Entrepreneurship

-is the act of being an entrepreneur, which comes from the French word "Entreprendre" meaning "one who undertakes an endeavor". Entrepreneurs assemble resources including innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity or necessity. The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses; however, in recent years, the term has been extended to include social and political forms of entrepreneurial activity. When entrepreneurship is describing activities within a firm or large organization it is referred to as intra-preneurship and may include corporate venturing, when large entities start spin-off organizations.

Careers in Entrepeneurship
Entrepreneurs start new businesses and take on the risk and rewards of being an owner. This is the ultimate career in capitalism - putting your idea to work in a competitive economy. Some new ventures generate enormous wealth for the entrepreneur. However, the job of entrepreneur is not for everyone. You need to be hard-working, smart, creative, willing to take risks and good with people. You need to have heart, have motivation and have drive.
One of the best things about pursuing a career as an entrepreneur is the wide-open possibilities. There is room in many economies throughout the globe for entrepreneurship - such as India, Brazil, Dubai, the U.S. or Kenya. There are many industries where wealth creation is possible be it the Internet and IT, personal services, media, engineering or small local business (e.g., dry cleaning, electronics repair, restaurants). But there is a downside of entrepreneurship too. Your life may lack stability and structure. Your ability to take time off may be highly limited. And you may become stressed as you manage cash flow on the one hand and expansion on the other. Three out of five new businesses in the U.S. fail within 18 months of getting started.
It's important to be savvy and understand what is and is not realistic. The web is chock-full of come-ons promising to make you rich. Avoid promotions that require you to pay up front to learn some secret to wealth. Understand that the market is more or less efficient - which means that if a bunch of people know a sure way to be a millionaire then the opportunity has probably already been competed away. On the other hand, look for inefficiencies in markets. Places where a better idea, a little ingenuity or some aggressive marketing could really make a difference. Think about problems that people would pay to have a solution to. It helps to know finance. It's a must to really know your product area well. What do consumers want? What differentiates you from the competition? How do you market this product? A formal business plan is not essential, but is normally a great help in thinking through the case for a new business. You'll be investing more in it than anyone else, so treat yourself like a smart, skeptical investor who needs to be convinced that the math adds up for the business you propose starting.
Entrepreneurs have many personalities. A number never finished college. Some are fiery revolutionaries. Some are gentle souls with a good idea. Some are driven but difficult. Some have grown up in the most difficult circumstances imaginable - emerging with enormous determination to strive for greatness. Others are pleasant, personable and compassionate renegades. Generally, there will be a life event, key motivator or a source of inspiration that causes a person to strike out on their own rather than work inside a larger company. Sometimes it is cubicle fatigue or, worse, getting fired. Other times it is an "aha moment" where an insight or innovation into how an industry or business could be done differently arises. Sometimes it's a bad boss.
The possibilities in entrepreneurship are endless. The rewards can be high. And the risks are undoubtedly high too. But, if you have drive, creativity and the desire to be your own boss, this may very well be the career for you.
http://www.careers-in-business.com/en.htm


What Are the Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur?

