Google

At Google, the employees and their families live and work on what reasonable might well be described as a college campus.  They play Frisbee next to their laptops and do laundry at Google-provided launder-mats.  They go listen to the noted historian Simon Schama give a lecture (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8115967384352517078 ) or to other, similar, events.  The Google-plex is, in short, a college campus—except that you get paid to go to class. 

Microsoft

Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington while Google is based in Silicon Valley, California but other than that life at the two campuses is pretty similar.  Dress is casual, everyone hangs out together, socializes together, and works together.  At Microsoft, they can even go view a Microsoft’s art collection (http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/artcollection/default.mspx ) and after they’re done looking at the art, Microsoft employees can go listen to the artists talk about their work (http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ArtCollection/LectureSeries.mspx ).  Just like at Google, there is little hierarchy.  Everything looks and feels like a typical college campus.  Jeff Barr posted some maps of the Microsoft corporate campus on his blog (http://www.jeff-barr.com/?p=210 ).  If I had not been told these were maps of a corporation, I’d think these are college campus maps.

The Morale

The corporate campus approach makes sense.  Especially for corporations whose primary focus is sales and engineering—both highly stressful and highly creative fields.  And especially in these tough times.  For, survey after survey has found that “most employees crave communication, involvement and autonomy” (http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/28/small-business-morale-ent-hr-cx_ja_0828boostmorale.html ).  If they get those, their morale will go up and so will their creativity.  And a college campus-like atmosphere is certainly optimized to provide just such an environment.

But is it for everyone?

Corporation for the Y Generation?

Maybe not.  Sixty four percent of Microsoft’s employees at are under thirty nine (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/inside_ms.mspx ).  And of the thirty six percent who are over thirty nine, I have to wonder how many of them live, work and play at the Microsoft campus.  Google is even younger. The average age of Google employees is about twenty-six (http://www.gibs.co.za/home.asp?pid=14231&toolid=74&itemid=16239 ). 

There may be a reason for this.  Perhaps as we age, we begin to value our space more; we may want to be able to come home and close the door on the world now and then.  And we may begin to value the balance between work and life a bit more too.

Think about it.  If you live—say twenty minutes away from work, you will think hard about dropping in at the office on a Sunday.  But if the office just happens to be the really neat Google-plexy building right across from where you are doing your laundry anyway, it may be a whole different story.  And if there are no grey and miserable cubicles in your office, the idea of coming in on a weekend while the laundry is going looks even more promising.

But not everyone wants to work all the time.  Because even if work is mixed in with liberal doses of play, it’s still work.  Perhaps as we get older we begin to look for more traditional office environments—where there is a balance between work and life.  It may not be as much fun as Google or Microsoft but maybe fun isn’t what everyone wants out of the office.

Or at least not after they start a family.

First give before you receive

The law of reciprocity says: If you do me a favor, I do you a favor. If you buy me candy, I buy you a a candy. But that's not all.

You don't need to borrow someone money in order for you to borrow his money. You can do anything for him, as long as it is a favor he hasn't returned yet. So, first give and you shall receive. Borrow him money and you can have his car available if you want to go somewhere...that's a good bargain :)

Ask for a small favor before the big one

Let's suppose you want to make someone to come with you on a concert. The concert lasts whooping 7 hours! What is a better way to ask:

• Would you come to a 7-hour concert with me?
• Hey, are you interested in coming to a concert with me? After he said yes, then say: The concert lasts 7 hours.

According to researches, you have way better chance to get yes to your second request after you got yes to your first. In psychology, this is called the consistency principle.

Make him think everyone else is doing that

When I ask most of my friends why they smoke their usual answer is: Well, everyone's doing that!

I bet you heard that answer too when asking most people why they do specific things.

Why not use this trait to your advantage? Let's say you have a blog and want people to leave regular comments on your blog posts. One of the most effective ways to do that is to have, let's say a group of 3-5 friends that will leave comments to your EVERY post. That buids, so-called "social proof" (if others are doing it then I will do it too) that makes more probablyefor first-time visitors to leave you comments as well. This is called herd behavior.

Activate the relativity principle in his mind

In our heads, everything is relative. We are creatures who do not perceive things in absolute terms but relative to other things. My mother used to tell me that I should feel lucky I have a warm house and food to eat because there's people in Africa who can't allow even that. Before she told me this I used to feel sorry for myself because I used to see so many rich kids that had more than me. Now I feel grateful because I live in a good family and have shelter. 

You see, my perception of wealth changed. I'm sure you too have numerous examples similar to this.

