Recylcling for Better Business

War is about authentic as an armed battle amid two nations, implying some assessable geographic set of boundaries. The United States has absolutely been in abounding such wars in the aftermost aeon - from World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, to the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before 9-11, the U.S. could avowal that the U.S. has been absolved the atrocities of these contest on its own soil.

Abstracting the definition, war can accredit to broader categories of conflict, hostility, and struggle, and the U.S. is currently affianced in a cardinal of such wars, appropriate now, aural our boundaries: Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, Richard Nixon's War on Drugs, and George Bush's War on Terror. But there are yet added battles actuality fought that accept not accustomed the catalyst and calmness that a academic war acknowledgment provides:

* Our assurance on Foreign Oil, and annihilation away that undermines our actual accessible and adorable self-sufficiency.

* Our bread-and-butter melt-down, including unemployment and camp altitudes of arrears spending.

* Greenhouse gas emissions, air and baptize pollution, and chancy waste.

* A ample citizenry of Americans after bloom insurance.

These are alone a few of the advancing struggles that accept not been accustomed the advantaged coercion and drive that comes with war declaration. These are all inter-related, and all could be battled with Environmentally amenable practice. Namely, recycling.

During WWII, Americans at home affiliated calm to accomplish the byword of the day - win the war at home - while our troops across bravely fought the boss battles of the conflicts in the Pacific and in Europe. Our parents and grandparents did aggregate they could to accumulation those troops with the aliment and food they needed. And they did it mainly through recycling.

The recycling amount during WWII was 25%. Today, some 65 years later, with all the ability and technologies we have, we accept added that amount to alone 32% - a bald 7% acceleration in 65 years.

It would seem, then, that amid the wars actuality fought on American clay is a abridgement of motivation. Let's abutment our troops abroad, and let's abide to action poverty, drugs and terror. But let us stop relying on others, the government, and our administration to break our problems. This free citizenry is able of advancing calm to action these wars at home, already again.

source : http://in-the-business.blogspot.com/2009/08/recylcling-for-better-business.html

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Owning A Franchise for Your Future

A axiological aphorism of business is that it takes money to accomplish money. In added words, unless you are able to accomplish an advance in a accumulation breeding enterprise, the likelihood of success is remote. What differs, however, is the bulk of that investment, and how it is leveraged. Some business opportunities

provide a abundant greater amount of leverage, and appropriately a abundant added good acknowledgment on advance (ROI) than others.

We'll allocution about some of these advance options in a minute, and they are appealing beeline forward. What's not so clear-particularly to apprentice entrepreneurs however-are what some business bodies alarm "soft costs." Soft costs are costs that are incurred but not absolutely paid for in agreement of autograph a analysis or handing over banknote to someone. But they are actual absolute costs aloof the same.

An archetype of this affectionate of amount is an befalling cost. For example, aback ablution a fresh business, the administrator faces a acquirements ambit in agreement of how to profitably accomplish the business. The money that vanishes due to this balloon and absurdity action is an befalling cost-in added words, if the administrator already knew how to run the business after authoritative mistakes, they'd accomplish added money, beforehand in the process.

So now aback to business investment. Many entrepreneurs accept to acquirement a authorization in adjustment to annihilate the befalling amount complex with the balloon and absurdity access to active a fresh business. Not alone does the authorization business archetypal acquiesce the business to become assisting actual quickly, it also-in access at least-enables the business to abate best appellation accident of failure. By affairs a franchise, the administrator is about advantageous for expertise. Sometimes the access works-and sometimes it doesn't.

The botheration admitting is that best acceptable authorization business opportunities are advised to be run as brick and adhesive businesses, and here's area the advance soars through the roof, because annihilation involving artery and adhesive is expensive. Owning a authorization is a basic accelerated way to alpha a business, and alike at that is not a agreement of business success.