The Components of a Successful Business
1. A competent entrepreneur
2. A viable business concept
3. Access to adequate capital
When these three components come together, then you are in the right place at the right time. If not, you will probably fail.
Following is the summary of an article written by Judith L. Glick-Smith that ran in the July/August 1999 Society for Technical Communicators' journal, Intercom. This is a well-researched article and includes an impressive bibliography. Anyone thinking of becoming self-employed would do well to compare his/her own personality to the traits described in the article.
Check with your local library for copies of the STC's journal or purchase a back copy directly from the STC. (The STC is one of the links on my Interesting Links page.)
- Anne Wallingford
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Successful Entrepreneurs
by Judith L. Glick-Smith
According to Webster's dictionary, an entrepreneur is one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Entrepreneurs live in the future. They have creative personalities, are innovative, and thrive on change. But what makes an entrepreneur successful? Research done by Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business came up with common characteristics of over 200 successful entrepreneurs. Successful was defined as being in business for at least 5 years and who has gross revenues of at least $1 million.
Common Traits in a Successful Entrepreneur
1. Good health. Successful entrepreneurs must work long hours for extended periods of time. When they get sick, they recover quickly.
2. A Need to Control and Direct. They prefer environments where they have maximum authority and responsibility and do not work well in traditionally structured organizations. This is not about power, though. Entrepreneurs have a need to create and achieve by having control over events.
3. Self-confidence. Findings showed that as long as entrepreneurs were in control, they were relentless in pursuit of their goals. If they lost control, they quickly lost interest in the undertaking.
4. Sense of Urgency. They have a never-ending sense of urgency to do something. This corresponds with a high energy level. Many enjoy individual sports rather than team sports. Inactivity makes them impatient.
5. Comprehensive Awareness. They have a comprehensive awareness of a total situation and are aware of all the ramifications involved in a decision.
6. Realistic Outlook. There is a constant need to know the status of things. They may or may not be idealistic, but they are honest and straightforward and expect others to be the same.
7. Conceptual Ability. They have superior conceptual abilities. This helps entrepreneurs identify relationships in complex situations. Chaos does not bother them because they can conceptualize order. Problems are quickly identified and solutions offered. The drawback is that this may not translate well to interpersonal problems.
8. Low Need for Status. Their need for status is met through achievement not through material possessions.
9. Objective Approach. They take an objective approach to personal relationships and are more concerned with the performance and accomplishment of others than with feelings. They keep their distance psychologically and concentrate on the effectiveness of operations.
10. Emotional Stability. They have the stability to handle stress from business and from personal areas in their lives. Setbacks are seen as challenges and do not discourage them.
11. Attraction to Challenges. They are attracted to challenges but not to risks. It may look like they are taking high risks, but in actuality they have assessed the risks thoroughly.
12. Describing with Numbers. They can describe situations with numbers. They understand their financial position and can tell at any time how much they have in receivables and how much they owe.



Make Your Business grow

When we start our own small businesses, most of us have visions of ending up with larger operations which we can sell or which will generate enough income to let us retire well when we're ready to do so. As a result, growing the business is one of the main pre-occupations of small business owners.
Businesses can grow in four ways:
• purchase another business;
• take customers away from the competition;
• grow within a growing market; or
• grow by accessing a new market.
Purchase another business
This is an easy way to grow but it only works if the right opportunity presents itself. A quick way to determine whether a business is worth purchasing is to estimate the profit you can achieve from your combined businesses. Subtract the profit you're already making in your existing business and subtract the financing costs - if there's anything left, the purchase is worth considering. Such opportunities are rare but often a competitor's owner will want to sell for personal reasons so that's another reason to keep a close eye on what your competition is up to.
Take customers away from the competition
Despite the fact that this is the most difficult to do and that increasing market share by dropping your price only works under certain conditions, this is the combination many businesses choose as their first growth strategy. The problem with taking customers away from your competition is that they are going to fight back and the fight is generally going to leave you both weaker. Dropping your price as a part of this fight will only work in the short term if you have more financing so that you can finance your losses longer. In the long term, it will only work if your costs are lower. In some cases, there is no choice since, for various reasons, the other strategies will not do what you want but trying to take customers away from your competition should normally be the last choice.
Grow within a growing market
If you are doing business within a growing market, you should be able to grow at the same rate as the market or faster by concentrating on the new customers which are coming into the market. These new customers need what you are offering and, not having bought before, don't have any supplier loyalties. Selling to these customers is by far the easiest growth strategy and, since you're not taking them away from anyone, your competition's reaction is going to be less aggressive. Even if your market is not growing or, at least, not fast enough for you, you can apply this strategy by identifying new niches in the existing market, niches which are not being served. Because you are a small business, you will be able to serve smaller niches more efficiently than larger competitors and you will therefore often find such niche market segments which your larger competitors have ignored. This is the growth strategy that is most often successful for small businesses.
The copyright of the article Make Your Business grow in Small Business is owned by Bert Markgraf. Permission to republish Make Your Business grow in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Grow by accessing a new market
This should be your second choice if you can't grow in your existing market. It is less expensive to grow in your existing market because your marketing strategy will remain the same but, if that's not possible, identifying and moving into a new market has the next best chance of success. You'll need new or more publicity, marketing material and it will take time and effort. The costs will be similar to mounting a campaign to take customers away from your competition but you'll be spared the aggressive reaction from the competitor.
So make your business grow. First, look around for new customers or new market segments in your existing market. That's your best bet. If that doesn't get you growing fast enough, look for new markets. Your final option is to get into a fight for customers with your competitors but, before dropping your prices, make sure you've got lots of financing and that your costs are lower. All the while, keep a lookout for opportunities to buy another company as long as it's a good business and the price is right.
For a more detailed discussion on growth strategies for small businesses take my course at SuiteU called, Growing Your Own Small Business. It gives more ideas and more details on this subject.