If you want to convince someone he or she should do something you want I suggest you use this in creative ways.

Activate the greedy monster inside him

Let's face it: We all want things we can't have. We all want things that aren't easily available. Why not use this greedy monster inside people for your benefit? If you want to convince someone to buy something from you, convince him that the thing you're selling is not available anymore or it's the last piece you have and if he/she doesn't buy there's a huge chance someone will soon so the item will be gone forever.

Most of these principles come from one best-selling book I've read recently, can someone guess what's its name?

Forget whatever you think you are, truth will always remain truth no matter how you may view it and in the part one (I) of this article I will expose you to the basic secrets to a successful business.

Ambition

The first indisputable secret to any successful venture has always been traced to ambition. To succeed in business there MUST be a high degree of ambition inside of you in order to achieve the level of success you so desire. I am yet to see anyone who has succeeded without ambition!

Some claims has portrayed the word “ambition” in bad light but I dare challenge any of these claimants to justify the reason why the average person on earth wants to live a better and quality life!

Ambition being a mind thing can be channeled either positively or negatively depending on the type of quest being embarked on. Desire which is a product of ambition which what inspires us to strive to become somebody in life is yet to be denied by anyone who have ever succeeded in business.

Except you are ambitious you can never exhibit the strong desire to do or achieve the level of success you so crave in your business. It takes guts, zests and zeal to get to the top and ONLY a strong determination inspired by ambition can help you attain this! Neglect ambition to your own peril!!!

Dependence

Are you dependable? Can people trust your word? Is your word your bond? Can you be vouched for? Do you give what you promised to deliver? Are you the type that cuts corners?  Do you know that even the Devil needs a dependable ally? How often do you think people will leave their hard earned money to someone who is not dependable?

Integrity

Many people will surely frown at this but the basic truth is any business that MUST succeed and have its own dominance and relevance in any given market will have to imbibe the principle of INTEGRITY!

Take for example, the president of the United States comes out and declares openly that a particular person (say Austine Iroegbu) is a very intelligent young man. Of course, you will agree with me that nearly all Americans will subscribe to such a statement of fact just because the President (a man occupying the MOST respected seat in US) said so.

Irrespective of what you may think, the majority of Americans may even end-up asking Austine Iroegbu to do their thinking for them at any cost! Now, that is the power or call it “THE FORCE OF INTEGRITY”

Integrity is not an option in any business it is an obligation and responsibility for any business to succeed and keep succeeding over and over again!!!!!

Resourcefulness

Every business that has ever succeeded has proved that the major key players in decision making and managing of the business never took a complacent position on key in every area of the business.

Resourcefulness embraces both your talent and skills and also trainings. Since ability plus training equals success it proves that a successful business is vibrant and dynamic. A business devoid of resourceful people, ideas, skills, trainings, counsels and wisdom is bound to fail and sooner or later ground to a halt! It is to the detriment of any business when a single person or a group of persons with the same IQ levels become the ALMIGHTY THINK TANK  of any business neglecting the humble opinions of junior staffs, customers and good friends. Definitely the business will fade as others that were before it.

Business Plan

Many businesses has failed or partially attained success because of either they had a poor business plan or failed to regularly update their business plan as new ideas and innovations came into play.

It is abundantly advisable (ask a professional) that before you venture into any business you must have a thorough and well organized business plan in content and in form. Life is always created into a business through a business plan. After thinking and fantasizing your thoughts of a brighter future the next good step to take is to draw up a plan for it. No matter how scanty your business plan maybe or look like initially, as you progress endeavor to make allowance or provisions for continuous update  as more visions will surely come in the future.

Financial Discipline

Most times why many people venture into business is driven by the major factor FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. A majority of people who so desire to become financially free take a leap into business in order to make ends meet or probably to augment other source(s) of income. For this reason such people who have ventured into business with such passion have always discovered that succeeding in business far much outweighs the initial enthusiasm that inspired them!

Financial discipline helps anyone to draw the line between being a spendthrift and being an investor. Since without financial discipline one may end up running in circles.

Mum once told me sometime ago, “Son whosoever that cannot make do with little can never make do with much.” In other words she meant, “if your salary cannot help you neither will your overtime!” to succeed in business you MUST realize that little is much; your ability to be financially prudent (being prude in money matter) will go a long way in influencing the growth of your business!

Moral Discipline

Though this isn’t a moral class yet it is important to know that your business’ success depends largely on your personal moral discipline. The level of your moral character invariably affects your reputation and directly determines your customer!

