Author: Staff (Page 24 of 29)

      Start your own business with a successful franchise

      March 18, 2010 /

      Have you often wished that you could be your own boss by setting up your own business? Setting up a new business from scratch is never easy, but you can improve the odds in your favor by setting up as a franchisee for a running successful business. As a franchisee, you will function as an extended arm of the company which will provide all the support that you can expect from a partner. How do you go about selecting which company you are going to work with?

      Ideally, you would like the franchising company to operate in a business where there is high demand and limited competition. You would also like the full range of support services from the training to marketing and advertising. We are going to look at one company that has been extremely successful in franchising because there are many lessons to be learnt from their success. The company is called N-Hance and offers wood renewal services for wooden floors and cabinets through a system of franchisees. Entrepreneur Magazine put the company at the top of the home improvement and miscellaneous services category in its annual Franchise 500 rankings.

      N-Hance is a renewal system for wooden floors, cabinets and other built in storage. It makes the wood look like new without using messy and pungent chemicals and without the expense of refinishing or sanding. They have built a highly successful and comprehensive support system for their franchisees including complete turnkey packages that even include business stationery and business cards. In addition, their powerful brand and unique customer proposition put you in a position where you can provide genuine value to your customers.

      If you are interested in an outstanding business opening in the flooring restoration business, you should give serious attention to this franchise opportunity. You will find it a relatively painless and low-risk blueprint to build up a successful business.

      Entrepreneurs

      Common sense invades the F.C.C.

      March 13, 2010 /

      About a third of Americans lack access to high-speed Internet service. That’s a stunning statistic that the Obama administration seems determined to rectify.

      The Federal Communications Commission is proposing an ambitious 10-year plan that will reimagine the nation’s media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country’s dominant communication network.

      The plan, which will be submitted to Congress on Tuesday, is likely to generate debate in Washington and a lobbying battle among the telecommunication giants, which over time may face new competition for customers. Already, the broadcast television industry is resisting a proposal to give back spectrum the government wants to use for future mobile service.

      The blueprint reflects the government’s view that broadband Internet is becoming the common medium of the United States, gradually displacing the telephone and broadcast television industries. It also signals a shift at the F.C.C., which under the administration of President George W. Bush gained more attention for policing indecency on the television airwaves than for promoting Internet access.

      Wow – the F.C.C. is actually concentrating on something like our digital future as opposed to nipple on television! This is the kind of investment that can have a real impact on the growth of our economy.

      New Media

      TurboTax vs H&R Block at Home

      February 14, 2010 /

      Are you ready for tax season? If you’re looking for tax preparation software, you should take a look at this recent article in the New York Times comparing TurboTax and H&R Block at Home. The makers of the software stress different benefits.

      The two companies go to great lengths to try to distinguish their programs. Block stresses the backup provided by its nationwide network of professional tax preparers. Buyers of its Premium edition can receive a phone consultation with a Block staffer. The company will also provide the help of an enrolled agent — someone trained specifically to prepare returns and represent taxpayers before the I.R.S. — if a customer is audited.

      Intuit, in contrast, emphasizes the ease with which TurboTax dovetails with other sources of financial data. Quicken users, for example, can transfer all of their information into the program with a couple of clicks.

      Read the full article and see which is best for you.

      Gadgets, New Media

      Google Buzz eliminates the auto-follow features following a privacy backlash

      February 14, 2010 /

      Google Buzz has gotten off to a very rocky start, and the company is moving quickly to address privacy concerns resulting from its auto-follow feature.

      The Buzz fiasco is encouraging, however, as another example of how the privacy police can alter the development and implementation of products. As we’ve seen, the Internet can be self-correcting, as users and self-anointed watchdogs work together to police new technologies and policies that can threaten our privacy. Google is the most powerful Internet company in the world, yet they understand that they have no choice but to take these concerns seriously.

      This phenomenon will also strengthen our democracy and democracies (and fledgling democracies) around the world. Governments will think twice before imposing intrusive policies on their citizens.

      Social Media

      The Wi-Fi bus

      February 12, 2010 /

      Here’s a fascinating story of how access to the Internet alters behavior . . . in a good way.

      Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).

      But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops.

      Morning routines have been like this since the fall, when school officials mounted a mobile Internet router to bus No. 92’s sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. The students call it the Internet Bus, and what began as a high-tech experiment has had an old-fashioned — and unexpected — result. Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared.

      “It’s made a big difference,” said J. J. Johnson, the bus’s driver. “Boys aren’t hitting each other, girls are busy, and there’s not so much jumping around.”

      I guess many of them are playing games, chatting with friends or doing other fun stuff, but anything is better than the boredom of the bus.

      I wonder how well Wi-Fi would work to improve behavior in actual schools, particularly schools that have problems with discipline. Hopefully our education officials will pay attention to this development.

      As someone who travels often, it’s painfully obvious that something like Wi-Fi can change a trip dramatically, particularly when you forget to bring reading material. There’s always tons of dead time, even if you’re on a fun trip as a tourist, and having access to the Internet is a great way to pass the time. I can only imagine how relieved students are to have this on their buses. Hopefully we’ll see it in most airplanes soon.

      Get more travel information at Sundance Vacations.

      Gadgets, Mobile, New Media

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