Atricle Dump - Business

Your Business Mission - What the Heck Do You Do, Anyway?
Do you really need a business mission statement? Is it just some fancy words to put in that business plan that collects dust on your shelf, or is there really more to it?One of the key attributes of successful businesses is that they clearly know what they do. Defining the goal or the "mission" of your business can be the key to your success.A good mission statement does three things:" States what business you are in. " Defines your target market. " Provides inspiration for your business.One of the best examples of a mission statement comes from Levi Strauss & Co. http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/ValuesAndVision.aspx"We will market and distribute the most appealing and widely worn apparel brands. Our products define quality, style and function. We will clothe the world."Clothing the world is a pretty lofty goal, but Levi Strauss has the ability to do this for one reason--- Their founder, Levi Strauss, started the business with a mission and focus.Levi started his wholesale dry goods business in San Francisco February, 1853. Rather than hoping to make his fortune in the Gold Rush, he created a fortune by wholesaling clothing and fabric to the small stores supplying the thousands of miners and later, families of the West.In 1872, he was contacted by Jacob Davis, a tailor who had developed a method to rivet the stress points of the pants he made from fabric he

from the competition. Celebrating significant anniversaries or birthdays brings the long-standing nature and the achievements of the company to the fore. Historic information and images can also be used to support particular brands emphasising their position in the market place.

* A market for nostalgia

Exploiting your heritage can bring in revenue. Companies with well known advertising and packaging logos and images can licence their reproductions in all kinds of ways: the Guinness Toucan, Colman's mustard and Pears soap are just a few examples of well known images that bring in money for their owners.

* Education

Archives can be used within a business to inform and educate new recruits about a company's history and successes and pass on company values and principles. Archives can also be used as an educational resource by learners of all ages - some companies have

Holding a Conference? 10 Tips on Making Your Conference A Success
When you are in charge of a conference, you have an enormous amount of responsibility. It is important that your conference not only is a success from a business standpoint, but also that your participants enjoy themselves and feel that it was worth their time. Here are ten tips which will help ensure a successful conference.1. Plan early. You should set a date and place for large conferences a year in advance. Reserve blocks of hotel rooms for those traveling from out of town. Give participants plenty of time to make travel plans. The earlier you start planning, the easier things will be for both you and those attending the conference.2. Offer incentives to those who sign up early. Discount the registration fee or offer a gift of some sort. This will give you a better idea of how many participants you can expect.3. Set a theme for the conference. Start promoting your theme from the beginning. Include it on the registration forms. Mention it in the confirmation letters. This helps build a sense of excitement and will help set the tone for the entire event.4. Plan a variety of events. People learn in different ways. Participants will get more out of the conference if they can tailor the experience to their own needs. Plan lecture sessions, as well as group activities and panel discussions. Set up workshops and social events. Be sure to allow time to visit the vendors and time to relax.5

The UK’s Records Management Society defines records management as, “the process by which a company manages all the elements of records whether externally or internally generated and in any format or media type, from their inception/receipt, all the way through to their disposal”. In this digital age many organisations have set up comprehensive systems to ensure that electronic records are safely stored and backed up, with a plan in place should an unexpected crisis occur. This makes a great deal of sense since some estimates suggest that over 90% of businesses that have had a major data processing disaster will go out of business within 5 years.

These days most employees rely on electronic systems to do their job and lost or damaged files can spell disaster. However while IT systems are often carefully considered and any perceived emergencies planned for, paper records can frequently be neglected. It’s difficult to pinpoint why this is except to say that perhaps manual records are considered unimportant when compared to expensive IT systems. Perhaps it is also the case that the sheer physicality of a paper record makes people (wrongly) believe it is not as important to safeguard as a computer file that could more easily be destroyed or corrupted. But to take this viewpoint is ill advised and short sighted.

Many organisations are under a legal obligation to keep certain records for a specified period of time. For example, financial institutions are now required to keep mortgage loan files for up to ten years after the loan has been repaid. Some medical records must be stored throughout the life of the patient and government institutions are now required to keep certain records for up to 50 years. Companies pay a high price for inadequate record keeping. In January 2003 The Bank of Scotland was fined ?1.25m for breaching anti-money laundering rules on the identification of customers because it had failed to retain a copy of customer ID or a record of where it was kept. Often there is a legal requirement to keep the original paper document even when it exists electronically and in any action, the legal weight of records will be greater if the original version is produced. The Business Archives Council, which promotes the preservation of business records of historical importance, gives some other reasons why it can be prudent to save original documents.

