The Difference Between Being a Franchise Owner and an Entrepreneur | Getentrepreneurial

October 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There is a big difference between being an entrepreneur and owning a franchise. When considering purchasing or starting a small business it is wise to understand the differences so that you can make good choices for your situation. A franchise has much less control over product, strategy and marketing, but has less risk. An entrepreneur controls their fate but does not have the advantage of brand recognition and a ready-made market.

Leadership

An entrepreneur dreams and dream and creates a business from it. This includes feasibility studies, market studies, start-up strategy, funding, strategic planning and business planning. The entrepreneur has tremendous latitude to develop the business according to their own vision and subsequently to respond to the market for the product. The owner develops the leadership for the business and in the end controls the critical decisions.

Aquabook Customizable Water Bottle | Cool Business Ideas

October 27, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There are plenty of ways to carry around good old H2O. Thing is all those plastic bottles are destroying our planet. We decided to make a change with aquabook. Made in Germany, aquabook makes staying hydrated on the GO super easy. Its A5 flat design can fit into any bag, briefcase or purse, yet it holds a whopping 25 oz. / 750 ml of liquid!

The Popular Over-The-Counter Cold Medicine That Science Says Doesn’t Work | Forbes

October 26, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The market for over-the-counter cold medicines is worth $8 billion annually, with a hefty portion of that amount spent on drugs marketed as decongestants. But according to new research, the cash many of us will spend on non-prescription decongestants this cold and flu season won’t help us breathe any easier.

According to University of Florida researchers, the oral decongestant phenylephrine simply doesn’t work at the FDA-approved amount found in popular non-prescription brands, and it may not even work at much higher doses. Their conclusions were presented in an editorial in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, referencing a study in the same edition of the journal conducted by researchers from the Allergy & Asthma Medical Group & Research Center in San Diego.

The study of 539 adults lasted one week and failed to find a dose of phenylephrine within the 10 mg to 40 mg range that was more effective than a placebo in relieving nasal congestion. The approved Food and Drug Administration (FDA) dose is 10 mg every four hours for “temporary relief of nasal congestion.”

Why Is Water So Essential for Life? | Live Science

October 23, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Water. It’s found everywhere on Earth, from the polar ice caps to steamy geysers. And wherever water flows on this planet, you can be sure to find life.

“When we find water here on Earth — whether it be ice-covered lakes, whether it be deep-sea hydrothermal vents, whether it be arid deserts — if there’s any water, we’ve found microbes that have found a way to make a living there,” said Brian Glazer, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who has studied astrobiology.

That’s why NASA’s motto in the hunt for extraterrestrial life has been “follow the water.”

10 Surprisingly Simple Strategies for Saving Money on Food – The Simple Dollar

October 23, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The big strategies are useful to think about, but it’s often the little specific tactics that you add to your routines that make a big difference. Whenever you find a little step you can take that just changes your normal routines a little bit to save you some cash while still giving you the non-financial results that you want, that’s a big victory. When that change also has a few additional side benefits, that’s an even bigger victory.

Here are 10 little tactics that Sarah and I use (or have used in the past) in our food routines at our house. These aren’t grand strategies – instead, they’re just little tactics that will save a dollar or two without changing the desired results, or tactics that cost the same but provide some other benefit that will save a few bucks down the road.

How to Argue With a Customer . . . and Live Happily Ever After | All Business

October 23, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

At some point a customer is going to disagree with you, oppose you, or argue with you. There’s a right way and a wrong way to have a disagreement with a customer.

Be Prepared

The best way to successfully have a difficult conversation is to avoid creating tension. The way you do that is to be ready and aware when the conversation is heading in the wrong direction–you don’t want to add to the tension.

Notice when your customer is talking louder or faster. Watch when he repeatedly points his finger at you. You have a problem when his face gets redder and he has more animated facial expressions. Stop thinking about your response when you see these signs and start listening very, very well.

Telecoms Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your Business | The Startup Magazine

October 21, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There is no getting away from it – telecommunications are an integral part of any business today, so much so that the internet has now been hailed as the “4th Utility” – because many businesses simply couldn’t function, let alone grow without it. The impending internet takeover, the ‘Internet of Things’ will eventually stretch to every corner of a business; so having the equipment and capacity at the very beginning of your business venture that will allow you to utilize the forth coming platforms and opportunities so that you can effectively reach the next generation of prospects and clients.

In the same way that a robust and future proofed telecoms infrastructure can provide an avenue for the acquisition of new business, a poor infrastructure can act as a barrier. In a monopolised industry that is constantly evolving and is confusing to most, how do we know which provider and services to choose? The team at Microbyte Solutions offer some advice.

Google employee lives in a truck in the parking lot | Business Insider

October 20, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When 23-year-old Brandon S. headed from Massachusetts to the Bay Area in mid-May to start work as a software engineer at Google, he opted out of settling into an overpriced San Francisco apartment. Instead, he moved into a 128-square-foot truck.

The idea started to formulate while Brandon — who asked to withhold his last name and photo to maintain his privacy on campus — was interning at Google last summer and living in the cheapest corporate housing offered: two bedrooms and four people for about $65 a night (roughly $2,000 a month), he told Business Insider.

“I realized I was paying an exorbitant amount of money for the apartment I was staying in — and I was almost never home,” he says. “It’s really hard to justify throwing that kind of money away. You’re essentially burning it — you’re not putting equity in anything and you’re not building it up for a future — and that was really hard for me to reconcile.”

2 of the Biggest Myths Surrounding Crowdfunding (Video) | Entrepreneur

October 19, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If the thought of crowdfunding conjures notions of converting untold masses, it might be helpful to envision the process as slightly more personalized.

“The number one myth [about crowdfunding] is the word ‘crowd’ itself,” says Sally Outlaw, CEO of Peerbackers, a consulting firm. “You have to go out there really one-to-one. It comes back down to personal relationships — the success of a campaign.”

For more from Outlaw, including the second-biggest myth surrounding crowdfunding, check out this short video.

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