Jaca Mily » 2008 » February

 

Archive for February, 2008

Basic Needs - Food

Monday, February 11th, 2008

If you are looking to invest by establishing your own business, consider targeting some of man’s basic needs. When it comes to basic needs, people spend a lot of money on food. Everyday, a person eats at least three times excluding snacks. This shows now large the demand for food is. You can either study in schools like http://www.kitchenacademy.com/ and pursue a profession related to food or put up your own little cafeteria or restaurant.


Investing on food sounds simple but the truth is you have to research more on what type of food would be highly saleable. If you are in an area where most people are average income earners, putting up a fast food restaurant could be a good idea. On the other hand, putting up a luxurious five star restaurant in such area would be like throwing your money away. Make sure to do your basic research before you invest your money on something; whether it’s a HYIP or a regular business.

Business During a Recession

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

It has be a few years since we went through a recession. According to some economist it has been since 2001 that we have enjoyed a recession. It might be a good time for a refresher course in how to do business during a recession.

There are a few key points to consider during tough economic times. Some have to do with common sense, which is always in short supply during a crisis. Others have to do with things that slip our minds and things we simply forget about until they come up again.

Customers, Shoppers and Buyers become more Cautious

The squeeze of every economic slowdown and recession is first felt by the consumer. They will know of a problem long before any government economist will admit that there is a problem.

Energy prices rise, food prices rise and pay days don’t. In the case where there is a commission based job in the household the paycheck may even take a dip during slow economic times. Combined with the rise in energy and food prices this puts a terrible squeeze on the household budget.

Therefore, your customer is going to spend less simply because they have less to spend. Be aware of this in your marketing and you can still garner your share of their spendable income.

Know your Strengths and Capitalize on them

If you are a casual dining restaurant that has a menu with items priced under $10 now is not the time to introduce your new, higher priced menu. Save that for when your customers have more spendable income and can afford to pay more to eat out.

Your mission during tough times is to survive like anyone else. Take a look at your menu. Find the high profit items on your menu and feature them in your advertising. Also know what your most popular items are and help people to know that you have them. Do you have a sign board outside of your restaurant? If so, use these items as your daily specials and price them right for your customers.

Be Smart with your Purchases

A very wise businessman taught me that there are 2 ways to make money when you sell something. Obviously, you make money on the difference between your cost and the selling price. However, what most people don’t realize is that you made money when you bought the item if you paid less for it.

Now is the time to comparison shop. Now is the time that you might pick up a new vendor or 2 through comparing what you are doing now and the other options that are available to you.

You have to understand that tough economic times reach way up the food chain. Your vendors are also having to scramble to do business. They too will be looking at how to continue selling during a recession. Being competitively priced is going to be one way that they survive. It is not wrong to competitively shop and force your vendors to cut prices in order to keep your business.

You should also take a look at what you can do yourself that you once hired out. For instance, there are probably maintenance items that you might have hired out that you could do yourself if you put your mind to it. Washing windows, plunging a toilet or maintaining equipment are all examples of things you might once have hired out that you now must do for yourself. Don’t hire an electrician to change a light bulb and don’t call a technician to replace a printer on your poit of sale system.

Be sure to use the Internet and search engines to help locate better pricing and help maintaining equipment. There are thousands of resources on the Internet that can help with better prices on inventory items, do-it-yourself help sites and even sites to buy equipment at drastically reduced prices.

Be smart in all aspects of your business and you will survive this recession. By: Nathan Lewis

Technology and Design - Increasing Demand

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Technology has not only made our lives easier by letting us do things more efficiently but it has also added colors to it. It has opened new opportunities for arts and design. Have you ever seen an animated movie like Beowulf? Well that is a product of the continuous improving technology. Design and technology schools like http://www.iadtsacramento.com/ help students with the goal of using technology in arts and design. Some of the courses that they offer are Fashion Design and Marketing, Interior Design, & Visual Communication.


Such schools are a sign that more and more people are getting interested in learning technology. Well, who would have thought that we can achieve what technology can do now? We can now create high resolution photographs, animated movies and TV series. We have also been able to use computers in tasks that we used to do manually like bookkeeping, creating design layouts, inventory counts and other tasks that would be hell if we do them manually.

The Purpose of Your Business

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Each day that I continue to interact with business owners and executives convinces me more and more that the majority of them have forgotten why they are in business. These very bright individuals are so focused on yesterday’s and today’s problems and challenges. This focus has kept them away from the purpose of business.

If you were to respond to this question: What is the purpose of your business or better yet, What is the purpose of business regardless of the type of business? How would you respond?

I agree with Peter Drucker, one of the most accepted business gurus, when he made this statement.

The purpose of business is to attract and maintain customers.

Business owners and executives understand the first part between their marketing and sales activities. Yet, what about customer maintenance or what I prefer is the term Customer Loyalty?