A Standard Business Plan Outline
by Tim Berry
What information needs to be in your business plan? What is the order of information that will make the most sense to lenders and investors? You can answer these questions with the business plan outlines provided below.
What are the standard elements of a business plan? If you do need a standard business plan to seek funding — as opposed to a plan-as-you-go approach for running your business, which I describe below — there are predictable contents of a standard business plan outline.
For example, a business plan normally starts with an Executive Summary, which should be concise and interesting. People almost always expect to see sections covering the Company, the Market, the Product, the Management Team, Strategy, Implementation, and Financial Analysis. The precise business plan format can vary.
Is the order important? If you have the main components, the order doesn’t matter that much, but here’s the sequence I suggest for a business plan. I have provided two outlines, one simple and the other more detailed.
Simple business plan outline
1. Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
2. Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
3. Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
4. Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
5. Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you can track results.
6. Web Plan Summary: For e-commerce, include discussion of website, development costs, operations, sales and marketing strategies.
7. Management Team: Describe the organization and the key management team members.
8. Financial Analysis: Make sure to include at the very least your projected Profit and Loss and Cash Flow tables.
Build your plan, then organize it. I don’t recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary obviously comes as the first section of a business plan, I recommend writing it after everything else is done. It will appear first, but you write it last.


Standard tables and charts
There are also some business tables and charts that are normally expected in a standard business plan.
Cash flow is the single most important numerical analysis in a plan, and should never be missing. Most plans will also have Sales Forecast and Profit and Loss statements. I believe they should also have separate Personnel listings, projected Balance Sheet, projected Business Ratios, and Market Analysis tables.
I also believe that every plan should include bar charts and pie charts to illustrate the numbers.
Expanded business plan outline
Here’s an expanded full business plan outline, with details you might want to include in your own business plan.
1.0 Executive Summary
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Mission
1.3 Keys to Success
2.0 Company Summary
2.1 Company Ownership
2.2 Company History (for ongoing companies) or Start-up Plan (for new companies)
2.3 Company Locations and Facilities
3.0 Products and Services
3.1 Product and Service Description
3.2 Competitive Comparison
3.3 Sales Literature
3.4 Sourcing and Fulfillment
3.5 Technology
3.6 Future Products and Services
4.0 Market Analysis Summary
4.1 Market Segmentation
4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy
4.2.1 Market Needs
4.2.2 Market Trends
4.2.3 Market Growth
4.3 Industry Analysis
4.3.1 Industry Participants
4.3.2 Distribution Patterns
4.3.3 Competition and Buying Patterns
4.3.4 Main Competitors
5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary
5.1 Strategy Pyramids
5.2 Value Proposition
5.3 Competitive Edge
5.4 Marketing Strategy
5.4.1 Positioning Statements
5.4.2 Pricing Strategy
5.4.3 Promotion Strategy
5.4.4 Distribution Patterns
5.4.5 Marketing Programs
5.5 Sales Strategy
5.5.1 Sales Forecast
5.5.2 Sales Programs
5.6 Strategic Alliances
5.7 Milestones
6.0 Web Plan Summary
6.1 Website Marketing Strategy
6.2 Development Requirements
7.0 Management Summary
7.1 Organizational Structure
7.2 Management Team
7.3 Management Team Gaps
7.4 Personnel Plan
8.0 Financial Plan
8.1 Important Assumptions
8.2 Key Financial Indicators
8.3 Break-even Analysis
8.4 Projected Profit and Loss
8.5 Projected Cash Flow
8.6 Projected Balance Sheet
8.7 Business Ratios
8.8 Long-term Plan
Business plan outline advice
Size your business plan to fit your business. Remember that your business plan should be only as big as what you need to run your business. While everybody should have planning to help run a business, not everyone needs to develop a complete formal business plan suitable for submitting to a potential investor, or bank, or venture contest. So don’t include outline points just because they are on a big list somewhere, or on this list, unless you’re developing a standard business plan that you’ll be showing to somebody else who expects a standard business plan.
Consider plan-as-you-go business planning. I’ve done a lot of work on this idea lately, resulting in my new “Plan As You Go” business planning, which is a now a book published by Entrepreneur Press, available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Borders, and bundled as an eBook with Business Plan Pro. I’ve also added a short video here to the right, illustrating how the outline could be simpler with a new approach.
How to Find Financing For Your Business
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Very few business owners can afford to run a business totally out of their own bank account. If you are not an established business, loan possibilities may be very limited. Here are a few alternatives to get financing.
To find financing for your business:
1. Assess the financial needs of your business.
2. Calculate the financial resources you personally can contribute.
3. Prepare financial statements.
4. Contact professional resources who can serve as references.
5. Consider bringing in a partner with complementary talents and money to invest.
6. Work out barter arrangements, if possible, with any suppliers.
7. Consider what possible collateral might be possible for a loan, including unpaid accounts payable.
8. Look for any business incubators in your area which might be interested in investing in your business.
9. Investigate strategic partnering opportunities where a successful firm in a complementary business would be interested in investing that would be a goodbusiness partner.
10. Apply for guaranteed loan through the Small Business Administration.
11. Cost cut every way possible, except on the quality of your product.
12. Ask friend and family to invest, giving them a written agreement on repayment.
Tips:
1. Almost anyone lending money will want to know how much you have contributed. They don't want to take a risk on you if you are willing to risk your own money.
2. Learn the business terminology of the financial world. Not only does it help with understanding your options, but it impresses lenders.
3. The Small Business Administration has a large variety of financing options available.





