Archive for April, 2011

How to Add Value to Your Dog Grooming Business

April 29th, 2011

There are a lot of factors involved when you are setting up a dog grooming business. The decision of setting up the business and actually starting the business are two different things. The task might be very tough if you are a new to the whole process. Still, if you love the job and you have a strong will you can definitely make it in the dog grooming industry.

You need to have all the equipment required to perform your services before you start the business. Without the necessary equipment, you will simply not make profits. It is also important for you to invest some time and money in learning about grooming dogs and about the business techniques you can employ. It is equally important for you to love dogs, if you intend to start a dog grooming business.

Many people who own a dog take their pet to a salon for grooming. They want their dogs to smell and look good and also stay healthy. If you want to be a good groomer, then you should ensure that each and every requirement of your customers is met to their satisfaction.

You can try providing coffee or tea to your customers when they visit your salon in the mornings or offer them snacks when they visit your salon in the afternoons. This would make a very good impression on your customers and they would want to come back to you for grooming their dogs the next time. It is also important that they have a comfortable place to sit down and relax when they visit your salon. You can also provide your customers with sitcoms or movies to keep them busy and entertained while they are waiting for their pets to be groomed.

You should also keep magazines which have information on dog grooming, dresses for dogs, etc. This would give your customers fresh ideas on how they can take care of their pets. You can also keep magazines related to science, entertainment, environment, business or education for those people who are interested in reading these. You can provide specially branded dresses from your salon to the dogs of your clients. Other gifts which you can offer are dog coats and rugs, bedding, leads collars, shampoos, ribbons, shirts, combs, etc.

It is very important that you have a clean environment both inside and outside your salon. This will give each dog owner a sense of safety when they bring their dogs for grooming. It is important that your customer realizes you have experience in the business. This can be achieved by taking care of their dogs and by making the animals feel happy and comfortable around you.

The service that you provide should be of the best quality. It is important that you clean the pets properly. When you are grooming the dogs, ensure that your attention is on the animal at all times. Mistakes are not overlooked in this business and it will not matter whether you are good in grooming or not. You should also ensure that there is a mobile dog groomer who is available to your clients. This will improve the quality of your service significantly.

You should give your customers an opportunity to share their reviews and feedbacks about your salon. You can even use their ideas to improve your salon. You can attract new clients by providing free consultation on dog grooming. Given the fact that people love getting valuable advice for free, this would result in an expansion of your clientele.

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What’s the Big Idea? Flat Packed Business Ideas

April 27th, 2011

I recently had to redecorate and furnish a few rooms in my house and my wife and I decided to visit a very large home wares store which had recently opened near by. Now I won’t give you the name of this store but let’s just say that I had some fantastic meatballs for lunch and almost everything that we bought was flat-pack. While we were walking around the store I couldn’t help but notice just how much thought had gone into how the store was run and how everything had evidently been designed with the customer experience in mind. Sure there where some folks who were stuck at snails-pace and one of our visits lasted 5 hours (plus another 3 the very next day!) but THAT’S the whole point! DESPITE the 50 mile round trip, the slow coaches and the endless walking, I was HAPPY to go back! Everything about the store had been thought through so well with ME in mind that I went back several times, told a bunch of friends just how great it was AND I’m already planning to go back! So what did they do so well that we can learn from to help OUR business? The list is too long but here are a few of the things that I noticed.

THE GREETING
The moment my wife and I entered the store we were greeted by a member of staff wearing a uniform, a name badge and a BEAMING SMILE. We were asked if we would like a bag, if we had been before and were shown where the map of the store was all by a member of staff who A: we could clearly see was a member of staff, B: looked happy to see us and C: looked happy to work there. “WOW!” I thought, “How easy is it to make someone feel welcome!? Imagine what it would be like if ALL businesses made their clients feel that good from the moment they walked in!” What they had done wasn’t rocket-science; they had simply increased their chances of converting a potential customer into a paying customer by setting a good first impression (you never get a second chance to make a first impression, right?). So what can we learn from this? Well, we can ask ourselves a few simple questions such as;

A: How obvious is it, to a potential client, who is a member of staff? Do your staff wear a name badge or uniform? B: How are potential clients greeted when they first enter your salon? Do all staff use the same greeting and SMILE? C: Do your staff look happy to work here? If your staff look unhappy, what impression does that give?

