Many Uses of Shipping Containers for Small Business

April 13, 2014

Many uses of shipping containers
Containerization is a term used to describe the system of transporting goods globally using shipping containers. Before the arrival of shipping containers the transport of bulk goods and other products was done in a very inefficient manner. The transport used to be cumbersome and required large number of workers at the shipping and receiving ports to handle the cargo. The containerization has standardized the dimensions of shipping containers thus enabling packing as well as loading and unloading of cargo in a much more efficient manner. Not only can the same containers be transported on the ship, but after they arrive at the port they can be attached to trucks or trains easily.

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Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: ,

How can Small Businesses Promote Products with Regifting

April 6, 2014

How Small Businesses can Promote Products with Regifting
While the practice was once frowned upon, more people have acknowledged regifting as socially acceptable. Some items lend themselves better to the process, but for the most part, consumers are both happy and willing to accept any products that have been regifted. Companies can take advantage of this growing trend by distributing promotional products that are both useful and attractive to customers. Once considered considered tacky or tasteless regifting is no longer considered a taboo.

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Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ,

Do You Know Who Your Competitors Are?

March 20, 2014

Do you know who your competitors are
It’s a very simple question. Let’s say you own and operate a restaurant that serves pizza and pasta at a busy corner of high traffic downtown area. Who do you think you are competing with? Is it another restaurant that also serves Italian food within ½ a mile of your restaurant? How about the McDonald’s across the street? Now, take it one step further. How about the store that sells ready-to-eat meals that people can take home when they don’t have time to cook? A relatively simple sounding question can open up multiple possibilities when you think hard. Taking a simplistic view of the competition can hurt your business in the short-term and put you out of business in the long-term.

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Filed Under: Strategy Tagged With: ,

Case Studies in Growing Business by Going Green

February 11, 2014

Case studies in growing business by going green
Going green is trendy, but many question its benefits and wonder if the initial investment associated with going green is worth it. However, more and more organizations, large and small, are taking this path less travelled and finding the journey not only enjoyable, but profitable as well. The businesses featured below took various paths in their journey to common destination of green and saw significant improvement in their carbon footprint and profits. Read on and let us know if you think your business can achieve the same results by going green.

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Filed Under: Management Tagged With: ,

The State of Social Media in 2013

February 4, 2014

The State of Social Media in 2013
The social media continued to command attention from consumers, publishers and advertisers alike in 2013. Consumers still cannot live without accessing their Facebook account almost every day. They cannot stop showing pictures of their favorite food or vacation spot on Instagram. Because of this publishers cannot afford not to pay attention to social media sites to get in front of their audience. The end effect is that advertisers have taken notice of this increasing trend in social media and have started spending more money on social media sites. Any vendor or publisher who does not have social media strategy stands to lose customers and audience members.

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Filed Under: Marketing, Technology Tagged With: ,

3 Funding Options to Grow Your Business. How to Pick the Right One

February 3, 2014

3 funding options to grow your business
A company’s capital refers to the money it has received from its owners, third party investors, or stock-holders. This money is provided as a method of fuel for the company. Many company owners have a lot of great ideas on how they can successfully grow their companies and thus their profits, but they may not always have the necessary funds to execute those ideas. This is where capital comes in.

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Filed Under: Finance Tagged With:

What Factors Should You Consider When Choosing a Company Car?

January 31, 2014

What factors to consider when choosing a company car
Buying a car for business purpose needs careful consideration even for those business owners who are looking to buy just few cars for themselves or their employees. Of course, large corporations spend lot of time and effort in selecting fleet cars by inviting RFPs from multiple vendors and negotiating for months. Small business owners do not need to go to this length, but they still need to consider number of important factors when considering the business car purchase.

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Filed Under: Finance Tagged With:

How to Build a Great Website for Your Business in No Time

January 30, 2014

How to build a great website for your business in no time
A website can be the online face of your business or hobby. If you are considering setting up a website for the first time, you will want to spend a good amount of time planning for your content, multimedia and design elements. Those who are new to building websites may not have the knowledge of more complicated techniques such as coding, but with a number of products on the market for web design, it is easy to put together a website without having to deal with the specific code of each page.

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Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: ,

Is Your Office Design Hurting or Helping Employee Productivity?

January 29, 2014

Office Design
Is there any connection between how your office is furnished and employee productivity? If you look at the amenities provided by Google, Facebook and other innovative companies you could argue that creating right atmosphere and furnishing the office properly can encourage creativity and make your employees more productive. Creating a welcoming atmosphere in the office is just as important is it is in the home. Your employees feel more relaxed and at easy in this environment and can do their best work.

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Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: ,

5 Ways to Tackle the Most Dreaded Item on Your To-do List

January 27, 2014

To_Do_List
Is there a better feeling than crossing something off your To-do list? Big or small, completing any assignment will give you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, which, in turn will motivate you to keep plowing through the list. I actually know someone whose first item on any to-do list is “make list” so that she can scratch it off immediately. Yes, I’m embarrassed for her.

Some tasks, unfortunately, are not completed or deleted that easily.  You know, those pain-in-the-neck projects that you dread the most – the ones that never seem to get done. We all have a task or two that’s taken up permanent residence on our To-do list. It’s like the party guest who just won’t leave, who you’d hide in the coat closet to avoid talking to. Peek out from behind the parkas, and sure enough, he’s still there, double dipping his chips and boring everyone to tears.

When something on your To-do list is bringing the whole party down, it’s time to shake its hand and show it the door! Here are five easy tips to help you tackle that beast, once and for all:

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Filed Under: Management Tagged With: ,