Business reaction: Bosses give a guarded welcome

ECONOMY: The growth that simply vanished - and now Labour will drive national debt to more than £1trillion

Website evaluation - Wolff Finess

http://www.wolfffitness.co.uk/home.htm

The website is for people who want to get fit or get their body trained, it is all about home fitness and personal training. This is a type of advertising gives out opportunities for people to get to know about exercise from the experts, etc.

When scanning through the website, the information provided is actually quite sufficient and allocative; however if we look at it in-depth, there are some strengths and weanesses somewhere.

Firstly, as we can see in the 'about' section, there are 3 experts' personal information and a map for the location of their sports centre. A picture of Daniel Wolff, his clothing doesn't fit for the purpose; in addtion, it does not match with the image of fitness training.

Secondly, there's a picture that is located on the right hand side; the woman's hair style looks like as if she's going to a fashion party with her red lipsticks on, but trying to hold a weight. This shows that the picture is meaningless and not suitable. Meanwhile, there's another picture with a man wearing suit and tie and holding a weight; but maybe they wanted to indicated that of those hard-working workers need appropriate training to keep them fit, although it's just an assumption.

Thirdly, there's no information about the training fees on the website; this might makes people change their focus onto other training website, which would be one of those competitors for Wolff Finess.

Nevertheless, people can still get some basic knowledges and information for what they want to know about fitness training throughout this website, thus it somehow has reached to its purpose.

A CD player(with CDs) in a rental car

"Produce CDs that sit in the CD player of rental cars so that, when a new driver gets in, the CD can tell them about the car, the local area, driving laws, etc. It could also feature advertising for local businesses." Would you invest in this product idea?

This is a good idea for people who want to rent a car just for their short-stay holiday or even for emergency...etc; the CD in the car can direct them to the right place, providing information about the driving laws of the local area, the features of that car and so on. Although there are still some other concerns that people may think as a disadvantage.

It is convenient and reasonable to produce CDs that sit in the CD player of rental cars; but if we try to think of some safety problems, it might be where will the CD player be placed, what will the temperature of the CD player be, what will be the effect when drivers are concentrating on listening to the CD but not on driving? These are the possibilities that may form a list of disadvantages; thus for my opinion, the investors should be more aware of these concerns.

'I'm NOT Feeling Lucky' button on Google

"Add an 'I'm NOT Feeling Lucky' button to Google that would automatically take users to a random webpage that would NOT be the topmost return for their query. This option would complement the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button, giving the search process a creative twist." - would this be popular? Would this increase Google's revenue?

When we type into the google site, obviously we are about to search something or going to have a research for certain project...etc; there are two buttons which are 'Google search' and 'I'm feeling lucky'. What's the difference between them? Well, if you want to have a faster speed for your research, then click on the 'I'm feeling lucky' button and therefore it brings out more relevant results that you are looking for.

Here's an idea to create a button which is opposed to the 'I'm feeling lucky' button. It says 'I'm NOT feeling lucky' button option would complement the original one, it gives a creative twist; I think this idea would be popular when it first comes out, but it wouldn't last for too long because sometimes people need information straight away, thus they wouldn't choose the button.

Although it could probably make the research more interesting than the conventional way, but due to the purpose of necessities, people may not click on the new button unless they are trying to find some interesting way to search things; therefore I don't think this idea would increase Google's revenue very much in this case.

Boom for online fashion firm ASOS

a. possible reasons for the success of ASOS

As people likes to be fashionable, they may think it is a good idea to buy clothes from ASOS because it's designed for celebrities and also they design unique clothes to sell it at a cheap price to convince people to buy it. On the other hand, some customers who like to go to parties or just to make themselves look beautiful, they would buy the clothes whereas the website is totally persuasive due to its attractive layout.

b. who the main competitors are

The main competitors are probably those who sell fashion clothes online or in the shops, such as Zara, River Island...etc. E-bay would be the competitor that's available online.

c. strengths/weaknesses of their products

Obviously, its strengths are those reasons Ive mentioned previously for their success, which it has the feature of unique, also it's simple to order therefore it's more convenient for people to get it.

The weaknesses may reflected on its online feature because sometimes it may be delayed or causes delivery mistake..etc.

d. what steps can they take to ensure continued success?

