimes you should consider switching to cheaper and more efficient ERP solution
The MicroCap space may be viewed as a jungle containing many hungry predators who may view you and your company as just another meal.
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New Homes, Furniture and Consumer Trends, Discussion

Some look back on the economy of 2000 thru 2002 and say what a disaster 3 million jobs lost? Well one could also argue that the 43 million Americans who moved into new homes far outweighs the 3 million citizens who were looking for work. There are more people who are still looking for work who have gone into what they considered substandard vocations for instance they may be working as a manager at a Home Depot
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Diesel Fuel Taking out the Sulfur

Sulfur will no longer be in diesel fuel as per legislation signed into law by President Clinton. The EPA laws will soon be effective. So you want to take the Sulfur out of Diesel Fuel? Great, but not now; we need to phase this in. Perhaps require in two years that every truck manufactured not need it, and then eliminate the fuel in six years by raising the cost slowly as trucking companies trade in old units and retrofit those before re-sold.
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Elliot Spitzer Has Committed Fraud, Where is the Extortion Money

Elliot Spitzer has filed bogus lawsuits and extorted billions from highly reputable companies. To date he has extorted over 3 Billion in fines from mutual fund companies alone. Where is the money? The case against Bank of America; Bogus says jury. I could not agree more. No consumers or investors were harmed only American Mutual Fund Companies which help to capitalize America.
The State Attorney General owes the business
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Electronic Medical Record: A New Medical Technology Walk Through

Electronic Medical Record
The electronic medical record, or EMR, has been redesigned by technology to suite the 21st century medical practice. The entire process has been wrapped around your finger. In other words, information, records, superbill, transcription, soap notes, and medical procedure codes are all at your finger tips.
All electronic medical records have been organized and stored in a variety of ways, usually depending
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China is Kicking Americas Butt, the US is Out of Quarters

China is kicking America's butt and will easily surpass our economic output. And you know what they deserve to win. Do you know why? Because we are so caught up in our BS and political correctness; so quick to over regulate and condemn our corporations and business leaders that we have put in place an unworkable situation for increasing industrial output. Further more we have cut off the necks of those entrepreneurs and innovators who were running at breakneck speed.
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Franchise Disclosure Laws Give Upper Hand to Attorneys

In today's franchising industry franchisors are forced to have excessive disclosure documents. Franchise Attorneys will collect this data to try to sue you. Every one knows you should never trust an Attorney; that also goes for any Franchise Attorney also. If you are in franchising you will of course need a few of these extorsionists to protect you from other suing franchise lawyers. Franchising Lawyers; 88% are incompetent, so be careful and do you home work. Many hardly know their rear ends from a hole in the ground.
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The Triple Threat of Document Collaboration Technology

Document Collaboration has made leaps and bounds since the explosion of the technology revolution. In any business era, the need to collaborate remains a constant. What varies is the ability of technology to keep up with demands of the collaborators. Groupware has risen to the challenge, delivering solutions that streamline the editorial process - tracking documents, sorting, and even merging documents, essentially answering the who, what, when, where, and how of collaboration.
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Business Intuition - Avoiding the Cosmic 2 X 4's

What's a cosmic 2 x 4 you ask? It's actually a phrase that's been used in the 'new age/ metaphysical' world for the past 15 years or more. It refers to the lessons we learned the hard way when we didn't listen to our intuition.
In the process of our intuitive development, we learn to listen more deeply and follow the guidance that comes from within. Because conscious awareness is building during that time, whenever we choose not to listen and go against our intuition, the lessons learned seem twice as powerful and painful than if we had listened.
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FileNet and Other Collaborative Solutions

In the midst of the bustle and shuffle of the collaborative whirlwind of documents, drafts, e-mails, and electronic documents that is 21st century business, it is important to evaluate the best collaborative software suites available on the market today. FileNet packages have stepped up to the plate to seek to provide helpful tools for organizing the enterprise content that exists in the modern-day corporation: e-mails and drafts of presentations, reports, and budgets.
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Workflow Management Software: Businesses are Getting into the Flow

Ah, the ebb and flow of work. Sometimes it seems like there is much more ebbing than flowing with all of the workflow, the deadlines, the projects and presentations, but overall the tide seems to constantly be flowing in and out, in and out, in and . . . sorry. Recently a friend returned from a cruise in the Bahamas and commented that he still felt that he was ebbing and flowing as if he were still on water. Many times I have felt the same way after a long day of incoming projects and outgoing reports.
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Size Does Matter, When It Comes To Shipping

How much does it cost you to ship the empty space in your boxes? Do you know the difference between dimensional weight and oversize fees that FedEx, UPS and DHL charge their customers? At what point is it less expensive to use a freight carrier instead of FedEx, UPS or DHL? Most importantly, do you know how to save money on your shipping expense by making good packaging decisions? The answers to these questions and more make up the body of this article.
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Why Women Talk and Men Don't

I had an interesting experience last week...if you have spoken to me in the past few weeks, you'll know that I've sounded like I've had a permanent case of laryngitis. What I actually had was a cyst on my throat. It's like a big blister and the only way to get rid of it was to cut it out. So if I wanted to speak clearly again, I had no choice than to go ahead and have microsurgery.
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What Is The Perfect Office Chair?

Office chairs come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
Ergonomics tells us about a healthy design for the office
chair. Chairs can come with adjustable parts. Yet, the
human body also comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Some are tall some are short. Some require a bigger chair
width and some would prefer a smaller width. Sadly, the
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Top Ten Promotion Checklist for Business Success

Business slow? Promotion efforts for your coaching practice or other service business not working as well as you hoped?
We don't know what we don't know. With just an addition or two of proven marketing/promotion techniques, you can uplevel you business for its fullest success. Put a check next to the methods you haven't done or that may be incomplete.
Ten Promotion How-to's Checklist
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Anatomy of an Office Chair

The office chair is ubiquitous in every part of the office
- in cubicles, the CEO's room, conference rooms, the
cafeteria, the reception area and more. Whatever the area,
the purpose is singular - to sit down in a comfortable and
healthy manner.
The office chair is no longer just another piece of
furniture. A lot of thought and science goes into designing
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Chinese Manufacturing Investment - Problems for New China Manufacturers

Foreign companies investing in China manufacturing facilities face difficult tasks in dealing with Chinese engineering and construction companies. Chinese design and construction policies and practices are vastly different from those in the West. Cultural differences often frustrate western engineers and managers attempting to complete their new China manufacturing facilities.
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This Time, Lemonade Sits

This afternoon I realized the inevitable: lemonade stands just aren't effective anymore. Now, I understand that "anymore" is a confusing term. I could be noting that lemonade stands were effective up until this morning, or I could be noting that they haven't been effective since the invention of refrigeration. But none of that matters. All I know is that I have no plans in the near future to buy lemonade from a stand, especially while sitting.
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Dollar General: Coming to a Community Near You!

They started out as a small, family owned retailer and gradually began to spread beyond its small town roots to towns across America. Along the way they changed the company's name and quickly became known for offering low prices on a wide variety of items. Consumers flock to them and they are opening more stores annually in the US than any other retailer. I'm talking about Wal-Mart, right? No, Dollar General! Let's take a closer look at another one of America's retail success stories, the Dollar General Corporation.
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Franchise Seller Definition in the Franchise Rule

Recently the Federal Trade Commission has attempted to report on the franchising industry in a 432 page report. On page 44 of the report they discuss the definition of "Franchise Seller," which no one ever uses in the real world. The term we use in modern day franchising is; Franchisor.
Many years back it was determined that in fact all franchisor documents be made in plain English,
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Earnings Claims from Franchisors

There has been talk at the Federal Trade Commission of requiring Franchisor's to give earnings claims in their disclosure documents. The franchise rights groups want it and the consumers need it to help them make a decision. But unfortunately with all the litigation in our nation it is too risky for franchisors. The Federal Trade Commission put forth a report on franchising last summer and has been reviewing the franchise rule in our country. Chances are and most agree in the franchise industry that earnings claims should not be required but should be considered for those franchisors who wish to sell more franchises as it will improve their sales.
On page 26 of the Franchise Report; the Federal Trade Commission
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Franchisor Website Rules and Media Regulations

Recently a Federal Trade Commission Report on Franchising has been looking into what should be allowed on Franchisor websites, as some information could be considered advertising for franchise buyers. Most websites of businesses in the franchising industry are set up to sell and give information to consumers of the end product; Submarine Sandwiches, haircuts, hotel rooms and things of this nature.
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Should Franchisors be Required to List Litigation in Disclosure Documents?

Currently Franchisors are required to list litigation in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, which is against them. Soon they maybe required to list the litigation that they file as well. In my opinion this is a bad idea all the way around. First of all putting dirty laundry in a UFOC is bad business, the more that is there the worse it is for the brand name and the future franchisees psyche going into a new business. It creates fear, it closes communication; if the franchisor is required to list the litigation that they file then, it makes the franchisee
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Franchisee Associations, what are they?

