Category: Commercial Business Advice

For the past five years, I have been working in a large Metropolitan Community Hospital. Two years ago, I was promoted to the director of health and human services. I received a huge raise and I get to drive a company car. Things have always been busy and hectic, but now we are dealing with a huge amount of problems. The hospital is starting to look like the triage in a war zone and everyone is scared to come inside for help. We don’t have enough staff like nurses, doctors, and patient technicians. We don’t have a lot of supplies like gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, and ventilators. Luckily, we have a wonderful housekeeping staff that has been working overtime since the coronavirus started. We used to have housekeepers work during the day, with a few staff members working the evening shift. Ever since the beginning of April, we have had janitorial staff on service twenty-four hours a day and 7 days each week. We had to hire two hundred additional housekeepers to fill all of the needs. The staff works three shifts around the clock, and we are fully staffed at all times. All of the surfaces around the hospital are being wiped down with bleach and sanitizer three times every day. The rooms for our patients are being disinfected regularly and everyone testing positive for Covid-19 is in isolation away from the rest of the hospital. There are a ton of people walking in and out of the hospital doors, but we are doing our best to keep the place clean and free of germs.

Standard shipping containers are a common sight and widely used across quite a few industries. It seems as if they’ve always been around to transport products. Access to a container with standardized dimensions is invaluable for loading, unloading and transporting good effectively and efficiently all different means of transport. However, this invention can be traced back to a single person. Prior to shipping containers, freight was maneuvered manually as bulk cargo. Goods were processed through a series of pick-ups and loads as they moved from factory to vessel and vessel to warehouse and onward. These steps involved a great deal of handling, time and delays. It was costly and not dependable. Shipping containers first appeared at the end of the 18th century for combined rail and horse-drawn transport in Britain. By the 1830’s, containers were widely used by the railroads and were suitable for other modes of transport. The US Army used small versions of today’s containers during WWII to speed up distribution of supplies. Malcolm McLean invented and patented the first standardized shipping container in 1956. He owned the largest trucking company in the United States at that time. He had the ingenuous ideal of improving intermodal transportation. He’d spent years dealing with loading and unloading cargo in different sized wooden cases. He noticed the labor-intensive process of dock workers unloading freight from trucks and moving it to ships. He recognized that both his trucking company and shipping companies would benefit from a standardized process of cargo transfer. He purchased Pan Atlantic Tanker Company and the associated shipping assets. He began tinkering with improved ways to load and unload trucks. He eventually developed what is now recognized as a shipping container. 

T-shirt manufacturers and screen printers are increasingly turning to the heat transfer process. The designs are ideal for small orders and on-site printing. It allows for a variety of sizes and colors of shirt and provides a high profit margin without the risk of an overstock of printed shirts. You’re not going to get stuck storing hundreds of T-shirts and hoping to sell them. You can print t-shirts on-demand with a heat transfer printing machine. 

An image is first printed onto transfer paper. The speciality formulated transfer paper is smooth and provides a medium for the ink. The heat press machine transfers the image from the paper to the t-shirt. You can also transfer images onto puzzles, mugs, plates, blankets and more. The high temperature and consistent pressure for a specific amount of time permanently embeds the image.

There is an array of heat transfer paper on the market.  Some are intended for use at home with a conventional iron while others require the use of professional printing machines.  A heat press achieves more professional results. A heat press ensures instant, uniform and steady heat to produce superior appearance and durability. These machines are not outrageously expensive or difficult to operate. With a reasonable investment and a bit of practice, you could become skilled at heat transfer and the possibilities are nearly limitless. At nearly every event you’ll find a vendor who is printing on-demand T-shirts to commemorate the day. You can often customize the garment to suit your tastes. Heat transfer can become a very profitable business.

You’ve devoted ours over the design and completion of a printed project and you couldn’t be happier with the results of your efforts. The colors are vibrant, the font is concise and the included logo is clear. The imagery perfectly reflects your brand and impresses with professionalism. Now you need to decide whether or not to laminate. Lamination applies a clear plastic film to a piece of paper, adhering the layers together. This achieves a very durable and professional finish that holds up longer than it would otherwise. Lamination accommodates much more than standard posters and signs. Business cards, menus and presentation folders can be enhanced and protected from a gloss or matte laminate. The laminate adds durability and increases longevity. 

