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Archive for July, 2009

The Advantages of Buying an Existing Business

Jul 28

Posted by admin in Innovation Creativity | 2 Comments

Why buy an established business rather than start from scratch? There are many advantages for the entrepreneur.

First of all, there is a savings in time, energy, and money when buying an existing business. The lengthy process of researching and creating business plans and models has already been done for you. Also, if there is financing needed for your purchase, it is not as difficult to obtain since a lenders are more likely to finance a business with a proven track record.

Also, most times, everything is included in the purchase, especially in turnkey or franchise businesses. It is very beneficial for you to inherit the infrastructure that has already been established by the previous owner(s). This not only includes the customers, but suppliers, employees, equipment, and systems as well. It is a good possibility that the previous owner(s) may offer some insight and assistance, therefore making the transition easier.

In addition, the cash flow most likely will start immediately, rather than in an unknown timeframe when starting a brand new business. Profitability is not in question as it would be in a startup. An existing business is probably producing a decent income and also has a solid client base established, therefore maximizing the chances of success by the new owner(s). There are many types of businesses such as restaurants, salons and retail establishments in which you can get a good idea of how well the business is doing in part by the traffic patterns. Speaking with the current owners as well as customers can also help you give you insight into the well-being of the business before you make your purchase.

Even though the business is already established, there is still room for innovation and creativity. It is beneficial of course for you to purchase a business in which you can bring something to the table as far as experience and expertise, whether it is from your own job experience or skills you’ve gained through a hobby. If you’ve never owned or managed a business before, it is especially important that you at least have some knowledge of the type of business that you are purchasing. For example, if you’ve been a stylist in a beauty salon for many years, it is likely that you will be successful taking over an established salon.

Finally, since the business already has a good foundation, you can focus much of your efforts on building and expanding the business. As you become more familiar with your customers’ needs and wants, you will have opportunities to add enhancements and improvements, therefore increasing your chances of higher profitability much sooner than you would in a startup business.

There are thousands of successful businesses for sale out there right now waiting for a buyer. To start your search for the right business for sale visit BusinessMart.com.

BusinessMart.com
http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/the-advantages-of-buying-an-existing-business-90365.html

How to Help your Kids Do Algebra

Jul 28

Posted by admin in Creativity Training | 11 Comments

“Mom, I just can’t do Algebra.”

Of course you’d love to help. But ‘Algebra’?

It’s a bit outside of a parent’s Job Description isn’t it?

The good news is you CAN help.

And you don’t have to be mathematically minded, either.

All you need is some patience, a little creativity, and being able to see the world through your child’s eyes.

Imagine being led into an Egyptian temple, being shown a wall full of weird-looking hieroglyphics, and being asked to translate them.

That’s how Algebra feels to some kids.

Your mission is to help your kid understand why we’re using hieroglyphics. And then how to use them to solve simple problems.

Here’s how you do that:

  • PHASE 1: Get used to the language ***

Algebra uses abbreviations.

It’s therefore vital your child is comfortable using abbreviations in daily life.

Explain what abbreviations are and how they’re used.

For example, the name Frederick is abbreviated to Fred.

The United States is often abbreviated to the USA or even just the US.

And US states are also abbreviated. New York becomes NY, New Jersey becomes NJ.

Once the basic theory is understood, start introducing abbreviations around the home. There are many ways of doing this. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

~~ Throw a party ~~

Use abbreviations to build up a guest list of invitees.

Bill becomes B.

Marcy becomes M.

And if there’s a Jim and a John, use J1 and J2. Or Ji and Jo. Or use surnames to get JW and JS.

~~ Try some home cooking ~~

Teach your child how to make pancakes and give them the recipe as a formula:

2f + 2e + m + s

Where: f=flour, m=milk, s=sugar, e=eggs.

(Okay, I’m no chef, but you get the idea.)

~~ Design a ‘healthy eating’ schedule ~~

Yes, a little home algebra can even help your family eat more healthily.

Create abbreviations for oranges, apples, bananas, broccoli, celery, etc.

Then plan out your weekly schedule:

Mon: o + a + ba + 2br
Tue: 2ce + p + o + a
Wed: m + 2o
etc.

Once your schedule is drawn up, ask your kid to add up how many of each item you need to buy at the grocery store.

You’d never have guessed a shopping list could make such great algebra training, but it does.