A good moral discipline helps to assert your standards and also helps to tame inordinate ambitions helping you to dignify modesty.

This by no means refers to religious piety but connotes that in all that you do learn to have self-control!

Personality

Never underestimate the power of personality and corporate image in any business venture! Although the word personality maybe used in a great variety of applications (both literally and figuratively) here it is used bearing in mind both usages. The way you package you person and your business matters a lot. The face and appearance your business carries is a direct reflection of your mentality and will definitely affect your market and class of patronage.

It is necessary to note that it is corporate personality that has led to product branding and packaging in business.

Vision

Succeeding in business needs you to train your senses to see further. You must have a vision of what and how you desire your business to be and become. If you observe history you will discover that those who have most powerfully and permanently influenced their generation have been the “seers”- people who have seen more farther than others!

Any businessman must have insight into things that will improve his business.

Vision includes foresight as well as it includes insight. A good businessman should be able to put his ear to the ground and listen for things that are yet to come!

Wisdom

"Wisdom is the faculty of making the use of knowledge, a combination of discernment, judgment, sagacity and similar powers… In scripture, right judgment concerning spiritual and moral truth” (Webster).

Wisdom in business is more than knowledge, which is the accumulation of facts. It has a personal connection and implies sagacity. It is more than human acumen and intelligence; It is a divine gift!

Wisdom is the skill to discern intently with high degree of accuracy into the heart of things and intricacies of the human mind. It is higher, far higher, than knowledge! A man without formal education but gifted with wisdom in business will go farther than a professor in the same field.

True and pure wisdom, undefiled, comes from God-Almighty!

Decision

When the facts are in, swift and clear decision is the mark of a true businessman. The man who possesses vision must do something about taking business decisions, or else he will remain a visionary, not a businessman! Although good and successful businessmen are quick to reach good decisions, however, such decision must be based on sound premises.

Once a businessman is sure of the facts and has been able to separate the truth from falsehood he should go into immediate action, regardless of the consequences. In pursuing his goal, he will have the courage to burn his bridges behind him!

• Set up a bank account. Order preprinted deposit forms and a deposit stamp with the new business name. This saves you a bit of time in the beginning, but as you accumulate more properties, it can save you massive amounts of time and makes your business far more efficient. Seek out a bank that has online banking to save money in stamps, and even look for one that provides a day-to-day tracking of your bank account.
• Get a P.O. box. If you don't want your tenants to know where you live and don't have a professional office where your tenants can mail their rent checks, get a post-office box and add a second phone line in your home (or, if you have excellent cellphone coverage in your area, get a cellphone dedicated to your business). A separate phone line can have an informational voice mail on the outgoing message. Also get an e-mail address that contains your business name instead of your personal name. Put all of this contact information on your new business cards.
• Set up a Web site. Keep it simple - you just want a presence on the Internet. You should be able to set up a Web site quite simply and affordably; in fact, you may be surprised just how easy it really is to have your own site, which can give potential tenants information about your property.
• Take a class, attend a workshop, or hire a professional to teach you the basics to get you started and to keep you out of trouble. There are many fabulous resources out there.
• Plan now to own property long term. You may not own the same property forever, but you should have a plan to purchase property and build your business from there.

Make sure you use brainstorming not only to generate new ideas, but to combine and add to already existing ideas. Always spin negatives into positives, and always record every idea, even if you don't understand it or if you don't think it has legs. Participating in the Shark attack is very exciting. When it occurs it is a very fast paced conversation that typically engages everyone in the room.

Be Competitive

In a good brainstorming session, people feel the need to show off. This is effective and beneficial. Each member will want to show off their knowledge of a particular subject, be it injection molding practices, or material behavior issues, or machining techniques or even mechanism conception. Allow the members to exhibit their strengths. You want the members of the group to get to know each other and learn to defer to those with specific training and resources. This is very important to the health of the entire company. This brainstorming session should not lead to a one person design. Remember- being competitive is a great way to get maximum contribution.

Mission Statement

The mission statement should be a concise version of the question, problem or task. Always take your time to create this. It should be kept as short and sweet as possible, preferably one sentence, i.e. “Lets design a better mouse trap.” If you feel it's not quite right- ask a colleague for help. See if he or she can envision this statement shorter, easier to understand etc... Bounce it back and forth a few times to make sure it's as good as it can be.