RETURNS
A big sign on the way in proudly states that if you change your mind within 30 days (and have kept your receipt) you can bring anything back for a full refund, no questions asked. WOW! So I don’t have to worry about the possibility of buying something that’s too big/too small or not really what I wanted. If I change my mind I can simply bring it back! What can we learn from this? Well, one reason clients may be reluctant to buy product is that they don’t want to pay for something that they may not like or that may not be suitable for them. In a nutshell, the potential purchase also comes with a potential risk. ANSWER: remove the risk! Give a thorough consultation to establish EXACTLY what the client needs, use the product on the client and show them how to use it, THEN explain that if they have any problems with the product or simply don’t like it they can bring it back within a certain time period for a full refund or (even better) an alternative product. By removing the perceived risk, the client is more likely to buy because they have nothing to lose and,  if you’ve done your job right, neither do you. Everybody wins and THAT’S the best outcome.

LAYOUT
The layout of the store had been given huge consideration and as you followed the (unfortunately NOT yellow brick) path through the departments, everything seemed to flow seamlessly from one to the other. The path through the store made perfect sense and no opportunity to sell (or rather, for the customer to BUY) had been missed. So how does this relate to the salon?

A: How has salon space been utilised? Are there obstacles for clients and staff to dodge or is the space open and flowing?

B: Do clients move from waiting area to basin to station to reception smoothly or are they constantly back and forth across the salon?

C: Do clients have the opportunity (or the prompt) to buy product or services at every stage? Every stage is an opportunity to sell.

By looking at the layout of the salon, we can see how relaxing (or not) the clients journey through the salon is as well as any missed opportunities to sell products and services. A few changes COULD make a lot of difference.

GROUPING
One thing the store does so well is the way that they group products that go well together, TOGETHER. When I saw the desk that I wanted, I sat on a fantastic (or, as my wife would say, “Grandeur”) office chair (which I bought), at the desk (which I bought), with a computer cabinet underneath (which I bought), I turned on the lamp (which I bought), took a closer look at the paper trays (which I bought) and checked the dimensions of the dresser beside it (which I bought). All of these products were on show separately in other areas of the store but by grouping them together I could see that they worked well together and didn’t have to try to imagine what it would look like (or, as my wife would say, “use my brain”). So how can we use this in the salon?

A: Instead of simply grouping products by manufacturer, try grouping products by hair type. Straight hair, Curly hair, Hair with volume etc. This way, clients are more likely to try a product they wouldn’t normally notice.

B: What’s the big hair trend right now? Group products that replicate the current trend and run a promotion on them.

C: How easy is it for your clients to find the right product for their hair type or desired look? Place posters and other imagery that correspond to the products beside/around them. Make it as easy as possible for the client to find (then buy) what they want.

LOYALTY CARD
I’ve written about loyalty cards before and this certainly won’t be the last time I write about them. Why? Because loyalty cards are ESSENTIAL to any consumer facing business. Loyalty cards are a great way of not only saying “Thank you” to your clients for their business but are also a great way of increasing client visits and client spend. The loyalty card I now have gives me free coffee Mon-Fri (so I can buy more stuff, faster and with more energy), access to certain promotions (so I can buy more and feel smug about it) as well as other extras. Even my local chip shop has a loyalty card scheme! So could your business benefit from a loyalty card? You batter believe it (sorry!) and here’s a few reasons why;

A: Loyalty cards can increase retail sales throughout the year WITHOUT any selling involved.

B: Loyalty cards can be used to promote certain services within the salon.

C: Loyalty cards are a great way of saying “Thank you” whilst giving your clients another reason to keep coming back.

So, if you’re not running a loyalty scheme, not only are you missing out but you may soon find your clients aren’t as loyal as you think.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Every member of staff I spoke to was smiley, happy to help and very informative. It was evident that those in charge knew what many other businesses seem too often to forget; THE CUSTOMER IS KING. You could have the best looking business, supplying the best product but if customers don’t come back because customer service is nil, only one thing can happen. YOUR BUSINESS DIES. Even after being (mis)informed that I could order the products I wanted online and having to return the next day, the store managed to turn my negative experience into a positive one by having someone phone me within 10 minutes of my complaining on their website and offering to order them on my behalf. Now THAT’S great service! So how does yours measure up?

A: How friendly are your staff? It doesn’t matter how bad your day’s been, to a client, your happy to be here AND happy to see them.

B: How informed are your staff? As we covered previously in “Do you wif?” the more you learn, the more you earn.

C: How do your staff deal with complaints? Every negative has a positive. We can always learn from our mistakes.

“Good” customer service just isn’t “good” enough these days. To beat your competition, you have to be “GRRRRREAT!”

EXTRAS
What really stuck in my mind was the “extra” services they provided such as a great restaurant, charity service for your old furniture, van hire and an assembly service (which, may I add, I didn’t need to use!). These are services that they didn’t HAVE to provide but had the desire to. Going the extra mile by doing more than your competition ALWAYS pays off (in the till). How could YOU go the extra mile?