Franchisee associations are unions. In the modern business world if a group of employees want to form a union and the employer doesn't want it then the employer has a right to close the company. I believe franchisors ought to be allowed to put in the contract that if any franchisees get together and form a franchise association to use as collective bargaining power against the franchisor, other than an association approved by the franchisor, then the franchisor should have the right to terminate the franchise
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Debate for Business Plan Data and Early Franchise Disclosure

I have heard franchise attorneys say that prospective franchisees need the disclosure documents early on so they can make a business plan to see if the franchised outlet is feasible and I debated with them over this point of contention. Potential franchise buyers have also told me they wanted to put together a business plan for their evaluation process and therefore they need all the disclosure documents. They ask for these documents before they fill out the confidential questionnaire.
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Franchise Rule, Thoughts For The Future

The Federal Trade Commission recently put forth a report to the franchse industry for comments to use in an upcoming rule-making event, which is sure to modify the current franchise rule. Many have been critical of additional rules in the industry, but none more critical than myself.
If the FTC really feels that these new rules will solve something then make them in a way that they can
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Required Disclosure to Foreign Investors

At one point the Federal Trade Commission had considered that United States based franchisors were to provide franchise disclosures to the potential buyers of foreign countries. This of course is problematic since it is widely known that foreign based companies often steal us trade secrets and copy products and business methods. The Federal Trade Commission agrees which is interesting because most government agencies
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Futurists and Prescription for the Future

Many people read articles and books from futurists with interest. Some are fascinated by the borderline science fiction and reality blend. If you are one of those people you have probably noticed that the world of innovation and discovery is moving faster than ever before in human history. One book, which I recommend is:
"Prescription for the Future-How the Technology is Changing the Pulse of Global Health
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BJ's Wholesale Club: An Industry Success Story

In the 1980s a phenomenon began to take hold in the retail industry: wholesale [or warehouse] clubs. These 'big box' retailers are dotting the American landscape and offer something beyond what the typical Wal-Mart, Target, or Kmart have: large packaged items at nicely discounted prices. Currently, Costco's, Sam's Club, and BJs dominate the market. Recently, my family joined BJ's and I will share with you why I think their business is a success story.
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10-Day Rule For Franchise Sales; Cooling Off Period

In franchising law we have what we call a 10-day rule, which in laymen's terms goes something like this; The prospective franchise buyer must receive the (UFOC) Uniform Franchise Offering Circular for ten business days before any monetary compensation is given to or collected by the Franchisor. Sounds like a good idea right? Well, it is very problematic for willing buyers and sellers to operate under such constraints of trade. One of the proponent reasons for this law is that the UFOCs are generally about 200 pages long
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Who is Watching the Regulators?

I have been doing a lot of research on regulatory bodies, including the FTC. Recently in the FTC's report on franchising 432-pages I noticed a some discrepancies, which were contrary to my personal knowledge and observation of the agency; specifically the franchising division.
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Some Economic Background on South Western CO

We were impressed with South Western Colorado as a good place to hang your hat and a pretty good place to run a business. Great labor supply, good transportation and excellent tourist flows. The town is growing in Cortez and up the hill in Durango as well. Their nearest trading partners Montrose and Farmington NM also helped with money flows to the area. We like the area and thought it was completely economically viable and an excellent choice especially for manufacturing.
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What's a High Performing Organization?

Dr. Norton and Dr. Kaplan have found the key to having it all in The Balanced Scorecard by leading people and managing organizations better you will have a higher performing organization.
By using a definite set of measures for employee well being and employee ability to be competent in their positions will drive the strategic execution. It is a cause and effect in how human capital and other intangible assets are linked together to create a process, customer and financial results.
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The Softer Benefits of Corporate Giving

Have a favorite charity or non-profit community cause to which you contribute time and resources? Chances are your company will be interested in supporting it, too.
According to the Giving USA 2004 study released by the Giving USA Foundation in the summer of 2004, American individuals, estates, foundations, and corporations gave an estimated $240.72 billion to charitable causes
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Corporate Fraud-In Praise of Jail Time

Finally, we are beginning to see real serious consequences for some of the players in the frauds that have been so prominent in the recent news. A third Enron executive is now sitting in a jail cell, and one WorldCom top dog has been arrested. Even Martha Stewart has finally been indicted.
It's about time!
Too many have turned a blind eye to these cases. I would argue that this callous disregard has serious implications for free markets worldwide. America is the image of how a free-market works,
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The Devastation of Over Regulation

Small, medium and large businesses across America have been burdened almost to the point of extinction due to the miss management of our regulatory bodies. I have been to every city in the country over 10,000 population and I have seen the destruction that regulatory agency regulations cause through unintended and unanticipated consequences, what is wrong with reducing your regulations and helping the common good, the rural towns in America, the people who care most about this great nation? The Federal Trade Commission
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The Business of Water and Droughts

Water is big business? No, it is a huge business. The business of water and droughts is alive and well. Currently we see pipeline for water being build, retention basins, damns, Desalination Plants and water rights being bought up by billionaires. In my professional life, I was involved with the car washing industry and we always kept up on droughts, water restrictions and water supplies. I can remember not to long ago when California car washes battled consumer backlash to price increases of up to five dollars
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The Federal Trade Commission Lacks Free Market Thinking

Has the Federal Trade Commission run amuck? Indeed it has, it has become a problematic bureaucracy. The Federal Trade Commission lacks free market thinking. I always assumed that half of the Federal Trade Commissions staff are attorneys and the other half are economists. I think I am surprised that the economists have allowed the attorneys to win the internal struggle.
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Efficiency in Disclosure, Cost Effective FTC Regulations?

Recently in a report by the Federal Trade Commission they listed as one of the reasons to pro-over disclosure policy was the cost effectiveness of the franchise rule. Citing that it saved franchisors and franchisees money to do it that way. How can the FTC in good faith write the words "Cost-Effective" describing Disclosure laws in any industry, including franchising. There is nothing Cost-Effective about the current disclosure laws.
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Federal Trade Commission Screws Over Small Business Again!

Recently the Federal Trade Commission put forth a franchise report for possible rule making. In the report is offers possible law changes, which will screw over small business. Isn't this so typical of the Washington DC bureaucracy with their fingers up everyone's you know what? The Federal Trade Commission appears to want to revamp the franchise rule and effectively crush small business franchised outlets.
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Franchise Rule Staff Report RF511003-1 at the FTC completely flawed

Having been in the franchising industry for some time now, I always find it fascinating when a regulator arbitrarily decides that we need more laws. As if we do not have enough laws impeding commerce there is always some regulator somewhere who says we need more rules. I cannot think of any reason why unless maybe the work for Al Queda and want to cripple America's economic might; no maybe they do not work for the International Terrorists group. Maybe they just want to insure job security now and later
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Automotive Business Choices

The automotive business is alive and well in our country, not only due to the fact that there are more cars than people although that is a good start. We keep producing them at a rate of about 17 million per year. America is said to be in love with their cars, this is in fact hard to deny with just a little observation of the average person. Since people love their cars you might consider an auto appearance business. They call it auto detailing. You have heard the term, making people's cars shine. But there is more to it than that. It can be an excellent business.
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Car Care Businesses and Add-in Service Concepts

Let's say you have an auto business up and running and you are looking to make more money, but adding on new services. You are not sure what you want to do, but you have a pretty good customer base and you want to provide a service that people want and that they are willing to spend top dollar for. Well, let me suggest auto detailing type concepts.
Once you are up and running with a co-brand, business opportunity, independent business or franchise
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Condemning Our Entrepreneurs and Business Folks, are We Sure this is Wise?

During the last period we can recall the Savings and Loan and Junk Bond Scandal everyone was up in arms over that. It led to a public mindset that all business people were greedy and evil. One songwriter in the band Jefferson Starship who wrote "We Built This City on Rock and Roll" had a verse in his song; "Someone always playing corporation games; Who cares they're always changing corporation names."
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Critical Business Procedure - Keep All Email Communications

Businesses routinely maintain copies of correspondence and memos. Far to often, however, they do not extend this practice to email correspondence. Email correspondence is no different then your normal paperwork. You must keep copies of all of it to protect your business in any litigation.
Currently, only banks and broker-dealers are obliged to retain e-mail and instant messaging documents for three years under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules.
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Seeking Solutions: To Problems

Problem Situations:
*Eliminate an unwanted situation
*Obtain an improved situation
Types of Problems:
**People - the most difficult to solve
**Equipment/Procedure - Ex: The office computer network is frequently off-line.
**Financial - Worker productivity is too low in relation to the wages paid.
Steps to Making Decisions:
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Pressure Washing Business: Fixing Heat Issues and Coil Removal

In the pressure washing business it is very important to know how to repair equipment and to try to do as much of it yourself as possible. Let's face it the most powerful forces of nature are the erosion of water, heat and pressure. Well that is exactly what goes through your equipment every time you turn it on. It may be necessary to remove he coil because of freeze breakage or to clean soot from it. This can be done easily, however, it can be a very messy job. Follow these steps:
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Generator on High Pressure Hot Water Skid Units

Your generator gives electricity off of 110 volts at a power of 30 amps. Thirty amps is a lot of power and should be ample for all your needs while doing pressure washing. About the same power as a motor home generator or an 11 hp Honda or Onan generator. That's plenty for you to run a vacuum, reclaim device, lights and the burner motor at the same time.
Make sure your belt on your generator is always tight.
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Mixed bag in Economic Recovery for VT, NH and ME

Northern New England is emerging from its economic recession steadily, no one is breaking any speed records but all is not down and out as predicted. Some industry sectors are blasting right along. New Nano and Bio tech are strong and people are getting high paying jobs, while others in the areas of VT, NH, ME are saying that summer vacation rentals are not doing looking so hot as one property management consultant told us. Although from what we could tell it looks good. Another income property owner confirmed
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Maryland Legislators and Lawyers Propose Franchise Rule Change

Recently the Maryland State Legislature thought it prudent to require more disclosure than is already required by law and a complete audit of each franchisee of every company, which was franchising in their state and providing jobs and tax base. It is the typical thing dumb politicians do when they have no clue as to how free enterprise models work. There ought to be a test for all Maryland State legislators and lawyers
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New England and Economic Recovery

