Just Blogging

Wendy Pan asked:




Those oldies but goodies are sounding so good. When you turn on your favorite oldies music station, you are reaping the benefits of decades of work. Not just work in making the music, but the work in carefully crafted formats and dedication of the oldies music station staff.

The music, mostly from the 1950’s and 1960’s comprise the backbone of the traditional “classic gold” radio stations. Others may consider anything older than today as “oldies”, but true oldies format refers to the golden age of rock and roll, 50’s and 60’s. The classic golden oldies probably extend until about 1964, when the Beatles “invaded” the US, along with other members of the “British Invasion” such as The Kinks, and they changed music in this country forever.

Radio station formats are frequently based on a tried and true oldies format. The program managers work out in advance everything they will play, the traffic director schedules the day’s hours into segments of music, commercials and news. Radio jingles correspond with the station format, so you will hear oldies type jingles on an oldies radio station. No rap, just classic rock and roll.

Many businesses choose to play an oldies music station as background music in their store. Even some casinos play oldies, usually on “senior’s day”, as today’s seniors were in their high school heyday when the original music was popular on the radio and at dances. Advertisers who want to target an older audience, 50 and up, choose oldies stations for part of their advertising mix. But seniors are not the only persons listening to the oldies. If so, the format would go out of style.

Some oldies stations will do dances, have their disc jockeys go live to a dance hall. Oldies can be chosen as a theme for certain parties, or special events. The songs were shorter then, three minutes or so on average, and the radio stations created formats featuring high repetition of a few songs. All favorites, all the time could be their slogan back then; today’s it is the “blast from the past”.

Songs you will hear on an oldies music station include the era’s great singers, Elvis Presley, Danny and the Juniors, The Platters, Kingston Trio, Aretha Franklin, the Four Tops, Frankie Avalon, Fats Domino, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and more. All the hits, all the time!

Oldies radio can be found across the country, and on new broadcast outlets like Sirius Radio, which even features an “All Elvis” radio channel. Niche audiences have loyal followers and those who want to target those “oldies audiences” can do so easily by placing their commercials on those stations who play oldies music.

Some younger people say they enjoy listening to oldies, but in reality they are referring to music from the 1970’s, and 1980’s, like Marshall Tucker Band, ACDC, and Aerosmith. But if they visit Grandma’s house, they may be exposed to the real “oldies but goodies”.

Matthew Keegan asked:




The Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker is unique amongst coffee makers. This coffee maker has no carafe, instead the coffee is self contained within the unit and is released into your cup by pressing on a dispenser. A great idea it is, but Hamilton Beach needs to engineer this product as it failed ten days after we purchased one. Please continue reading for all the details.

Our Braun coffee maker served us well for over six years. Thousands of coffee potfuls later, it failed to work one morning and we knew it was time to shop for a new one. As we strolled the aisles of our local BJ’s we realized that Braun was not a brand that they carried. Nevertheless our attention was drawn to a unique looking product, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker, and we soon carried it off and brought it home.

What is so special about this particular product? No carafe! Yes, coffee brews within the main unit and then is released into your cup by pressing on a dispenser, much like the type you find at some coffee stores. The advantage is obvious: you can get coffee with one hand while not worrying that you will break the carafe. An excellent idea!

This particular model holds standard sized coffee filters and has an internal warming tray to keep the coffee warm. Indeed, we felt that the unit kept coffee hotter longer than most units we had owned in the past. For several days we enjoyed hot, fresh brewed coffee and we believed that we made a wise decision in purchasing the product.

Our interest in the product was short-lived, however. One of the oddest features about the unit was the double push of the on/brew button to get the unit started. Much like the double click of your computer’s mouse to open a file, users must do the same thing to the round push button located on the front of the machine. No toggling on/off switch to deal with here! Unfortunately, one recent morning the switch did not work. Sure, the light came on, but coffee was not dispensed. My wife and I redid the process at least a dozen times before we realized that the machine was not going to work. The water was in the unit, the coffee was seated properly in the filter, and the light switch came on. Still, no coffee was brewing.

In summation, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker is an excellent idea, but the button is a bad idea. It would be better to replace the switch with something that works the first time and everytime thereafter. Fortunately for us we were able to return the item to BJ’s where we received a full cash refund. Hamilton Beach has a great idea, but their engineering leaves something to be desired.

