Increase Revenue During Off-Peak Hours | Restaurant.org

June 6, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

The recent recession did more than adjust people’s spending habits – it also changed how and when they eat. The days of three strictly observed standard meals are now past. As a result, snacking and off-peak food service continue to emerge as growth opportunities for restaurants.

Because of financial tightening, more consumers have focused on deals and smaller purchases, including for their food. They’re ordering less during main meals – which can make them hungrier during the day. This makes them graze and snack more often, as well as eat during non-traditional hours.

According to Technomic’s 2012 Snacking Occasion Consumer Trend Report, 48% of consumers are snacking at least twice a day, up from 25% in 2010. As restaurants have adapted to this trend, their share of the snack market has increased from 17% in 2010 to 22% today.

Thirty-seven percent of consumers have broadened their definition of snack to include a wider variety of food and beverages. Sixty-two percent admitted that snacks are typically an impulse purchase as well.

8 Ways to Make Your Crowdfunding Campaign Pop | Entrepreneur.com

June 2, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

For Joanna Griffiths, launching a crowdfunding campaign was about more than raising capital for her startup. Griffiths turned to Indiegogo in 2013 to test the market for Knix Wear, a line of women’s underwear made from moisture-wicking, odor-absorbent fabrics. “It was the last test in a series of tests I conducted before launching the business,” explains the Toronto-based entrepreneur.

Even though Knix Wear garnered support from 518 backers who pledged more than $50,000 for the 2013 campaign–on a goal of less than $40,000–crowdfunding was a challenge. “I thought if I had a great idea and a strong platform, I would sell thousands of units,” Griffiths recalls. “But getting every single new backer was a struggle.”

As crowdfunding gains popularity as a financing model–Kickstarter, for example, has seen more than $1 billion pledged since its 2009 launch, and more than 19,000 successful campaigns last year alone–a growing number of startups are clamoring for support from backers, making it that much harder for ‘treps to stand out.

Before you sign on with one of the 200-plus U.S. crowdfunding platforms, master these tricks for launching a successful campaign.

Why Do Dogs Wag Their Tails? | LiveScience

June 2, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

It’s commonly believed that dogs wag their tails to convey that they are happy and friendly, but this isn’t exactly true.Dogs do use their tails to communicate, though a wagging tail doesn’t always mean, “Come pet me!”Dogs have a kind of language that’s based on the position and motion of their tails. The position of a dog’s tail reveals its emotional state.

How To Hack Into Your Flow State And Quintuple Your Productivity | Fast Company

May 30, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

If you want to do more, learn more, and gain more, you might want to think like surfer.

Surfing is a 1,000-year-old sport, and 20 years ago the biggest wave ever ridden was 25 feet. Today surfers push into waves 100 feet tall. Or consider snowboarding: In 1992, the biggest gap ever cleared was 40 feet; today that jump is 230 feet.

What’s behind the insane progress in adventure sports? Flow, says Steven Kotler, author of The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance.

“Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, when you feel and perform your best,” he says. “It’s the moment of total absorption. Time speeds up or slows down like a freeze-frame effect. Mental and physical ability go through roof, and the brain takes in more information per second, processing it more deeply.”

Sometimes called “being in the zone,” flow isn’t just an experience for record-breaking athletes. “It’s ubiquitous,” says Kotler. “Anybody anywhere can apply the triggers for any task. And the amount of time someone spends in flow has a massive and powerful correlation to life satisfaction.”

LeVar Burton Raised $1,000,000 in One Day To Revive Reading Rainbow| trendhunters.com

May 29, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Kickstarter projects and similar sites are amazing because they allow entrepreneurs, or enterprising helmsmen, to fund ventures with small amounts of money from a large number of people via the internet.

LeVar Burton recently took to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, to raise funds to revive a popular children’s television program he used to host called Reading Rainbow. The educational PBS series ran from 1983 until 2006 and Burton is looking to bring it back.