Among their points are:

* Transparent corporate governance

Good record-keeping is an integral part of transparent corporate governance. The implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US has brought heightened scrutiny of an organisation's internal controls and practices. Trustworthy and accurate records serve as a bedrock for a company's reporting systems and ensure that they comply with best practice

* A key part of Corporate Social Responsibility

Caring for your heritage can be a key part of a Corporate Social Responsibility policy. Businesses have impacted on the lives of their staff, customers, shareholders and on the communities in which they operate. Business archives record how lives have been affected and changed. Some companies have publicly acknowledged that their own histories are an important piece in the jigsaw of the past and that they have a duty of care to their own archives. Making business archives accessible to the public is a real contribution to the community.

* Brand Building

The past can be used to support present performance. Archives add detail and depth to the public image of a company, differentiating it from the competition. Celebrating significant anniversaries or birthdays brings the long-standing nature and the achievements of the company to the fore. Historic information and images can also be used to support particular brands emphasising their position in the market place.

* A market for nostalgia

* Education

Develop Your Small Business - Five Tasks A Day
Set goals for your small business, write them down on paper and commit yourself to them! If you do, you will come out as a successful small business entrepreneur!The everyday small business operations such as : keeping up with email, maintain your web site, checking traffic statistics, surf the web for new ideas etc, may consume the time you need to use for necessary actions developing your small business. If you don't watch it, it might have a very negative impact on your ability to achieve your goals.Now, how do you take your business all the way? How can you avoid to be distracted from what you have to do? Create a Five Tasks a day schedule! Do five small tasks every day that help take your small business one step at the time closer to your goals.Create An Action PlanWhen you define what you want to achieve with your small business, spend some extra time to write down the steps you need to take. Make a blueprint which states exactly what you want to achieve, and what you have to do to reach your goals. Make it clear what is most important. In what order should it be done? What needs extra time or resources?Instead of just having one definite deadline for your main goal, you need to create stop over goals. Make a schedule and set stop over goals at each state of progress. Write down an estimated arrival date at each stop over goal. By doing this ,you'll break down your main goal into

tly be neglected. It’s difficult to pinpoint why this is except to say that perhaps manual records are considered unimportant when compared to expensive IT systems. Perhaps it is also the case that the sheer physicality of a paper record makes people (wrongly) believe it is not as important to safeguard as a computer file that could more easily be destroyed or corrupted. But to take this viewpoint is ill advised and short sighted.

Among their points are:

* Transparent corporate governance

* A key part of Corporate Social Responsibility

* Brand Building

* A market for nostalgia

* Education

FIR Sauna Room
HEALTHY FIR Sauna Room1.Purify Skin and Lose Weight: light wave exposures can remove excess fat and cellulite, clear toxins, then reach the effect of weight loss, body building, enjoying radiant and youthful skin.2.Relieve Pain: infrared radiant heat saunas produce deep, soothing penetrating heat which can expand capillary vessel, accelerate blood circulation, increase oxygen production, for the relief of arthritis, sore backs, muscle aches and pains.3.Strengthen Body: 1000 calories of heat can be consumed in 30 minutes, equaling to the sweat volume of 10 kilometers running.4.Lose Stress-Relieve Tension: sweet music and harmonious light wave may relieve mental stress and relax absolutely. Enjoy all the amenities, as well as the health wonders provided in sauna.Application fields:一 Family 　　Health care of family ---Enjoying health care in your own personal sauna.二 GYM club 　　Health care of sport---Healthy sauna will bring you a healthy future.三 Bath center 　　Vogue bathing---Light wave sauna is the third generation shower equipment of Europe and U.S.A.四 Beauty center 　　Light wave beauty---A profound revolution in beauty industry.五 Hotel 　　Healthy guestroom---Light wave healthy guestroom is a “new weapon” of the update and r

January 2003 The Bank of Scotland was fined ?1.25m for breaching anti-money laundering rules on the identification of customers because it had failed to retain a copy of customer ID or a record of where it was kept. Often there is a legal requirement to keep the original paper document even when it exists electronically and in any action, the legal weight of records will be greater if the original version is produced. The Business Archives Council, which promotes the preservation of business records of historical importance, gives some other reasons why it can be prudent to save original documents.