Inviting People

Make sure to also invite people who are not professionally involved in this sort of interaction. For example, I invited an assembly line worker to one brainstorm session. Her line experience was instrumental to the ideas that came about that day. She had firsthand knowledge of good practices vs. not so good, and ultimately, it was her core idea that defined the mechanism. In addition to inviting Designers and Engineers, I always like to involve individuals that aren't familiar with the task or even the overall project. Often a group of engineers can be so entrenched in the project on a daily basis that they become blind to new observations. They might miss obvious shortcomings or lack the ability to utilize a fresh approach. Hence the need for outsiders.

There is also a need for veterans to be involved in the brainstorming. They often provide the backbone for the meeting. When a newcomer brings up an idea, the veteran will more easily recognize the potential for success or failure. However, there are a few caveats to be wary of during these interactions.

Watch Out for Pessimism

Now is not the time to be overly critical or disparaging of an idea (and veterans should know this!). If an idea is off the mark, refer back to the mission statement. Make sure the idea is on target or at least headed towards it. After all, it is up to the group and facilitator to adhere to the rules. One of the most important rules - Defer Judgment.

If you are the facilitator you must keep your eyes open for a few types of brainstormers that could stifle progress.

Floor Gazers

These are the people that aren't getting involved for whatever reason. Could be that they are embarrassed, could be that they are afraid, could be that this is their first time, or even that they don't like speaking in groups of people. Whatever the reason, it's your job to pull them through this knot-hole. Get them jazzed - start off with someone's idea and show them how it's done. Watch the group and select someone seasoned and ask for input. Create some small dialog and watch how everyone reacts. Maybe the floor gazer will jump in or maybe they need a few more minutes to mull it over. Whatever the case, get them moving.

Quiet Veterans

The older, experienced person, who, for some reason chooses not to speak up with starter ideas in the beginning. This is the person who offers great additions, but rarely creates the initial seed. These designers/engineers are great, but often add luggage to the majority of the meeting. They have probably sat in on quite a few brainstorms and spoken up and been squashed in one way or another. So now they sit quietly, arms folded, waiting to approve someone else's idea. I always make sure this person isn't quiet for the wrong reasons, i.e. fear or anger towards a person or persons in the group. Try to get these veterans actively involved.

Size of Group

If the group is to be large, about 10 or more people, often it is easier to divide into sub-groups. Assign a leader for each sub-group and let them go off into their own corner. Make sure they adhere to the rules and remain focused on the mission statement. After a certain amount of time, approx- 30 minutes, re-group and have the leaders present the ideas. Often two or more groups can have the same idea - no worries, just record it and move on.

Individual Brainstorming

When you brainstorm on your own you will tend to produce a wider more spread out range of ideas than in group brainstorming. One major advantage is the lack of other egos or opinions - Often this helps an individual be more creative. You might run into trouble with the lack of outside opinion - sort of a “not seeing the forest for the trees” issue. When Brainstorming on your own, it can be helpful to use Mind Maps to arrange and develop ideas. We will explore Mind Maps in a later publication.

There has been some fairly extensive research on individual vs. group brainstorming activities. Some research shows that individual brainstorming is far more effective than a group setting - Stating that a person's mind can be somewhat like a moving car - load it up with too much extraneous ideas and it begins to slow down. A person's peek brainstorming occurs when they are adding to their own ideas, evolving the idea as they see it in a more natural, flowing fashion. A poorly managed brainstorming session can have an adverse effect. The individuals or the group must focus on expanding around the mission statement properly.

Scheduling a Brainstorm

Set the time allotted up front and stick to it. Usually 30-40 minutes is best. Don't go over and don't set the time too long. People can become exhausted and often become distant, bringing down the group. If you don't finish in the allotted time, no worries, set up another meeting for another day. Personally, I do my best thinking while driving or just before sleep. So saving or continuing a problem for the next meeting is sometimes beneficial.

When inviting people to your brainstorm make sure you inform them of the goals. If people are informed beforehand they may arrive prepared. I've held many brainstorms where people have created huge lists of great ideas before the meeting. Use the power of individual brainstorming to your advantage.

If clients are to be part of the session, ask them to arrive ahead of time to prep. Explain the project if they are not familiar and catch them up on the information that the employees are already privy to.

The Meeting Space

After working with great people like Doug Field of SEGWAY, Barye Hall from Northstar, and Kevin Kellar while at Bleck Design, I have found the best place to brainstorm is an open, blank room with a lot of white board space, sketch paper and good lighting. This type of environment is critical. If you are crowded around someone's desk staring at his 19” screen, looking at a cross section, you will be shooting yourself in the foot. Print out your cross sections, COLOR, COLOR, COLOR- BIG, BIG,BIG. Really kick it off right, bring refreshments. If it's Friday afternoon, bring beer, get the group jazzed! However, do be careful of over stimulating. I advise not to take the meeting outdoors. Find a quiet, empty room with no other groups within earshot.