A: Do you have a nice café nearby who could provide food for your clients? If you help their business, you can bet they’ll help yours!

B: What do your clients do when it’s raining? Run from the salon? Wait ’til it stops? How about leave the salon under a FREE umbrella, advertising your salon and showing everyone just HOW great your salon service is? Disposable umbrellas with your salon name on cost a few pounds each, are a great customer service/marketing tool AND you can bet your clients will tell their friends (nothing beats client recommendations).

C: Fed up of seeing clients in town with hair styled badly? Why not offer a styling tutorial service for clients on your quiet days? Not only will this increase client satisfaction but could also increase your retail sales because your clients OBVIOUSLY need the products that you use in the salon.

So the next time you’re in a department store, a clothes store, a café or wherever, take a look around. Look at the staff, speak to them, how informed are they? Look at the layout of the store and how they merchandise their stock. How easy is it to find what you need? What do they do to make you WANT to buy? What’s the customer service like? Have they gone the extra mile? Do they have a loyalty scheme? There is SO much we can learn from how other businesses do business, whether they do it well or not.

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Determining and Developing a Market Niche For Your B and B Successfully

April 25th, 2011

Part of owning and operating a successful business is knowing what your primary intent is, or your business focus. When the merchants along the main street of Boulder, Colorado, decided to create a pedestrian mall, they first discussed what their purpose was in forming a pedestrian mall. Initially they thought the focus was to create a merchandising center, but with further conversation they realized that they really were creating a place that was safe for people of all walks of life to come together and interact. Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall is one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the country because the merchants understood what they were creating, and have been faithful to that vision during its almost thirty years of existence. Similarly, a B&B inn’s purpose might not simply be “a lodging property,” but rather a place to provide a fun and safe time while at the inn.

Successful innkeepers know what their purpose is and stay faithful to that purpose as they experience the same kind of success as Boulder’s Mall. That said, it’s also wise to have more than one income stream, or income pillar, for your business. Determine what your primary income pillar is and then consider additional income pillars that support your primary pillar and broaden the income opportunities of your property.

What is the primary focus of a B&B? Business-wise, guestrooms generally are the focus, the primary purpose, for B&B innkeepers. But don’t forget that safety and a memorable time is more important to a business’s success. Guestrooms have a better profit margin than just about anything else you can do with a B&B, so it makes sense they would be the “raison d’etre“.

What additional activities fit with the B&B concept? There are numerous options. The innkeeper’s personality, location, and dreams will help guide which additional income pillars blend with a B&B. A gift shop, meeting/special event room, additional food service, spa and affiliate programs come to mind immediately as income pillars that can be incorporated into the B&B. The opportunities are only limited by imagination, zoning/licensing, and money.

A gift shop is a natural with a B&B because travelers often want to take a gift home to friends and family, and if their guest experience has been wonderful they want to take a memento of the inn home with them; a gift shop item fits the bill. I knew an innkeeper years ago who created a guestroom’s worth of income from her gift shop, which occupied a corner of her inn’s kitchen. She didn’t have to change the beds or clean rooms for that income; she merely treated her guests well, giving them the experience they sought, and then let them buy myriad items with the inn’s logo, location and contact information printed on them as their show of appreciation for their stay at her bed and breakfast. She considered her gift shop “easy money”. Sell your everyday items in the gift shop. Guests may love your soap, hand lotion, coffee mugs and other items. Let them buy them! If you have special bed linens or pillows, even have those available. The profit on such items can be lucrative.

Meeting or special event space is another great use of bed and breakfast properties. The innkeeper can use the space for guests or rent it out to others. When outside groups rent the space, the attendees are given a chance to see the property and experience the atmosphere and hospitality of the inn. Their experience may lead them to return for a getaway of their own, increasing your lodging business. The rental fee is great enough to cover the use, utilities, and wear and tear, improving the inn’s bottom line. As long as the meeting space business doesn’t interfere with the lodging business, it’s a good income pillar to add.

Breakfast is a given at a bed and breakfast. But what about lunch and dinner? Providing food in those situations can be wonderful income pillars. There are numerous simple ways delicious meals can be prepared for overnight guests. Picnic lunches or dinners can be as simple as a bagged meal to a basketed meal. Meal inclusions should be easy to keep on hand: bottled water/soda/juice/wine, cookies, fruit, and vegetables. For the “entree” portion, consider a sandwich, quiche, pot pie, cheese and sausage, or hard boiled eggs and caviar with french bread and cheese. Just be sure to avoid the use of Styrofoam and use either durable or compostable containers, depending on the meal, the price, and whether it’s bagged or basketed.

