In today’s economy, office business centers (OBCs) represent a viable alternative to commercial space for established organizations, professionals and entrepreneurs. Here are 10 facts you should consider in evaluating their relevance for your business.1. OBCs help you to focus on your core competency.
In competitive industries, time becomes a valuable commodity, especially for high-level executives. By using an office business center instead of commercial space, you can focus on critical business matters instead of office maintenance and infrastructure.2. By pooling resources, OBC clients can afford cutting-edge technology and services.
OBCs offer a myriad of high-end telecommunications and Internet options too expensive for most small businesses. For example, high bandwidth capacity, fiber optics, VoIP technology, high-speed printers and scanners are readily available. Videoconferencing, also available at most OBCs, can save a fortune in travel expenses.3. OBC clients include nearly every type of business.
Our clients include international organizations and entrepreneurs, as well as professionals such as accountants, lawyers, doctors and financial consultants.4. OBCs provide flexible working arrangements.
OBCs are perfect for flextime, a concept designed to escape the straitjacket of the standard 9-5 work week. OBCs offer virtual support and office space whenever you need it under a wide variety of terms. For international organizations, this includes support staff at nearly any hour.5. OBCs may be used for temporary staff or during office renovations.
Sometimes, your headquarters needs to be refurbished, and the displacement can affect your company’s productivity. OBCs provide office space for any length of time without the commitment of a lease.6. OBCs offer seamless integration with your company headquarters.
At an OBC, you can keep your email domain or main phone number (with new extensions). Through special technology, connection to your clients will be seamless, and customers will be unable to distinguish your OBC office from your main headquarters. OBCs can even incorporate your company’s I.T. security devices to protect your data.7. OBCs help you to learn from your neighbor.
Clients of OBCs can network with other occupants. Best business practices can be improved through this interaction giving clients a substantial advantage over the competition.8. OBCs can be customized for nearly any need.
OBCs let you customize your office instead of trying to fit into a cubic box with a desk and a phone. You can decide how much space to use and change that according to circumstances. You can decide what support structure you need and change that, too.9. OBCs provide office in elegant locations with multiple meeting venues.
OBCs offer a multitude of meeting venues including conference rooms of varying sizes, seminar rooms and auditoriums. Videoconferencing enables virtual meetings, saving both time and money. OBCs are typically located in upscale buildings with attractive grounds and amenities.10. OBCs are particularly valuable when the economy is volatile.
Though a valuable resource at any time, OBCs are particularly in demand during economic recessions or uncertain business environments. The items mentioned above become even more urgent when you are unsure what tomorrow will bring.
10 Facts About Office Business Centers
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.
The Key to Managing Personal Finance
Personal finance is something many people do not take very seriously. That is why so many people are fighting with debt problems. Personal finance is about keeping a balanced debt to income ratio and ensuring that expenses never exceed income. Personal finance is crucial to keeping a good credit record and maintaining credit worthiness.Personal finance starts with a budget. Every person should have a budget to track and mange their income and expenses. A simple budget lists all income and all expenses for a month. The bottom line of a budget is that the income should never be less then the expenses. Should the expenses exceed the income the person is going to have to cut back on expenses. They should start by cutting out non-essential expenses. This can be difficult, but for someone wanting to be serious about their personal loans, it is important. Budgeting takes a lot of self control and little sacrifice.The next step in finance is managing debt. Most people have some debt. Debt is essential for building credit. However debt should never become overwhelming. A person should make a list of all debt. The list should include the name of the creditor, the amount of credit, the amount of debt and the interest rate. If there is any debt problems they should be handled immediately.Next is credit. If a person is easily handling their budget and their debt then they can consider getting more lines of credit. However, if a person is not handling their debt and budget then getting more credit is out of the question. A person should also make sure they understand all of their credit obligations. This includes all terms and conditions.After a person has all of their personal loans in order they need to look them over. They should check to see if they are struggling with anything. If they are then they need to manage their finances to get them back in order. This may involve some credit counseling or debt consolidation. A person should be committed to whatever it takes to get their personal finances back in order, so they do not suffer damaged credit or financial difficulties.Now that a person has organized their personal loans, they need to manage them. Managing personal finance is about sticking to a monthly budget, keeping debt under control and not getting overwhelmed by credit. Management of personal finances is on going. A person has to review every month to ensure they are not over extending themselves or breaking their budget.Personal finance is an important topic. It is something everyone needs to think about and something everyone needs to control. Too often people let their personal loans get out of control. It is this that leads to debt problems and eventually financial difficulties.A person that controls their personal finance will be using their monthly budget, keeping up on debt and not over extending themselves credit wise. A good, well managed personal finance is going to produce someone who can afford their lifestyle and who benefits in the form of a good credit record.