Famous Entrepreneurs in the Philippines

When asked about what they want to become in the future, youngsters would often settle for the answer that they do want to be billionaires instead of gaining recognition from award-giving bodies, becoming popular athletes, or landing as famous scientists. What has happened to the young generation? Well, they cannot be blamed. Life has been too harsh all through these years and it is just a natural response for people to prefer gaining their billions whenever they get the chance.

Research studies show how almost a hundred thousand of people earn their millions in every year just in the entire United States! Well, majority of these people are owners of personal businesses. Simply dealing with the matter, these people have started working on their own business ventures so that they will be able to get their profits in due time. Some kind of inspiration, right? So if you want to be a millionaire, learn to work out with a worthy investment! You can always do it. Just arm yourself with enough funds and careful organization of your business plans plus the right attitude, then you can right away expect some profits rolling into your pockets. Don't you feel excited over the matter?

Okay, so you feel excited. But then becoming an entrepreneur yourself is confronted with lots of risks. It is no easy task, mind you. Take into account that not all people are qualified to be successful entrepreneurs
since they are not born and made to be one. You may be very rich, famous, and influential but if you lack the traits to become successful in the area of business, then you cannot do anything with it. You cannot probably alter the course of your destiny.

Now who said that only the American people are gifted to be famous entrepreneurs? Do not take away the fact that Filipinos are in more ways than one very resourceful, persevering, and determined to be millionaires as well. That is why, in the Philippine setting, there are several names that can be mentioned when it comes to being successful entrepreneurs. So what makes them famous and successful? Of course they will not be branded with such reputation if they did nothing to boost their reputations and images in the world of business.


Here are some notable traits that make them famous and successful:

Common Sense. Not all Filipino entrepreneurs have attained the greatest education from the finest schools. There are those who had not even experienced earning their degrees but they are in pedestals right now. The role of their common sense is very vital. In fact, one's common sense serves as a strong foundation for his success. Common sense is literally taken as the capability to create rational judgments on certain issues. Being confronted with the harsh realities of life, Filipino entrepreneurs credit their sound judgment to their previous experiences and gained or stock knowledge.

Clear Knowledge about the Field. It will likely be easy to start a business which is in line with one's passion, expertise, and knowledge. How can the entrepreneur create decisions if he does not even know how to run the business?