• Discount or loyal card for customers who purchase every often
• More advertisement
• Special offer
• Special event

Pick a Christmas present for teachers

http://www.christmasrants.com/dont_forget_your_teachers_christmas_present.html

Here are 4 websites that telling us about how important it is to get a Christmas present for our teachers. For sure, there are some differences among them; therefore we will be finding out the information they've provided, also to see if the websites' sources are useful or not.

The first website, as shown above, it gives a brief explanation of why we should buy the present and then suggested some examples of what to buy. I think it's quite good enough for us to know the purpose but maybe some students wont be persuaded by this. The colour and layout has touched the edge of a Christmas feeling, as it shows on the left hand side; the overall structure of the website is quite good but I would prefer the 4th website as Chris has given us.

http://theydeserveit.com/christmas-gifts/teacher-gifts.html

This website shown above has given us more information about gifting a Christmas present to teachers, the contents are more in-depth than the first one, and the picture absolute suits its purpose! Furthermore, the visual effect is pretty good as they have suitable background and the right colour. Meanwhile, they have an instruction on how to Personalised teacher's scrapbook, which to impress our favourite teacher by showing the appreciation of it.

The 2nd website as shown below is more formal as it is published by Telegraph.co.uk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3353684/Picking-teacher%27s-present-is-a-gift.html

It gives a short story on the main topic and leads out the meaning and purpose of how significant it is to pick a Christmas present for teachers; therefore I think until now, all these 3 websites have different reaching to people and it might make them somehow specialised if they would have achieved the most important thing, the colour and pictures using to attract people then gradually persuade them by the content.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061212085632AABmOxG

This website shown above has only provide the information about what to buy for a Christmas present to teachers; thus there are only questions and answers that given by everyone who has the intention to show. It's not enough to persuade people or even the colour and pictures are not fit for the purpose.

Question 10 - EasyClean

EasyClean has been involved in the production of a range of cleaning products since the early 1970s, with the aim of producing affordable, high quality goods. Over the years, EasyClean has developed a wide product range in response to changing consumer demands.

CreamClean is the oldest product in the range and is a multi-purpose, no frills cleaner. In attempt to boost flagging sales in the early eighties, the product was repackaged and two new fragrances were added. Sales levels improved a little, but over the last ten years, demand for CreamClean has steadily dropped.

HandyClean range was initially launched just over ten years ago and comprises of a kitchen and bathroom cleaner, both packaged in an easy to use spray bottle. HandyClean was an instant success and sales still remain high.

FoamClean is a relatively new foam-based product that has not been as successful as EasyClean had hoped. Although initial demand for the timesaving product was high, to EasyClean’s surprise, sales have recently started to fall.

AntiBacClean is a hugely successful product, which entered the market just over two years ago. Since then, sales have steadily increased and show little sign of slowing down.

QuickClean simply requires the user to spray the product and leave it to clean. It is the latest product to be launched onto the market and demand is still low.

ProtectClean, a product that contains an active protective ingredient to prevent staining, is currently undergoing development. The development process is becoming very costly but the managers at EasyClean are determined to continue with it. In the competitive market of cleaning products, innovation and product development is a key way to protect market share.

Questions
1. a) Describe the stages of the product life-cycle. (2 marks)
There are 4 stages in the product life-cycle.

• Introduction (birth)
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline

Also there's a stage for a firm to continue with the product, it's called Product Extension strategy.

b) At what stage of the product life-cycle are EasyClean’s products? (4 marks)
EasyClean has already been at the stage of Maturity and now they're on the product extension stage.

c) Comment on the balance of EasyClean’s product portfolio. (4 marks)

2 a) Explain what you understand by the term ‘extension strategy’. (3 marks)Extension strategy means the business keep the product in a market with their improvement in packaging or other features that can help the product to be selling continuously; therefore to extend the product life cycle.
b) Explain the reasons for the failure of the extension strategy used for CreamClean. (4 marks)

3. Evaluate the likely success of ProtectClean. (8 marks)

The success of ProtectClean may levied on its innovative ideas of active protective ingredients to prevent staining, which customers need more new product, suppliers need to improve their idea frequently to satisfy people. Also the undergoing development shows the extent that it can still be improving and more developed comparing to others. The demand for ProtectClean would likely be successful if they keep their innovation on the right track.

