Do you want to be an entrepreneur, or do you want to live the lifestyle entrepreneurs are perceived to live?
Being your own boss. Working your own hours. Taking business calls on a cruise liner.
Why can’t that lifestyle be possible?
Well, because too many aspiring business owners put the cart ahead of the horse. They go in full steam ahead, expecting to run before they walk. The idea is great, but the execution is questionable.
In modern electrical systems, the seamless operation of residential, commercial, and industrial facilities depends heavily on reliable infrastructure. Among the various components that ensure smooth power distribution, power switchboards play a critical role. Often overlooked, these electrical instruments act as the backbone of complex electrical networks, enabling safe, efficient, and controlled delivery of electricity to devices, machinery, and equipment.
At their core, switchboards for electrical networks are designed to manage and direct electrical power from incoming sources to multiple outgoing circuits. By incorporating protection mechanisms, monitoring systems, and control devices, these electrical panels ensure that equipment operates safely and efficiently. Proper deployment of such assemblies not only safeguards against electrical faults but also enhances operational performance across facilities.
Instagram users had a scare over the weekend after many users were sent mysterious password reset emails that seemed to come directly from Instagram. Some users thought this might be a phishing email, but as Mashable reported earlier today, many of the emails are legitimate.
Instagram said in a weekend statement that it had fixed a bug that allowed an external party to trigger unnecessary password reset emails. The good news: no one’s accounts were actually impacted. The social media giant urged people to simply delete the emails and move on.
Rivers may seem as old as the hills, but they have life cycles just like other natural features do. Many grow and make their meandering mark on the landscape, before ultimately drying up. Some rivers last longer than others, however. So which river is the oldest in the world today?
The winner is older than the dinosaurs: The Finke River in Australia, or Larapinta in the Indigenous Arrernte language, is between 300 million and 400 million years old.
Creating a payroll budget is tricky. It involves breaking down your company’s payroll and calculating the total cost for each person in each role — including their wages, taxes and employee benefits. Creating a payroll budget is critical for businesses to track their overall human resources costs and run their business efficiently.
Below, we’ll explain what’s included in a payroll budget. We’ll also outline four steps for creating and implementing this essential financial forecasting tool.
What does a payroll budget include?
A company’s payroll budget includes all costs directly related to individual employees, including wages, commissions and taxes. It also includes the employer’s employee benefits package costs. When considering different approaches to managing payroll expenses, the size of the company can significantly influence its focus.
“For smaller companies like mine we often focus more on wages, taxes and simpler benefit packages, while larger businesses typically deal with more complex benefits packages and incentive programs,” said Brian Kroeker, president of Little Rock Printing, an e-commerce-based printing solution.
Some companies seem to weather any storm, including a few that may surprise you. The oldest American company has existed since 1752, before the United States was even founded. Despite wars, depressions, recessions, and slumps, some companies have positioned themselves in the market to stand the test of time.
21 of the oldest companies in America
Here’s a look at some of the oldest businesses still operating in the U.S. today.
1. Caswell-Massey (1752)
Dr. William Hunter started this perfume and soap company as an apothecary shop in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1752, as detailed on the Caswell-Massey official history. Serving distinguished clientele, Hunter supplied medicinals, perfumes, and personal care products. George Washington gave a bottle of Number Six Cologne to the Marquis de Lafayette, and Lewis and Clark took Caswell-Massey products on their cross-country trek. Today, Caswell-Massey is owned by a private investment group and based in New Jersey, selling products exclusively online and through select retailers.
Picture this: You’re on a video call, nodding along while secretly checking emails, mentally calculating if you have enough pasta for dinner, and half-listening to your kids arguing about whose turn it is on the iPad. Sound familiar? You’re not alone and you’re not imagining that life feels more overwhelming than ever. These are classic cognitive overload symptoms that millions experience daily.
Here’s why: Back in 2008, researchers found Americans were already processing 34GB of information daily. Today? We’re swimming in an estimated 75-100GB of data every single day. That’s like downloading your entire brain’s storage capacity, twice. Our digital interactions have exploded from 298 daily touches in 2010 to a mind-boggling 4,909 expected by 2025. We’re consuming 105,000 words daily, roughly 23 words per second during every waking hour.
You set the goal with genuine excitement. This time would be different. You downloaded the app, bought the planner, told everyone about your intentions. Two months later, the app sends notifications you ignore, the planner collects dust, and you avoid conversations about your “progress.”
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Over 90% of people fail to achieve their goals, and most give up within the first month. The frustrating part? You’ve probably read the productivity books, tried the goal-setting frameworks, and genuinely wanted to succeed. Yet here you are, wondering what’s fundamentally wrong with you.
Here’s the truth that might surprise you: nothing is wrong with you. Goal failure isn’t a character flaw or a willpower problem. It’s a systems problem. The conventional advice about setting SMART goals and staying motivated addresses symptoms while ignoring the real causes of chronic goal failure.
Wes Lowe uses so much Claritin that he started an Amazon subscription to avoid running out. His kids take two asthma medications. This reflects the normalcy of pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where residents breathe some of the dirtiest air in the nation.
Lowe lives about 20 miles outside of Fresno, in the valley’s heart. More than a dozen highways, including Interstate 5, run through the region, carrying almost half of the state’s truck traffic. The sky is usually hazy, the air is often deemed hazardous, and 1 in 6 children live with asthma. “You don’t realize how bad it is until you leave,” Lowe said.
Many startups seeking investment capital make common mistakes when pitching their business to potential investors. These easily avoidable errors can be statements made in their elevator pitch, in an email introduction, or even in the formal pitch deck they use to present. Here are 10 statements from startup entrepreneurs that are likely to turn off potential investors:
1. “We have no competition.”
Of course, your startup has competition, and to think otherwise shows an investor that you are naive. A simple Google search will often surface any number of potential competitors. Your job is to identify your top potential competitors and explain why your company is better.
2. “We want you to sign an NDA before we give you information about our business.”
Investors are busy and get inundated with business pitches. The great majority of investors will not sign a non-disclosure agreement, and you are just putting up a roadblock in even asking for one. If you have extremely confidential information, don’t include it in your pitch deck.
Dispatches From The Front 