Among their points are:

* Transparent corporate governance

* A key part of Corporate Social Responsibility

* Brand Building

* A market for nostalgia

* Education

Gatting Past the Gatekeeper
These days when making a cold call it is important now more than ever before to make yourself different from the pack.. When you apply for a job that is advertised in the paper your app. will be amongst a thousand others. The same goes when you are calling a business, unless you leave a totally unique message for the person you are trying to talk to you will never hear from them.I had a company for many years where cold calling was an every day thing. I knew from my work for so many other companies that you have to stand out. I named my business Global Online Deals and whenever I would call a company for the first time I would say just tell them that Jeff from God is on the phone. The initials of my company name spelled GOD. I did this on purpose. When first talking with a potential customer I would tell them that I had tried to get the url Godin but that some TV Evangelist who was doing time in prison owned that name.Customers would call me back and leave a message "Jeff, did you know that your initials spell GOD, whats with this?" All I have to say on this subject is that it got me the call backs I needed. A lot of times secretaries would just start laughing and put me through to the person I needed to speak with. Seth Godin puts it this way ' You have to be a Purple Cow in order to survive in the today".I had a salesman once who was playing phone tag with this customer he needed to speak with.

. Trustworthy and accurate records serve as a bedrock for a company's reporting systems and ensure that they comply with best practice

* A key part of Corporate Social Responsibility

* Brand Building

* A market for nostalgia

* Education

Stress Reduction Tips
Our doctors and therapists warn that stress is the cause of many illnesses and reduces the quality of sleep, relationships and well being. Yet, how can you reduce stress without shirking your duties and responsibilities? Everyone dreams of running away to a French chateau as they are driving the carpool in heavy traffic. However, usually we do not need to change our lives drastically to make substantial improvements to our health and happiness. Here are six steps for type A personalities and overworked moms to use to reduce stress in their minds and their lives.1. Remember when you were eight years old? What did you think you would be doing when you grew up? Were you a fireman? Visit a firehouse and ask if they need a hand. Were you a ballerina? Enroll in an adult ballet class and for one hour a week be a beginning prima donna.This works because switching professions to a beloved childhood dream, even for a few hours a week, takes you back to childhood fantasy and freedom that is lost for most adults. Play and stress dissolves.2. Take a body break. Lock the door and lie down on the floor in a sunny spot (use a mat if you wish). Pretend that you are in acting class and be a cat. Take in the warmth of the sun on your skin. Elongate your body and add several inches of length. Widen your body, spreading your arms, shoulders and legs. Stretch and release. Breathe deeply and writhe your body in a sensuous

* A market for nostalgia

* Education

Clearly some of these points would not be put under the heading of ‘Business Critical’ but they do give further background as to why paper records can be so important.

The first rule of thumb for any organisation should be to asses their records according to the following criteria: business value, legal value, administrative value, historical value. The records can then be classed as vital, important, useful or non-essential. For those records deemed vital, the next step is to ensure that the storage of those records is an integral part of your business continuity plan and this means considering how and where they are stored. In exactly the same way as you would safeguard your IT systems and electronic records, consideration should be given to the possible disaster scenarios and how you can guard against loss or damage of those records.

For many companies the first obvious factor to think about is physical location. A Morgan Stanley Brokers note in June 2003 estimated that 70% of businesses are storing records on their own premises. Clearly this has huge implications should that office be subject to any kind of negative event. The horrific and devastating events of 9/11 showed all too clearly the potential risks of storing vital business records on site with many thousands of important documents destroyed. But if not on site then where is the best place? Some companies discount off site storage for those records that are deemed ‘active’ since they can be concerned that, should they need them, it will be a difficult process to retrieve them but any professional records management company should be able to deliver a document back to you within 24 hours and/or a scanned electronic version within a few hours.

If that is not acceptable then consideration should be given to copying the record and placing the original off site. The same factors apply to long term or ‘inactive’ storage. When deciding on an off site storage provider another important point to consider includes the environmental conditions of the site. Paper needs to be stored in cool consistent temperatures with a tight humidity band. It is worth reading through BS5454 since this sets the environmental standard for the storage of archival documents. Other points to assess include the risk of flood, fire or terrorist attack and, should any of these occur, how does the records management company in question plan ahead to handle it.

The National Archives previously known as the Public Records Office, has some of the country’s most important records. Acting as the UK government’s official archive, The National Archives looks after many thousands of documents containing 900 years of history from the Domesday Book to the present. The National Archives keep the majority of their material at their headquarters in Kew but they also keep a portion of their archive off site at DeepStore. They suggest that, in order to minimise damage to paper records, organisations should consider the following when planning for disaster.

* The best way to deal with potential disasters is to stop them happening. A first step is to identify and assess sources of potential risk in terms of the probability of an incident occurring, and likely impact if it does, including the costs of recovery.

* The process should include a detailed inspection of the premises and operational activities on site, and consultation with staff in each work area, particularly those such as caret

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The New Year is almost here and most of us are thinking about how we might be healthier, happier, wealthier and more productive. Here are my suggested resolutions to help Bookkeepers, business owners and just about everyone else accomplish these goals.

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Atricle Dump - Records Management And Its Key Role In Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery

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