PS. Im not sure what is meant by 'flagging sales'... I couldnt really find the meaning.

Charity Vending Machine

A vending machine that offers nothing but a feeling of contribution as we have donated the money to one of the nominated charities. This idea is quite fascinating as customers usually think that a vending is ought to come out with something when they insert some money into the machine.

According to the resource, they show their idea and goal for the vending machine. 'Our mission reflects our strategy to deliver new profit to retailers and a range of services to consumers at the front of the store. This mission is to become the world's premier provider of business solutions for the retailer's front end, offering a network of consumer products that are convenient, reliable, safe and fun. Through an innovative spirit and strong company values we continue to deliver on this mission.' Simply by setting this machine at any place that most people would pass by, it therefore create more and more opportunities for making new profits, also benefits those retailers or suppliers.

How does it work? It's really simple. When using the Coinstar charity vending machine, just choose the 'donate' option, select a charity, and then you can put the amount of money in coins into the machine while the donation will be complete.

Coinstar has cooperated with a wide range of valued non-profit organizations, including The British Heart Foundation, The British Red Cross, Cancer Research Campaign, The Children's Society, UNICEF and The World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

There are a list of retail customers,

• ASDA
• Sainsbury
• Tesco
• the Co-operative group
• Morrisons

This is a quite good business idea and it works because it cooperate with charities and it's supportive for those who need helps.

Brain Sex

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml?users=1

This is an interesting test for finding out your 'Sex I.D'

According to the resource, it says 'Some researchers say that men can have 'women's brains' and that women can think more like men.'

I just found it quite interesting =).

New Website

This is my new website, but... nothing much has been included at the moment.

http://fantiasv.synthasite.com/

Metal/Frosted Translucent Business Cards

They have 2 types of cards which are gold metal business card and translucent plastic business card.

A metal business card that would makes a business special and stands out in the market, this is a good idea which features specific skills to make the card, also offering a free design service without extra charge.

Their metal business cards are manufactured using stainless steel, which they chemically cut through the card with precision, in order to produce a beautiful, unique design to differentiate from others. On the other hand, customers may also design it by themselves if they'd like to!

What makes the translucent plastic card special is that the cards are made from frosted clear plastic; therefore it got the contemporary look to attract people to buy it. Meanwhile, the company, PlasmaDesign has got years of experience in how to make their cards creative and more fascinating.

The service including international shipping to many different countries, such as Canada, Australia, Germany, France...etc. Therefore they are building up a worldwide reputation.

According to the website, http://www.plasmadesign.co.uk/metalbusinesscards.htm, we can see that they show a detailed information for their card's features, structures, additional services and also pricing! In one of the resources said that the price are listed in British pound sterling and including VAT but shipping charges aren't included; this indicates the purpose of including VAT in the product is usually necessary in almost every businesses who are selling specific things/designs.

Here's an example of specifications about the translucent plastic card.

• Dimensions:86mm x 54mm
• Thickness: 760 micron
• Corner radius: 3mm
• Design service: FREE
• Minimum order quantity: 100
• Lead time from artwork approval: 5-7 working days

The pricing they have provide, for instance,

Although they have got all these benefits that form an attraction for business people, but do people really needs these kind of special cards to promote or impressed customers? or do they need to invest part of their business just to make a unique business card? As we know that the siginificance of how we can reduce the cost in a business; in fact, we shouldn't spend too much on advertising, that means sometimes a specific business card would be unnecessary; therefore PlasmaDesign may need to drop their price in some case.

GCSE Business studies revision guide, Chapter 3

Enterprise and management

Entrepreneurs, the risk taker,are those who can think of a business idea an have enough confidence to try to make it work. Enterprise is the quality that Entrepreneurs show.

Why bother?

• Independence - the desire to work for themselves


• The pleasure comes along with success


• A higher income, as long as the business is working and making profit


• Using their own skills, knowledge or experience


• Needing new challenges to keep them on the ball

Business failure

• Not including all costs


• Taking on too much debt


• Not meeting customers' needs (lack of market research)


• Not having the right skills, knowledge or experience


• Being over-optimistic about sales


• Being unable to pay suppliers or other business debts

Why is management needed?

