Gun sales surge

After the despicable act in New town Connecticut where children and teachers were needlessly killed, there have been calls for the tightening up on Gun ownership, with many places such as Walmart taking certain weapons off their shelves. It is only a matter of time before more new rulings about gun ownership are introduced, causing sales for weapons and ammunition to rise. See article 

This is a classic example of supply and demand and panic buying. If there is going to be a shortage, sales increase. Next time there is going to be a fuel or water shortage, have a look at the queues. remember whenever there is an Action. There is a Reaction and a Consequence (ARC).

It is very easy to blame the guns, but shouldn't we be looking at the cause. Why was the trigger pulled in the first place? Was the reason mental health? The Gun is a small part of the problem.  Do we blame cars for deaths when a drunk driver is behind the wheel, fertilizers companies when some nut makes a home made bomb?

When fashion makes no sense

There will be some of you that have been bought a hideous sweater this Christmas and many others who have received one in the past. You open the present and hold up the jumper and reply -"Just what I always wanted".  You are then made to wear the sweater while all those around you shake their heads. Well the shaking of heads can stop and in exchange be greeted by the thumbs up sign. Fashion has come to the rescue and it is now trendy to wear these sweaters with pride. Read the article for yourself.

Traits of and Entrepreneur

I'll be honest with you, I generally buy biographies of people to find out what makes them tick. Why are they successful and what do I need to be successful. I think it is human nature. We are led to believe that by buying expensive sports shoes, we too can emulate that persons success but it never once refers to the fact that there is hard work attached.  As some of you might know or have worked out, I was a Business Studies school teacher who really loved his job, but felt it was the right time to set up my own business and run with it. I could Talk the Talk, but can I Walk the Walk?
I guess over time I will find out. I found this article that might interest you on the traits that an Entrepreneur has.

Tough Love

 As a teacher, it is our job to teach a class of students a certain amount of information in a specific period of time. This information is generally needed in some form of assessment but is also a building block for students to use in the future. Unfortunately, in class, there are always students who play up for a number of reasons and I am sure you can figure those out when you have been in class. Bottom line is the disruptions actually ruin everyone elses learning opportunities as they have the right to learn as much as everyone else. Rudeness and the general lack of manners is not something that should be embraced. Manners go a long way and this is the basis of how respect and how you expect to be treated occurs and this is something you should take notice of. This story was a refreshing sight to see. Tough love, but a lesson well learned.

The secret to success

There are literally thousands of business theory books on shelves worldwide, sprouting about the 4Ps, cash flow, budgets, distribution, human resources etc....  More often than not the real reason why there is success in any venture is the commitment and hard work. I am not saying that the other areas are not relevant as they definitely are, but having the commitment to see the idea through, showing strength and determination in terms of time and effort is the real secret to the success of a business.So combine that with working Smart in terms of being determined, focused and using the knowledge gained in text books should increase the chances of success. If you are thinking about setting up your business and you want inspiration, then read this.

Eshops and Physical stores

E shops and Physical Shops

There is a big thing about companies only having a web presence. For a lot of businesses this is all that is needed. But what about when you are buying clothes, shoes etc and you want to have more of an idea about size, fit and quality. How many times have you bought something online and it has not lived up to expectation. If that has happened to you, then read on.

Who stole my phone?

Where phones are becoming more and more powerful,more personal information is stored on them and their  is a demand for these phones, they will always be worth something to someone. I have had a phone stolen in the past, the actual phone wasn't really the loss to me, I could live with that, it was more the lost contacts that were the inconvenience to me. A while ago one of my students had their phone stolen while playing a sports fixture at another school, unfortunately it was very hard to prove who had taken it. For those who value their phone, please read on, this is probably the most important and valuable article that you will get to read.

Net Flix and Red Box

A while ago Net Flix was launched, it allowed you to rent the latest movies on DVD. Now you are able to stream them into your home whenever you like. The world of cinema must have quaked in their boots when this was brought out as more people are probably staying in and watching movies in their homes with surround sound etc and saving money. Net Flix now has a rival and I am sure there is going to be a price war as Red Box strives to gain market share and Net Flix will do their up most to defend it. The immediate winner could be the consumer as introductory offers are there to be used and the loser in the short term might well be the cinema, as people may take advantage of these offers and not venture out of their homes. So with every action, there is a reaction and a consequence. Net Flix and Redbox

Ethics and Business Opportunities

At what point do you say enough is enough or I wish I had been a part of that. If there is a need, there is a product. More and more loan companies are setting up to offer loans over a short period of time so that people can survive between paydays. Some would say that's nice of them, but the cost could be a whopping 4000%. So you have to ask yourself, should this type of loan company be regulated, outlawed or ignored. You also have to ask how people have managed to get to this stage of needing these short term loans. Some borrowers may have to use these companies due to bad luck or through an emergency, whilst others have not learnt how to budget or grasp the concept how dangerous a store card or credit card actually are if balances are not paid off and credit limits are continually increased. For examples of calculations click here, but please ignore the loan advert. For more information about the current market place and what is happening, please read this article. it is very important to all.

