How This Founder Built a $90 Million Skincare Business With No Beauty-Industry Experience | Entrepreneur

February 6, 2019February 5, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the Women Entrepreneur series My First Moves, we talk to founders about that pivotal moment when they decided to turn their business idea into a reality — and the first steps they took to make it happen.

In 1999, Maria Hatzistefanis didn’t know anything about starting a business — and she definitely didn’t know anything about creating beauty products. What she did know, however, was that she had a very good idea: skincare products that addressed specific consumer concerns, from dark circles to large pores. So she spent more than a year researching and acquainting herself with the space before bootstrapping and launching Rodial. Over the past two decades, the London-based company has grown into a $90 million operation, with products sold across 35 countries. Here, the CEO and host of podcast Overnight Success talk us through the guidelines she used to get her start.

Five Different Types of Landlords Small Businesses May Encounter | Getentrepreneurial.com

February 6, 2019February 5, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Renting a commercial space makes up the largest of many small businesses’ monthly expenses. The location one chooses for their business significantly impacts the overall success of the organization. Factors such as accessibility from major roadways, the amount of foot traffic the location offers and local zoning codes and ordinances all play a role in determining the best commercial location to grow a business successfully.

Finding the right commercial location takes time and care. No small business owner wants to get trapped in a lease for a space that fails to suit their unique needs or proves too expensive. When determining a location, business owners interact with various types of landlords, and do well to proceed with caution to build a mutually beneficial business relationship for landlord and tenant alike.

Hotel x coworking space: The future of hospitality | Travel Daily Media

February 5, 2019February 4, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Coworking spaces are something you do not expect in a hotel but they are becoming more popular as more employees embrace flexible jobs and more entrepreneurs and start-ups are building their business on the road.

People are travelling more than ever and with the younger generations (Millennials and Generation Z) compose mostly the workforce, the travel industry is following their every move and behaviour. The addition of coworking spaces also attracts the “digital nomads,” which represents the growing group of people who, thanks to the internet, work remotely and can work and communicate at any time anywhere in the world. Driven by globalisation and the ‘gig’ economy, the current generation benefits from flexible work hours and autonomy over their workplace and work style.

Speakprose: Transforming Communication for Those Who Need it Most | The Sociable

February 5, 2019February 4, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Approaches to dealing with communication impairments, whether they are caused by disability or otherwise, have long-since been outdated.

The limitations of using a flashcard-based approach often mean that some of the most fundamental aspects of improving communication can easily be missed. Whilst useful as an educational tool, the flashcard method is unable to offer as much of a sensation of reality as an interactive app.

For those with learning difficulties, conversation can be a tricky skill to practise, even through face-to-face interaction. However, it’s a challenge that can easily be tackled with the help of cutting edge AI technology.

Would You Fly In A Pilotless Plane? | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

February 4, 2019February 3, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With many airplanes already pretty much flying themselves, and drone technology continuing to develop, the idea of a pilotless passenger plane is hardly far-fetched. In fact, aviation giant Airbus has been looking into the idea for a number of years.

Speaking at the Digital Life and Design conference in Munich, Germany, on Sunday, January 20, the company’s chief technology officer, Grazia Vittadini, said Airbus is hoping that artificial intelligence will soon be advanced enough for it to make the move to completely autonomous planes, Bloomberg reported.

Groundhog predicts early spring but Twitter refuses to believe it | Mashable

February 4, 2019February 3, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog we let decide our seasons for us, is officially predicting an early spring.

On Saturday morning, the famous groundhog awoke at sunrise to celebrate Groundhog Day and did not see his shadow. This, his male handlers in top hats dramatically said, signals an early start to spring and an end to winter. But don’t get too excited.

Amazon posts first $200 billion sales year, but growth is slowing | CNN

February 1, 2019January 31, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amazon now finds itself in an elite group of companies whose annual revenue can be measured in the hundreds of billions.

The company said Thursday that its holiday quarter sales hit $72.4 billion, up 20% from the same period a year earlier and at the high end of its previous forecast. The strong end to the year pushed Amazon’s annual revenue to an impressive $232.9 billion.

But sales growth is slowing as Amazon (AMZN) runs up against the law of large numbers. Its 20% sales growth for the quarter was well below the 38% growth it saw in the same period a year earlier.

Why Do People Hate Comic Sans So Much? | Live Science

February 1, 2019January 31, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When Vincent Connare invented the typeface Comic Sans in 1994, he never set out to offend anybody. The typographer designed it for some of the first Microsoft home computers: it was intended for the speech bubbles of an animated cartoon dog that would help people navigate the Microsoft Windows interface for the first time.

“I said, ‘Comic dogs don’t talk in Times New Roman,'” Connare recalled. So, he developed an alternative; a playful, friendly font inspired by comic book type, designed to look handwritten and targeted at younger users. “My original idea was it was going to be used for kids. It wasn’t made for everybody to like it,” Connare told Live Science.

Printing Your Own Fabrics | Business News Daily

January 31, 2019January 30, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Need custom fabrics in a hurry for a company flag at a new location, customized trade show furniture or uniforms for the factory softball team? You can have a conventional loom weave them for you and wait, or you could print them yourself on a wide-format printer right away.

The difference in time and cost is enormous, with the conventional textile route taking weeks or months to accomplish and potentially costing thousands of dollars. If you do it yourself, it can be done in an hour at a fraction of the cost, with the option to tweak the design if you don’t like the results.

6 Mental Exercises For Busy People To Calm the Hectic Mind | Life Hack

January 31, 2019January 30, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The cold hard truth is that we’ve become big, clumsy animals.

We eat too much, carry way too much weight on our torsos. We sit in unnatural positions all day, which makes our steps awkward. But worst of all, we’ve isolated ourselves from nature and now our mental and emotional wellbeing is taking the hit; despite the fact that there’s overwhelming scientific evidence that the more in harmony with nature we are, the better we feel.

One recent study found that walking among trees improved participants’ short-term memory better than walks in urban settings. Another showed that soaking up natural beauty can cure brain fatigue and improve mental health. Elsewhere, researchers found that spending time in forests lowered participants cortisol levels (a hormone used to mark stress), reduced inflammation, boosted immunity, and even reduced the risk of early death.