Some of the many benefits include:

• Protection – Laminate film consists of specific types of plastic, making it very durable. It protects printer materials from marks, spills and tears and can simply be wiped with a cloth without causing further damage. Lamination also combats the harmful consequences of UV rays and extends color intensity of the printed image. It is especially helpful for printed materials that will be outdoors and exposed to weather. 
• Durability – If you’ve ever been finishing up a document and accidentally spilled your coffee on it, you understand the importance of a durable product. Lamination ensures important documents or prints are easier to clean with affecting the print. The material can hold up better to frequent use and rougher treatment. Because they need to be replaced less often, you save money.
• Appearance – Printed materials typically suffering from fading and wear and tear. When documents are displayed for safety purposes in potentially dangerous areas, maintaining legibility is essential. Adding lamination helps the material to last longer with a like-new appearance. 

You work to grow and develop your company. At some point, you’re likely to hit a plateau and require some outside help. A business consultant partners with clients on different aspects of planning, strategy and problem-solving.   A professional provides vital information and informed guidance to help executives or upper management gain business skills across their industry. Business consultants act as professional advisors. They bring a specialized set of skills to make them beneficial in certain areas of business. Organizations and firms in all industries seek the help of business consultants to resolve problems and supply advice on the best way to resolve specific aspects of their business. 

The business consultant can analyze the operation and develop solutions catered to the company and their goals. You want to take advantage of a business consultant who has expertise in your area of the market. Their experience and skill set works to pinpoint issues and promote necessary changes. You can rely on a business consultant to provide constructive criticism as well as to train and teach the staff. Sometimes, they may even need to eliminate staff who aren’t contributing to the profitability and productivity of the business. If your company has stalled or even fallen into a decline in recent years, a business consultant can be the difference. Targeted modifications can work to revive the company and set you on a new course for success.

While business consultants don’t work for free, their goal is to pay for themselves by serving your bottom line. Whether you’re struggling with marketing strategies, branding, productivity, overhead or simply a failure to manage the workforce, it’s the business consultant’s job to recognize these flaws and determine the best way to fix them. Once you hire a business consultant, you need to follow their recommendations to enjoy maximum results and benefits.

You can definitely get more money out of a furnished rental properly. The demand for furnished living and working spaces to rent continues to grow. Airbnb has provided an amazing tool for potential renters and landlords alike. In the last ten years, there has been a rise in the number of people renting. The percentage of those renters who prefer a furnished home has increased for a number of reasons. You might be wondering what it takes to get into the furnished rental business. If you’re thinking of stepping into this style of landlording there are two types of furnished rental properties. There are long-term rentals that extend for a few months or more, and short-term rentals, such as vacation properties. The majority of long-term rental options don’t come furnished. However, they can and there are benefits. This type of apartment typically includes all the necessary furniture and appliances. They may or may not have daily requirements such as plates, silverware and linens. Short-term rentals are for a month or less and include linens, table settings, toasters, vacuum cleaners, barbecue grills and even pool toys. The idea is that the renter only needs to bring clothing and personal items to live comfortably. Most short-term rentals are located in tourist areas where people are willing to pay a bit more for the comforts of home. They are in close proximity to the attractions yet come back to a cozy living and sleeping environment. The short-term rentals provide the ability to cook, do laundry and get out of the hustle and bustle.

You’re looking for a space to rent. Not just any space will do. An office space serves lots of different functions. The cost of rent directly impacts your budget. The comfort and quality of the space affects the morale and professionalism of your staff. Everything about the property, from the parking lot to the carpets reflect your brand image. There are so many things to consider, and every decision impacts the satisfaction and value of your decision. So what is most essential to your choice for an office space rental? It’s all about location.

You’ve probably heard the famous phrase a hundred times. Location, location, location! It’s very true. Location is the MOST important factor when choosing a space for your office. You certainly don’t want your business to be hidden where no one can find it. You don’t want it to be a hassle to get to it. Can your clients locate your office? Are you in convenient proximity to other essential businesses? Are you easily accessible to your employees? Is there available public transportation? Is there sufficient parking? Is the building handicap accessible? If the space you’re considering fulfills those essential priorities, you’ve probably found a good location. You might also want to think about other helpful attributes, such as the security of the neighborhood and what else is nearby. Can you easily get a cup of coffee or lunch? Food delivery can be helpful and a bar for happy hours is great for employee bonding. You need a location that not only provides for you needs but satisfies clients and staff as well. Commercial office space is available in a lot of neighborhoods, but the area greatly affects what that space is worth.