The former Star Trek actor is not the only one to benefit from this online fundraising platform. Kickstarter projects can relate to any kind of product or service, including clothing, inventions, apps and art. Whether you are interested in financing tech-integrated desks or affordable belonging tracking devices, there is no shortage of innovative ideas on the site

100 Kickstarter Projects – LeVar Burton Raised $1,000,000 in One Day To Revive Reading Rainbow TOPLIST.

Why Millennials Are Immature, Entitled and the Best Hire | Entrepreneur.com

May 29, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ 1 Comment

As it has been pointed out countless times in the media and through anecdotes, millennials in the workplace feel entitled to undeserved promotions and raises, are addicted to their smartphones and job hop every few years. The litany of complaints goes on, but of course no generation is as bad — or as good — as reported: Generation X was more than just a bunch of slackers and Baby Boomers’ strengths shook off their juvenile delinquent label.

In the case of Generation Y, twenty-somethings bring new perspectives and habits to the workplace that add value to their employers, even though those strengths also carry inherent weaknesses.

Whether you’re managing millennials or are a twenty-something yourself, here are the unique and creative talents Gen Y brings to the table, the lessons they still need to learn and the opportunities they have to establish themselves as the next generation of leaders.

6 Insights From Tony Robbins That Will Change Your Sales Game | Entrepreneur.com

May 5, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

When it comes to helping people improve their lives there is nobody in the game with stronger credentials than Tony Robbins. The “Michael Jordan” of thought leaders, Tony has affected millions of people around the world through his performance coaching. And his words of wisdom has also had a huge impact in the business world.

Through his books, videos and presentations, Robbins provides insight into effective selling.

Here are the six lesssons entrepreneurs can learn from Robbins on the secret to successful selling.

Check out the Tips.

When It Makes Sense to Take a Private Jet | Entrepreneur.com

May 2, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Marketing private jets as the affordable option might seem crazy, but a new fleet of charter jet operators are attempting to do just that in a push to ‘democratize’ luxury travel.

JetSuite, a private jet airline that charters flights on its fleet of Phenom 100s (which seat four passengers) and CJ3 jets (which seat six or seven), is making the hard sell that in many cases, flying private can be a cost-efficient option for business travel.

The argument has its merits. The company offers daily deals on empty flights to fill vacant seats. A recent one-way trip on a four-seater jet from San Jose to Las Vegas was listed at $536.43, 66 percent cheaper than what four commercial business class seats would cost.

JetSuite is simply one company in a crowded field looking to make flying private more accessible. JumpSeat operates like Airbnb, letting individuals who have already chartered a plane rent seats out to free-floaters, potentially saving flyers up to 50 percent, says the company. And then there’s Jumpjet, which operates more like a taxi-service, placing different groups of passengers who all share a destination on a single jet. The company says round trips on its private jets could cost as low as $450.

How We Can Manufacture Forests Like Toyota Makes Cars | WIRED

April 23, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

For a young industrial engineer, Shubhendu Sharma couldn’t have landed a gig much sweeter than Toyota. As the originator of “just-in-time production,” Toyota pioneered the lean manufacturing movement that helped make it a dominant global automaker. But when a venerable Japanese forestry expert visited the company’s Bangalore factory to plant some greenery, Sharma was captivated by the idea of engineering a new kind of efficiency.

He wondered if Toyota’s wildly successful strategy for quickly and efficiently making cars could be applied to growing trees. The result is a startup called Afforestt.

In pitching his company, Sharma says the world loses about 36 football fields of forest in any given minute

5 Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make When Buying a Car | Gen X Finance

April 21, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Cars Are Great, But They Can Erode Your Wealth

For many of us, a car is a necessity. With our sprawling cities and an often lacking mass-transit system, unless you live in the heart of a relatively large city, you need a vehicle. While important, a vehicle is also one of the biggest wealth destroyers out there today, cars carry a lot of expenses. Just look around. What are people driving, and how much are they spending? It isn’t uncommon to see multi-car households with over $100,000 worth of vehicles parked in their garage. And they are rapidly depreciating assets on top of that! Cars can quickly eat away at your hard earned money and keep you from your goals of retirement or becoming a millionaire.

So, even though vehicles play an important role in many of our lives, and we need something comfortable and reliable, there are a few major mistakes you need to avoid when you’re buying a car. Just one relatively minor mistake can cost you thousands and put your other financial goals in jeopardy.