Self Confidence. Being confident allows a person to face the everyday challenges heaped upon him. If an entrepreneur lacks self confidence, he will be readily pulled down by the obstacles that come his way. Though there are no specific guarantees in the business world, yet failures must teach the entrepreneur a lesson worth remembering. Although there are downfalls suffered from, an entrepreneur must always be ready to stand up.

Getting Things Done. Hardworking and persistent-Filipino entrepreneurs possess these traits. Once a thing has been planned to be started with, it must be done and finished all the way down. Self discipline must be mastered also.

Being Creative. Aside from being resourceful, Filipinos are also known to be very creative. They can in fact create worthy items out of trash. Filipino entrepreneurs are creative in devising methods in line with marketing and managing their companies.

Leadership Skills. How can a business run smoothly without staff members to get on with the right flow? An entrepreneur must be a good model in terms of leadership. He must have the ability to influence people and lead them into action.

Self Reliance. Filipinos may tend to be overconfident as others perceive them to be. But as the famous Filipino entrepreneurs turn out to be, they are able to take full responsibility of their actions. They know how to trust themselves and be decisive in making decisions.

Overall, Filipino entrepreneurs are famous because they are unique in their own rights.





Here is Top Ten richest in the Philippines for 2007




Rank No. 1- Jaime Zobel De Ayala. The 73 year old patriach of Ayala Corporation with a networth or $2 billion. Maried with 7 children and his children now hold his wealth with his eldest son Jaime II as chief executive.
http://pinoybusiness.org/2007/10/18/the-top-10-richest-philippines/



Rank No. 2 -- Henry Sy & family. One of the Taipans in Philippine Business. He formed the Philippines’ second largest bank after the merger of Equitable PCI and Banco de Oro. He is married with 6 children and has a newtworth of $1.7 Billion at the age of 85. He owns the Philippines’ shopping mall developer SM Prime Holdings.


Rank No 3. Lucio Tan & family. As a kid he mops floors to pay for school tution. Eventually he became a chemical engineer who now owns the nation’s largest cigette manufacturing company, Fortune Tobacco as well as Philippine Airlines. Tan is believed to be a former ally of the late president Marcos. He has a networth of $1.6 billion at the age of 73 with 6 children. He also called LT and used as an example in many network marketing meetings in topics showing the difference between an employee and an employer.



Rank No. 4 -- Andrew Tan. Andrew was a son of a factory worker. He even walks miles on his way to school since cannot afford the fare. Now he is the president of Megaworld Corporation. He is now included in the list of Filipino billionaires with a networth of $1.1 billion.



Rank N0. 5 -- Manny Villar. Manuel “Manny” Bamba Villar, Jr. currently the nation’s Senate President. In early childhood, he grew up in slum areas as a hardworking son of a shrimp vendor. He is the founder of Camella Homes and now he is the largest shareholder of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. Manny is married with 3 children and currently $940 Million in networth.



Rank No. 6 George Ty. He is the founder of Metropolitan Bank and Trust popularly known as Metrobank. He also has stakes in the BPI and Philippine Savings Bank. Now, he develops luxury condominiums in Mandaluyong teaming up with John Gokongwei. His Toyota Motor Philippines is the country’s No. 1 vehicle in all of vehicle sales categories supplying almost half of the Philippines’ cars and trucks. He is now 74 years of ag, married with child children and has a networth of $870 Million.



Rank No. 7 Andrew Gotianun. Andrew controls Filinvest Development Corp which holds 70% of Filinvest Land, and East West Bank. he started early in life salvaging World War II ships and later on branched into car financing. He is married and has $860 Million in Networth and has 2 children.



Rank No. 8 Enrique Razon Jr. He is the president and chairman of International Container Terminal Holdings, Inc., International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Sureste Realty Corp. Still young at 47. He has a networth of $820 Million and married with 2 children.


Rank No. 9 Tony Tan Caktiong & family. Founder of Jollibee Foods Corporation who later aquired Greenwich, Chowking, Red Ribbon and the latest, Hongzhuangyuan a 33-branched food chain in China. He is 57 yearls old, married with 3 children and has a networth of $790 Million.


Rank No. 10 Oscar Lopez & family. He has a networth of $775 Million at the age of 77, married with 8 children and He is the chairman of Lopez Group Foundation, Inc. He also controls a stake in ABS-CBN Foundation.