When your child is comfortable with the basic language of Algebra, it’s time to move on to the next stage:

  • PHASE 2: Solve some problems ***

Much of Algebra involves finding an unknown value, also known as the “x factor”.

The best way to develop problem-solving skills in kids is by playing simple games and puzzles.

Here are two particularly useful games for developing the algebra mind.

~~ “Dollars & Dimes” ~~

The idea is to give your child a formula, and they tell you the amount of money.

So you say something like:

“2d plus n plus i”.

This means two dollars plus a nickel plus a dime.

(Notice how the letter ‘i’ has ingeniously been used to represent a dIme. This is because the letter ‘d’ has already been reserved for the Dollar.)

The answer should be “Two dollars and fifteen cents.”

Play this a few times using several combinations of notes and coins.

You can also tell your child an amount of money, and ask them to give you the formula.

So if you say, “Four dollars and five cents”,your child replies: “4d plus 5c”.

Ideally they should give you the answer using the least amount of coins possible. So for “fifteen cents”, they should say “n + i” or “i + n”. Not “15c”!

~~ “Think of a Number” ~~

This is a classic you can play anywhere. Try it on long car journeys.

The objective is to guess the mystery number.

You say: “I’ve thought of a number, added 3 to it, and the result is 7. What is my number?”

Make the questions as easy as possible to start with. As your child gains confidence, make the questions are little harder.

At some point, say you’re going to call the mystery number ‘x’. Then ask the question in equation form.

Now don’t panic. It’s simple.

Suppose your question is: “What number plus 3 makes 17?”

You call the mystery number ‘x’. And so your equation is:

x + 3 = 17

You ask your child “if x plus three is seventeen, what’s x?”

You can also reverse roles and ask them to give you some puzzles. Most kids enjoy this. And it trains them to think more creatively about algebra too.

  • Summary ***

Just a few subtle changes in the way your child thinks can have profound effects on their results in the math class.

Don’t overload your child. Go in very small steps with lots of similar examples to give practice and confidence.

Even the smallest thing may be a stumbling block. Like understanding that ‘x’ means ’1x’ (the ’1′ is not usually written down).

Give lots of praise and reward to create and reinforce the ‘feel good’ factor.

As in any kind of teaching, it’s better to ask lots of questions rather than keep telling someone something.

Take enough little leaps and at some point your kid will experience the “Aha!” moment when the whole algebra thing suddenly clicks into place.

Kenneth Williams
http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/how-to-help-your-kids-do-algebra-57401.html

Landscaping For Small Space

Jul 28

Posted by admin in Creativity Thinking | 5 Comments

Having a small yard area does not prevent you from having a beautiful space that you will enjoy. It does, however, require planning and a bit more ingenuity than the average garden. There are a number of options for small spaces that will help you use the size and shape as an advantage. The trick is to work with the space that you have.

The first consideration in landscaping a small space is the shape and size. Many small yard areas are made up of straight lines that highlight the negative features of the space. Consider using curving lines that will give a sense of flow and movement to the space. You can integrate curves into your garden by creating a brick or gravel walkway that curves through the space. You can also incorporate curving lines when you form your garden beds.

Another way of making the most of a small space in the planning stages is to consider that you are dividing the space into different compartments. By creating raised beds on different levels, you can give a feeling of depth and space in a previously cramped area.

It is a good idea at this point to start mapping out your space using grid paper. Be sure to include features like trees and make space for patio furniture if you will be using it. As you work through your planning, add to your map. This simple step can save you from making costly mistakes.

Once you have a general idea of what your space is going to be laid out like, you can start thinking about what is going to go into it. For a small space, having a theme is very important. Especially if you are using raised beds, you can have more than one theme; just make sure to consider how they will relate to one another. For smaller spaces, tabletop fountains are a good choice: http://www.garden-fountains.com/Categories.bok?category=Tabletop+Fountains

In selecting a theme, consider if you are looking for a romantic classic garden or a more modern outdoor space. There are a number of possibilities. You may want to focus on a specific element, and use the rest of the space to highlight that. Oftentimes, a feature can help you determine what your entire space will look like. For example, investigate a wood barrel fountain like those seen in crafty cottages where theme is called for.

The plants you will use need to be carefully selected so that they will grow properly with limited room and be suited the light exposure and drainage of your space. Also, remember that the larger your elements, the smaller your space will appear. Limit yourself to one small tree to provide shade, or go without a tree entirely. If you do have a tree, make sure it not one that drops a lot of twigs or seeds. Otherwise, you could find yourself saddled with daily yard cleaning.