New England area is experiencing some good economic rebounding finally. Those markets, which involve larger consumer items are finding life a little tough, smaller manufacturers are waiting for orders and everyone is waiting on cash flow in the New England rural areas and cities under 150,000 which is nearly every city in NH, VT and ME and that 85% of the cities (calling a city that which is over 10K pop.) in CT, RI and MA. In some NH cities those involved in custom manufacturing are talking in terms of a "Train Wreck" when discussing the economic calamity.
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Components of a Hot Water Pressure Washer

If you run a mobile pressure washer business it is extremely important that you know the components so you can trouble shoot in the field while you are online with the manufacturers help desk or equipment vendor. Most problems that are encountered on the job can be easily fixed so you do not lose any money in the field.
Your engine has a single crankshaft where all the power goes. In a car, this crankshaft goes to a transmission. On your machine there is a circular pulley pressed or wedged on to the crankshaft.
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Pump Maintenance and Repair for Pressure Washers

If you have a pressure washer business you will eventually need to change out or repair the pump. There are a few things you should know to make such change outs easy. You may also need to study up on preventative maintenance so that you do not have to worry about pump failure. Your pressure washer probably has one of two different pumps if it is industrial grade. Either a Cat Pump or a General pump; both are industry standards. General is the leader in the industry for sales and many prefer Cat as it sucks better from plastic water tanks.
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Maine's Economic Recovery; Market Sectors for Economic Growth

I would like to discuss the issues concerning Maine and it's economy. For this most important discussion we are going to focus on jobs and money flow. Well first we should discuss tourism in the coastal areas. They are not breaking any speed records in Kennebunkport or Bar Harbor, but things are doing a lot better now that the late winter is over, that was a bad one, not the worst but relatively tough. If you check into the area around Cape Cod or Plymouth Rock, you will see a little better than last years numbers.
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Maryland Lawyers; Linear thinking politicians

A Maryland State Legislator proposed a bill last year to further regulate franchises in their state. As we allow states to dream up more laws we become the United Countries. Luckily the Maryland Lawyer did not get her bill past, but she might have? It is sickening to see folks make laws who have never had to earn a real living or make a payroll. They are stifling our country. Franchising
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Can the Refuse Industry Continue to Grow

Can trash companies become even more efficient in the future to save costs and increase profits? It might be difficult as they are already robotic, have GPS systems and routing software. Yes it is true many new innovations such as the Pacific Norwest Laboratories and the DOE have discovered ways to increase productivity and traffic flow by understanding issues and controlling sequential and numerical divisions between peak and capacity. And yes if that industry would stay with it they could increase their efficiency and of course due to the great rewards of the past they did.
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Bill Gates, Virtual Reality, and Six Flags

Does bill Gates know something we do not know about Six Flags amusement parks? No probably not, but anyone as smart as he, certainly understands the future of Virtual Reality. Look at the new X-Box 360-degree system? Obviously Microsoft gets it and their research teams may have entered the Virtual Reality Realm a little late, but they certainly understand gaming. Mr. Gate’s increased his holding in the company
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What is a Dollar? A Unit of Trade and that is It

We are seeing a drying up of consumer dollars in our markets. But remember the dollar is only an instrument of trade; it is merely a leveling point for evaluation. The dollar creates intrinsic value in everything we desire based on the value we and everyone else in a market sector places on that item in relation to a predetermined unit price of a fixed and stable instrument. So whereas the dollars in the market become scarce, as a small businessperson why not simply revert to other methods of commerce.
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Energy Trading and Reality Checks

When Enron bought up energy contracts and install them back to the state of California for five times their face value, it one of nearly bankrupt the state, it did bankrupt one major energy supplier. Yet, Enron is perfectly allowed to do this, based on the laws of deregulation of the energy industry passed in California. When California settled to pay Enron only 2 and a half times the cost, Californians were still hurt. In almost every trade journal, they talked about increasing energy costs in California
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Steel Industry Import Taxes

When we raised the steel import tax a few years ago it hurt many manufacturing sectors who used steel in their production. It also hurt smaller companies, which use steel in their products. US Steel prices have cost our team thousands of extra dollars due to the import taxes that were imposed. We told everyone if they raise the cost of steel even one hundred dollars per ton we will seek to build the truck beds out of other materials, and once we do we will never go back to steel. It is heavy, costs gas mileage, rusts, leaving iron oxide
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China Business Negotiation - Understanding the Culture

Business negotiation in China can be very a frustrating exercise for western business executives. The Chinese business culture and deliberate style of negotiation is vastly different from the more direct western approach.It is easy to lose perspective and patience and ultimately fail in reaching the desired agreement.
European and American business men and women are accustomed to a straight-forward style of negotiation.
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Lessons From Cusano: Bringing Upward Mobility to Independent Cigar Makers

Both cigar retailers and producers are basking in the warm sun of rising cigar sales. As stalwarts like Altadis, USA continue to report solid growth in their earnings, independent cigar makers like Cusano and Alec Bradley are having to hire more employees to meet demand. These independent producers are discovering they are part of a changing world in which the newest cigar smokers -- a growing population of twenty-something aficionados -- are looking at them not as fringe independents,
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Looks Life Wichita May Fly Again

There is some activity going on in Wichita even as India comes online to start building light aircraft again. It seems that every time it looks like Wichita is in a spiral, someone puts the ball back in the center kicks the rudder back to zero and pulls back on the yoke. Well, I’ll be damned the onlookers say. It is as if the founding city of the first US Mail Planes still has some powerful spirits flying around from the past entrepreneurs and pioneers who made Wichita what it is today.
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Compliance and Regulation: Impacting on the Global Business Community

Following the fallout from major corporate crashes such as Enron and Worldcom, stricter compliance legislation has been introduced around the world to ensure that business managers and principals are more accountable for their actions.
The latest compliance standards focus on greater accountability and control in key business processes - most importantly document flows and data management.
There are two central aspects to enforcing compliance:
o The corporate duty of care in enforcing standards
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Aircraft Capital of the United States Wichita, KA is Taking Off Again

Wichita, KS Economic Outlook is picking up even with all the aerospace layoffs there. In Wichita there is a 79.4% white, 9.1% Black and 22% of the jobs are in manufacturing which the average salary is over $18.45 per hour or at the average of 39.5 hours per week is over 45K per year annual income - High paying manufacturing jobs. Most of which are aviation related 56% are totally aviation only.
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Autism Means Great Workers

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Am I stupid?" excitedly requested Christopher, nearly out of breath from the long run into the kitchen. She knew he had been playing with neighborhood children under a mighty pine tree in the side yard.
Saddened by the question and realizing he had just been
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Franchisors: Where to find franchisees for your franchises

One of the best sources for prospective franchise buyers is relatives or family of long standing customers of your outlets. Long-standing customers really do know the kind of sales volume you bring in your outlets as they can figure it out pretty quickly. Even the non-educated person can figure out that your outlets are making a hell-of-a-lot more than they are. Many of these customers will admire your franchising company for the great idea and your strong brand name.
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New HIPAA Rules Could Affect Your Organization's Email System

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security rule went into effect. The requirements of this rule, which are basically information security best practices, focus on the three cornerstones of a solid information security infrastructure: confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.
The HIPAA regulatory requirements encompass transmission, storage and discoverability of Protected Health Information (PHI). Given the widespread use and mission-critical nature of email, enforcement of HIPAA encryption policies and the growing demand for secure email solutions, email security has never been more important to the healthcare industry than it is right now.
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Credit Cards for Small Business

When you decide to start a small business, you find out pretty quickly that it takes more than skills and dedication in your respective area of work. Besides being good at what you want to do, you also need to known your accounting and financing issues, no matter how annoying and boring these may be. And the credit card problem for small businesses needs careful handling, just like that of a regular, personal credit card.
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What is Behind Google's Acquisition of Dodgeball.com

Google acquired Dodgeball.com that brings social networking to mobile phones based in New York. However, there is no official response for the people at google but the site dodgebell.com posted a message at their site about the acquisition on Wednesday.
The service for Dodgebell works something like this: A person enters location on their mobile phones. A group of friends could receive text messages about the place where they could meet. In addition, friends of friends who are close also get the messages.
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Business Transactions in Germany - How to TRIPLE Your Success!

Would you like to double, yet TRIPLE your business success in Germany? Do you consider doing business in Germany? Read on to find out what you can do to accomplish that.
No, I'm not going to talk about "how to give a successful powerpoint presentation" or "10 tips for an irresistible rhetoric." I won't meddle in here. You will find a lot of good tips from other professionals
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Coal Mines

The deepest Coal Mine in the world is over 5000 feet below the ground in the UK. Many in the United States are over 1200 feet deep, most of those are closed and now few are remaining. There is a mine in Alabama, which is the deepest vertical shaft coalmine in North America, with operations at 2,140 feet beneath the
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International Shipping/Freight for Beginners

There are lots of benefits for some businesses to import or export goods. Manufacturers and distributors can order directly from the overseas manufacturer and save money on their purchases. They can also market their goods to the world instead of just the USA. There is a demand for American products
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Mining Industry and Water Protection

Modern mines collect veins of materials, which have been trapped over millions of years in the sediment. Once out in the open they can get into the ground water and move down hill with the normal erosion patterns and water flows. This is because the minerals have been buried for centuries underneath in layers
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What Happened to the Mining Industry in the US?