Meet the Future--Now
Meet some of today's business owners predicted to become the faces of entrepreneurship in 10 years.
What will life be like in 10 years? Will our cell phones be able to give us a backrub or fix us a burrito? No one knows for sure, but if you're curious about the climate of the business world, consider reading the Intuit Future of Small Business Report.
According to the report, over the next decade, entrepreneurship will continue to increase, with more entrepreneurial-specific education in academics, more freelancers than ever and more diversity among small business owners. The white, middle-aged men who traditionally start small businesses will be outnumbered by other types of entrepreneurs like the mompreneur and, until we can come up with a better name, those young folks known as Generation Y.
Why should you care, especially if you're already an entrepreneur? "How we serve and partner with these customers will be significantly different than how we do today," says Brad D. Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's small business division. "If you're going to serve these customers well, you have to change and adapt."
So we decided to take a look at some entrepreneurs who fit the profile of the changing faces of business ownership. As the saying goes, the future is now.--Geoff Williams

Thomas Frey on the Future of Entrepreneurship
Confluence of Influence
"This has to do with the do-it-yourself-content movement, where bloggers, podcasters, and others have been given a voice. The single points of influence from the past have changed, and now several million people will have a voice in what's going on. The trick is to find the people who can influence your particular industry and figure out how to get them to say something nice about you."
Certainly major media outlets continue to carry a lot of weight, but there are more and more people who are "slightly famous", or, more accurately "niche famous". Within an industry or market segment, their opinions can carry as much or even more weight than major media. This makes it more important than ever to proactively network, because these people are best reached through relationships, not pitch letters.
Empire of One
"An empire of one business is a one-person business with far-reaching influence. [...] Manufacturing, marketing, bookkeeping, accounting, legal, and operations are all outsourced to other businesses around the world. The empire-of-one business model is one with great appeal to former corporate executives with global contacts and good ability to manage things remotely. We will see a sharp increase in these types of businesses starting in 2006."
This is an intriguing business model. I've seen it in action (one of my past clients follows this model), and while it presents some challenges, it has a great appeal, too. When everyone in your organization are vendors, not employees, accountability is even greater. You don't have to have any HR department, no payroll, no office space, etc. It allows the entrepreneur to stay out of the day-to-day management of organization and stay focused on the key things they can do best: design, market and sell their product.


Trivia ~ Man Made
~ Business ~
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The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
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The world's oldest continuously incorporated company is Canada's Hudson's Bay Company, which was founded in 1670. The company also became the largest corporate landowner with holdings that at one time included about one third of present-day Canada.
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American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
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How do companies make themselves appear to be in better shape than they really are?
Cooking the books is a recipe for disaster, as Enron and Arthur Andersen executives learned when they were called to account. Amazingly, corporations can sometimes do this while barely staying within the limits of the law.

They can screw stockholders and the public by, for example, padding orders, sending more of a product than was requested, boosting accounts receivable and making it seem as if revenues are higher than they are. They can also save money, showing higher profits, by overestimating the expected return on investments, thus decreasing the amount they might have to put into an employee pension fund. Corporate honchos also get cute with "related party transactions," buying a small business and then having that business turn around and buy goods and services from the mother company.

Maybe Captain Kidd would have met a better end had he defined buried treasure as an off-the-books, non-disbursed accrual.
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As of April 8, 2001, the postal deficit was $270 million. This is $10 million less than the $280 million given in management bonuses.
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The worlds largest McDonalds is over I-44 in Vinita, Oklahoma. It goes from one side of the interstate to the other, passing over the interstate.
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If you wanted to make a safe bet on a business that doesn’t cook its books these days, try casinos. It’s a cash-based business, and because of a history of involvement of organized crime in its past operations, it’s strictly regulated by the government. Some casinos even have government regulators on the premises.

Talk about bold management: they take chances every minute of the day. (And, unlike the stock markets, the bettors' odds are the same whether they wager $1 or $1 million....)
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The most costly "White-Collar" crime on record was perpetrated by Yasuo Hamanaka, a Japanese copper trader, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to forgery and fraud in connection with illicit trading that cost his employer, Sumitomo, an estimated $2.6 billion dollars over ten years.
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The LEGO company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in Billund, Denmark, in 1916. Today it has over 9,000 employees worldwide. The Danish words Leg and Godt were put together to make "LEGO." Later, it was discovered that in Latin, the term "Lego" means "I put together" or "I assemble."
The company that makes Legos blocks has been training management consultants to use their product in “play sessions” with executives. The consultants encourage these groups of corporate managers to express themselves with the blocks.