It is the facilitator's responsibility to get everything organized, as well as set the tone and mood. Keep your energy up while you are facilitating - Everyone will take their cue from you. Remember - part of your job is to be the group cheerleader. Encourage the brainstormers to listen and respond to every idea.

Here are a few rules for a brainstorming session written by IDEO.

Rules of Brainstorming

1. Defer judgment

   This is the hardest rule to follow, in part because our cultural values usually steer us the other way - to make a quick judgment (will this fly or not?). The tendency to judge and prejudge tends to block our own flow of ideas. It also dampens the spirit of the session, making other people uncertain about bringing out an idea. Remember: Later, after this meeting, you can have another meeting to weed out the risky or expensive ideas.

2. Build on the ideas of others

   One thing we learn after just a few brainstorms is that you don't really need a whole idea to keep things going. Half an idea will work just fine, because someone else will pick up on what they thought you meant and turn it into something else. The secret of this rule is to be generous with your own ideas during the brainstorm and not be shy about picking up on half-baked (or even fully baked) ideas from someone else.

3. One conversation at a time

   You can tell when somebody's got an idea steaming in their head: they start squirming in their chair and can't wait to get it out on the table. It's exciting when this starts happening with more than one person At this point, the facilitator reminds everyone else to let the first one get their idea out before going on to the next one. This way nobody feels frustrated that they didn't get heard and the energy keeps flowing.

4. Stay focused on topic

   The thrill of the chase can often lead far from the topic - the design problem at hand. Don't hold back on an idea just because it seems off the topic (defer judgment about it!). Just be agile and turn it around into something that relates. These unplanned force-fits can be a surprise.

5. Encourage wild ideas

   Get radical, improbable, unrealistic, impractical, dangerous, and even primitive in your thinking. Wild ideas open up new avenues of thinking in a way that nothing else can.

6. Quantity, not quality

   The purpose of a brainstorm should be to generate as many ideas as possible, not just “good” ideas. Ideas that seem impractical or impossible may spark another idea from someone else. The best ideas ever, started out as mediocre ideas that were fed attention by smart people like us in this room.

7. Draw it

   A picture is worth a thousand words. No, really, it is. Color helps- If your up at the white Board- switch Pens often- especially drawing cross-sections!

8. Lack of wind

   If you're the facilitator: Have a few ideas up your sleeve for dead spots- When the energy dries up, throw one or two out there and let the group chew on it to re-spark ideas. Another good re-starter is to select someone to re-explain an idea or give reasons why they like it. Typically this will engage the group and might re-start the engine.

After the Session is Over

Type the session notes and ideas and attach numbered JPGs of photos etc… Create a spreadsheet with everyone's name on it (you're more apt to get a response this way). Ask each group member to select their favorite top five ideas. Some times Pugh charts are very effective for narrowing a list. Make sure you include the dead line for when the document must be returned. Ask everyone to look for similar ideas that could possibly be grouped together. After you have narrowed the list down a bit, ask if there should be a second, refining meeting.

Keep in Mind

The Brainstorm is the birthplace of innovative ideas. It is the place where two persons that normally do not converse will take equal part in development. This meeting should be treated as if there are no bosses, or VPs, or Sr. Managers. In this place everyone is equal - Equal to say the crazy ideas that pop into his or her mind. One can never predict how crazy might be transformed into ground-breaking.

My menu ranged from an 8" sub for $4.99 to a 14 oz Strip Sirloin for $18.99. I had something to satisfy every one's taste and wallet.

These 10 steps may not work for everyone; however, if you own a small mom and pop pizzeria, café, deli, etc, these are great ideas to bring in the bodies and boost sales.

1. Make your menu affordable to everyone. Don't leave anybody out

   Lunch time is usually a time for customers to get in and out. You'll always want specials on the board that are quick and easy; and cheap. You need to produce efficiently to get the customers in and out as quickly as possible.
   Dinner time is a more relaxed experience for customers. They will take their time when choosing menu options and they will look at a wider range of choices. It is always a great idea to offer options that range anywhere from $7.99 for a Spaghetti &Meatballs to a Heavy NY Strip for $18.99. You are, therefore, opening the menu to different customers and wallet sizes.