Dinners served at the inn, either in the dining room or guest’s room, can range from fresh pasta to gourmet pot pie to lasagna, served with a vegetable, dessert, and beverage. You could also hire a private chef to cook meals for guests, if that’s your inn’s style. When I talk about providing lunch and dinner, I’m not talking about running a restaurant with a full menu, only something small that’s done by prior arrangement. This is a profit center when offered like this, so don’t fall into the trap of thinking this is something that should be done for your guests at cost. It’s not necessary to be as gouging as some room service menus are, but it’s not a cheap option either. This is an additional service being provided for guests, so consider it a viable income pillar.

A spa experience is increasingly popular with travelers. Providing this service is more complex than many, so check with a spa consultant like Health Fitness Dynamics. A spa can be open to both guests and the general public. This expands guest options for how they spend their time and may be just the excuse they need to visit a specific location and property. By making the spa open to the general public, they are given a glimpse of the B&B experience for their own use or for referral to their out-of-town guests. Either way, income potential is strengthened and expanded.

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Take Your Business to the Next Level with Multiple Streams of Income

April 23rd, 2011

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you aren’t satisfied with letting your business sit in idle mode for long. You want it to continue to grow and reach the level of success that you’ve been dreaming about. Well here’s you chance to light a fire under your company’s success.

It seems that everyone is talking about how to generate multiple streams of income, and they’re talking about it for a reason–it works. While a business may be able to run with a few products and services for awhile, it is the introduction of new products and services that expands the bottom line.

To get a better idea of how multiple income streams can propel a business to new heights, take a look at some of the biggest success stories.

Yahoo! got its start in 1994 in a Stanford University campus trailer as “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang, PhD, began keeping track of websites they liked. Soon hundreds of visitors were logging on and the duo realized they had a business in the making.

After incorporating in 1995 and taking the company public in 1996, Yahoo! has grown to reach over 345 million individuals. The long list of services offered include web hosting, e-mail, personals ads, yellow pages, maps, instant messenger, a shopping network, and dozens of other services. Many of Yahoo’s services are offered for free and revenues are generated from upgrades to premium services, advertising, alliances with other businesses, and the introduction of new services.

Starbucks is a favorite destination for coffee lovers, and the passion for a good cup of java was the foundation for this hot company that began in 1971 as a small shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Once established, Starbucks began adding new products, like the signature Frappucino, to reel in customers. Patrons can also purchase fresh beans, mugs, candy, coffee brewing equipment, gift cards, and music CDs, or indulge in the one of the tasty ice cream flavors from the new retail product line. There are currently 4593 company-owned locations and an additional 2158 licensed Starbucks locations, proving that thoughtfully planned revenue streams can catapult a company into phenomenal success.

eBay began in 1995 as a forum for swapping Pez dispensers and has morphed into an on-line giant reaching more than 135 million users. To achieve its record growth, the company expanded its product categories to include everything from office supplies, sports memorabilia, and music to real estate, automobiles, and concert tickets. More than 1.4 billion items were listed for sale in 2004. Acquisitions of PayPal, an online payment processing service, eLance, a directory of freelance service providers, and several other companies have also helped eBay grow in record proportions. Ebay has sites in more than twenty countries, serves up a popular storefront program, hosts user conferences, and continues to grow the customer base through an affiliates program.

Home Depot crafted its niche by offering customers a large variety of products when the doors opened in 1978. Now over 1800 stores strong and with a selection of over 40,000 building materials and lawn and garden products, the home improvement giant has expanded its offerings to include installation services, how-to workshops, home delivery, tool rental, truck rental, and a popular series of books.

A Call to Action

So how can a small operation achieve even a fraction of the success experienced by the big companies? By emulating their business models.

If sales are flat or simply not growing fast enough at your company, consider how you can build on the foundation. Ask yourself these questions:

*What products or services would my existing customer base like to see?

*What products or services could lure in new clients?

*What products or services are being offered by my competitors?

*How can I implement my new offerings?

*How will the new offerings affect my bottom line?

Here are ten ideas to consider:

1. Offer consulting services in your area of expertise.

2. Add a new line of products.

3. Form an alliance with another business.

4. Sell advertising on your website, in your e-zine or at your place of business.

5. Launch a second business that is complimentary to your primary business.

6. Offer new services and outsource them to contractors.

7. Create a subscription-based offering such as a newsletter or mentor program.

8. Create your own products for resale.

9. Train others to run a business likes yours.

10. Publish books, e-books or other information products.

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Coin Laundry Business Opportunities – Make a Great Income With Laundromats

April 21st, 2011

The laundromat industry offers numerous opportunities to entrepreneurs wanting to enter a stable, potentially lucrative business with low risk. There are many ways to enter the coin operated laundry business and there are many ways to grow your business once you have started. Here are some of the top coin laundry business opportunities.