John Dulaney asked:




To this day, there are more than more than 690 GSM mobile networks across 213 countries and consists of 82.4% of all global mobile connections. According to statistics available there are more than 2 billion GSM mobile users in the world, with China having the largest users with more than 370 million, and Russia following with 145 million users. While US have 78 million, India has 83 million using the GSM service.

A mobile phone can be a bewildering affair for a traveler. It is mostly incompatibility with the network of your visiting country, since every country in the world has different frequency band of operation.

Almost all parts of the world operate on GSM technology, except USA and Canada. Originally GSM operated at a frequency of 900 MHz, which is being continuously upgraded and now works on 1,800 MHz service. With a GSM phone, you can access service in 212 different countries. Some of the mobile phones available in the United States and Canada operate on GSM, but most of them are of a different frequency band. The GSM service available in North America is of a totally different frequency of 1,900 MHz and sometimes 850 MHz, which is different from the standard of 1,800 MHz. Not all countries in the world use the standard 900/1,800 MHz GSM. The exceptions being, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, and some Central/South American countries, with some limited coverage of the standard GSM networks.

Today, mobile phones have become a part of daily living. We often wonder how we ever lived without them. Whether you are traveling on business or on a holiday, mobile phones offer incredible services during your journey. However, they also present some challenges, when you wonder if that mobile phone you have will work while you travel from one place to the other.

There are three bands on which the mobile transmission is based on, with different countries operating on a different frequency falling under different bands. Today, quad band mobile phones take away the fear in you, relieving you from that worry, if your mobile phone will work in UK.

The obvious convenience of having a mobile phone makes you feel safe where-ever you are, with the facility that it has to quick-access for help when you need it and talk to the people important to you. It is one of the most economical and essential life-long product in anyone’s life today. Think about those olden days when you had to make a call from your hotel room. Think about the bill that you paid, just for your telephone calls. Now you have a mobile phone, a partner to your daily life. You can already feel the difference. Today, many of these phones are being offered with exceptional plans that may include, free airtime, cheaper long distance charges and in some cases cheaper international roaming charges. In India, for example, service providers have started to offer life time incoming calls on pre-paid sim cards of your mobile. Realising such a benefit, you feel comfortable that atleast you are available on your mobile phone. Prices are dropping every month, which started with a huge investment when mobile phones were first introduced.

Let us look at why all mobile phones are not compatible.

There are two explanations to this reason. The first one being that all service providers in this world do not operate on the same radio frequency band and encoding services. Therefore, when you travel to UK, your phone might not be compatible with the kind of frequencies that the service providers offer.

The second point is a bit complicated. To enable a mobile phone from the United States to work in UK, the service providers in UK, or vice-versa, must have a cross-billing arrangement with one or more service providers in the other country. This cross-billing arrangement is a commercial deal between the service providers of the two countries, which results in allowing roaming in your mobile phone. In some cases the roaming facility in your phone, needs to be activated by your service provider in US. If this is the case, then, you have to have roaming enabled before you go out of the country. This arrangement falls under International Roaming. The same is the case with National Roaming. Therefore, you need to have such a phone, which would accept all the three bands the service providers operates on in this word, and such a phone is the one with quad band features. Dual band phones on the other hand would work anywhere in the world except the Unites states.

Let us look at some of the problems with mobile phones in the United States. If you are in US and you have a mobile phone which you would like to have the international roaming facility, your best bet would be to sign up with service provider who provides GSM. The two major GSM service providers in US are T-Mobile and Cingular, with the consideration that AT&T has now been merged with Cingular.

This sounds like a perfect solution. You now have one phone which works all over the world. If you have decided on such an arrangement, it must be what you want. But, you need to consider that GSM service is quite limited in US. That takes you back a bit. No, there is no solution for that. To have your way, you will have to maintain two mobile phones, one with a major established network in US and a second; having the GSM service with roaming features.

GSM is a state-of-art technology, offering fax capability and Short Messaging Service (SMS). Most of the service providers offer e-mail to SMS feature, making it possible to receive important announcements and information over your mobile phone, viz., receiving flight updates and breaking news alerts. Many offer quick connectivity to ISDN services, there by allowing fast data transmission. The latest generation offers Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS), which enables you to connect to a high-speed data communication channel, faster than 9,600 bps.