• organised and managed ---> people do not automatically do what they are supposed to do, or carry out jobs in the most efficient or effective manner.

Time management

• Having the self-discipline to know when jobs need to be done by, and to make sure that enough time is devoted to them.

Delegation and trust

• Responsibility needs to be delegated


• Trust people to get on with the job

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are people who have a stake in a business.

Internal stakeholders

People who have a direct interest in the business which they are employed by it/who own it. They rely on the business and their income.

• Owners

1. Sole trader


2. Partnerships/Cooperatives


3. Institutional owners/Holding companies


4. Government (public sector businesses)

• Shareholders ---> take the sare of the profits [Dividend]


• Employees


• Managers ---> The link between the employers and the employees

External stakeholders

People or other businesses that have a less direct stake in a business.

• Customers


• Suppliers


• Financial stakeholders


• Community


• Government


• Pressure groups

Conflicts

Sometimes stakeholder groups have conflicting aims.

E.g.

• Customers may want lower prices while shareholders want higher profits


• A business may want to expand operations while the community would like to keep it small.

Business aims and objectives

Aim is a long-term goal that businesses usually set to themselves. Objectives are usually more clearly defined than aims; they are the steps on the way to achieving an aim.

SMART targets

• S pecific - should be definite
• M easurable
• A chievable
• R ealistic and relevant
• T ime related - targets should be achieved within a set time period

Maximum aims versus minimum aims

Maximising aims involve making the most of something.

• Sales revenue


• market share


• Growth

Minimising aims involve making the least of something.

• Low employee turnover


• Low numbers of complaints


• the least possible impact on the environment

Small businesses

Small businesses often have less fat-reaching aims than large business. They are likely want to,

• Survive as a business


• Reach a breakeven point at which costs are covered

Satisficing aims, owners may have other aims they want to achieve; for instance, independence, a good reputation and loyal customers.

Business organisation

For any business to operate, it needs to have some structures to work it out.

Functions

• Finance


• Marketing and sale


• Administration


• Production


• Customers service and human resources


• Communitcation

Small businesses

In a small business it is unlikely that the functions will be divided into separate areas.

Larger businesses

They need a more formal organisation structure.

• Geography - where the barious parts of the business are located


• Product - what each part of the business makes


• Process - what each part of the business does in the chain of production

Organisation charts

The most common type is the 'family tree' chart, showing each 'family' of workers undera manager or director.

Each manager has a number of people under his/her control, it called span of control.

• Authority - the power that a manager has in a business


• Delegation - the right within the organisational set-up to make decision; sometimes this authority may be passed on.

Vertical organisations

Most organisations are hierarchical.

Hierarchical pyramid - people at the top have more authority than those at the bottom.

Horizontal organisations

There are few layers and many people in each layer, this kind of structure can make decision making hard.

Business size and growth

Businesses can grow internally by increasing market share/product range.

Measuring size

• Number of employees


• Value of assets


• Value on stock market (value of each share x no. of shares issued)


• Size of sales revenue


• Share of market

Small or large?

• Employees

1. Small - Fewer than 50
2. Medium - 50 - 249
3. Large - 250+

• Revenue

1. Small - Less than £2m
2. Medium - £2-8m
3. Large - £8m+

• Assets

1. Small - Less than £1m
2. Medium - £1-3m
3. Large - £3m+

SMEs

It stands for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, a special groups of businesses that the fovernement tries to help.

A definition that includes micro businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

Growth

• Internal growth

When a business grows larger from within by increasing sales, using new tecnology...etc.

• External growth

When a business grows by joining with other businesses; either merger or takeover

Why stay small?

• It's already achieving its objectives without getting any bigger


• It's providing a local service - hair dressing, for instance


• It's supplying specialist products to small markets

Management style

The style that managers shoose to use will affect how efficiently the business operate and how well staff react to their decisions.

What is management?