The Flow of Natural Resources and Raw Materials is vital to our nations Industrial Capacity and Job base. There are many reasons why we should be harvesting our own raw materials that already exist in this country, rather than importing them, whenever it is feasible or possible. When there are reasons, which prevent us from doing the collecting of those natural resources within our own country
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Gold Mining

Mining Gold is hard work you know? There are many people in the US to this day who still mine for gold. Did you know that in many countries people have protested mines, gold and silver are easy ones to protest because it is associated with greed as those minerals are also considered legal tender.
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Akron OH Suburb Medina is perfect for an Upscale Car Wash

We have just finished our survey of Medina OH for a possible location for a car wash. We believe an upscale car wash in this market would be excellent and well received by the growing middle class consumer there. In Akron and Medina area there are many very nice and updated car washes. The level of sophistication is representative of the auto industry influence there and the love for the car,
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Corporation HQ in Ohio

Ohio has 28 of the fortune 500 HQs there. Many corporations have picked Ohio for its regulatory policies in the past and Corporations have been willing to hang their hat there; some come and some go, but in this decade is the first time they have a net loss of Corporate HQs in Ohio. Some was due to the Tech Bubble where many companies dropped off. Yet the fortune 1000 listings Ohio is about equal or better.
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Independent Contractors

Many small companies are trying to empower their employees and alleviate some of the hardships of over regulations, taxation and paper work. Often these small businesses will attempt to make their employees Independent Contractors. Where this might sound like a good idea it is also a very gray area of law and can get you into a real bind if not done correctly.
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Akron, OH and Suburbs Economic Evaluation

In our studies of Akron, OH we find a few anomalies that you do not typically find in cities of this size in the United States. Akron Economic Researcher at the Downtown 17th floor chamber building in Akron tells of Firestone, Rubbermaid and other Corporate HQ leaving the city. Akron of course has suburbs benefiting greatly from the Cleveland Metro area much like Dayton has from Columbus OH. The three C's- Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus are all huge markets and well spread out equally as well as in good proximity to other large cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapolis and Louisville, KY
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Corporation Movement in Akron OH

There is much jockeying going on with large corporations and sector shifts in Akron OH. This has effected many other sectors like retail and housing. Housing growth is strong in the suburbs around Akron, especially the North sides. During the last recession housing growth was fine, but urban flight hurt and when Rubbermaid moved to Atlanta to be by Home Depot their major customer, besides Wal-Mart type box stores took out many smaller businesses.
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Should You Join a Think Tank?

Many think because they are not scientists, PhDs or engineers that they cannot join a think tank. This maybe true for some elitist think tanks, but not for all think tanks. Take a small business entrepreneur for instance; they know how to get things done and therefore lend them selves well to creative, innovative and problem solving type thinking. Innovations, research, inventions, prototypes and progress is made possible by the Entrepreneurs of the World. I am in the car wash business and that is most likely on first glance a very off the wall place for a think tank member, however if you think about it we have to deal with water conservation, robotics, business, water recycling, lighting, crime, automobile technologies, construction, etc.
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Eastern OH and Youngstown Economic Look

There are significant issues effecting the Eastern Ohio region due to its strong but changing base as a manufacturing area. The manufacturing jobs in the US are at crisis and in the case rural OH, where they are between big cities and big industries and shippable locations, it has the potential to pull through. It has a lot going for it, but the world price competition for labor costs and pirated after market parts are also taking its toll as emerging nations move into swoop entire manufacturing sectors of various industries.
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Akron, OH; Downtown Office Space Rebounding

In Akron, OH we met with Marcel van den Bosch, Economic Research Coordinator in downtown. While working in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce in the Greater Akron area he said that things were much better than anticipated. Goodyear being the biggest anchor corporation in the Akron area, with an incredible history has been quite strong.
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Economic Comment on Youngstown, OH

In Youngstown we saw the city of Boardman growing middle class mixed race area with newer homes and the downtown and adjacent area appeared to be poor black, but not crime ridden, people there were very nice and hard working family folks. If you begin to study and look at the projects around the Youngstown area it is easy to get excited about the future seeing as they are pro-active and smart about economic growth and about their place in the world between Pittsburgh and Akron.
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Cutting down on Water Usage in the Car Wash Industry?

Due to the drought issues which persist still in many states we are seeing the emergence of a new type of car wash in America; one which is indeed quite healthy for the environment. Some car washes are now recycling 90-95% of their wash water, yes that means the water is used over and over and the filters are getting clogged. The POTWs; Publicly Owned Treatment Works must accept high concentrated wastewater once the reclaim tanks are dumped. The smell this creates is also a big deal. In a full service carwash,
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Ohio Has Some Serious Business History

Ohio has the word entrepreneur written all over the state. Great historical figures are gone now, but their legacy lives on. In Dayton, the Patterson's and the Wrights left a legacy, which might be a tough one to live up to for these early pioneers shaped aviation history.
In Akron, the Rubber Barons made their début. Entrepreneurs who assisted us in every aspect
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Auto Manufacturing Jobs and Ohio Economy

Ohio has had some bumpy economic rides in the past as the auto industry has taken hits from Japanese Imports, high steel prices, wars, recessions, NAFTA and now robotics. These issues have caused complete boom and bust cycles for the automobile manufacturing sector in Ohio. When workers are laid off, then those high paying and generally union jobs slow the money flows in the other sectors, such as retail, professional services, banking, real estate, etc.
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Youngstown OH Suburban Growth

Youngstown OH is experiencing good growth in its nearby suburbs. South of town are two cities for those who have had enough of man's so-called progress, these cities are Salem and Sebring OH. Sufficient small towns with a little flair and they are steadily drawing from the city areas. Many are moving there who cannot afford the suburbs or do not wish to participate in mass exploitation of tract homes no matter how many walkways and parks you put around them.
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Honesty in Business

What I want to discuss in this article is the basic idea of honesty. The internet is a wonderful place to do business, but with the continuous flood of spyware, malware, and spam, it can be a horrible and very frustrating place for the average user. I am amazed, but not surprised, by the unethical practice of businesses using popups and spam to sale a product. It isn't surprising because the fact is that those business practices work. Any of us that have worked in this field for awhile know that traffic is king.
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CCTV - What Are The Advantages? How Do I Decide, What I Need?

Closed circuit TV systems have been available for many years, they have also undergone some almost miraculous transformations in recent years. What used to be very expensive, cumbersome and hard to configure systems are now very reasonable, easy to configure , and easy to maintain, and they provide much more versatility and usefulness than just a few years ago.
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Conflicts of Interest at the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has set forth an agenda to revamp the Franchise Rule. Actually not revamp and get rid of the unnecessary over regulation and over disclosure, but to re-define it and pile on more minutia. The Federal Trade Commission ought to re-consider all these potential rule changes and advise from attorneys in the industry because such comments and advise are self serving and do not help consumers. Attorney firms might hire Federal Trade Commission staff
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Federal Trade Commission; over regulation, who does it help?

Why is the Federal Trade Commission harassing the Franchising Industry? Their new rulemaking ploy to gain notoriety and status is obviously another agency attempt to spotlight themselves in the media to look like they are doing something. This helps the FTC with keeping their large budget going and the tactics of PR and puffery are well known to those industries that are regulated by the FTC. The latest franchise rulemaking going on now is just more over regulation and minutia piled on top of the bureaucracy.
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Politics, Lawyers and Franchise Rule Making at the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission is working through the necessary changes of law to protect the consumer and be fair to business owners in the franchising industry. Unfortunately as with most all regulatory agencies whenever they wish to make rule changes they have meetings to discuss it with the industry, but the lawyers all show up and take over the process. The franchise rule changes are
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Franchise Rule Making and Political Climate

Last Summer the Federal Trade Commission put forth a report for the Franchise Industry; 432 pages of study. This report asks Franchise Industry participants to comment on only certain aspects of franchising which were addressed between 1995 to 1999. It is good to see that the FTC is finally doing something after 10-years of sitting on their rear ends with a stick up their butts, however one has to ask what about the issues between 1999 and 2005.
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FTC; Accountability, Transparency and Integrity

The Franchising Division at the Federal Trade Commission put forth a report for revamping and upgrading the Franchise Rule. After ten-years of doing nothing they are now moving forward to with these changes. They put out word to the franchising industry for comments on their 432-page totally flawed report.
In this report it is safe to say that there is quite a lot of rear end kissing pre-comments from the attorney based commenters.
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False Complaints to Regulatory Bodies Hurt Small Business Too

Consumers often complain to the government on easy to use online complaint forms. Did you know that 70% of all complaints received by the SEC have no basis at all. It's true. Same thing at most regulatory bodies; Business Opportunities and franchises are no different most of the complaints are false. But has the Federal Trade Commission ever done such a study to see how many are fake complaints to try to get free stuff? No, they have never studied this.
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Does The FTC Truly Live Up To Their Mission?