2. Advertisement on a Local Radio Station

   If you can find a local radio station, usually it ends up being an AM station to advertise for you, it will significantly boost your sales. I did this with an AM station every Monday morning. The disc jockey would ask me questions about specials, my background, location, menu items, do we serve alcohol, etc. I was allotted a time slot for every week. I would often mention specials for the listeners and as soon as I hung up the phone, my phone lines would blow up before I was even open for business. The cost to me was around $170.00 a month. That's a fraction of funds compared to advertisements in local newspapers or magazines. I had drones of people coming in to meet me that heard me on the radio.

3. Lucky Rock Bags

   This was about the most powerful forms of advertisement for me. Take a box of sandwich bags, put a river rock in the bag to weigh it down, and include your menu, a coupon, upcoming specials, and locations. You throw these out on people driveways. The typical reaction when people call is that they received a bag in their driveway and this was the first time they were trying the restaurant or heard of you. Unfortunately, you will have a choice few that will be upset that the bag that actually landed in their driveway was purposively thrown in a bush or on their perfectly manicured lawn. I usually shrug these people off since they have never worked a day in their life in a restaurant. After all, we have free speech and this is a way for you to get your name out. That's all I tell them.

4. Participate in Food Competitions to increase customer base

   I have participated in these for a couple of years now and the feedback you get is incredible. There are hundreds of people that are walking around trying local fare. You can meet and greet the locals, tell them about yourself, and hand out menus. It's also a great way for potential customers to sample your items before they visit your location.

5. Write a blog to gain customers

   There are so many resources available on the web for you to write about your restaurant. Most of the time these websites are free and they will get the word out about specials you're running, location, menu items, and other pertinent information about your particular restaurant. Some of the best websites for blogging on restaurants is chowhound, cooks, and pizza.com.

6. Have a Newspaper write an Article

   I had one of the most popular newspapers from the area do an article about the restaurant in January 2007. They interviewed some of my best customers from my base and asked them to put their two cents in. They took a picture of me cooking in my chef jacket. The article was a lovely rendition of my life as a chef, my background, and my favorite items to cook. Trust me, it worked. I was still busy 6 months after the article came out. This was due to the fact that I retained a new customer base and customers were traveling for 2 hours to get to my restaurant.

7. Make a club and Email List

   I formed a pizza of the month club. I would provide the customers with an XLarge specialty pizza, 6 garlic rolls, 2 desserts, 2 salads, and one appetizer for $39.95 twice a month. It's your club, so you can do what you want to. Be creative. You can create an email list within this club to let your customer base know the monthly specialty pizza or upcoming events.

8. Wine Tastings

   Depending on your clientele, this is an extremely lucrative way to have other streams of income coming in. This is, of course, is dependent on if you have a Beer and Wine License. You can combine your food with the type of wine the wine guy has brought for tasting. This does take some more extensive planning but, on many occasions, I have taken in $75.00 a head for a night of food and spirits.

9. Cooking Classes

   Provide classes to your customers each week about a particular aspect of cooking, a technique, a type of cuisine, etc. This can be worked around your restaurant hours. This is a great way to develop relationships with your customers.

10. Catering

    This is a lot work and often times you need a lot of employees to help. You need a form of transportation that will safely transport the food without diminishing the quality. This requires planning and knowledge. Knowing the portions sizes for a certain amount of people; remembering every item to take with you for service. I have worked with one of the top Catering Executive in the Country. I have extensive experience in this field of expertise.

 

 

However, what I have found from buying currently operational businesses is that you are buying the present owners mistakes and the customer base. You have to stitch up those problems before trying to make a transition. I actually prefer empty shells. You can start fresh with your own ideas and develop your own customer base that will be more devoted to your business practices.

You have 2 options when leasing or buying a location in a strip center that's new or old.

The Pros of finding a location in a new commercial center is that the owner of the complex may be willing to provide you with a build-out. They will actually put in the flooring, the walls, the fixtures, etc to get you in as quickly as possible. This, of course, eliminates the need for contractors, permits, and other rising costs. The Con being once they have all of this completed, will you actually know what to do with it?

There are also Pros and Cons of being next to Anchor stores in a commercial center. The Pro being that those stores will drive traffic to themselves, as well as to you. The Con being, other big name corporate restaurants will be there to, so how will you set yourself apart. Residing in an older commercial strip will place you next to stores that have been there for years that have built up their reputation. However, there may be an older anchor store that is not producing as well as it used to, right next to you.

Picking a free standing building will be very costly however; you can also find these locations to rent as well. The best free standing buildings have all of the same qualities in mind. These locations are easily accessible; they are in high traffic areas; they are highly visible; they stand out; there is an abundance of parking; they are clean and well maintained; the building fits or matches the demographic.