• Strategic decisions - Top managers

Have an overview and decide on the general direction of a business

• Tactical decisions - Middle managers

Decide on intermediate targets and how they will be reached

• Operational decisions - Other managers

Involves the day-to-day running of a business

Motivation

Many businesses include representatives on management boards because employees work much better if the're motivated.

Management styles

• Autocratic


• Democratic


• Laissez-faire


• Bureaucratic

Communication

Clear communicatoin is vital to all businesses. Any communication consists of 5 parts,

• the sender


• the message


• the medium - the way the message is sent


• the receiver


• the feedback

Types of message

Communications may be internal or external.

• Internal ---> organisation


• External ---> with people or bodies outside the organisation

Businesses communicate with all their stakeholders.

Formal communications

• Reports


• Letters


• Memoranda


• Forms

Informal communications

This can take place at any time, using any medium.

The role of ICT

ICT stands for Information and Communications Technology. It is used for internal communication, within a business, and external communication, with other businesses and individuals.

Hardware

It refers to communications equipment.

• Laptops


• Destops


• Screens


• Projectors


• Servers


• Peripherals (Scanners, printers...etc.)

Software

It refers to the programmes run on computers.

• word processing


• spreadsheets


• databases


• publishing


• presentation


• control technology

Networks

Networks inernal to a business are called intranets. To ensure that everyone in a large organisation gets the same messages at the same time.

The biggest external network is the internet.

ICT and the customer

Provides the business with records of what customers have bought and can even update stock.

Problems

ICT still has some drawbacks:

• A computer is only as good as its operator. It known as GIGO (garbage in, garbage out)


• Losing the personal touch


• Speed of development


• Viruses can destroy records and attack software

Misuse of emails

Electronic media have made sending messages cheaper and more efficient, but there are still many drawbacks regarding privacy, security and firness for purpose.

*Next Im giving it to Robin*

Balance Sheet

Chain of Production

SLEEEPT

Barclays

How does Barclays help with small businesses start-ups? I have found some information thourghout its website.

They offer instructions for entrpreneurs to follow, step by step. Firstly, we have the idea that they can help us to turn it into working business, which by ordering a free guide can therefore enable us get lots of information from the experts. Secondly, be sure with the idea and the market research must be done carefully; for instance, we have to be clear with how does it work, how long can it lasts for, also be aware of any competitors in the market. Then the instructions take us to the final step, which is to build up our plan; the most important thing is to make sure how much money we are going to need in the business.

Not only the 3-step instructions, also there's a start-up packages which help people to get to know what kind of account is suitable for them. There are 3 types,

• Barclays Business start-up package
• Barclays Business Essentials Packages (from £17.50 + VAT per month depending on option chosen)
• Barclays Business Manager Package (from £23 + VAT per month depending on extra options and service level chosen)

A table shows all the details about what it is involved in each package; for example, they all have flexible banking, Extra advice and support from local experts...etc. But what the Essentials and Manager package have but the Start-up dont have is something to do with ICT, which for instance the cashflow management software, Business and software skills training courses and videos and so whatever.

On the other hand, there are resources enable people to know where can they get helps from. Such as Patent Office, The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)...etc. For the last one, it provide information on income tax, capital allowance, National Insurance, customs and excise duty and VAT.

ClearSpeed Technology plc.

The company report I have ordered is a public limited company called 'ClearSpeed'. Here's the website: http://www.clearspeed.com/

ClearSpeed, the world leader in acceleration technology for high performance computing. Their products include chips, accelerator cards, rack modules, software and support. Clearspeed is unrivalled in meeting the most intense processing needs with maximum energy efficiency and full programmability. It is listed in London on the Alternative Investment Market.

Basically the company is significantly based on offering higher computing speeds other than the most powerful CPUs (Conventional Computer Processors) with less electric power.

They have listed the Business and financial highlights, which there are something quite important including,

• Distribution agreements set up with Asia Pacific operators


• £19.4m raised from share issue to strengthen balance sheet


• At the end of the financial year, the Group had cash reserves of £19.6m


• Technology licensing agreement signed with BAE, leading to revenue and royalty income

BAE System plc is the combination of British Aerospace (BAe) and Marconi Electronic Systems (MES).