Most of the American citizens believe in the Federal Trade Commission's original mission, although having seen the truth and reality of the Federal Trade Commission's ten-year delay on the changes to the franchise rule and the way they conduct themselves, do we really need the franchise rule at all? Do we even need the Federal Trade Commission involved in a business model they clearly do not understand, which is so vital to our Gross Domestic Product?
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Abuse of Power and Justice

Business owners have to keep a careful eye on the regulations put forth by the regulatory bodies in the United States. They also have to watch out to not become a target of the regulations, when those agencies are trying to prove self worth. One such agency, which needs a stronger over sight is the Federal Trade Commission in their enforcement on the franchise rule.
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The US Justice Departments Little Lie

The Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Division's Franchising Group is not well known by consumers or the citizenry. Franchising in the United States Accounts for one-third every consumer dollar spent and 400,000 outlets or stores. The Federal Trade Commission over sees the franchising industry. Some franchisors believe the FTC desperately needs turn over at the franchising division. Some attorneys
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Enron Commodity Trading was Not Original

If one were to go an annual report for El Paso Energy from 2000; they would find on page 11 of the shareholders report a picture of their 80,000 square foot trading floor, with 700 merchant staff. Enron many thought had in fact originated this; once upon a time claiming to be the largest in the world energy trading floor. So it was not new for Enron have come up with the concept, yes as far as trading floors for energy
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Franchising Regulatory Issues Unresolved

Most in the franchising industry are too afraid of the Federal Trade Commission to speak out against their abuses of power. Most attorneys kiss their rear ends to make sure they are not closed out of the loop, insuring that they get positive opinions on areas of law when they ask for an interpretation. Lawyers in the franchising industry are careful to hob knob with the regulators to help their clients positions and often have brilliant comments, kiss butt style letters and extremely warm words for the FTC's franchising groups
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Take the high road

With Competitors Take The High Road
What do you do when the competition cheats and/or hits below the belt? We recommend that you take the high road. Let them drown in the flood. Remember, he who laughs last! You must resist the temptation to retaliate by descending to their level. You should read the book by W. Michael Hoffman who is Executive Director of The Center For Business Ethics at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. He presented another good reason to do the right thing.
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Napoleon Hill - Teacher To Millions

Napoleon Hill has been an amazing influence to millions of
entrepreneurs over the last 25 years, including myself.
From his classic books "Think And Grow Rich", The Law of Success, and others Napoleon Hill is a mentor that everyone should learn more.
Napoleon Hill instructed us to "think and grow rich" and taught
us the importance of a "mastermind group".
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Franchising Companies Must Be Careful

Due to more unnecessary disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission franchising companies must be more vigilant to keep company information out of the hands of international terrorists. With increasing rules of discrimination a franchisor is forced to give vital information to anyone who asks for it. Including a group which supports international terrorism. Of course the FTC just doesn't get it, they would rather sacrifice American lives and enforce political
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Franchise Disclosure Law and The Right To Privacy

The Federal Trade Commission enforces franchise company disclosure rules. They have developed a policy for the uniform franchise disclosure laws. The UFOC contains massive amounts of disclosure and often is 200 pages, most of which no one ever reads. It also contains all the franchisor's present franchisee's phone numbers. The potential franchise buyers want to call all the current franchisees and want to talk. Well many
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Hard Times For Surety Bonds

The surety bond market is currently a very conservative market. Contract and commercial bond departments throughout the nation have tightened up their underwriting practices due to enormous loses throughout the industry. Many sureties have had to close their doors, other have had their ratings drop to a level where they can not write the same business they could in years past. Obviously this leaves the bonding companies that are still operating with a very conservative outlook when it comes to their underwriting guidelines.
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Choosing the Proper Coating For Your Packaging

Choosing the proper coating is an essential step in designing and producing quality packaging. Why are coatings important? For some of the same reasons that packaging is important. While packaging protects and enhances the beauty of what's inside, coatings help protect and enhance the appearance of the package itself. Because coatings are dually decorative and protective, they are an economical way to extend both the appearance and the lifespan of the package.
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Workplace Violence - A Growing Concern

Workplace violence has become one of the biggest concerns for managers, corporate executives and Human Resource Departments in the past several years. In fact, the shear number of incidents of workplace violence is staggering.
A report issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after an extensive study, showed that "homicide is the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. The report stated that almost 1,000 workers are murdered, and 1.5 million - about 1-in-4 - employees are assaulted in the workplace each year. According to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), in 1998 alone, there were 709 workplace homicides which accounted for 12% of the over six thousand fatal work injuries in the United States that year."
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Walmart, As It Was

As it was, Walmart was a wonderful part of my life.
For a short while I sincerely believed what I was told and even if I had my doubts I pushed them aside because the company that I grew to love seemed to be something I had never come across in almost twenty five years of retail.
Now with a book about it written and the possibility that it may be too controversial for anyone to print, I may have to do it myself.
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Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OH MY! Liars, Cheaters, and Fears, OH MY!

It's, The Walmart TV Network... look up!
When my grandson had just started to talk this was one of the first things he sung.
Probably because there were so many days that he came to one of the stores while I was at work or someone else in the family was at work he heard it over and over.
There was a time during my employ with Walmart that I would not stand for anyone saying anything negative about the company.
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Top 10 ways to introduce a little excitement into your workplace

10. Page yourself over the intercom. (Don't disguise your voice.)
9. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits.
Then wear them one day after your boss does.
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Top 10 Things to make your next company meeting more exciting Part 1

10. Take notes in finger paint.
9. Bring a huge jar of Vaseline to the meeting. Display it prominently and keep muttering the words "I came prepared"
8. Laugh uproariously at a quip that was made 2 or 3 minutes ago. Say,
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What It Takes To Succeed In Business

In the not to distant past businesses were able to succeed simply with salespeople having a knowledgeable understanding of their products, some good old personal charm (people skills) and ambition.
But in today's terrorized world, complex global economy, and intensely competitive business environment, salespeople from the small mom and pop to large corporate giants in every market face unprecedented challenges.
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3 Tips for Sifting Through Collaboration Software Suites

Collaboration and business are difficult, if not impossible, to separate. What makes effective collaboration possible without overloading hard drives and confusing your document versions? The answer is groupware.
Groupware is software that is available to assist businesses in tracking document versions that are created, edited, reedited, and finalized by various participants in various committees. These committees include upper management and even clients, and losing or confusing their
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Fractional Fairytales - Private Air Charter

Once upon a time, long, long ago -- in the early 1990s -- the concept of fractional ownership in private aircraft was born, and there was much rejoicing throughout the land. People who never believed they'd be able to afford, or justify, owning a private jet suddenly had the opportunity to purchase partial ownership in one.
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Success Secrets of a Billionaire

I have to admit I was surprised by his answer.
Let me explain.
Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite magazines, Business 2.0, and there was a story I wanted to read on page 88.
But I didn't go right there, I started at page 1 and, by the time I got to page 88, I was ready for some great success tips.
And I got them.
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domenica 20 marzo 2011

Getting to the Era of Modern Transportation

The history of the species as described by Evolutionists discuss the theory of hunter-gatherer tribes roaming around, having seasonal patterns knowing where to find the food and transporting themselves by walking. Later agriculture based became prevalent as the most recent activity. And we know from written history of the last 10,000 years that mankind transported them selves for water,
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Microsoft Great Plains RM: Receivables Management

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies as well as Navision (which has very good positions in Europe and emerging markets where it can be easily localized).
Great Plains Receivables Management (RM) module lets you maintain tight control over Accounts Receivable with capabilities that help you track invoices, process receipts, and analyze customer activity, so you can manage sales made on account more effectively and yet maintain lower overhead costs.
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Whistle Blower - Jeffery Wigand "The Insider"

In the late 1980s Jeffery Wigand joined the tobacco industry with aspirations of creating a safer cigarette for smokers around the world. While working on this project he became Vice President for Research and Development for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
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Private Jets: Reviewing the Embraer Legacy

Private jet operators have a good selection of aircraft models to choose from when considering their next purchase. In the cabin class size, the Boeing Business Jet, Airbus Corporate Jet, Gulfstream 450 and 550, as well as various Bombardier offerings and the Falcon 2000 all stand out. Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, is a new player and is represented by a pair of models under the Legacy name. The Legacy Shuttle is configured to carry from 16-39 passengers while the Legacy Executive typically carries 13-16 passengers. For private jet comparison we will look at what the Executive has to offer.
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Chartering a Private Jet Makes Good Business Sense

Chartering a private jet makes good business sense. Let's explore the reasons why business aviation is thriving even in the face of rising fuel costs.
1. It is safe. Traveling onboard a private jet provides a level of safety not found on the airlines. When you fly private, you are renting the entire jet, not just one seat. You choose who each of your passengers will be; no guessing if the strange looking person sitting in seat #27C will strike a match to his shoes.
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Fixing The Wal-mart Image

It would be so easy to clean up the image of the company.
Over the course of four years I made every attempt to explain to the corporate offices the reason the company was beginning to look so bad.
The downfall of this company will be the loss of the dedicated associate base it originally had when Sam Walton was still alive.
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Success Secrets - The Most Important Word In The Success Dictionary

I really can't stand leaving my office disorganized and that's how I felt when I left my office and went home yesterday.
I was up late last night doing some work from home, but that nagging feeling was there because
I like to walk into a clean, organized office each day. (I just feel better). Because of that I decided to get to work a little earlier today. It was quiet and after I straightened up, I looked over a few books I had laying around. In doing so, I re-read my favorite success quote of all time.
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One Size EMR Does Not Fit All

Is there an electronic medical record system ready for the 21st century? Is there an affordable electronic medical record system? Can a good EMR help to reduce my business's medical liability expenses?
21st Century Specs You Need for Your EMR
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What is a Bodyguard?........ A Secret Service Agent lookalike?........A Goon?........

What does one envision when thinking of a "bodyguard"? When one considers the historical image of a "bodyguard", most people envision a large, tall, mean looking individual, capable of lifting you in one hand and tossing you across the room, seemingly without effort.
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Recognizing The Talents in Our Own Midst

According to experts in the field of hiring and training development, there is a great potential within our own companies for talented individuals.
Why are we not recognizing those already in our midst? An explanation is: when people are working at lower levels than their management abilities, we can't see what they can really do.
And in this day and age, we have a lot of people laid off from downsized companies who have to take lower level positions for survival.
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The Truth About Grants

I don't know about you, but hardly a day goes by I don't receive spam emails about grants. Spam that absolutely promises me I can buy a book and get a $30,000 grant, just for being alive on the planet. Spam that assures me there are grants available to pay my credit card bills, start any kind of business, or buy a shiny new car.
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The Better Business Bureau; Is it real?