We have discussed the limitation of GSM services available in US vis-à-vis roaming. We have also said that in order to over-come this limitation and avail international roaming as well, you would have to maintain two mobile phones, one with a major established network in US and the second; having the GSM service with the roaming features. Instead of maintaining a second phone, mobile phone rental service is also available. There are many outlets who would rent you these phones with perhaps certain terms, viz., you would need to get your relevant sim card from them. To look into the prospects of mobile phone rentals you may like to visit this website http://www.planetomni.com/RENT_INFO.shtml which provides you with the details that you would need to have.

The GSM has made roaming between operators a very common affair, facilitating the users to carry their mobile in almost every part of the world. GSM is considered to be a second generation (2G) mobile phone system.

Willhelm Williams asked:




For years now, the military has been using a portable solar energy power station to provide energy for their mobile units. Recently, these invaluable systems have become available for civilian use for camping or in the event of emergencies. Being able to supply electricity during power shortages, typical in emergencies, is a real lifesaver and an aid towards recovery efforts.

The size of the portable solar energy power station needed depends on the situation and the amount of power that is required. A small unit can be used to supply light to an area. If the need is to supply enough power for refrigeration, lights and to drive water pumps, a larger portable solar energy power station will be required. They could provide anywhere from 240 watts all the way up to several thousand watts of power. The only drawback is that the bigger the unit, the bigger the battery pack required.

It is usually quick and easy to set up portable solar energy power stations. It is best to use different units of different sizes to perform different functions. For instance, one unit may be established to provide electricity for lighting. Another larger unit can be used to supply power for refrigeration while a still larger unit can be set up to power water pumps in the event of major overflow.

Portability Is Proportional To the Size of Battery Pack

Since drawing power directly from the solar panels of a portable solar energy power station is useless and would defeat the purpose of portability, the power needs to be stored in batteries. Also, because the power generated and stored is direct current, an alternating current converter is a necessary add-on device. Electrical devices are plugged into the converter and as power stored in the battery is used, the battery is recharged by the solar panels.

It is All About the Batteries

The batteries are the main contributor to the weight of a portable solar energy power station. The other parts, such as the charge controller and solar panels add some weight, but not as much as the batteries do. In order to power more devices the portable power station will require a larger battery pack. Small portable solar power units come with a small battery pack and will power a light or radio for a few hours. Larger more powerful portable solar power units are mounted on a trailer with the battery pack and a mast where the solar panels are mounted on.

It should be realized that regardless of the size and reliability of the portable solar energy power station, they will never work without sunshine. There may be enough power remaining in the batteries once the sun goes down to operate some devices or equipment, but without sunlight, once the batteries are discharged, you will have to wait until daylight to restore power. Still, it helps to have a portable gadget at the side which comes handy in times of emergency.

Steve Valentino asked:




A wireless weather station is a standalone system that keeps a track of the indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, wind direction and velocity, solar intensity and rainfall. It gives you the ease to keep a track of the outside weather, without the need of remaining glued to your TV sets or radio to know about the weather forecast. A wireless weather system saves you from the hassles of connecting and managing wires while using the instrument.

Before deciding on and taking a decision to buy a wireless weather station, it is always beneficial to do a thorough review of the product. A thorough review ensures that you get the right quality product at the reasonable price.

A review for a wireless weather station might include, review about the quality of the product by consumers who have already purchased and are using this product. Consumers who are actually using the product can rate it best for its quality, durability and effectiveness.

Besides the consumers, the product catalog that describes the features of the product should be thoroughly gone through. The catalog contains all the details about the features of the product, its installation process as well its cost.

Apart from seeking reference from consumers and the product catalog, you can always go through some articles written about the product in general magazines and newspapers, which can give you an honest opinion about the quality and usefulness of the weather station. The guide rating on the various consumer web sites and magazines gives you an insight on the pros, cons, advantages and disadvantages of the wireless weather station. Going through the reviews thoroughly can help you make the right decision while buying a wireless weather station.

Dean Forster asked:




Portable hair salon stations are designed for the mobile hairdresser in mind. The mobile hairdresser is someone who is on the move, so he or she is need of special equipment that’s lightweight and easy to carry. This is the case with portable hair salon stations.

The goal of a company that manufacturers portable hair salon stations is to to provide a new portable hair salon station which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such portable hair salon station economically available to the buying public.