Buy a Coin Laundry or Start Your Own?

Most entrepreneurs enter the laundromat game by buying an existing business. If you do your due diligence and find a laundromat that is performing well then this is a great way to get started with a business that is already profitable. You can guarantee yourself a good return on your investment if you know how to value a laundromat and negotiate the right price.

Starting your own coin laundry can be a much more risky endeavor with the startup costs and considerations that are involved. It is hard to know if a location will be profitable if you have no sales records to prove it. However, if you start your own laundromat from scratch and know what you are doing then the potential for high profits is far greater.

A Coin Laundry Chain

Many self serve laundry business owners only have one or two laundromats. However, there are excellent opportunities for savvy entrepreneurs to scale up to much larger operations that involve multiple locations.

The great thing about laundromats is that they can be left unattended for large parts of the day. One owner operator can easily drive around and service a number of locations. A more likely scenario though is that after your first one of two coin laundries are open you would hire attendants or janitorial staff. You could then focus on growing your business even more.

Laundromat Franchises

Surprisingly, franchising has not been a common practice in the coin laundry industry. The franchises that have sprung up are usually only local operations and there are currently no national franchises that we are aware of.

Some of the machinery manufacturers like Maytag offer deals that are similar to franchise agreements but have much easier terms. They will basically allow you to use their branding without charging franchise fees if you buy your equipment from them.

If you have spent time setting up laundromats and have refined your operating systems and relationships with suppliers then you may be in a position to become a franchisor. In exchange for lending your brand name and expertise to industry newcomers you can earn a percentage of their monthly profits. This will of course depend on the franchise agreement that you have with them.

Buy and Flip

Laundromats are usually fairly easy to sell if you can prove to buyers that they are profitable. As they are a fairly stable business you can generally expect to reach a sale price of between four and five times the level of annual net profits. Business brokers love to have laundromats on their books and would have no trouble helping you sell yours if it is making money.

Some entrepreneurs specialize in buying laundromats that are making a loss or performing well below their potential. They then pick them up for bargain prices, get them profitable, flip them on to new buyers and make a tidy profit on the deal.

The key with this approach is to learn how to spot good opportunities. You need to be able to identify coin operated laundries that have been poorly marketed and you must have a plan to turn them around. It may be that the current owner has badly misjudged the local market. By doing some remodelling or offering better solutions for local people in terms of machinery, services and atmosphere you may be able to increase the number of regular customers.

You may also be able to uncover information on demographic trends or other changes in the local business environment surrounding a laundromat. These factors could lead to an increase in business over the coming year.

Additional Services

One of the great opportunities that laundromat owners often overlook is to try and squeeze more revenue out of each of their existing locations. You may as well have each property in your portfolio optimized before you go about acquiring more.

In addition to basic clothes washing and drying services there are a number of other services that you can offer. If you have an attendant stationed at your coin operated laundry you can offer premium services to customers. Allow them to simply drop off their washing for full service treatment by your employees instead of doing it themselves. Your services may include washing, drying, mending, ironing and even dry cleaning if you can set up an arrangement with a nearby dry cleaner. You can even make extra money by offering unrelated products and services such as coffee or Internet access.

If you own a busy laundromat then you will find that the owners of vending machine businesses will want to place their machines inside or outside of your store. If people are sitting around waiting for their washing they may consider buying a drink or a snack from a vending machine. You can usually get a small commission on sales if you make an agreement with a vending machine business operator. Some kinds of machines are more lucrative than others so it pays to do some research and shop around.

Consulting Work

Once you have become successful in the coin laundry business you will find that you have gained an extraordinary amount of knowledge along the way. Many newcomers to the business will be interested in picking your brains to find out what kinds of insights and tips you have to offer.

The great opportunity here is to offer your services as a consultant. As long as newcomers are not going to be in direct competition with you then it can be a rewarding experience to guide and mentor them into their own successful businesses. And of course, you can charge a fee for such consulting services.

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How to Obtain Credible Market Information Without a Consultant

April 21st, 2011

Most startup founders have a good idea of the product or service they want to sell and are convinced that everybody will want one. What they fail to realize is that their point of view is probably biased and without any research to back it up.