As many of you know the BBB, which is the little darling of the FTC - Federal Trade Commission often uses extortion techniques to get it's business members to foot the bill of it's business and even goes so far as to tell such businesses if you do not pay up, we will refer work to someone else. The FTC even has a link to the BBB and therefore is promoting its dastardly scheme.
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Consolidated Freight 1929-2002

One of their largest customers was The Boeing Company. With Consolidated Freights help we were able to move logistics around the country so we could out produce and deliver our industrial might to the Germans in WWII. Despite the immense volume of logistics CF provided for America they had an incredible safety record un paralleled in the industry and could even hold a candle to the Wal-Mart logistics teams.
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Emery Express and Consolidated Freight; an end of an era

What many may not realize is that Emery Express was also a CF Company. You see John C. Emery, Sr. founded Emery Air Freight in 1946, when his company became the first air freight forwarder to apply for a common carrier license from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). While Emery envisioned his company working in partnership with scheduled airlines, the airlines considered freight forwarders as competitors
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Consolidated Freight Bankruptcy; What does it mean?

Consolidated Freight Bankruptcy-What does it mean?
Research-Transportation Sector
What does the Consolidated Freight Bankruptcy really mean to you and I? Well; Consolidated Freightways operated one of the world's largest less-than-truck-load (LTL) transportation networks. The company's highly skilled 20,000 professionals specialize in long haul freight transportation throughout North America. Many businesses use to ship with CF. This was because of Consolidated Freights vast network of 350 terminals and more than 30,000 over-the-road vehicles, which served virtually every market in the U.S.,
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Microsoft Great Plains Technical Support : Typical Questions and Answers

Technical support offered by MBS depends on the region. For North America (NA), support is available to both partners and customers who availed of the support plan. In Asia Pacific (AP), Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) though, support is only available to partners.
Unfortunately, not every customer in North America can avail of support from their vendor. Some who opted not to renew their annual enhancement plans are orphaned from their vendors
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What Business Are You In?

"What business are you in?" This is common question heard from local chambers to networking events throughout the country. Standard replies include manufacturing, production, retail, sales or professional services.
However, even though most companies' successes are the result of their employees' efforts, employees are not considered part of the business. The focus is the outcomes of their efforts and not the individuals producing those very same outcomes.
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Monopolies, Reality, OPEC and the FTC

It is interesting the OPEC Nations and the cartel, which affects the quality of our daily lives, personal success, the number of people who can enter our middle class, and all of our businesses and industries including your job. In our country we have rules about monopolies that we enforce on every large super heavy weight business in every industry
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The Synergistic Organization of Unique People (S.O.U.P) Model

In the past, many organizations have relied on generic personality profiling tools to assess, recruit and manage their employees. Though these tools have garnered a certain measure of success, there were many flaws that needed to be addressed for increased workplace relevance.
In view of these concerns, First Quatermain has developed THREE tools and has blended them into an integrated schema known as the Synergistic Organization of Unique People (S.O.U.P) Model.
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Making Your Purpose Your Business Step #1 - Discovering Your Purpose

There is no such thing as a "small" job. Each function within our society aids our detailed technical lifestyles and well being. From a store clerk to a business executive, each position is an intricate part of the matrix of our world. We rely on these functions without even realizing their value or contribution to our daily activity. Each person has there place and each person has their purpose.
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Making Your Purpose Your Business Step #3- Organizing Your Resources & Collections

In our previous step, Step 2, you were challenged to get active and network with other professionals in your field. By now you should have an abundant source of resources to reference and help you mold your personal aspirations. You should have a collection of bookmarks of peer's and organization's websites.
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Workplace Violence - 8 Tips For Spotting Early Warning Signs

One of the greatest threats facing both employees and the companies they work for, is workplace violence. It has become the leading cause of death for women and the second leading for men, following closely behind motor vehicle accidents. In fact, the best estimates now being reported show that 1-in-4 employees will be the victim of workplace violence
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Dayton Ohio Economic Studying Digging for Reality

Working in a market such as Dayton, OH requires business savvy and complete understanding of demographics. For instants the difference between Ohio on the whole and the Greater Dayton Area MSA, which includes such county areas as: Butler, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Warren. The demographics of Montgomery and Miami are excellent for an expanding company
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Midland Odessa, TX; Great place to visit, live or work

Midland, Odessa TX
Midland, TX Economic Development Association, Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce.
Midland, TX Economic Development Association, Visitors Center and Chamber of Commerce share one building, everything is under one roof. The town of Midland is doing well,
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Scranton, PA; A nice place to live, work or play

Scranton, PA who has copied the Painted Horses from Casper WY to draw in tourism has a few tricks still up their sleeves. For a town with a lot of old history, it is having some good growth in newer parts of the city and surrounding areas. One college age student we had a chance to talk to says most college age kids try to figure out a way to make their place in the world outside of their hometown of Scranton,
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Differentiating Yourself from the Competition

It's getting harder and harder to differentiate yourself from the competition these days. Especially when your competition is global, offer additional value through their stellar service, and look and sound similarly wonderful to your offering. Not to mention that the new buzz words - 'adding value' and 'trusted advisor' - are universal, making it even harder to distinguish what you bring to the party as being superior.
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Successful Tendering - There Are Many Solutions

There are many solutions for a great tender submission.
One of the great mysteries of the “open” competitive tendering process is that each
of us has experienced defeat. What mystifies us is that there must have been a
mistake – we had the best solution. Of course we did. So did the other three
unsuccessful tenderers as did, we hope, the successful one!
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Successful Tendering - Preparation is the Key

Preparation must remain as a key and ongoing activity if organisations and
individuals are to expect success from their tendering involvement.
While there is no doubt that some of this preparation may require investment if site
visits and the like are to occur, as they need to, not all preparation is costly.
So often, when working with some of the smaller organisations that seek activity in
sub-components of larger projects, the tendering effort is stressful, time-
challenged and often without system.
This can be managed by planning in advance.
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Global Development - So Much More Needed

The tragic events resulting from the recent Tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 serve to
again highlight the fragile nature of many of the world’s communities. In each of
these locations the key tasks of treating the sick and injured, ensuring clean water
was available, or made available, providing food, accommodation and so on was
critically important as a first step on the way to rebuilding these communities.
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Getting Involved in Global Development

Australia is blessed with an incredible pool of talent and experience, across a broad
range of industries, and it is this expertise that could provide significant and
sustainable benefits into the communities where a development initiative is
targeted.
The challenge for many firms and individuals wishing to participate in development
activities is in understanding the intricacies of the process to secure involvement.
Activities through agencies such as the Australian Agency for International
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Is ISO 9001 Registration For My Organization?

Firstly you should decide your own reasoning behind considering ISO 9001 2000 registration for your organization.
Is the number of registrations in your market sector increasing?
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The Cost of Workplace Violence Prevention and Awareness

The Threat of Violence is On the Rise...
A safe and productive workplace is in everyone's interest, but
the number of violent acts, including threats of violence, has
increased over 400% over the last decade. Workplace Violence
Prevention and Education initiatives are paramount before
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Surplus Merchandise, the Direct Under Wholesale Source

The Austin Business Journal reported about a firm that "buys and resells merchandise that has been closed out, overstocked or discontinued...to a wide range of retail outlets, from mom-and-pop shops to multinational chains such as Wal-Mart..".
Businesses everywhere struggle with changing buying habits, business costs and government regulations.
Fads in clothing, toys, electronics, computers, furniture styles and eating habits change. Consequently, new unsold merchandise takes up warehouse space and ties up capitol.
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Administrative Professional's Day/ Secretary's Day

April 24-30 is Administrative Professional's Week. Wednesday, April 27th is Administrative Professional's Day, also known as Secretary's Day. It has become a time for recognition of those assistants and/or secretaries that work with you to make your life easier! Often in the hustle and bustle of work, we don't get the opportunity to thank those who work so diligently to keep things running smoothly.
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What I learned About Soda Vending Machines

Soda vending machines come in all shapes and sizes but the most common style are the stand-alone full sized machines.
Soda vending machines have lots of capacity. Even my old one that I paid too much for had a capacity of over 500 cans with 7 total selections. That's a lot of soda which also means that it could be possible that you don't have to visit a location too often if you are looking to vending as a part-time business.
The large capacity of these machines coupled with reasonable product costs and retail price can produce a decent business with healthy margins. I was paying an average of $.40 for a can of soda (tax and deposit included) and retailing that same can for $1.00. So with a $.60 margin multiplied by 5 machines each selling 200 cans of soda a month = a pretty nice little monthly return that doesn't require a lot of work because the machines have lots of capacity!
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How to Start an Investment Club - Business Model

Your investment club will need to decide what type of entity you're going to adopt for business purposes. You'll have to decide whether you're going to be a corporation, a general partnership, or limited liability partnership. Each of these business models has their own advantages and disadvantages.
· Corporation. Most investment clubs will avoid becoming a corporation.
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf Redux

You've probably heard the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
The problem is that the child was looking for attention and thought it would be fun to scream at the top of his lungs that a wolf was nearby. Each time he did, the entire town came running to his rescue!
It worked twice!
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Noise in the Workplace