Another goal is to is to provide a new portable hair salon station for maintaining a clean work station and for preventing the entanglement of power cords. A portable hair salon station provides multi-sided box-like member having a plurality of slots in an upper/frontal side and further having a plurality of rotatable shafts journaled to and disposed inside the box-like member, and a plurality of spring-loaded spools wound with electrical power cords and being mounted about the shafts.

Every electrical power cord has an adapter outlet plug connected to an exposed end thereof, and is extended and unwindable through a respective slot. There is a plurality of cylindrical containers each having an open top and a closed bottom and an arcuate flange about the top. The containers can be removed and disposed in a selected number of slots for receiving and storing certain hair implements. Besides that, there are two slots each of which is disposed near to a respective slot for an outlet plug and each of which has a latch member slidably disposed therein and engageable to a respective outlet plug. Also, there are a pair of electrical outlet members disposed in a lower front side of the box-like member.

Portable hair salon stations can range from traditional and elegant shampoo bowls at hair styling stations, to revolutionary and ergonomically correct back wash units. Some portable hair salon stations are designed to impress clients with a trendy decor, as well as provide the amenities that top stylist demand, are available many styles and price points.

400-18 QSEp PORTABLE is a portable hair salon station with four casters. It features two full-extension drawers, breadboard pull-out, fully-equipped tip-out tool panel w/ holders for blow dryer, two standard curling irons, one large curling iron, clipper pocket, and six-outlet power strip.

Suzanne Roquemore asked:




Tired truckers are everyone’s problem. And no trucker wants to drive tired. Some truckers insist that if you plan your trip properly, you should always be able to find parking. Other truckers understand that no matter how much you plan, truck parking can be elusive. Truck stops fill up, usually later than earlier. But truckers can’t force themselves to be tired according to a plan. Laying in bed wide awake when your plan calls for sleep doesn’t make for a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, looking for a place to park is simply part of being a truck driver.

Most drivers avoid parking in weigh stations like the plague. It’s understandable. But, if you’re tired, maybe it’s not such a bad idea. The following is a guideline to some states’ policies toward truckers parking at weigh stations- what’s allowed, what isn’t and what the truckers can expect.

California

There is no official policy in California about parking at the weigh stations. And there is no official policy at any of the weigh stations, so you may run into a rogue officer who prefers hassling truckers to letting them sleep. But, in general, you are safer to park at California weigh stations than you may have thought.

Truckers who are looking for a safe place to park should consider parking at the Banning weigh station. There is no official policy, but the consensus among most of the officers at the Banning truck scale is that they would rather have drivers park to rest at the weigh station than have tired drivers on the roadway. If you do want to park, you’ll want to cross the scale, park, and go inside to inform the officers that you’d like to take your break. That way they will know that your truck is not “unattended.” Unattended trucks have a 4-hour time limit after which the truck will be towed. Officers at the Wheeler Ridge weigh station agree. Tired truckers are dangerous, and they’d rather that truckers take their break at the weigh station than drive tired. At Wheeler Ridge, it is not necessary to inform officers that you’ll be parking for a while.

California weigh stations with less room do not allow parking. For instance, trucks are not allowed to park at either San Onofre nb or San Onofre sb. Trucks are also not allowed to park at the Truckee weigh station. Same goes for Conejo nb and Conejo sb. But even that is not set in stone. Officers at the Conejo nb scale say that if they are not busy and if a trucker comes in and tells them he’s tired, they may use their own discretion and allow the driver to park and take his break. Both the Conejo nb and Conejo sb scales will, however, lock their gates during closed hours- unless there are out of service vehicles parked. Do Not plan on parking in the ramps when the weigh station is closed.

Florida

Truck parking is allowed- in fact, it is welcomed- at any of Florida’s “super coops,” such as the weigh stations in Pensacola, Wildwood and Flagler Beach. Parking is limited at other Florida weigh station locations, like Hopewell or Bunnell, and so drivers should not expect to be able to find parking at those scales. Florida DOT officers say that drivers can park at any of the Florida “super coops” without fear of chancing an unwanted inspection. If an officer sees something that is clearly a safety violation- like a flat tire- the driver will be notified of the violation before he or she leaves the weigh station and it will have to be fixed. But officers will not ask a driver who has been parked at the weigh station for his or her logbook, nor will they pick the vehicle for an inspection. Unless, of course, the driver parked there because he or she was put out of service- if a driver was put out of service for a log book violation, they may ask to see the drivers logbook before that driver is allowed to leave the weigh station.