• Expanded routes to markets with wider indirect sales


• Embedded processing growing

On the 'Company income statement', it shows all the information about revenue, cost of sales, operating loss and operating expenses...etc. Also the gross profit in 2006 and 2007, which in 2006, it was £663,000 and £758,000 in 2007. It shows there's an increase in revenue which affects the gross profit.

Lecture at LSE - Navigating economic and financial change

At about 3 O'clock in the afternoon, Chris took us including me, Mary, Elvi, Anastasia, Aidana, David and Sairan to a lecture at LSE, which held by the author of When Markets Collide, Mohamed A El-Erian. Although the lecture wasnt as that we have expected, but it was quite good that we have actually been to a real lecture about Economics.

To be honest, I can hardly understand the things he was talking about, maybe 30% of it. However, thanks to Chris that we had some preparation for building up a liitle of our basic knowledge. Basically, he was talking about the economy has essentially dealt with transformation. I think I'll buy the book When Markets Collide and then try to understand or attempt to read the book, then think as if Im an economist.

Animated Business Cards

After watching this video, I thought it was amazing! It is unique, easily reproduced and stays in the standard form, which people would find it attractive and interesting.

It is based on 'magic motion' card technology and can easily impressed people. Basically, it sells its novelty way of function that people may haven't seen it before, therefore it built up a good impression of it. On the other hand, USP which stands for Unique Selling Point, it can represents this business idea due to its unique features. At the mean time, it doesn't have to worry about it's competitors because there will rarely be any competitions.

According to a resource, it says it's only $175 for 300 business cards, which is they have achieved their cheapest price for a 3D animated card! Also its advertising is quite successful, 'Challenge the ordinary'. There are other features that people might want to know about that is these animated cards are nearly as lightweight as paper, but durable due to the plastic construction.

Finally, a particular business whom uses these kind of animated cards will be differentiated from others as they can choose their own special logo and fonts, thus to have a specific card design, also to impress people.

http://www.snap3d.com/businesscards.htm

A song...

Heinz Bean Bars

A pub in London has created a novelty combination of beans and beer, which the baked beans are poured from the taps and also have different flavour on tap! What they are promoting is their 'Saucy Beanz' range; therefore there will be something new instead of Pinot Grigio with pasta, etc.

Apart from the interesting idea, it's actually selling its brand because it has got a strong brand; in another words, they have got the strength to promote their new idea. Furthermore, some customers are usually loyal to a certain brand or even because of the famous brand, they would think it has got better quality comparing to others. Thus opening a Heinz Bean Bar is a good idea for people to go and the demand will also goes up, meanwhile the business would get more and more profits.

Secondly, as we know that beer is so popular among people in the UK, which indicates a great forming of interest/habit and a product with strong brand. Customers who go to pubs frequently, for sure that they always buy alcoholic drinks; at the same time, they may be attracted by this combination therefore would buy it together.

Nevertheless, there may be more and more competitors appear as time goes by, which means they might have to think of other newer concepts or try to improve the idea. At the same time, as it for me, I wouldnt buy beans with beer because I thought it's pretty weird for the taste of them joining together; there might have some people have the same thought as me and therefore the demand may not be as high as we thought.

Baby Clothes Rentals

Children does grow fast enough to cost a fortune, therefore this would be a good idea for parents to consider! Baby clothes rental offering by a German company, they provide different style of clothes in which parents dont have to worry about spending too much on their children, in order to give them suitable clothes as they keep growing rapidly.

First of all, customers would consider about the price of rentals. According to the sources, it says it costs at about $30 per month and parents receive a shipment of neutral, 100% organic cotton clothing in the requested size. This is a quite good offer to stop parents' concerns.

The idea of the business is of reducing, reusing, and recycling, which is a thoughtable service for everyone and also the environment. On the other hand, though, there are still some concerns which would inevitably comes along.

Firstly, does this only suitable for a family with one child at a time? Imagine that a family with 4 children, then maybe it means that parents have to pay extra money for the rentals, also the amount of stock for clothes may becomes a problem. Despite of having additional children, sometimes children might make a mess when eating, therefore clothes will get dirty; or just by playing around and rolling on the floor...etc, it would finally get difficult to clean somtimes. Thus some of the concerns form the weaknesses for this business idea.