Instead of this approach, today added and added entrepreneurs are acquirements how to accomplish money on the web, application a arrangement such as CarbonCopyPRO. Although a bashful basic advance is required, it is far beneath than that of a archetypal brick and adhesive franchise, forth with a abundant college anticipation of success. For anyone who wants to barrage a business after spending several hundred thousand dollars, it's a awful recommended approach.

source : http://in-the-business.blogspot.com/2009/08/owning-franchise-for-your-future.html

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Create Your Promotional Merchandise to Get Customer Recognition

Most of the times, the success of a business depends aloft the admeasurement of an announcement campaign. If you appetite to acquaint your business or products, again it is more good to administer promotional merchandise. In fact, promotional merchandises, like alone chocolates, comedy a abundant role in accepting accustomed your business. These chocolates can be availed with client's specific texts, logos and pictures. Your admiration of distributing alone chocolates and promotional chocolates can alone be accomplished with the advice of online promotional commodity stores. These merchandises can be accustomed to absolute barter as a badge of acknowledgment for actuality associated with the company. This commodity additionally broadcast amid abeyant barter in adjustment to allure their absorption appear company's articles and services.

There are a cardinal of amazing means to advance a business. They not alone accent your brands, but additionally bear your bulletin to ambition audience. One of them is distributing promotional commodity like promotional chocolates. Wide ambit of chocolates is accessible in the online as able-bodied as offline bazaar imprinted with your company's logo, name and address. They are absolute for distributing at exhibitions, barter shows, etc. Actuality a amount able medium, they are broadcast to acquisition adapted business and announcement outputs. These advice in accretion accumulated amicableness amid customers, architecture adherence amid absolute as able-bodied as -to-be customers, etc. to the abundant extent.

Personalized chocolates calmly affectation your company's name, logo and added details; appropriately your articles and casework get accustomed amid absolute as able-bodied as -to-be customers. Offering promotional commodity demonstrates your adherence appear your customers. If letters are to be believed, some of the affection chocolates advice in abbreviation claret burden and added diseases. Thus, it won't to be amiss to say that alone chocolates accumulate your barter abroad from diseases, irrespective of announcement your cast value.

For accepting promotional commodity like promotional chocolates and alone chocolates, you charge to accomplish an all-encompassing chase through the internet as there are a cardinal of online promotional ability food available. They action customized chocolates at bedrock basal prices. After selecting a acceptable store, all you crave to do is ample in an online appliance anatomy and accelerate it to mentioned address. Online promotional ability food additionally action you the ability of home commitment aural minimum accessible aeon of time.

source : http://in-the-business.blogspot.com/2009/08/create-your-promotional-merchandise-to.html

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Is Greening an Existing Building Worth It?

Greening an existing building is profitable for several reasons. Whether you have a multi-unit complex of 250 apartments or a 100,000 square foot commercial office building-you can make changes that will significantly decrease your monthly operational expenses. Significantly. Not 5%, not 10%, more like 40-70%.

The beauty of incorporating green into your buildings is that the small changes have major impact and thus, major savings. When I first began in the business and 'greened' my first few homes, I saved them money but it pales in comparison to what we do with a big project.
Here's why:

1. Most commercial properties are more than 5 years old. Thus their irrigation systems and equipment is not the latest in energy efficiency and often times isn't working properly.

2. Most landscaping companies don't know much about water conservation. Their job is to make the property look nice, not worry about how much water/energy it's using. The people seeing the system on a regular bass are not landscape designers-our guys are. They also might not be qualified to give you the best recommendations on smart controllers, sprinkler-heads, etc. They typically recommend what they are comfortable working with which is not usually the best solution. We replace current systems with energy efficient products such as MP sprinkler heads and Solar Synch controllers made by Hunter

3. No clear-cut project manager exists for green efforts. Most properties have 1 company doing the water, 1 handles the electric, 1 handles the HVAC, 1 does the landscaping, 1 does the plumbing fixtures, etc, etc. There is typically not 1 team that audits the entire property as a system. That is why when we come in we're able to discover significant cost savings. We look at everything.

4. Most property owners/managers have little experience navigating through the myriad rebates and incentives programs available. Thus, they pay full wholesale price for a toilet instead of getting a low flow unit that has a 90% rebate attached to it. There are plenty of rebates available all over the country, not just California. Believe me, understanding and utilizing the full extent of the rebates available is almost a full-time job.

Let's go through a quick example to illustrate the savings. Assume we have a 250-unit condo complex and the water and sewer bills are $30k per year for just the landscaping. After auditing we replace some irrigation equipment, replace fixtures in common area bathrooms, laundry rooms, etc. Even though the irrigation system is 15 years old we find energy efficient equipment that will cut the water usage by 65%. The materials for all of the improvements cost $10k. The rebate for all of the equipment comes to $9500. For example, SDGE offers more than 157 rebates for businesses. The labor cost is $5000.