Potential investors usually reject business plans that have no industry expert data. A business plan should contain an “opportunity” section that includes industry market size and growth projections. In this section, investors look for footnotes indicating that the information came from credible sources, such as external references and industry experts.

And yet, a lot of startup teams don’t know how to build this key section of their business plan. Where to look? What to look for? Is it possible to obtain this information without spending an arm and a leg? Can you do it without a consultant?

The answer to the last two questions is yes. As for the first two, here are some suggestions:

• Use search engines. You can find census data, research reports, newspapers, and trade association publications online. Look for growth and opportunity tables that you can include in your business plan.

• Pay your local library a visit. Different market research reports can be bought online or offline. You can check them out first at your local library, where many of these can be accessed for free.

• Go to your local economic development office. Nearly every county and municipality has one, and you can get information on popular market segments in your area here. This is also a good place to ask about other resources.

• Check out your local bookstore. Browse the business section while enjoying a cup of coffee. The information here may be more up-to-date than that in your local library, and you can buy the books for later use.

• Purchase online reports. After you’ve exhausted all free resources, order any additional reports or association journals that you might need. Some good websites are Market Research Reports, Gartner Group, and Frost & Sullivan.

• Set up informal focus groups. You can combine your own research with external resources by hosting a small focus group, starting discussions on online forums, and conducting direct mail and telephone surveys.

You’ll want to collect two types of information. Secondary research is the big picture market opportunity data, which includes industry trends, demographics, and census information. Primary research is the data specific to your market and product, and may include information that you gather firsthand.

Seek out information that is relevant so you can build a profile of the industry and your market. For example, if you’re developing a product for vehicle owners, you will want to look for the following: gender, age, geography, market expenditures, spending trends for the past decade, and industry projections.

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How To Start A Very Profitable Funny Pages Newspaper Business

April 19th, 2011

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF A FUNNY PAGES NEWSPAPER BUSINESS

You make money by selling ads in a 4 to 8 page funny or comic newspaper that you provide to local businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, hair salons, and so forth.

If you know where to get your paper printed, the low cost of the printing allows you to sell ads at a significant profit. If, for example, you deliver 20,000 funny page newspapers to your community containing 15 ads sold at $200 each, you would have raised $3,000. The cost of printing and shipping would average around $1,000 so you would have netted around $2,000-and that is every month!

This is the bare minimum of the potential for a funny page business in your area. We will discuss profit potential in detail later on.

IS THERE A MARKET?

Your market should consist of a town or city with a minimum population of 10,000 to 50,000 people. A printing of 5,000, 10,000 to 20,000 funny papers each month is sufficient for these size populations. A metropolitan area, however, can be divided up into sections, and an enterprising individual can produce several funny papers for each region, suburb, or surrounding cities. This can bring incredible profit potential!

In such a market, there ought to be plenty of businesses eager and willing to place advertisements in your funny pages. There also ought to be plenty of distribution points for you to deliver your papers to.

DETERMINE THE LEGAL AND TAX RAMIFICATIONS

Each state, city, and county is different in what they require. Most states will require some sort of business license and a registered trade name. Consult your state’s Secretary of State website. Your Trade Name could be as simple as: The Funny Pages of Your City Name.

In most cases, you will not have to worry about sales tax since you are not selling a tangible item. You give away your Funny Papers for free. You make money by selling advertisements in them. This is usually sales tax free. Still, it is best to check your local codes.

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Feng Shui for Busy Moms: Establishing Kid-Free Zones

April 7th, 2011

We’ve all seen them, and perhaps you live in one: the house that looks like the adults are living in the child’s house rather than the other way around. Over the years, I’ve seen far too many plastic kitchen sets in living rooms, toy car racetracks set up on coffee tables, and children’s artwork hung in every available space around the house. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that any adults live in the home.

From a feng shui perspective, this is always a portent to disaster. Most of the time when I am called to homes like these, the parents are overwhelmed and exhausted. Often, their marriage is suffering as well. Before I go into how to remedy this common problem, I want to share a story that clearly illustrates why it’s not a good idea to let children’s possessions have free rein over every room in the house.

The Story of Trish

A few years ago, I met with a woman named Trish. She was a darling, young mother with two small children, a boy and a girl. Her husband, John, was a successful businessman whose company had made a fortune in a short period of time. Trish and John lived in a large, beautiful home in a prosperous neighborhood. John worked hard to provide a lavish lifestyle for his family, while Trish stayed home to raise their children.