Crucifix MP3 Player

http://www.allproducts.com/manufacture97/oksupplier/product3.html

The basic idea of this product is to sell its novelty appearance. An MP3 player in cross-shaped attracts young Christian people who are interested in music. As we know, there are many different brands which sell MP3 players, such as Apple sells ipod, Sony, Panasonic...etc. Therefore it's important to ensure that the market research has been done properly.

Apart from the appearance of this crucifix MP3 player, there are other things that attracted customers which are the features of it.

• It supports multiple audio formats, such as MP1, MP2, MP3 adn WMA...etc.


• FM radio (it automatically search for the radio channels)


• Telephone book function


• Electronic files


• Record/repeat


• 7 acoustic equilisers (this enable the customers to choose whatever the kind of sound environment they wanted.) eg. Natural, Rock, Pop, Classical, Soft, Jazz and DBB


• Timing shutdown (it's capable to set sleep mode or power saving settings, which
  which saves the battery)


• Multiple playing modes (e.g. Normal, repeats once, repeat all, repeat folder, random…etc.)

The business should be aware of the other competitors’ actions; for instance, if there are any new improvements within the product, innovative ideas has been put into the product…etc.

For sure there are competitions everywhere. As an example, here's a website with the same idea of the product: http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2007/12/crucifix_mp3_pl.php

What is with the product that offer 1 GB of internal flash memory and a 2-colour LCD display, which it costs you $48 for this much storage; I think the pricing is reasonable whereas the creative idea of this product is innovative.

When Markets Collide

The book has a understandable context that build up my interest in reading it through. Mohamed A. El-Erian is one of the most respected financial and economic analysts. He shared his insights and perspectives in the world of global economy, which the fundamental changes have taken place in today's financial and economic system.

For what I've read so far, there are some basic things which El-Erian has investigated the underlying drivers of global change to shed light on how we should,

• Think about the new opportunities and risks


• Construct an appropriately diversified and internationalised profolio


• protect your portfolio against new sources of systemic risk


• Best think about the impact of central banks and financial policies around the world

In order to conduct all of these things he wanted to emphasise on, he provides his insights on how best to exploit new opportunities and minimise exposure to changing patterns of risks.

The focus is attemtping to meet the objectives which are the ability to address on the results that anchor the belly of the distribution of ourcomes, and the fat left tail of the distribution. What's within it is the implications of the emerging global markets.

At the same time, El-Erian talked about the transformations. The fact that it is not easy to navigate transformation at which the features of initially unanticipatd and the rapid evolving. For instance, the transformation in a business is by gathering momentum.

'The markets of yesterday collide with those of tomorrow.' It implicates the dynamic changes within the fact of noises can affect the siginificance of how the markets would be easily shaped by those signal opportunities.

Dealing with some inconsistencies, there are many anomalies which have been discussed a little bit in Chapter 1. For example, Alan Greenspan has described as a 'conundrum' as successive and meaningful affective upward moves in short-term interest rates had been accompanied by downward moves in long-term interest rates in the US. Meanwhile, the emergence of inconsistencies are seemingly to have the sequential occurring within the tendency of inconsistencies occurring simultaneously, which stands for another example of anomalies.

The most interesting part is that the consideration involving the behaviour that has been noticed and understood by investors, which indicates the meaning of a adjustment if it's needed and to be aware of those factors of trade wars, high unemployment, financial market instability...etc.

Sunscreen Vending Machine

A fantastic idea when summer comes! People usually like to go to the beach because it is a kind of outdoor activity in which they find it entertained. Therefore sun screen would be a necessary product because the ultraviolet rays from the sun is harmful for our skins. The idea of setting up a sunscreen vending machine/booth would be profitable if it's in the right location - near a popular beach, for example.

Sunscreen Mist is the exclusive distributor of the Sun Treatment Center. The machine/booth automated spread out sunscreen adn tanning mist which is quite convenient for people who only need a instant use. The founders of Sunscreen Mist were inspired by the conventional sunscreens that are usually inadequate when applying it, thus they improved the original idea into a quicker, easier and more fun experience for all ages.

It's crucial for suppliers to use their own experience into the idea from travel, hospitality, skincare...etc. There are some facts about the purpose of the machine.