Here's the breakdown: Total cost for improvements (including labor)-$15,000. Total rebates-$9500. Total net cost-$5500. Net Cost savings in Year 1-$14,000 (65% of 30k is cost savings, then subtract net cost). Total savings end of Year 2-$33,500. Total savings end of Year 3-$53,000

So, again, right now it makes sense to green a commercial building. If/when the rebates go away, it might be less of a big opportunity but right now it's a slam-dunk.

Jim Simcoe is an eco-consultant and sustainability strategist. A noted authority on green business strategy and green building, Jim has been featured on NBC, Fox, SmartMoney.com, etc. He can be reached at 760-271-7128 or online at: http://www.ecolifeconsulting.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Simcoe

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Six Key Criteria to Identify What Kind of Company Culture You Have

Read time 3.5 minutes.

Corporate culture is an overt or covert agreement about "This is the way we do things around here."

Two cultures are always operating in a company, family or group.

1. The "Marketed or Public Culture" - what we would like the world to think we are: "Be the customer." In a "Marketed Culture," what we say often does not fit with what we really do or what people are encouraged to do. So if we say, "Be the customer" but we treat them badly what we market does not fit our behaviors.

2. The "Authentic Culture" is the one in which people's behaviours are congruent with the stated values. "Be the customer" means we do whatever it takes to fulfil customer needs to produce a WOW! customer experience.

An "Authentic Culture" points the way to an ideal and "happy place" that will lead to a sustainable business that is humanly and financially sustainable.

Why Build a Humanly and Financially Sustainable Culture?

• Short answer -- for fun and profit.

An "Authentic Culture" tends to increase engagement, which leverages people's performance. It makes alignment easier because people have bought into the values. It charges up motivation to be the best because most employees are giving their best, which has a positively viral effect throughout the organization.

Southwest Airlines, Westjet, Google, and The Container Store are examples of "Authentic" cultures.

WindowPane Design Group employs 50 people. Half are best-in-class designers. The other half are support people. Its cultural ethic is one of attracting, engaging with, and retaining the best customers for innovate design. WPDG regards its employees as customers.

Retaining is the key element here, because in the design business the sales cycle is very long -- often years. Developing a level, profit producing, client-connected designer takes years.

WPDG has not had a "failed" assignment. They have certainly made mistakes and had conflicts with clients -- and they have managed to strengthen all their customer relationships as a result. They have many repeat clients.

The "Authentic" and the "Marketed" workings of culture share common ground.

To change the culture from what it is today, i.e. from fuzzy goals, unclear ground rules, and substandard results -- to what we want it to be i.e. inspiring vision, clear mission and consistently profitable results, we have to change the "way things are done around here." Poor performers scurry out like rats deserting a sinking ship. High performers jump on board for the ride.

• Congruency is the "Secret Sauce" to Talent Managing An Authentic, High Performing Corporate Culture

Six key criteria to identify what kind of company culture you have.

1. Values & Behaviors.Who decides what are the priorities? What behaviors get rewarded? What actions are unacceptable? What goes unnoticed. Who goes unnoticed? What are our core values that guide how we engage and behave toward each other, our customers and our suppliers?
2. Internal -- External.How do we make sure we are engaging with the right people? Are we congruent with what we say to our customers and what we deliver to our customers? Do we have the competitive intelligence we need to compete in this environment of business? What are we doing to develop our people?
3. Vision.Where are we going? What kind of corporate future do we want to create? Does it fit our values? As we are creating our future what are we giving up in exchange for what we are getting. Is it worth it?
4. Improving.What do we need to -- Stop Doing? Start Doing and Keep Doing? -- to get there? What's the Big Goal? How will we know when we've arrived? Do we have a road map or strategy to get us there?
5. Mission.Why are we in business? What are we actually selling? Is it products, services and/or experiences? Do our customers know what we are selling?
6. The Emporer's New Clothes?If a person from Mars came to visit us, what would s/he see or say about us?An "Authentic" culture is built on principles and policies that drive behaviors that inspire the human spirit to become great. An "Authentic" culture is behaviorally congruent. Or, WYSIWYG.

Is our culture "Marketed" or Authentic"?

To get your FREE Instant Copy of -- A TASTE of GENIUS -- go to http://www.subject2change.ca
From Dr. Jim Sellner, PhD.,DipC. -- Helping Zoomers & Super Zoomers find more joy, health and sense of abundance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Jim_Sellner_Ph.D.

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