The Cause:
Machinery, people and the environment all contribute to noise in the workplace.
Machinery, such as copiers, printers, fax machines, fans, air conditioner, computers, phones and many other types of specialized equipment are a source of noise in the workplace.
People, added to the above by talking, typing, moving around and moving things around in doing their work are another cause of noise in the workplace.
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Intercultural Synergy in Mergers & Acquisitions

Economic pressures developed within the framework of a global marketplace have led to unprecedented numbers of mergers and acquisitions over the past decade.
The number of mergers and acquisitions involving US companies alone in 2004 reached 376 with an aggregate total paid of US$22.64 billion. In comparison, in 2003, the total amount paid was US$12.92 billion.
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How to Leverage Your Fund Raising Ideas

Learn how to easily optimize your fund raising ideas -- whether for school fund raising, church fund raising, charity work, non profit organizations, or business - that require minimal effort but produce maximum monetary rewards.
Leverage is a fairly simple concept. According to Webster, leverage "...provides an increased means to accomplish some purpose..." Applied to fund raising ideas, leverage provides an increased resource that optimally maximizes fund raising efforts, consequently optimally maximizing the desired financial revenue.
Let's use a typical school fund raising idea as an example.
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Listening When You Don't Want To

I've said it in a hundred training workshops. Listening is important. I don't know why I say it - everyone already knows it. Whether talking to leaders, coaches, trainers, meeting facilitators, plant operators or anyone else, I'm sure the reaction is the same.
"Duh, Kevin, that's profound."
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Look Back, Look Forward and Learn

Our calendars are full, and our to-do lists are long. We live in a world that seems to bring more information, expectations and options to us each day and all of these things tend to accelerate the pace of our lives.
There was a time, not that long ago that a trip across the United States. would take a couple of days by train. While this was much faster than previously available transportation, it is still quite leisurely compared to the 4-5 hour flight that we can now take.
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Machinery Loss of Profit Policy :- Can Help Business Concerns

A close up view of: -
Machinery loss of profit
Despite all the precautions taken by managers, companies may suddenly find itself in a situation that threaten its survival, e.g. as a result of natural disasters, accidents, fire, industrial espionage, sabotage, damage to their reputation, or the failure of a supplier, the power supply or a telecommunications network.
It is well accepted fact that risks can never be entirely eliminated. However, while corporate managements cannot guarantee that losses will be precluded, they are at least expected to deal with loss events and the attendant aftermath in a satisfactory manner.
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Developing Realistic Financial Assumptions

Many investors skip straight to the financial section of the business plan. It is critical that the assumptions and projections in this section be realistic. Plans that show penetration, operating margin and revenues per employee figures that are poorly reasoned, internally inconsistent or simply unrealistic greatly damage the credibility of the entire business plan. In contrast, sober, well-reasoned financial assumptions and projections communicate operational maturity and credibility.
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How a Group Purchasing Organization Can Save Your Business Money

GPO's (Group Purchasing Organizations) have been around for about ten years primarily in the healthcare industry. The basic concept of a GPO is that a group of businesses can come together and buy products cheaper than any single company can. This model may or may not be beneficial for the Coca-Cola's, Wal-Mart's, or Johnson & Johnson's of the world, but they are great for the small to medium size business
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How to Communicate With Your Bookkeeping

Does the thought of doing the bookwork send you into a frenzy? Do you find anything to do other than get your finances in order? You may be missing some great communication with your books, which could ultimately guide you to success in your business and your personal life.
Now this may sound a bit bizarre communicating with your books, yet so many things are communicating a message to you.
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BIGSQUID RFID : Emerging to RFID Enterprise Solution

About RFID
Radio frequency identification or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a serial number that identifies a person or object, and perhaps other information, on a microchip that is attached to an antenna
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Planning Your First Business Meeting

Are you planning your first business meeting and want to ensure you cover all your bases? Don't run around like a crazed wedding planner. Have a strategy and stick to it.
First, set the date and establish the agenda. It's important to prepare the agenda well in advance. You want to ensure everyone has a chance to look it over to get prepared and give you feed back on areas that might need to be included. In preparing an agenda, envision the purpose of the meeting. How long will it last? How many speakers/presentations will there be? How will the meeting progress? How will you reach your goal for a successful and productive meeting?
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Secrets of Donald Trump Revealed!

f you're like most of the television-watching public, you're hooked on Season #2 of "The Apprentice" and the flamboyant entrepreneur in the "starring role."
Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Donald Trump is one of the world's most intriguing success stories... arrogant, conceited, and an absolute lightening rod for wealth of the largest magnitude. Trump is a billionaire! His accomplishment speaks for itself.
I like the man a lot.
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Making Cultural Differences Work In Your Business

Advancements in technology have made the world so much smaller, don't you think? We used to be separated by mountains and oceans, color and culture.
But now on the highways and byways of the internet, we're but a single mouse click away. Think about this for a moment. You and I may be thousands of miles away at opposite ends of the globe, but on the net, we may as well be sitting across a coffee table.
The internet's really one huge melting pot of people, ideas, culture.
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How A Tree Can Help You Grow Your Business

A tree is a natural example of a perfect business. It energises us with fresh oxygen while recycling our waste air. It absorbs energy directly from the sun while we still have to digest food. It aligns with the forces of nature. Imagine your business is like a tree. Is your business growing each year and producing ripe results? Or is it stunted and withering.
Here are some ways that you can regenerate your life and business using the wisdom of a seed, a tree and a forest.
1. The Seed That Grows A Forest.
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Want To Expand Your Business? Try Walking Barefoot in the Grass!

I hear it all the time. "I want to expand my business, but I don't know how." Many online small business owners have this challenge. In all actuality, it's not a business problem... rather a creativity problem.
For any given industry, there are dozens of ways to expand, reach new customers, develop new products, and offer more services. However, the struggle comes with trying to think of new ideas. "Where do I expand to?" "How do I reach new customers?"
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Corporate Governance and Accounting Standards in Oman: An Empirical Study on Practices

In recent years, the Oman economy has undergone a number of reforms, resulting in a more market-oriented economy. Particularly, the financial impetus extended by the Sultanate of Oman had signaled the beginning of a positive trend. The size of Oman industry is becoming much bigger and the expectations of various concerned parties are also increasing, which can be satisfied only by good Corporate Governance.
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Desperately Seeking the Truth

People today are bombarded by so much information that they have become numb to what feels like advertising or, during political cycles like we are in today, out and out fabrication.
Small business owners should resist the temptation to copy what passes for advertising today and focus on telling the truth. I don’t really mean to imply that companies are lying about what their product or service can do, I just mean that they aren’t giving us any reason to believe in or trust what they have to say.
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Get Yourself A Sites Brain Team

You've probably heard about a "brain team". It's an idea that made many famous people rich. They all had a team. And a team had a brain. A brain of a whole team. What does it have to do with internet marketing?
So you have started to do some internet business. You need to make money of it. But all you have is some mediocre traffic, which doesn't make a lot of money.
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What You Know Can Work Just As Well As Who You Know

We all know the saying in business, "It's not what you know but who you know", right? This saying is definitely true when it comes to small business and on occasion, the same can be said in media relations. However, what you know can sometimes get you just as far - especially if you're trying to tell your story to the local press.
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Generating Publicity For Your Business - Knowing Your "Media Market" Is Critical

When starting a successful business venture or launching a new product, most entrepreneurs or business owners conduct some type of marketing research to determine the extent of their prospective customer base. And when getting the word out to that customer base, many entrepreneurs may turn to the media to help generate a buzz for them. However, as detailed as their marketing research might have been,
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Fire Your Inner Brat!

Who runs your business -- you or your inner brat? Everyone has an inner brat. It's the part of us that's still a 2-year-old. It gets furious at the slightest inconvenience. It feels entitled to get what it wants when it wants, and it whines and complains when things don't go its way.
Chances are this describes at least one of your clients or employees.
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Understanding the Power of Your Power Network

It is said that "it's not what you know, but who you know that counts". I believe that "it is what you know that will give your head start, who you know that will get you going, who knows you (and your products or services) that will help you succeed, but what you do with your knowledge and relationships that will make you succeed."
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How To Run A Successful Fundraiser

This is the first article of a multi-part series on this topic.
Part One of this SPECIAL REPORT is about: Organizing Your Group
Would you agree that it's easier complete a job when you have a blueprint to follow? Yes?
Also, the exact opposite maybe true which brings us to the old axiom:
"Fail to plan, plan to fail"
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Find the Right Coach: 8 Guidelines for Executives

It seems that coaches are everywhere these days.
Senior Executives are hiring coaches in increasing numbers, and for a wider variety of reasons.
In the past, coaching was viewed primarily as a remedial tool for executives whose careers were skidding. Today more and more leaders use coaches on a consultative basis, for everything from accelerating leadership transitions to facilitating board, shareholder and employee relations.
Today's leaders proactively seek coaching to build on strengths, accelerate initiatives and identify potential derailing obstacles before they cause serious damage
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The Management Team Section of the Business Plan - Don't Just Include Resumes

Even the best new concept or existing plan will fail if executed poorly. The Management Team section of the business plan must prove to the investor why the key company personnel are "eminently qualified" to execute on the business model.
The Management Team section should include biographies of key team members and detail their responsibilities. It is important that these biographies are not merely resumes that include the educational backgrounds
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Defining the Qualities of a Professional

In today's business climate we are experiencing more interest in professionalism. The past five years provided many successes; however, most have been overshadowed by the non-ethical behavior of a few. Some people lost most of their retirement savings, and the US population is demanding a stronger US economy and a peaceful world.
We've seen quality job opportunities decreasing
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Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Worth of Health Insurance