The resources are endless but will you know what needs to be done when you obtain that building.

Use your time wisely.

While you are waiting to open your restaurant you will be visiting the Business and Professional Regulation Board many times, getting Serv Safe certified as a Manager, getting your Sales tax number, FEIN, Structuring your business(INC, LLC, I.E.), filing for a fictitious name, writing plan reviews, buying equipment, hiring employees, and menu planning.
There are so many factors that will influence the success of your location. If you have any further questions, please leave comments and will answer them as soon as I can.
I have been around the business since I was 5 years old. My uncle owns and operated dozens of different types of restaurants. And I worked with him. I have a Culinary Degree, a Hospitality Management Degree, an Accredited Executive Chef certificate, and I just won First and Second Place at the Taste of Mount Dora.

Trust me; this information is a labor of love. Good Luck to all of you.

 

 

The original aim of the job was to boost employee moral of a certain insurance company but the Smiley design was such a hit that by 1971 more than 50 million were sold. Ball never thought of copyrighting Smiley, nor did the company that first ordered the design, and that caused Smiley to land in the Public Domain. How on earth could that have happened?

Only in 1988 the US entered the then 102 year old Berne Convention - an international copyright agreement which was brought about by the rather European idea that something that is yours is still yours even when you didn't tell anyone. By then, however, Smiley was no longer anyone's but everyone's and once something is in the Public Domain, it's hard to get it out.

The Berne Convention was named such because it was hammered out in Berne, the capital of Switzerland. Much of the preliminary hammering, however, was done by Victor Hugo, who was French and quite deceased when the Berne Convention was at long last achieved. Extra ironic it is therefore that a certain Frenchman named Franklin Loufrani was able to either purloin the design, or as he claims, miraculously conceive of the same and register Smiley® as his own. Loufrani's UK based company Smiley® World now holds ownership of Smiley®'s name and logo in more than a hundred countries.

In the US, however, the deal is still a bit shady. In 2008 Wall Mart lost a Smiley-based case against Loufrani, but in 1999 Smiley's American father Harvey Ball began licensing Smiley to fund his World Smile Foundation (established in 2001), a non-profit organization devoted to spreading the smile. But although the World Smile Foundation states, “We encourage manufacturers to consider using our smiley logos on products and we encourage retailers to consider carrying those products,” it's not very clear if these manufacturers owe license fee to anyone or if Smiley lives happily ever after in the Public Domain of the US. The World Smile Foundation resides in Massachusetts but, according to the website, any questions regarding licensing should be addressed to a club called JASS international Inc., Tokyo, Japan.

Meanwhile, far away in London, Franklin Loufrani's Smiley® World produces and engages Smiley® to promote nothing less than happiness, great communications, the spreading of positive values and ease of life!

The Smiley® World Licensing site informs its baffled spectators that Smiley® is one of the most recognizable icons in the world and “one of the few licensed brands to have exceeded 1,000,000,000 USD in sales.”

In 2005 Smiley® World “decided to share its success and create SmileyWorld Association®,” and pledged a whopping 10% of its profits to providing “assistance to victims of social seclusion.”

That sounds very urgent and worthy of immediate scrutiny, but as this articles goes to press (a cool three years after SWA's launch), the link from Smiley® World Licensing to SmileyWorld Association® contains a typo, and leads to an inhospitable 404. Once we find the coveted SWA website we face a slick Flash concoction that fails to scroll. Under the link "Ethical Products" it says "coming soon."

On the official Smiley® World website we find the following (quote used under the doctrine of “Fair Use”):

Some people make the mistake of referring generically to icons as "smileys" or "smilies". This is an incorrect use of ous "SMILEY ®" trademark. Please make sure that you reffer to "SMILEY ®" only as a trademark fro the icons (or other products and services) os SmileyWorld, Ltd.

You'd think that for $1,000,000,000 in sales Mr. Loufrani could buy himself a fabulous website and a somewhat sober content editor.

One of my experiences of a common mistake while running my business is NOT establishing a solid system integrating all of the different functions together. Every function within the business must smoothly go together and move into a smooth flow that will eventually move your business at a high speed. I found out that I needed to speed up the finance aspect with book keeping in order to keep up with my marketing and vice versa; I needed to make my marketing decisions based on my finances as we must have marketing and finance go at parallel speeds for maximum results.

