The world around us

Being able to keep in touch with clients and collegues is what it’s all about, right? The success of any business lies in its ability to communicate with others, and if this aspect of business is taken care of, other things will fall into place. Lately, the choices in terms of types of communication systems have increased dramatically and this is huge boon to small and medium business owners. VoIP is one of the best ways to keep in touch these days, whether it is within the company or outside to customers and clients. Xpander Communications is one such company that offers VOIP Small Business phone systems that save time as well as money, and so are perfect for smaller organizations. A company that has branches all across the country will be able to use this system to connect just by dialing a four digit number and all of these calls will be free. Besides actual phone usage costs, the cost of maintenance is also significantly lower than other systems.

The convenience store industry has never been at a more competitive stage before, as newer entrants are coming up with more creative ways to attract customers. The 7-Eleven chain of stores is one of the largest and the most infuential convenience store chains and is planning to make some changes in response to Tesco’s entry in the market with its Fresh & Easy Markets. Other companies such as Starbucks have come up with to-go sandwiches and Walgreen’s is testing out a self-serve Cafe W. And one Florida based company is creating an “unmanned” grocery store which will have only vending machines.

Tesco will be opening 300 stores in the US, in California, Nevada and Arizona in the next five years. The first of these will open in October and will cover around 10,000 sq ft, much smaller than a regular supermarket but four times larger than a 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven is trying to make itself more responsive to the market and cut down on periferals and is going to operate in a franchise-only format. The company serves 6 million customers every day in the US and Canada.

The industry’s challenge is “reversing the stigma associated with fresh food in a convenience store setting – that is, shriveled hot dogs on the roller grill and some less-than-attractive stores,” said Jennifer Halterman, a senior consultant at TNS Retail Forward Inc. 7-Eleven has been “a leader trying to bring healthier foods into its stores, and it’s pushing the envelope,” she said. But “alternative players could distract shoppers with these new concepts. These formats – and other similar concepts likely to follow – have the potential to alter the landscape.”

So, even though I’m meant to continue working while I’m away from home, I have somehow switched to holiday mode and am not in any kind of mood to do any work. Well, that is the downside of being able to work from any location, since I am so attuned to working in my own space, that any other space doesn’t give me the same amount of energy to really get serious about my work. Oh well, let’s see how it goes in the next few days or so.

A lot of gifts are quite frankly totally useless to the recipient. People often buy stuff that they would like themselves, instead of buying things that the person they are gifting to would like. All guys love food, well at least most of them do, and so it makes sense to buy a gift that has something to do with food. Father’s Day is around the corner and it’s the perfect occasion to try out these Fathers Day Gift Baskets from Gourmet Gift Baskets. There’s no way he’s not going to like the stuff they have, such as bar-b-que, chocolates, cheeses, wines, fruits, nuts and specially created baskets with your own specified mix of items. I especially love their selection of unusual gift baskets such as the Grilling Gift basket, which is just perfect for this time of the year.

I love taking and creating surveys and polls. I haven’t put up a poll here in a long time but I try to post one fun poll each week on my other blog. For some reason they were never displayed right, although since I switched my editor style, I think it should work now. Back to why I like surveys….interestingly, even though I am the one answering the questions, a good survey raises many pertinent questions in my mind and thought processes and often clears my thinking. One of the best survey making sites out there is SurveyM0nkey.com which has a host of options on creating just the kind of survey you want, from drop down boxes, matrices, essay boxes, rating scales and much more.

The rains are almost here and the best way to enjoy the rains is to sit out on the patio and enjoy the cool breezes. When we looked for an apartment, we definitely wanted to have a patio, but barely end up using it, which is a real shame. Our neighbor here just got an entirely new set up done for her patio and it’s so impressive that we’ve been inspired to make some changes as well and add some features that will make it usable for the way we live and entertain. The first thing we plan to do is to get some patio furniture that is durable and hardy and doesn’t show its wear and tear. Investing in covers is also essential, since that is the only protection patio furniture gets from the sun, wind, rain and snow. Since we live by the sea, it’s essential to have protective covers for patio furniture to save it from humidity and salty sea air, so besides treating the furniture with a protective coat, putting a cover on top is important.