• Easy for buyers to set-up and maintain and promote
  
• Customizable, so the exterior fits in a variety of settings
  
• Extremely durable
  
• Quick and easy for users of all ages
  
• Safe and comfortable to use

They also considered their suitable ideal location. Including hotels, luxury residential, golf courses, theme parks, beach, swimming pools and other outdoor activities.

90 Second Dual Pizza Oven

Imagine people are starving and they want to have some pizze for dinner, but the worst thing is that they need to wait for ages until the pizza is ready? Now here's a good option for they to consider. A double deck pizza oven that cooks two 12" fresh pizzas in 90 seconds (or frozen pizzas in three minutes). It just sounds great for the short period of time to spend on waiting!

This differ from the traditional oven for its special features. The powerful device heats to 790 F which will comes out a result of cripy but also tender crusts. For the most attractive thing for people buying it is the initiative ideal of to 'do it faster' and this also includes within the business of their market research.

Both oven decks hasve 1440-watt high speed which capable for the coil-heating elements that make it a nice caramelized cheese and toppings; in the meantime it distributes the heats evenly therefore to absorb excess moisture that could make a pizza become less crispy and tasteful.

Recycling Vending Machine

For we have concerned about the problems in saving our environment, this is a fantastic way to solve it. Reverse Vending Corporation is a British company which creates the recycling vending machine to improve the way we have dealt with all these recyclable things; it speacialise in reverse vending machine system, installation, material recovery and recycling, through its experienced management team in RV technology, recycling and waste management. This is surely made throughout a higher technology and the purpose of reducing the unnecessary wastage.

Users can simply bring their empty beverage containers to the reverse vending unit and the machine will sorts out the material into recyclable groups and then crushes it. It's an innovation which enable people not to worry about how can they recycle it or where should they bring it to.

Who do they sell the service to? Think of the places we usually go, such as school, for example. Meanwhile the income is made by the local supplier of the machine to governments and other large organisation as well. The reverse vending machine has been proved that it utilises advanced technology to identify, sort, collect and process used beverage containers; it clearly shows the feasability of this business idea.

The most interesting is the use of technology which The data acquisition capabilities, the software allows a working data to captured bottle/can type, quantity, brand, therefore to be assessed from a computer throughtout an internal modem. Furthermore, the data will highlight how much is the quantity that received in each hour, each day, each month and so whatever.

Also the service offers vouchers/coupons, which enable people to get discount/special offer that involved on the refund receipt. This encourage people to get to use the machine more often and to stay loyal to the service due to its features and reputation comparing to other competitors.

Mohamed A. El-Erian

Mohamed A. El-Erian is the CEO of PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company), the world’s largest bond investor which has been seemed as the most respected financial and economic analyst in the world. He first graduated from Cambridge University and got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees; then second master’s and a doctorate from Oxford University. There’s no doubt of what makes him a successful person.

Mr. El-Erian has been working in the International Monetary Fund for 15 years. He left in 1997 and became part of the member at Salomon Smith Barney as a managing director until joining PIMCO. Apart from this, he has taken the head of Harvard’s $30 billion endowment, which has the ability to affect today’s investing world by bringing a unique understanding of global markets.

He has written a book that published in May 2008 called, ‘When Markets Collide’. Hence he’s well known in his endowment of Harvard and as being a co-CEO in PIMCO, the view that involves in the book is as crucial as the way he emphasises how important the shifts are for those investors who wanted to be successful within a substantial portion of his career at the IMF.

In fact, after going through the information about the book’ When Markets Collide’, I started to realised that how important the world of economics means to people in our everyday life. It involves how emerging markets affect the global economy and also are seeing increasing internal demand; as it said the inflationary pressure for the U.S. is likely leading higher within the growth in emerging market. In the meantime, he’s the person who has firstly seen the start of the credit crunch, which he has mentioned the’ recognition by the financial institutions of losses’ whereas he has previously predicted the situation when people are yet thinking of the collapsing of banks.

He has devoted some of his work on the area of finance and economics which including some analysis in the financial times. The sources he gave out are thoughtful and reasonable due to the purpose of current condition of nowadays’ world of economy.