Being Too greedy

While seeking the best profit margins, many experience the issue of distribution. What we normally would like to see is our products being sold everywhere to create easy access for our customers to purchase our products. But the problem is, while seeking profit margins, we have the tendency to get caught up in working with too many sub-distributors, that at the end of the day, they all end up killing and minimizing our profit margins. They would compete against each other to lower the selling price then make it difficult for our customers to choose where to purchase our products. A good solution for this problem is either to search for an exclusive distributor or distribute online. You will have more control of the situation to monitor and evaluate your business.

Bad Accounting

We depend on accounting for the growth of our business because accounting and finance is considered the "health" of our business. Make sure that balance sheets are balanced, financial statements are in checked and the amount of money written in the book is also the "actual" amount of money you have at hand. This occurs a lot where the book states you have $15.000, but at hand you only have $4.000. Where did the $11.000 go?

Tightening Promotion Money

Lastly, another common mistake is tightening your promotion money when your business is going down.

When business is slow, we should increase our spendings on promotions. As without promo, your business will either stay slow or go even go down in business. We must be brave to spend our money on promotions. It is key to growing our business.

Lets fall forward and succeed.

Does becoming an entrepreneur require a leap of faith? Indeed, it does. Finding your niche, following your passion and recognizing you are an entrepreneur not an employee. Working on the typical nine-to-five, bringing home the bacon is not you. You know without a doubt you have talents, have great business intelligence and it is bursting within you. What do you do-take a leap of faith and go ahead and start.

People who feel they are stuck in limbo are not happy. How can they be? Entrepreneurs see more and want to do more. If the entrepreneur in you screams to be released you will not be complete until you follow that inner leading. Is it scary? Yes. Is it lonely? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes. It may be helpful for you to know according to the Small Business Administration small businesses makeup ninety-nine percent of all business and produce between sixty to seventy percent of the jobs in the United States. The world is waiting for you to take that leap.

There are several reasons to take the leap of faith. Chiefly, you must believe in yourself. Even when others cannot see your vision you must have faith. That will not be easy and you may feel like it is not going to ever happen. When your faith waivers dig deeper and press forward. Draw inspiration by reading books and articles on how other successful businesspeople made it. Remember faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Think of the opportunities you will be making for others. There will jobs created, services and products that only you can provide.

Faith is not a license for foolishness. The Bible is full of sound business principles and provides models on how to be wise when conducting business. One of my favorite scriptures is: And the LORD answered me, and said, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tables, that he may run that readeth it.” HABAKKUK 2:2 King James Version We heard it said before in many different ways, in nutshell, without a written plan we are planning to fail. The Bible also tells us that God is not opposed to wealth as matter of fact it is He that gives us the ability to get wealth. Examine the Old and New Testaments and you will discover many business ideas, business ethics, and investment principles. In that day, they searched for fertile soil to sow seeds and waited for the increase of the harvest. Today we too search for fertile soil which comes in the form of studying the markets, finding our niche and cultivating professional relationships.

In taking the entrepreneurial leap of faith you will need to research and search for right opportunities. Tell people who you are and how you or your services can benefit them then wait patiently for your harvest. In biblical times conditions were not always right and the harvest did not always yield the intended crop. But they looked back over their work and assessed where they went wrong and corrected the problem. You will find you too must reassess and make corrections.

After considering, planning and writing out those plans you might be looking for the opportunity. I will tell you-you will have to create that opportunity. Depending on the situation you may have a product or service that no has thought of or maybe they do not have the guts to get it going. Do not stop because it is hard or others are not agreeing. Do not be reckless but be persistent. Keep moving toward your vision. You are not a dreamer you are a visionary. There is a difference. The dreamer is given to notion of the ideals behind his dream but thinks it is only a dream while the visionary follows a quest to realizing what he has dreamed. Entrepreneurs will focus on making dreams realities.

Why throw away your ability to create from within? What other creation on the earth has the capacity to create something out of nothing. Who are the great creators, inventors and pioneers that come to your mind? How many times did they fail or how long did it take before their dreams were realized? It is not relevant who believes you will make it, what matters is that you will not be satisfied with yourself unless you try to make it happen.

You will find people do not agree with your entrepreneurial endeavors. There may be those closest to you. Love ones may not support your efforts. Do not be deterred. Sometimes it is best to keep your vision to yourself until it produces the harvest. It is not that you do not want people close to you to share your journey. At times, you have to travel solo. Keeping the naysayers and dream stealers away from your visions might be a full-time job-but you will have to do it for the sakes of survival. You can leap further without excess weight. Good luck. See at the top.