Problems That Can Kill a Small Business | Business News Daily

April 17, 2023April 16, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Money, leadership and employees are just a few problems that destroy small businesses.

Small businesses face potentially devastating issues like poor cash flow, inadequate leadership, disengaged employees and more.
To keep your business alive and thriving, create a financial plan, hire an effective leadership team and prioritize a strong company culture.
Research your business’ competition to market your products or services more effectively and attract customers to your brand.
This article is for small business owners who want to learn about and circumvent common problems that can derail success.

Starting a business comes with inherent challenges and pitfalls. However, even when you’re off to a good start, keeping a company running successfully isn’t for the faint of heart. Many small businesses encounter issues that prove to be insurmountable, leading to business closure and dashed dreams.

How to Make Time Work For You — The Time Mastery Framework | LifeHack

April 14, 2023April 13, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Do you feel as though you don’t have enough time? And you’re not really in control of time, is it?

We have no control over how quickly time passes; especially with so many demands on our time and energy for everyday matters, we can easily feel overwhelmed and swept. As a result, we may feel helpless or as if time is working against us.

While you can’t control time itself, you can control how you spend it. It is much preferable to spend one hour of high-quality time on things that are important to you than ten hours doing things that are not time-worthy. When it comes to time, quality is always more important than quantity.

In this article, you will learn how to improve your quality of time and take back control of your day with LifeHack’s unique framework on time management.

4 Smart Ways to Make Your Business More Efficient | AllBusiness.com

April 13, 2023April 12, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Every business strives to be efficient, as it directly impacts productivity, profitability, and success. In today’s fast-paced and competitive market, optimizing operations is crucial to stay ahead of the competition. The question is, how is your business doing on this front?

4 ways to improve your company’s efficiency

In today’s fast-paced business environment, efficiency is key to success. Companies that operate efficiently are more productive, profitable, and better able to compete in the marketplace. However, achieving efficiency requires more than just hard work and dedication. It requires a strategic approach that involves streamlining workflows, leveraging software, using automation and AI, hiring the right type of employees, and more.

5 Tips to Increase Your Chances of Getting a Personal Loan | The Startup Magazine

April 12, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Taking out a loan is a big responsibility, and it can be challenging to secure funding. The thought of your application being rejected can be a scary one. With the right approach and knowledge by your side, increasing your chances of getting accepted for a personal loan is entirely within reach. In this post, we’ll explore all the necessary preparation tips that need to be considered to increase your chances of having the financial flexibility you desire.

Smart Hockey Helmet | Cool Business Ideas

April 10, 2023April 9, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

While all team sports can be rough, hockey poses a particularly high risk of brain injuries. A new high-tech helmet is designed to warn of such injuries, by detecting and reporting on knocks to its wearer’s head.

The helmet is being developed by Swiss startup Bearmind, which is affiliated with the EPFL research institute. Two former athletes, Mathieu Falbriard and Tom Bertrand, founded the company.

In its current form, the Bearmind helmet looks much like any other hockey helmet, except for the fact that it has a small oval module which fits into a receptacle in the back. That module contains an IMU (inertial measurement unit), pressure sensor, battery and Bluetooth module. When the helmet is subjected to any sudden impacts, the module transmits the impact data to an accompanying app on a rink-side coach’s smartphone.

French bakeries are fighting to survive as energy bills soar | CNN

April 7, 2023April 6, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In Millery, a small town in southeastern France, Élodie Chavret runs a bakery to make a living for herself and her two daughters. The 39-year-old is also a part-time firefighter but, she says, this is not the work that scares her.

Her fear? Not being able to pay the bakery’s electricity bill at the end of the month.

The bill skyrocketed from €900 ($978) in December to €7,500 ($8,146) in January as Chavret renewed her contract. With a government subsidy, her bill would drop to €4,500 ($4,888) per month. That’s still an “unmanageable” increase, she said.

The new rate is “unbearable,” Chavret told CNN, and will all but obliterate her profits, already squeezed by rising raw material and gasoline costs, and higher wages for her six employees.

Most methods for squashing conspiracy theories don’t work, study finds. Here’s what does. | Live Science

April 7, 2023April 6, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Debunking conspiracy theories with counterarguments is often a fruitless effort — but according to a new scientific review, there may be alternative strategies that can successfully fend off conspiratorial beliefs.

Having already grown over the past 10 years, interest in conspiracy theories skyrocketed during the pandemic, when failure to comply with public health recommendations was sometimes associated with conspiracy beliefs(opens in new tab). For example, proponents of the anti-vax movement(opens in new tab) may avoid vaccinations for themselves or their children on the basis that some hazardous outcome of vaccination is being covered up. Although increasingly prominent in public discourse, conspiracy theories have proved a difficult mindset to shift.

“I wouldn’t have a Ph.D. in this project if conspiracy theories were easy to counteract,” said Cian O’Mahony(opens in new tab), a doctoral candidate in psychology at University College Cork in Ireland who led the systematic review reported in the journal PLOS One(opens in new tab). The review doesn’t reveal “a silver bullet” for countering conspiracy theories, he said, but “we have found some interesting avenues for future research that we should follow up.”

Benefits Coverage Basics for Self-Employed Workers | Business News Daily

April 6, 2023April 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ready to leave the corporate world behind? Here’s what you need to know about getting benefits coverage when you’re self-employed.

Essential benefits coverage to obtain if you decide to become self-employed include liability insurance, health insurance, disability insurance and a retirement plan.
Your options for obtaining self-employed health insurance range from government markets to professional employer organizations (PEOs).
Additional expenses to consider include self-employment taxes, payroll taxes and overhead.
This article is for aspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers looking to get their benefits set up – and their expenses covered – as they go solo.

Why You Feel Unproductive And What To Dot | LifeHack

April 6, 2023April 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Feeling unproductive is an all-too-common experience that can leave you feeling frustrated and guilty. It’s as if you’re stuck in quicksand—the more you try to get out, the deeper you sink. As the day comes to an end, you’re left with a nagging sense of regret, wondering where all the time went and why you weren’t able to accomplish more.

But it’s not just about feeling unproductive. The true danger of unproductivity is the cycle of time poverty it creates. When you’re unproductive, it’s difficult to manage your time effectively, resulting in a state of constant overwhelm. With seemingly too many things to do in too little time, you’re left with a sense of urgency that never quite goes away.

The 260-foot-long Eco Edison will house U.S. wind turbine technicians | Fast Company

April 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In Louisiana bayou country, where oil rig supply ships are as much a part of the waterside scenery as shrimp boats, a new kind of seagoing behemoth is taking shape that marks offshore wind power’s growing presence in the energy seascape.

Louisiana shipbuilding giant Edison Chouest Offshore is assembling the 260-foot-long Eco Edison in coastal Terrebonne Parish, along the Houma Navigation Canal. It’s being built for Ørsted, a Danish firm that builds and operates wind farms worldwide, and Eversource, a New England energy provider. When delivered next year, the ship will serve as floating housing for U.S. offshore wind technicians and a warehouse for their tools as they run and maintain wind farms in the Northeast.