When those in business understand that the true and real purpose of business, then they understand that there are only 2 measurements - profits and relationships. Most business executives can find the first measurement on their Profit &Loss (P&L) statements to other financial records. Yet, where do these same individuals find the measurement for relationships?

Some potential measurements would be:

  • Number of referrals received
  • Longevity of customers
  • Historical longevity of customers
  • Average value of customers
  • Historical value of customers
  • % of total sales coming from referrals

This relationship data is just a critical to the bottom line as net profits. For without relationships, those loyal customers, will your business be in business? So, why are you not tracking this key measurement?

Of course, tracking this date also suggests that you have a strategic business plan or business action plan. What is incredible to me after 10years in this business of helping others build their businesses is the continued belief that the word plan is a dirty four letter word. It must be dirty because so very few people have one, but they know that they need one.

Avoid the other dirty four letter word - DoIt. Take action now to discover the second measurement of business relationships within your business. Be honest as you answer how you are not only attracting new customers, but even more importantly maintaining existing ones.

When your actions are aligned to the purpose of business, you will increase sales and even better work smarter and not harder while your piggy bank is being stuffed with all those crisp, new greenbacks. By Leanne Hoagland-Smith

Finance for Everybody

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Finance is all about managing money and understanding basic principles that apply. Everyone in this world has money; whether it’s a dime or a million, it still is money. This would include entrepreneurs, employees, traders, retailers and even common people. Let’s say you graduated your college degree from http://www.sbjacksonville.com/ then you get your very first salary. How are you going to spend this money concerns finance?


Basic finance principles are the law of supply and demand. When there’s and increase in demand and the supply is scarce, there is sure to be and increase in prices of commodities. On the other hand, if supplies are too much and there is little demand, price will go down. Another principle is that when there is a larger volume of money that is circulating in a country, inflation or increase in general prices occur. These are just some of the basics of finance and there’s so much more than you can imagine.

St.Valentine’s Day’s promotional gifts

Friday, February 8th, 2008

The Day is approaching! The day when all people who are in love celebrate their holiday - Saint Valentine’s Day! It is a custom in all countries to give presents to your better half and the time when flowers and sweets were a nice gift has passed away. Sure, these are inseparable attributes but in order to surprise your beloved you are to draw your attention to promotional products. Promotional gifts are generally all kinds of things that can be made according to a special event and St.Valentine’s Day is not an exception.

Promotional items have a big advantage over other things that can be presented to your beloved as you can order, for example, custom imprinted calendars, or bags and cups with your photo and a heart imprinted on them. Indeed, such things, though not being expensive in nature can turn out to be a very nice and memorable gift for your partner.

St.Valentine’s Day brings joy and happiness, it increases the strength of feelings between two people and leads to the most anticipate words “Will you marry me?” more often than any other holiday!

Protecting Your Home

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Buying your own home is one of the biggest financial decisions that you will make because here you will put in a huge amount of your hard earned money. This investment is long term in nature because mortgages usually take five to thirty years to pay. With buying a being so important, it is a must to protect it. Take some time to request and compare Home insurance quotes from different providers. This extra effort will give you benefits in the long run.


Make sure to read the terms and conditions of the insurance policy that you are acquiring as you might be expecting something that is not covered by the policy. This will avoid disappointment in the future when you need to use your insurance. In addition to that, you will face less financial risk if you know what exactly you can expect from your insurance. Paying for insurance is not something that most people like. Knowing what you can get from it someday when you’ll need it will make the feeling of paying for it lighter.

Starting Small

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

When you put up a business, it is always a good option to start small then expand as the demand for more production increases. You might want to start with a few and cheaper office desks and just replace them with much nicer ones when you have already gained some returns in your investments. You might also want to leave out the things that you do not need yet. Like if you still have few clients to entertain, you can postpone the purchase of reception desks.


When I opened one of my businesses, I inquired from almost all London office furniture retailers and compared their prices. Some furniture companies will even provided a quote for furniture packages for starting businesses. This is a good move because I did save a lot of money because of this extra effort. Your office space should also just be enough to accommodate your business activity especially when you are renting because larger office spaces usually costs higher. But before that, evaluate your financial standing if it is best to rent or to buy the office space.

Health Related Services

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Beauty, wellness and health are some of the things that people will continue to value for the upcoming years for the obvious reasons. Man cannot live life to the fullest without such things and because of that; the demand will contribute to rise. Skin treatments, breast augmentation, lasik new york, massage therapy, medical services and other treatments are just some of the examples. They are actually a mix of people’s wants and needs.

 
If you are looking to explore or venture a business or probably pursue a good career, then try out something related to health. This may be a market that is hard to penetrate but all the effort and investment will all be worth it. Just make sure to make a careful assessment on what is the best service to provide. This is like hitting two birds in one stone. Aside from earning some good money, you are also helping people to cure their conditions and relieving their stress.