During my first meeting with Trish, I was shocked when she opened the front door. Tricycles, toys, shoes, and children’s artwork filled the entryway. As I stepped carefully over the chaos, I noticed that the main living room of this luxurious home had no adult-sized furniture in it. It was filled with a miniature kitchen set, an enormous stuffed giraffe, children’s books, games, and toys. Although the family had a live-in maid, the house felt chaotic and messy due to the quantity of brightly colored playthings scattered around every room. Even though the home was very large and expensive, its grandeur was greatly diminished by all the children’s toys and artwork. The home felt like a gigantic playhouse.

As we toured the home, Trish went on and on about her children. It was obvious from her words and the state of her home that she was a very dedicated mother and that the children were her highest priority. Trish mentioned that her husband worked long hours and often didn’t arrive home until after the children were in bed. John would frequently come home tired and irritable and criticize Trish for every little thing. Obviously there was tension in the marriage, and Trish slowly admitted that this was why she wanted a feng shui consultation. She was hoping that I’d be able to find a way to improve their marriage. From a feng shui perspective, it was obvious to me what was going on, and I knew what needed to be done to help Trish get her home and relationship back on track.

I began by telling Trish that having every room in the home, especially the main rooms (living room, family room, kitchen, and master bedroom), filled with children’s possessions was a huge mistake from a feng shui point of view. I asked her how John felt about the house, and she told me that he was often irritated by the mess, but according to her, he just didn’t understand “how children are.”

I asked Trish if John had any private areas in the home just for himself. She excitedly told me that her husband had a home office and a workout room. When she showed me the home office, I couldn’t believe my eyes: Children’s art filled the walls; a little desk and chair sat next to a big desk and chair, and there was a Diaper Genie in the corner next to a huge bag of disposable diapers. This certainly wasn’t how I’d envisioned this powerful CEO’s home office to be. The home gym was no different. It was filled with the children’s bikes, tricycles, and large toys. Once again, the walls were covered with children’s artwork. Literally, there wasn’t a single place in this large home to get away from the children’s possessions.

As we made our way through the house, Trish admitted that her children could be “willful” and difficult to discipline. I explained that she’d given up too much of her authority as a parent by giving up so much of the home to them. It was obvious that Trish was a doting mother, but the mistake she was making by letting her children claim every room in their home was a huge one. By doing so, she was relinquishing her power and authority and was also putting her marriage in harm’s way.

I explained to Trish that she needed to create some kid-free zones. By creating kid-free zones, there would be a greater feeling of peace in the home, and the children would have more respect for their parents with these established boundaries. These zones, I added, should be the main living areas of the home, including the family room, the living room, the master bedroom, and the home office. The children could, of course, be in these rooms and even play in them, but the decor and furnishings would be for adults. There would be no toys, games, or other children’s things on display or stored in these rooms. By reclaiming the main rooms in the home as rooms for adults, John would likely begin to feel that he was a greater priority in Trish’s life, and the house would feel more relaxing and welcoming when he came home at the end of his workday.

Trish listened carefully and reluctantly agreed that these changes needed to be made. As I drove away, I had doubts about whether she would actually follow through with establishing kid-free zones in her home. I feared that if she didn’t do something soon, her marriage would suffer even more.

A year later, I received a tearful phone call from Trish. She told me that she’d discovered her husband was openly flirting with a young woman in his office. She didn’t think he was actually having an affair yet but worried that that would be the next step. She asked me to come back to her house to see if there was something wrong with the feng shui of her home. When I arrived, I wasn’t at all surprised to see that she’d made none of the changes we’d talked about a year earlier. Toys and kids’ stuff still filled every room, and the old Diaper Genie, while no longer needed, still occupied its corner next to the desk in Daddy’s office. This time, when I explained to Trish what needed to be done and why, she listened. She asked if I would come back in a few weeks to check her progress and make sure that it was all done correctly. She was desperate to save her marriage.

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Presenting – Neil Macdonald and the Beach Business Improvement Association – A Community Overview

April 5th, 2011

The article series about the Beach contains an entire kaleidoscope of personalities and organizations that make up this great community. The following interview with Neil Macdonald, Chair of the Beach Business Improvement Area, is intended to provide you with a general overview of the area that touches on many different aspects of the community.

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself. What connection do you have to the Beach? What is your role with the Beach Business Improvement Association?

My name is Neil Macdonald, and I am the Chair of the Beach Business Improvement Area (BIA) for two years. I have my own freelance business and marketing writing business, which I run out of my home. I have been living in the Beach for 15 years.

2. What is the mandate of the Beach Business Improvement Association? What areas does it cover? How is this organization funded?

The Beach BIA is an association of business people that have come together in order to improve business conditions along Queen Street East in the Beach, from Lockwood Avenue (three blocks west of Woodbine Avenue) to Neville Park Boulevard. Like any other BIA, we are working to make our area a more attractive place to work, visit, and do business. The City of Toronto, which supports our organization with various resources, collects a levy on our behalf from all commercial property owners within our district. They also provide matching funding for capital works projects.