Careers

Careers websites

I have been looking over the careers advice available to you. No doubt there are provisions made in schools and colleges. However, I believe that there can never be too much guidance or too many resources out there. I can guarantee that at college there are very few students who actually know what they want to do with their lives. I have known people at University completing a course of interest, knowing that when they graduate, they are still no closer to deciding what they want to do. It is not uncommon now for people to change careers due to circumstances, pace of life or the need for fresh challenges. This is not a decision to be made lightly. Someone once quoted that you spend 80% of your life working. If this is true, you might as well take some time to make the right choice and choose something you would like to do for the majority of your life.

Below are three careers websites that are definitely worth a look.

http://www.mynextmove.org/ allows you to do a personality test and browse careers that suit your personality results and skills. Persevere with the questions as the end results will give you a good basis to start your career search. There are searches based around interests or current career headings.

http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm has a lot to offer. It has statistics on new jobs and pay, but I recommend the interview section which gives first hand experience accounts from candidates on their interview process for different jobs at different companies. It allows you to get an insight into the type of job and preparation needed to get the job.

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ A government website that gives a very basic description of each type of career, the level of education required and level of pay. On this website there are a lot of facts and statistics based around the economy which might be worth keeping on your favorites tool bar as you go through college, university and life as it is the website for Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Department of Labor. Featured occupations are worth browsing once you know roughly what careers would suit you. This website provides a great resource for legislation, pay, work trends and many more areas that will be helpful.

Fragility of Share Price

Share prices drive a Public Limited Company. A strong share price that is constantly rising, shows that a business is growing and it becomes more attractive to investors, because it shows that the business is becoming more profitable and therefore the investor will get a better return through a dividend. This share price is dependent on a couple of things such as the health of the market, competitors, confidence in the business, direction of the business, the ability to bring out new products and so on. Apple is richer than most countries. It has no debt and is globally recognized. It is the main innovator in the market place with everyone playing catch up. Apple had $35billion wiped off the value of its business due to a fall in the share price. This is mainly due to its competition in one of its markets using a different phone over an Apple product. If you are ever thinking of investing in shares or want a greater awareness of the corporate world, you should have a look at the Footsie, London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq or equivalent. Choose some businesses of interest and monitor their share prices. Collect articles on the news in that particular type of industry relevant to your chosen business and see what happens to the share price. By doing this, you will get to see the true value of the share prices and whether the share prices are high or low. I am sure Mr Buffet may buy more of these shares today as the price is lower than it has been for a while. Apple article.

Gangnam Style

Its catchy and it has been copied and watched. Gangnam Style has been a phenomenal hit making Psy a millionaire, but not from the actual song, but from downloads on Youtube and the like.As previously mentioned with flashmobs, if you get an audience and the videos are watched, huge revenues can be earned from advertisements. Read for yourself.

Making of a flash mob

In my previous blog, I mentioned one of my all time favorite adverts which was in the form of a flash mob TMoblie Welcome Home. This video shows how it was made. Enjoy.

Fliers to flash mobs

Getting a message out there through the various marketing channels has changed over the years. I am always fascinated by the adverts and the process of getting a message across. Quite often on TV or the radio I actually take notice of the commercials just to see how things have changed. There are some really lame adverts where you know you could have written the content in 10 minutes and the original format of how the message is conveyed. I know budget has a lot to do with it too. Are they purposely bad to that you remember them for being bad and therefore remember the brand? However over time, there have been some absolute beauties. Flash mobs are a relatively new thing. With the use of social media and being able to make a video go viral instantly, more businesses are turning to this. Its a change in technology and marketing is changing with it. Before the England and New Zealand rugby game, a flash mob was organised in Trafalgar square. It wasn't necessarily selling anything other than highlighting that the Kiwis were in town and that there was a rugby game on today. One of my favorites has to be the T Mobile Welcome Home. Definitely memorable. Whats your favorite commercial?

Holiday jobs in doubt

The days of being at school and getting a part time job could be disappearing fast in some industries. In my last blog I had mentioned how technology is changing in terms of our behavior, interaction of others, fixation on efficiency and power at our finger tips. Well the burger industry is getting in on the act with a machine that can produce 360 burgers per hour. Will the fast food burger restaurants be needing more staff or less? Or do you think it is a fad. Will it improve efficiency or end up costing more? You decide.

10 things in Economics that everyone should know

This is a great article for anyone studying Business or Economics. The diagrams and explanations are really clear. Highly recommended. link

iPod cannibalizing its own!

Technology is a scary thing. I have been reading how over the years technology has changed how we work and interact with others. There are apps that test you on logos, set your burglar alarm,turn on the heating, work out how long you have left to live, how many calories you consume and the list goes on. I watched Apollo13 yesterday and it was staggering to think that there is more technology in an iPhone or smartphone than there was when NASA sent up the space rocket. When computers were first introduced, the monitor itself was the size of your desk. Computers are getting smaller to the point that you could run your office virtually from your phone in the palm of your hand.

Apple are now working on changing this through developing computerized glasses. Where will it end?