Georgia

Truck parking is allowed at any Georgia weigh station so long as there is room. Drivers are asked to park in the back lot at any of the Georgia “super coops.” One Georgia weigh station where parking spaces are not abundant is the Lithia Springs weigh station on I 20 east bound, west of Atlanta. Drivers should not plan to park at the Lithia Springs weigh station. Georgia DOT officers say that, while drivers probably will not be subject to inspection if they have been parked at the weigh station, it’s not out of the question. Officers may choose to ask a driver pulling out of the parking area to show his or her log book. They may also choose to inspect the truck. This is not likely, but there is no policy prohibiting the practice.

Kentucky

The Walton weigh station and the Verona weigh station are designated “safe haven” locations for truckers. This means truckers are welcome to park there without fear of chancing and unwanted inspection. Kentucky enforcement officers say that truckers may be inspected when they come into the weigh station, but once they have cleared the truck scale and have gone to the “safe haven” lot, they no longer have to be concerned about it. “Safe Haven” weigh stations provide a safe place for truckers to park.

Brian T. McCormick asked:




As a beginning coach, I ignored warm-ups and used half-speed two-ball dribbling drills as a warm-up for more intense activities during practice. When I moved to Sweden to coach a professional women’s basketball team, the players were married to their warm-ups and could not function without an extended warm-up period. When I practiced with the club’s men’s team, I felt like more than half the practice was a warm-up. I acquiesced, in a sense, with my team: we arrived before our practice time and players jumped rope for 5-10 minutes above the bleachers as our warm-up and then we did one sub-maximal drill on the court before moving into our practice.

In our first game, our opponent spent 25 of the allotted 30 minutes of pre-game warm-up using a basketball. Later in the season, I watched another player go through an extensive plyometric pre-game warm-up. While Americans criticize European players for their defensive deficiencies, the Swedish players’ defensive footwork impressed me. We generally assume that a foreign-born player with adept footwork developed her footwork by playing soccer, but as I reflected on my experience coaching abroad, it appeared as though their pre-game and practice routines focused on footwork and led to its development.

The following season, as I prepared workouts and practice routines, I implemented a series of warm-ups to begin practice: drills to focus on footwork and jumping ability. Coaching women, the pre-practice jumping and agility program is an attempt to increase performance and reduce injuries, as researchers believe women can reduce the risk of ACL injury through a small plyometric routine.

I use three general warm-up routines: (1) jump rope’ (2) stations or (3) full court dynamic warm-up (carioca, running backwards, bounding, lateral bounding, high knees, **** kicks and high/power skips). Our warm-up now lasts 10-15 minutes.

Warm-up Stations

When we do our station warm-up, we jog, backpedal and carioca. Since we have 10 players, we work in pairs. Our focus is to teach quick changes of direction and first-step quickness.

Station 1: Mirror Drill (15 seconds on, rest for 15 seconds, 15 seconds on)

We teach most of our on-ball defensive stance and movement through this drill and later in 1v1 drills. The players face each other and one player starts as the offensive player and one as the defender. The offensive player leads, moving laterally, and the defensive player tries to remain face to face. The offensive player’s goal is to create space between the two of them, while the defender tries to stay within the width of the offensive player’s body.

Station 2: Mikan Drill

The first player goes for 30 seconds and then the second player goes. Drill practices baby-hook shots. Start under the basket and step out with the left foot on the right side to shoot with the right hand; grab the ball from the net, keeping the ball above your shoulders and step to the left side of the rim with your right foot, shooting with the left hand. Continue.

Station 3: Jump Squats

Squat and jump as high as possible, swinging arms high into the air. Focus on a soft landing so they land properly from a vertical jump and absorb the force of the impact throughout the muscles of their legs, not just in the quadriceps and knee joint. Squat to a half-squat, with the bottom of the thighs parallel to the ground before jumping.

Station 4: X-Lay-ups

Make as many lay-ups in 30 seconds and then switch. Start at one elbow, dribble and attempt a lay-up. Rebound and run to the other elbow; dribble and attempt a lay-up from the other side. Continue for 30 seconds.

Station 5: Partner Shooting

Player 1 passes to Player 2 and closes out. P2 catches, shoots and follows her shot. P1 contests the shot and relocates, moving continuously and calling for the ball. P2 passes to P1 and contests shot. Partners shoot for one minute.