3. Please explain to us: is it “the Beaches” or “the Beach”? Some people might be confused.

There is no “official” designation, and there are plenty of historical precedents for using both terms. However, as you probably know, this can be a controversial topic. You may be aware of last year’s neighbourhood vote that we conducted to decide which name should be used – we received an amazing amount of media attention during this campaign. As part of our initiative to erect historically themed street signs along Queen Street to strengthen our district’s visual identity, we felt we should consult Beachers on the matter, rather than arbitrarily choose one name over the other. “The Beach” was the preferred choice, by a comfortable margin. However, by no means do we wish – nor would it be possible – to enforce the usage of this name. Call us what you will, just so long as you come on down to visit us!

4. Please give us some general information about the Beach, its demographics, its residential architecture and other unique features. What makes the Beach such a special neighbourhood? Please also talk about some of the awards and special designations the Beach has earned.

Of course, the feature that most defines The Beach is the lake and its beaches. We are fortunate to be the only neighbourhood in Toronto that has preserved and enhanced its connection with the lake, and our lakefront, with the boardwalk and numerous recreational facilities, is the focal point of our neighbourhood. However, the beaches and boardwalk aren’t the only things that bring people to our area. Queen Street in the Beach is a thriving commercial strip, with unique stores and vibrant pubs and restaurants. Beachers are fiercely proud of their neighbourhood. There’s a real small-town feel to our community, with many grassroots organizations that have come together to strengthen our community through charitable, cultural, social, and recreational activities.

Our residential architecture is typical of many inner-Toronto neighbourhoods. Most homes in the area were constructed in the early 20th century, though there are pockets of much more recent development. The area is densely developed – there’s the usual mixture of modest detached and semi-detached homes and low-rise apartment buildings, while some areas of the Beach feature larger, upscale homes. In the past couple of decades, the Beach’s desirability has made this one of the more expensive districts in Toronto to buy a house, where even one of those modest semi-detached homes will set you back a bit.

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Difference Between VoIP Digital Phone Service and Traditional Telephone Service

April 4th, 2011

Traditional telephones consist of a phone that is connected to a land line. This form of communication is vulnerable to interference and delivery is much slower. Fortunately, advancements in technology have revolutionized they way we now communicate. The arrival of the Internet changed the way we converse. An important advancement in the communication industry is the development of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digital Phone Service.

In Digital Voice over I.P., sound is changed to digital information and sent through the internet, and then changed back to its original form by way of digital reproduction. This means that you can make a call using your digital service through the internet. The high speed data transmission is the most advanced form of communication and is provided by Digital providers.

How VoIP / Internet Voice Works
VoIP services transform your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. Voice over IP allows people to make a call from a computer, a I.P. phone, or a traditional phone linked to a adapter. As well, wireless set ups in areas like a coffee shop or business establishment, permit users to link to the Internet and use a IP wireless service.

Advantages of VoIP over Traditional Phone Services
Digital phone services deliver clearer and faster voice quality than traditional phone services because there will not be any sound interference. As well, digital companies provide additional services that cannot be provided by traditional phone services. This can include: video and audio conferencing, 3 way calling, call waiting, caller ID and other services. As well, the cost of a VoIP phone services are much cheaper than traditional phone services, particularly long distance calls. For businesses, services can include web and video conferencing, calls directed to an Automated Attendant, screening where calls are directed, block certain phone numbers, or place them on virtual ring. As well, employees have the capability of holding virtual conferences.

When it comes to the price of International phone calls, traditional phone services are much higher than I.P. Traditional long distance phone charges are usually taxed. Because Voice over Internet Protocol is carried over the internet, taxes are very low. The cost of having a traditional phone line is much higher than having a VoIP phone line.

VoIP Phone Service Requirements
Voice over Internet Protocol Digital Phone Service requires a high speed Internet service. A cable modem or high speed system such as DSL or a local area network can be used. You will also need a computer, adaptor, a phone suitable for I.P., and phone plugs. Some providers can accommodate a traditional phone attached to a adapter. Special software and a microphone are required when using a computer.

Advancements in phone technology seem to be making traditional phone services much less relevant in today’s high speed world. Keeping up with technological advancements can seem like a difficult task. Customers are always pleased to learn how easy it is to switch to a VoIP phone service. When choosing a Voice over Internet Protocol service, it is important to shop around so you can get the most services at the best price. Resources are a great way to compare both business and residential phone services.

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