This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits Competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. The questions included in this competency will help your organization determine whether your employees feel they are fairly paid for the work they perform when compared to a similar job at a different company. This competency also queries their feelings regarding the adequacy and quality of their benefits package. A fair and attractive compensation package is critical for hiring and retaining quality employees. A high satisfaction level
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Six Sigma Tools for Process Control

Aim for perfection.
That's a pretty lofty concept. It's definitely not easy - especially when speaking of core business processes. Moving toward perfection requires measurement, analysis and documentation. And if you really want perfection, then you need more sophisticated tools. But is driving toward that ideal of perfection worth the effort?
If you want to increase quality and dramatically save costs in production, then, yes, the road to perfection is definitely worth the driving time
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Little Known Pitfalls of Traditional Publishing Industry

As many small-time authors and self-publishers have discovered the hard way, the traditional book publishing model is fraught with problems that conspire against an individual author/publisher making a decent living from their work.
The traditional model normally involves two basic choices: 1) use a commercial publisher, or 2) self-publish.
THE COMMERCIAL PUBLISHER ROUTE
This option involves the author submitting book proposals or full manuscripts to commercial publishing houses in hope of acceptance.
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What to Say When the Media Calls

If the media were to call you today for an interview, would you know what to do or say? That question was posed during a recent conference on small-business ownership and micro enterprise creation, which was held here in Paris. I watched the reactions around the room, and it occurred to me that for most small-business owners, the only thing more frightening than conducting a follow-up phone call with a reporter is having that same reporter actually interview them.
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Generating Publicity - Will The Media Be Interested In My Product or Business?

When it comes to launching a new business or product, some marketing consultants might say that EVERY product is appropriate for a publicity or media exposure campaign. That is true to a degree, but as a PR/publicity professional and former media person, I would qualify that statement by saying that although new products would benefit from a solid publicity campaign, not all businesses or products
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I Can't Afford A PR or Publicity Campaign -- Can I?

It's a phrase I hear over and over again from many entrepreneurs, small businesses owners and inventors: "I'd love to hire someone to launch our publicity campaign professionally, but we can't afford it, so I'm just going to have to do it on my own."
Over the past several months, I have been conducting an informal survey among entrepreneurs and business owners who have contacted me about my services. I have found that due to their lack of information or knowledge on the topic, many businesses typically over-estimate or over-budget the cost of a
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Merchandise Delivery Time & Federal Law

. BACKGOUND
The federal Mail or Telephone Order Rule spells out the ground rules for making promises about shipments, notifying consumers about unexpected delays, and refunding consumers' money.
Enforced by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Rule applies to orders placed by phone, fax or the Internet. Compliance with the Rule can have bottom line benefits for your company, because satisfied customers are repeat customers.
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Some Advertising Is Doomed To Fail

When people are concerned about the lack of response to their advertising, usually they complain about one of two things. They either say, "I put it in all the popular ezines but nobody responded" or "I followed all the copywriting 'rules' but didn't even get one sale." This dilemma is normally due to one common problem. There is one thing most people don't think about that dooms their advertising to failure.
Advertising is a process, not an event. Basically this means four things.
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A Hard Lesson Learned....

Are you like me? I like to handle things on my own so I don't even THINK about incorporating help with anything I am working on ... especially my business as a whole.
Well, I learned something new recently. It was a HORRIBLE experience that actually turned out for the better. Let me tell you my story:
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Creating A Network That Works

Do you ever stand in awe of those people who seem to know everybody and everything? I know I do! Regardless of what you're looking for, these people have their finger on the pulse of the 'Net and know where to find it. Their network of resources and people is incredible! Yours can be, too. It's actually very simple to create a network that works to bring you business, offers feedback and provides those resources that we all need to have.
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Effective Offline Promotion

Although, most of your traffic will still come from search
engines and various online promotions, a little effort using
traditional media might also bring a large number of visitors
to your website.
Reasons, why you should take offline promotion of your website
seriously include:
Internet is increasingly becoming a part of our daily life.
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Loan Officers & Minimum Wage

I. INTRODUCTION
The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hour worked and overtime pay at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
However, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees.
Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempts certain computer employees.
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5 Steps to Build Stronger Communication and Understanding

Did you know that you should always create a process map for every procedure or system of procedures that you develop? And did you know that, like a table of contents, this will create stronger communication and better understanding in your organization?
How do you do this?
Identify Core Processes
Last time, we followed the money trail and identified your business' core processes. We discussed where to best start a change in one of those core processes.
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Extended Enterprise In The Nesting And Cutting Business

In Italy there are a lot of small and medium enterprises (SME) that often act as subcontractors to bigger firms.
For example, most of the Italian shoes come from industrial districts, where the organization heavily relies on subcontracting.
Many problems usually arise in this kind of organization:
Although the whole process leads to a finished product and is coordinated by a single subject, different phases are carried on by different companies, most of which are extremely small, with a very informal information system and the usage of internet
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Deciphering Office Lingo

No matter what business you are in, there is a culture in your office. The language of the office is fluid, changing as quickly. Keeping up is important because clear communication is the key to success in everything you do. Here a few terms you might have heard but were unclear as to their true meaning:
Office Creeper- a person who sneaks into an office during business hours and steals personal items and equipment.
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10 Ways To Improve Your Sales

1. Determine your current situation. How are you currently positioned in the market? How do you compare to the competition? Where would you like to be in a Year or in five years and how would you like to get there? Or more appropriately how can you get there, as it is not always the way that you want that works. Planning requires that you understand how you currently stand.
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Move Slowly Into Your First Office

Q: I have outgrown my home office and need to find office space for me and two part time employees. I am really excited about opening my first official office, but never having rented commercial space before I don't know anything about how this process works. What are some things I should consider before signing a lease? I'm really eager to get started!
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Why "The Apprentice" Is Good For America

Donald Trump and executive producer Mark Burnett have a hit on their hands:
"The Apprentice." This NBC reality series plays rather like Burnett's old CBS hit
"Survivor"-- except that the contestants split up into teams face the challenges
of the business world, rather those of untamed wilderness. If they fail, instead
of being "voted off," they are fired by Trump, who brings his years of business
experience to bear on the strategies of the newcomers.
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Are You Losing Your Edge?

Challenge for working professionals today
If you are reading this, I expect you are a working professional.
The world has changed and so is the professional field.
Today, maybe you are also a doctor, accountant, lawyer or whatever title you may hold. That does not matter. My cousin is a doctor and now worries he may be cut off because the government is downsizing.
Is professional destination a guarantee for success, money or fame?
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Costing At No Cost

Cost estimation is always a crucial topic in many industries. For converters, it may be one of the keys to success... or to failure.
The estimation comes into play for several reasons: to prepare production budgets, for cost management and to define the prices and to make offers to customers.
Here we want to concentrate our attention on the problem of cost estimation in the cutting business.
We must make distinct considerations according to the material type to be cut.
Materials can be divided into two big categories, man-made and natural. It would be possible to make further classifications but these two are enough for our purposes.
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Can Buying Groups Save You Money?

Let me give you a brief history of Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO). They have been around for decades. Do you know what types of businesses get the best pricing on all of the goods and services they purchase? The answer is healthcare facilities. Do you know why? I’ll tell you. Nearly any healthcare facility in the nation that is making a profit belongs to a buying group.
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Status - Cross Cultural Differences

Status exists in all societies but varies in fundamental ways. Cross cultural differences in they way in which we perceive status, gain status and react to status differ from culture to culture.
In this article we examine the cross cultural differences with relation to status and analyse how they manifest in certain areas in the workplace. For the sake of simplicity we identify two types of status; 'ascribed-status' and 'achieved-status'.
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Managing an Elevator Cash Flow

Jannice K., a past Virginia resident, now California
resident, worked in Burger King for ten years. Back when I
was a junk food addict, she passed me the bag and drink
through the drive through window. Occasionally, I would go
inside to eat. We became friends and soon had regular times
together early afternoons during her break. It wasn't long
before I discovered Jannice's real buried passion was
grooming dogs. She sparkled
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Using a Translation Service

In a market full of translators, translation agencies and translation directories one is forgiven for feeling confused as to where to go and who to use. Finding a good translation service or translator is a key business decision that should not be taken lightly.
The need for reputable translation agencies and translators to take out professional indemnity insurance is in itself an indication that things can and do go wrong, sometimes with heavy financial consequences.
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Language Interpreters

English has rapidly become the major language of international politics, trade and commerce. However, this does not mean it is the world language. It still competes with other major languages such as Spanish, French and Arabic.
In the business world, using interpreters to overcome the language barrier is a necessity. Even if there are common languages between business people, interpreters are still preferred for a number of reasons.
Interpreters offer the following advantages:
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Scammers Use Better Business Bureau Name To Commit Scams

The Better Business Bureau recently issued a national alert to warn consumers and businesses about two questionable operations that are falsely using the BBB name to scam victims.
One business is perpetrating an advance fee loan scam that targets consumers and businesses with poor credit records. It has provided as a reference fictitious BBB phone numbers that are answered by representatives who falsely claim to be with the Better Business Bureau and provide a positive report on the business in question.
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A Strategy for Attracting Higher Paying Client

Some people have little difficulty attracting and
maintaining higher paying clients. Others can't get to
first base. Higher paying clients consume less time,
exchange energy instead of zapping yours, have higher
regards for your relationship, give more referrals, pay on
time, and this in turn allows you to make higher profits.
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