Station 6: McHale Drill

Left hand tips ball continuously against the backboard while the right hand grabs the net (rim). Do six and switch to the right hand side. Right hand tips ball against backboard while left hand grabs the net (rim). Repeat on the left hand side for a total of 18 tips. Switch partners.

Station 7: T-Drill with 2 Ball Dribbling

Set up the T-Drill with cones 5-7 feet apart in the shape of a T. Start at the base of the T and sprint forward while dribbling two balls. Shuffle to the left cone, then to the right cone and finally back to the intersection. Back pedal to the base of the T. Go three times and rotate. The other player practices stationary two-ball drills while resting.

These quick drills provide a fast-paced warm-up that needs little instruction and insures the players break a sweat. Our focus is getting through the drills quickly: players sprint from station to station and practice with intensity in each drill. The warm-up focuses on ball control (6 and 7), quick changes of direction (1 and 7), jumping (3 and 6) and shooting (2, 4 and 5), training a variety of skills in a short amount of time.

Steve Valentino asked:




Wireless digital weather station is synonymous with timely weather readings whenever and wherever you want. Wireless digital weather station gives you the freedom from staying glued with the television weather channels to get accurate, in-depth weather including temperatures and humidity readings, forecast, lunar cycles and trend graphs. No matter where you are in the world - whether out for a spin in the car, or camping in the wilderness, or even just throwing a birthday bash in the backyard, a wireless digital weather station is just the thing to stay up-to-the-minute with regard to storms, wind, temperature, and so on.

Wireless digital weather station comes handy with unique combination of features including standard options such as temperature, humidity, date and time. The Wireless Digital Weather Station provides the ultimate in flexibility because it’s wireless. It is battery-operated for convenience and gives consumers the freedom to place a sensor inside or outside the house or office premises. They can measure the barometer levels, temperatures, or any other piece of crucial weather data you may need to know about.

There are many leading companies like General Electronics (GE) involved in the manufacture of wireless digital weather stations. Buying them is simple. You can either purchase it online, after choosing your design from the catalogue available on various sites selling these digital weather stations. Wireless digital weather stations are also available nationwide at Target, Home Depot and other retailers. Obviously, shipping may cost extra, so be careful of that factor when comparing prices for the best deals on the best models.

Rory Singh asked:




There are many serious factors that you should consider before buying a gas station or any other business.

Here are a few:

• Supply & Demand

• Location

• Start Up Capital

• Franchise or Existing Business

• Time Commitment

Supply & Demand:

Before starting any business find out how much of a supply & demand issue there is for your primary product or business. With the gas station business there is a huge demand for fuel since everyone needs to get around with a vehicle of some sort & gas or diesel to power it.

Location:

This is very important because if you don’t have a good location then you may not get enough business. The thing about high traffic locations is that they generally cost more to get. You may make more money in a high traffic area but you will end up having a higher overhead than a low traffic area.

It is not impossible to still make a lot of money in a low traffic area as long as you advertise to let people know that you are there. Since you can save by being in a low traffic area you can spend a little more on perks for your customer like free coffee or newspapers or just better service. If you treat people well they will always come back to you for business. It’s all about customer service.

Start Up Capital:

You will definitely need some start up capital to start any business. Be prepared to borrow some money if you don’t already have a stash of thousands put away. Most successful businessmen rarely user their own money even if they have it sitting in their bank accounts. They prefer to use other people’s money (banks, credit unions etc).

Franchise or Existing Business:

Franchises are usually safer to go with than the traditional mom & pop existing business. They are safer because they usually have a good system in place that has been proven for years. Systems never fail. They will train you to be a business owner, employee & even a book keeper. They will teach you everything that you will need to get your business up & running quickly & efficiently. They even go as far as to survey areas that would be the best choice for high traffic business & even reserve spots for future business. They basically cover all the areas that need to be covered in order to remain successful. The only thing about the franchises is that they are very expensive to start.

Franchises can cost you anywhere from $250,000 & up. They may even require you having a liquid cash fund of $100,000 before even looking at you. The $100,000 is for you to survive on in your first 6 months in business (usually the hardest time). This is the main reason why they don’t fail.

Time Commitment:

You will definitely have to put in the hours if you own your own business. Most business owners generally work 60 + hours per week. If you are passionate about owning your own business then the time factor will not be an issue for you. However if you are hesitant of working more than 40 hours per week then you may need to think about this a little more before going any further.