That doesn’t bother me. I’m concerned when these guys play Monopoly.
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The average office workstation has 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet?
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Believe it or not the Ford Motor Company considered developing an atomic car in the early 1950s. It would have been powered by a nuclear reactor in the rear of the vehicle. But they dropped the idea, possibly fearing that it would have bombed.

Speaking of cars; most auto accidents happen near the driver's home, Duh? That's where most driving is done. One could also safely conjecture that most drivers involved in auto accidents were riding in a car.
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What was the first HMO?
If by HMO we mean a private, layperson controlled, prepaid, comprehensive and affordable health care plan open to all, we're still waiting. Mine helps me restrict calories because I have to go a week without eating each month to pay the bill.

Doctor controlled organizations such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield and union-negotiated plans in the late 1930s geared to specific industries laid the groundwork for the HMO's we all know and love today. Credit for the first goes to industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. As many as 200,000 workers in World War II defense plants under his control were covered by a plan called Permanente. After the war, he opened up the organization to the public and it became the Kaiser- Permanente health plan, the model for our present-day HMO's.

By the way, the term Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO, was only first used in 1970. I have another term for them, but this is a family web site/newsletter.
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How did secure, relativity high-yielding stocks get to become called "Blue Chip" stocks ?
The term was taken from the game of poker, where blue chips are more valuable than white or red chips. Well you knew the stock market was a gamble didn't you?
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The first company ever to issue stock was "The mysterie and companie of Merchants adventurers for the discoverie of regions, dominians, islands, and places unknown" (later simplified to "The Russia Company"), which was chartered in 1553.
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The LEGO company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in Billund, Denmark, in 1916. Today it has over 9,000 employees worldwide. The Danish words Leg (alloy) and Godt (well) were put together to make "LEGO." Later, it was discovered that in Latin, the term "Lego" means "I put together" or "I assemble."
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These days in business it's important to dress for success. In fact, that was always the case, but the context was different in the past. For example, while a self-help book might now explain how you should dress when traveling on a plane with colleagues, 60 years ago it would have dealt with train travel.
Such a book, "Compete!", advised in 1935: "Don't trail up and down a Pullman in a floating, peach-colored negligee, frothy with lace or feathers. It might put you over in a big way in a boudoir, but not on a train."
Especially if you're a guy.
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These days you can get 12 pens for a $1.79, or you can pay $80.000 for a single, limited edition, gold, platinum and diamond fountain pen. If what you're writing is not so rarified, try the $2,800 model with a sliver of one of Babe Ruth's bats embedded in it. According to the Wall Street Journal, 35 companies sell such pens.

Do you suppose they spell any better than my 12 for a $1.79 model?
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Designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel introduced her first perfume in 1921. She gave it the name "Chanel No. 5." According to Chanel, she jumped straight to number five because it was her lucky number. To add luck to the fragrance, she introduced it on the fifth day of May, the fifth month. Chanel No. 5 became the world's best selling perfume.
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Three hundred and fourteen acres of trees are used to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of the New York Times. There are nearly 63,000 trees in the 314 acres.
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Wig making is an $800 million a year industry in the U. S. There are even hair brokers in a business where the finest - each strand hand-tied - wig can cost $10,000. Much of the hair comes from India, where people have it cut in a religious ritual, after which, it somehow ends up in the wig trade. I wonder if that's where the Christian term "fleecing the flock" came from.
I hope the IRS accountants go over their books with a fine- toothed comb.
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McDonald's fast-food restaurants have been operating in the Middle East and Africa since 1992. The success was especially evident when 15,000 customers lined up on opening day in 1994 in Kuwait City. The line at the drive-thru window was seven miles long.
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The wages paid by the Ford auto company were once much higher than those paid by other automobile companies. In 1914, Ford paid workers who were age 22 or older $5 per day-- double the average wage offered by other car factories.