A good technique to use in a limited space is to choose plants that will look good year round and provide interesting groundcover. Avoid any plants that tend to “take over”. In a small space, these can end up becoming the entire garden.

There are a number of tricks that professional landscapers use to create the illusion of more room. These are not difficult to emulate. You don’t need to use all of these ideas, either. One or two tricks of illusion will dramatically affect the appearance of your small space.

Remember to utilize walls and fences with climbing vines and trellises. These are especially effective in a corner where they can soften hard right angles. Any element that works with the walls or fence around your space is a great way to make the space appear larger than it is. Mirrors are often used indoors to create an illusion of space and mirrors can be used outdoors as well.

Container plants can be a beautiful addition to your small space. The planters act as a unique decorative element and whatever you grow in them will appear different than it would if planted in the soil. Planters come in a wide range of styles that can suit any garden theme. Have a look at garden planters ranging from classical motifs to simple and modern art.

In addition to plant life, your small space can be enhanced with a water feature. Pools and running water of any kind will give a feeling of depth. Running water will bring movement and energy into the garden, in addition to its peaceful relaxing sound. If space is running tight, have a look at some of the wall fountains. These require only a minimum of space, but will give you all of the benefits of a free-standing fountain.

A small space can be more difficult to design than a large one. However, with a bit of creativity and time, you can transform a cramped yard into an outdoor retreat.

Elizabeth Jean
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/landscaping-for-small-space-69795.html

Re-create your Life Now!

Jul 28

Posted by admin in Creative Thinking | 12 Comments

Become a Remote Viewer and Powerful Influencer of Reality Watch your Life and the Lives of Loved Ones Radically Change for the Better! Unleash your Higher Mind Potentials!

Experience The Synergistic Power of Combining Our Remote Viewing and Remote Influencing Training Systems Offered to You at a Deep Discount, Together with Two Bonus Techniques that will Amaze You.

The best protocol is for training concomitantly with both the Remote Viewing and the Remote Influencing Training Systems. You can easily achieve a quantum jump in your inner Creative powers, awareness, intelligence, wisdom, holistic health and biological higher programming.

Many new students combine taking the Remote Viewing and Remote Influencing Training Systems. Studies done at the ARVARI and confirmed by the great deal of feedback received from our trainees, have made it very clear that this is indeed a very powerful combination; much more so than taking the two courses separately. RV skills are greatly enhanced by training with RI and vice รข?? versa.

Another noteworthy finding is that many students report a sudden quantum jump in higher skills upon repeating the combination course for the second or even third or more time through the course. This represents a high plateau of mind operation.

How you can easily achieve a quantum jump in your inner Creative powers, awareness, intelligence, wisdom, holistic health and biological higher reprogramming

We have found after extensive research and testing numerous combinations that there is a best sequence to integrate the two courses that will manifest the most beneficiary results for the students. These results are presented in RV RI Combination Training System Sequence.

We are very excited at the dynamics that the combination of the Remote Viewing & Remote Influencing Training Systems represent. This is an ongoing project. Many students have or are achieving tremendous inner changes and purification of anger and fear caused by deep scars or programming lodged within their inner very deep subconscious realms, and are now exhibiting new positive, strongly optimistic reprogrammed personalities, that automatically reject negative fear-based thinking. They seem to operate, even in their same old surroundings, totally stress -free, convinced that they are fine, protected and that all will work out for the best. Even when fear-based situations are thrown at them, they smile and deflect the negative energy.

And they manifest then happiness and inner peace, first in their immediate reality, and hopefully eventually on a much wider basis. We must say that most of these trainees always mention how they notice high synchronicities in their daily lives, and how fast their dreams are now becoming reality.

This was the original intent of the Remote Viewing and Remote Influencing Training Systems. And we cannot but express our enthusiasm at starting to show great initial success in turning the tide away from the doom-and-gloom, fate based, fear-driven world that many have and are still trying to impose on us, so that we believe ourselves impotent in changing, each of us, our lives, and being able to prove that we can all, by changing- by ourselves- our deep thoughts, experience more happiness, control, true freedom, true democracy, true freewill, and built-in inner care for our fellow humans, and creatures, big and small, on this Divinely gifted magnificent Earth.

Gerald O\\\’Donnell
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/recreate-your-life-now-102099.html

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