The Scholar of Business

Every company has to start somewhere, and for OctoClean that somewhere was in Riverside, California as an employee-run cleaning service company called Service Pros. Over the last twenty years, Service Pros has developed into a strong contender in the cleaning business, changing its name to OctoClean in 2000 upon expanding into a franchising company. Today there are more than 150 unit franchisees bringing in almost $4 million in revenue each year.

These unit franchises offer those interesting in becoming business owners the safety, backing, and support of a large company while maintaining a certain amount of freedom. In order to both establish and sustain a unit franchise, OctoClean provides their franchisees with a multitude of resources including customer service assistance, financial assistance, and continuous training.

OctoClean also utilizes a network of master franchises in order to uphold a high level of support and security for their unit franchise owners. Master franchisees become the CEO of their own company that includes multiple unit franchises inside an exclusive territory. This arrangement is great for those looking to exercise and grow their own organizational, sales, economic, and business management skills

We live in a world where distractions are at an all time high. With technological advances proclaiming their time saving features, we should have more time than ever to get our tasks done. The reality is, these devices are helping to kill our productivity.

In a blog post last year, popular author Tim Ferriss shared an interesting fact. Multitasking (checking email while working for example) was more destructive than smoking a joint before work. Can you believe that? As someone who has worked online for years I don’t find it hard to believe at all.

It is usual for grain that has been harvested to be stored in the grain storage silos. What exactly is a silo? It is a storage structure for keeping the large amount of materials like grain, wood chips, cement and cereals. Harvested grains have to be stored using effective grain storage systems to prevent the products from going bad. In fact, these great innovative structures allow the stored grains to stay fresh and at their best so that when the time is right, they can be marketed to the consumers.

Silos can be built from different materials like cement, bricks and metals. Most harvested farm products are stored in metal grain storage silos. Materials like corrugated galvanized metal and smooth metal are used to build such silos. These silos are constructed cylindrical in shape and can comes with either a flat bottomed or conical bottomed.

Although different constructors have different designs, these silos usually is designed with a man-hole at the highest panels and an outlet pipe at the lower part of the structure. Both openings can be locked tight when not in use. Normally, a good quality silo can be used for more than 30 years and it is very easily maintained.

With research and innovative technology these days, silos are not just plainly a storage space like the traditional storage warehouse. Usually, when silos are built, there are other built-in systems which assist in storing the grain easier, more conveniently and fresher. You will have the auto system to monitor the temperature in the silo, the system for the ventilation of air, the system to clear the grain, the system to transport the grain and even systems that fumigate to get rid of pests as well as drying to prevent moisture.

Private owned businesses have their own executives and do not need to play by the rules of a corporation. Management plays by their own rules and they tell everyone what management desires. This way of thinking for management is changing, even for the smaller businesses. A ‘manager’ is not solely what businesses are looking for. Their goal is to find a leader who can take their employees to new levels of efficiency, productivity, and skill sets.

A manager and leader are not the same. Understanding the difference is extremely important. The easiest way to understand the difference between managers and leaders is simple. Managers direct employees and tell them what to do while a leader is inspiring. A manager demands respect and uses his or her authority to obtain it. A good leader respects other employees and enhances an individual initiative of freedom, which results in a large amount of respect. In order for a manager to be effective, business theory has proven they expand activities horizontally so they can be controlled. An inspiring leader will promote development to occur at a vertical level. The power is not evident and often times it is out of a leader’s control but in the control of the staff members.

A good leader is far more effective than a manager. This is because a leader creates motivation within the employees of an organization. A leader creates drive and initiative and gives employees ownership for their positions. Employees then want to come to work and do a good job because they are motivated to do so. A manager exercises their control and power to the point that often times, employees wake up in the morning and they don’t want to go to work. Motivation is often lacking with managers who do not possess good leadership skills.

Pulse Oximeters have been an essential medical tool in hospital and healthcare settings since the 1940′s. What healthcare providers and patients usually equate with the term Pulse Oximeter is a large, bulky machine that sits in the hospital or doctor’s office whereby a wire hooks to their finger taking vital signs. This antedated technology, however, has been surpassed by cutting-edge technology that transforms the typical large, bulky oximeter machine into a small, portable machine smaller than the size of a pager.

Landon Medical is at the forefront of the oximeter industry. With the recent introduction of the $39 LM-800 Pulse Oximeter, Landon Medical has cemented its position as a leader in reducing costs of medical devices and passing on the savings to the consumers. Landon Medical’s LM-800 (FDA Approved) Fingertip Pulse Oximeter measures SpO2 (percentage of oxygen saturation in the blood) and pulse rate with accuracy and ease. Specifically manufactured to be lightweight and portable the LM-800 model provides fast and accurate readings of blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Small and compact, the LM-800 Oximeter it provides complete oximetry solutions while still able to fit in your pocket.

The LM-800 Oximeter is a widely used medical device all health-care facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient surgery centers, physician offices, dentist offices, emergency and ambulatory situations, sport athletes, as well for home diagnostics for monitoring such illnesses as COPD, cardiac problems, respiratory issues, asthma, and many more. Landon Medical continues to find new innovative ways of reducing Pulse Oximeter costs and passing on the savings to consumers.

My buddy called me the other day, and I knew by the tone in his voice, he wanted something!

He was desperate.

He wanted to borrow money. I asked why, and he said he incurred over $300 in overdraft bank fees for the month.

My first reaction was, “What?”

I asked him how he had gotten this way… and he slowly started telling me. The $300 bank fee wasn’t the first time. He had regularly overdrafted…infact, he was a serial overdrafter. To the tune of about $3000 per year.

Not only was the bank after him, but he was several months behind on his mortgage and I’m positive that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Nope, I couldn’t live like that!

For the last 2 years he’s been trying to get his own business off the ground… and it just dawned on him that maybe his prices were too low.

MAYBE? Dang tootin, they were!

Just pricing your services cheaper doesn’t guarantee you work, nor does it pay the bills.

He had no idea what his true cost of doing business was, and had I had the opportunity to run the numbers I would bet that he would need to double his prices just to make ends meet.

The problem for him was that his cheap prices were attracting cheap customers. Customers that his competitors rejected, he ended up getting. The more desperate for money, the cheaper he lowered his price to attract work.