Category: Tools and Information

To Franchise or Not to Franchise | Lydia Mehit

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So, you want to start a business and you’ve decided a franchise is for you.  There are a number of advantages to selecting a franchise.  Here are several of them.

  • It is a proven business model.
  • You have a pre-defined target market.
  • You have brand recognition because the product or service is already known.
  • The business methods and systems are already in place, all you have to do is follow them.
  • Training is provided for you and your management team.
  • Operations manual that details all of the job descriptions, processes, procedures, rules and requirements for operating the business is provided.
  • You receive on-the-job training at a working franchise.
  • The franchise team helps you open the business and gets you started on the right foot.

Continue reading “To Franchise or Not to Franchise | Lydia Mehit” →

Smartlation Smart Translation Services | Cool Business Ideas

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Using a patent-pending algorithm that analyses translator data from a vast pool of registered translators, Smartlation promises to give users the freedom to select the translation services that best meet their requirements and budget.

What does this mean for users? Let’s say you need a legal document translated from English into Farsi and Portuguese. Smartlation lets you specify not only languages but also specific areas of expertise so you find translators who are experienced and knowledgeable. The platform also makes the procedure simple by managing both jobs i.e. Farsi and Portuguese in one place. Transactions also go through the platform simplifying the payment process.

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How to improve your mailing list before everyone unsubscribes | Mashable

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Reply-all disasters are so common, they have their own Wikipedia page.They’re so ubiquitous, even, that the bad manners of reply-all offenders overshadow the bad manners of those who make and distribute mailing lists in the first place. While the listservs that dominated the 2000s may not be as common anymore, mailing lists are still central to the operation and social functioning of companies, universities and other associations. For the record, “listserv” refers to a software used to send mass emails; “mailing list” is the colloquial term.

We’ve compiled 11 tips that will help you improve your mailing list etiquette — and maximize effectiveness, while you’re at it.

1. Repeat to yourself: Listservs are public.

Think about what you’re sending before you send it — if it belongs in a private email or makes more sense to send to an individual, you shouldn’t send it through a mailing list. Also check the recipient of the email before you send it. This year, the University of Virginia’s top-ranked law school sent admissions stats of more than 100 people who applied for clerkships to a listserv of all those applicants, and then sent another email with subject line “PLEAE DELETE IMMEDIATELY.” But we all know email doesn’t work like that.

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Learn Better through Variation: A Case for Getting Away from Your Desk | Page19

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You might really like your office, but getting away from it can help you learn better and remember more. Here’s why.

Routine can be very helpful when it comes to building a framework for creative work. But if you want to learn something new, shaking up the standard will serve you better.

According to How We Learn, varying your workspace is much better for your learning than sitting down in the same place to toil. Why? Because of how our brains store memories.

Imagine it’s Tuesday and you’re listening to your favorite jazz album while working through a few pages of notes on a seminar you just attended. A few days later, you’re at a friend’s house and she puts on the exact same jazz album. The areas of the brain that hold the memories of what you learned on Tuesday while listening to jazz will be activated, making it easier for you to retrieve that information.

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What Entrepreneurs Should Know Before Starting a Business | Business News Daily

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When you’re getting ready to start a business, you may think all you need is a great idea and the cash to make it happen. This is a good place to start, but there are so many other elements to startup success that entrepreneurs tend to overlook when they’re caught up in the excitement of a launch. Ten successful startup founders and executives shared the best tips they believe every aspiring entrepreneur should know before starting a business.

“Commit to mastery, to becoming a learning machine.You don’t need only one tool or skill to build a house or building. You don’t need to be the best at all of them, but you need to understand them.” — Ney Torres, CEO of CarFootprints.com

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How Can Small Businesses Afford to Grow? | All Business

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Growth is a very important part of any business. In order to keep the business going and reach all the goals that the business is capable of, business owners need to supply the tools that their business needs to grow and succeed. Necessary growth for businesses can range from adding on more staff to the payroll or buying a new piece of equipment to make their production process go faster. No matter what is needed for the growth that the business needs, it is never an inexpensive investment.

This dilemma causes an all too common issue for many businesses, especially for small businesses. The business owners need to invest in something in order to grow and keep their business going, but they cannot afford to make the investments that they need with the business’s current revenue. This is a problem that seems impossible to overcome, but with a little assistance and the right planning, any business can overcome this obstacle and grow enough to achieve all the goals that the business owner has set for it. Here are some ways that small businesses can afford to grow and how any business owner can make it happen for their business.

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You are Your Own Supercomputer | Peter Mehit

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computers1Many times when people think about starting a business, they cherish the idea of the freedom and control it would bring, but are often overcome by fear. ‘How will I find customers?’, ‘How do I find the money I need?’, ‘Will anyone really buy what I’m selling?’ are typical of the questions we run through our minds as a wave of fear spills over us leaving us grateful for the job we loathe.

Many of us believe ‘it takes money to make money’, yet many of the greatest success stories are people that had little or no money at the beginning of their journey. We convince ourselves that we need ever increasing amounts of education, but Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, didn’t complete college, Sir Richard Branson never went. Many of the businesses you pass by L.A. freeways are owned by people who possess only high school diplomas.

So what is it? What makes some people successful and others not? We believe it boils down to three main things:

They have a clear idea what they want to make or do to start their business.

They believe they can figure out anything.

They understand, actually or intuitively, how the mind works.

Continue reading “You are Your Own Supercomputer | Peter Mehit” →

5 Ways to Get the Appreciation You Deserve | Inc.com

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appreciationMany of us are feeling the pinch every day. More demands. More burnout. More stress. The antidote, in large part, is a simple one: appreciation. When you feel appreciated, odds are that you’ll enjoy your job more, do your best work, and feel the kind of engagement that really connects you to what you’re doing. But for whatever reason, even if you know you’re doing a great job, you may not be feeling the gratitude. It is time to look within.To tap into your own source of appreciation, spend some time with these questions:

1. Am I showing appreciation for others?

If you want people to act a certain way toward you, start acting that way toward others. Begin by recognizing the accomplishments of your team members and colleagues. Stop by their office or send them an email and copy it to their boss. Make appreciation part of your everyday conversation and make it a priority to notice what others are doing right. Start by thinking about your own team. Ask yourself: “What is it that each of them uniquely brings to the table?”

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You’ll Never Hear Successful People Say These 15 Phrases | Entrepreneur

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successIf you want to become more successful as an entrepreneur or in your career, you can start by making a habit of talking and thinking more like the people you know or read about who are already successful. Here are some phrases you’ll never hear a successful person say:

1. “We can’t do that.”

One thing that makes people and companies successful is the ability to make solving their customers’ problems and demands their main priority. If a need arises repeatedly, the most successful people learn how to solve it as quickly as they can.

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